Mission Call

Brandon was called to the Donetsk, Ukraine mission, speaking Russian! He reports to the MTC on May 18th.

 We are so excited for him! As he read the call letter, I felt an immediate witness that this was the right place for Brandon to serve. There will be challenges in his mission, but I have every confidence that he will able to meet the challenges and have a profound effect on those he teaches in the Ukraine.

Brandon opened his mission call in his dorm room in Provo. His friends Taylor, Sam, and Jeffrey gathered with him (and they were using Brandon's camcorder to film the opening for us). Thanks to Skype, our family and Lauren watched him open the letter on my computer. Typical for Brandon, he didn't rip into the envelope, but instead carefully and methodically slit the top and then pulled out each paper slowly.  The first paper he pulled out was "application for US passport", so we knew that he was going foreign (which elicited cheers from the viewing audience). It took a few more papers and lots of suspense before he got to the letter which read, "Elder Brandon Scott Porter, you are called to serve in the Donestsk Ukraine mission.  You will speak Russian."  It was priceless to see his reaction.  I think he showed the most excitement that I have ever seen from Brandon!

 We gathered around the kitchen table to watch him open the letter.  Last night Aubrey said "I wish he could get another call tomorrow and we could do it all again.  It was so much fun!"

 Brandon's roommate (who is very into world geography) pulled out a map of the Ukraine to show all of us.

 

 Brandon shared the good news with his grandparents, who were on speaker phone on Dan's phone.

Brandon has had a collection of Books of Mormon for a number of years.  Aubrey ran up to his room and found the Russian Book of Mormon.  Which looks completely incomprehensible to us, as it is (of course) written using the Russian alphabet.

We were able to talk to him for an hour while he and his friends looked through all of the information about the Ukraine.  Brandon's roommate immediately  began playing the Ukranian national anthem and he figured out how to post "Elder Brandon Porter" in Russian on his facebook profile page.

Since last night, we have been researching the Ukraine. Brandon will serve in the eastern half of the Ukraine, bordering Russia. The red dots below show the ten cities where the missionaries are currently serving.

We found the mission website, which has much interesting information.  If you are interested, you can access it through this link: Donetsk Ukraine Mission Info.  I especially found the links for "country info," "weather," and "mission info" helpful.

We are so proud of our son and know that he will be a remarkable servant for the Lord.

Good advice

This morning I have at least 29 things on my to-do list.  So, in order to procrastinate the inevitable, I sat down for a few minutes and read a random page in Reader's Digest.  And I laughed out loud when I read this quote:

"I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it."  Harry Truman

So, so, so, true.  And funny, too, as I think of all the times I have shared my opinion/given advice as my children look at me with blank eyes.  Sigh.  I tell them, however, that it is my motherly job to share my "insights," and they will just have to put up with it.

I liked these quotes, too.

"When your mother asks, 'Do you want a piece of advice?' it is a mere formality.  It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway."  Erma Bombeck

"It is a little embarrassing that, after 45 years of research and study, the best advice I can give to people is to be a little kinder to each other."  Aldous Huxley

Washed ipods and Josephisms

It turns out that running an ipod through the wash cycle for an hour (in the pocket of Dan's jeans) is not a good idea.  Who knew?  Now Dan is quickly getting a replacement birthday ipod (his bday is next week) so he can organize his music for the upcoming Stake Priest/Laurel Yule Ball.  He is in charge of the music, and has been working hard to prepare.  In addition to music, they are going to project some dance routines from "Just Dance" from the Wii onto the wall, so that the youth can follow along with the dances.  They also plan to project onto the wall some movie clips which show great dances the youth can copy. Should be fun!

I am definitely negligent in recording the cute things my youngest says. I was so much better years ago. . . . .   Here are a few recent "Josephisms."

He groggily woke up for school last week, but was really slow to get dressed. When I asked him why, he said "my pajamas say that they are too tired to do anything, so they say I should go lay down with them."

Over the holidays, Bailey had a big party with friends.  It drove Joseph crazy to not be part of the festivities.  He repeatedly got in the middle of the activities, did his best to be an "obnoxious little brother" and was summarily booted out of the room.  When I got him away from the party he stopped being rude and showed his true emotion, which was sadness. Tears ran down his face and he said, "I just wish Bailey would have invited me to the party!"

Also over the holidays, the older kids were playing a game or watching a movie . . . . something he wasn't old enough to understand.  I found him sitting on the stairs with his head in his hands.  He mumbled, "I just hate being little."

Joseph was trying to talk Dan into doing something. To convince him he said, "face your fears and do it, Dad!"

If Joseph doesn't want to eat something (which is frequently), he says "it tastes like chicken."

Joseph is very clear about his career aspiration.  He wants to be a fireman.  I asked him if he wants to be a fireman so he can save people from fires.  He looked puzzled and then said, "no, I want to own a cool truck.  All fireman have cool green trucks, and I want to have an awesome truck."

Right now we are watching a little girl Joseph's age. Whenever Lily is over, she immediately wants to play with our boxes of Barbies.  Joseph sighed and helped her carry down the boxes.  He found the "boy Barbies" and played a make believe game for about an hour.  Then he told me "do NOT tell my friends I play Barbies with Lily." 

Christmas Day 2010

The kids slept in until 6:30 a.m., at which time they woke us up and waited at the top of the stairs until we checked to see if Santa had visited our home.

We had a wonderful time opening gifts.  Everyone was respectful and patient, and Dan and I loved to see the happiness and excitement in the kid's faces.

 

After opening gifts we ate a breakfast of sparkling cranberry juice and scones.  The evening before we had prepared a Cafe Rio feast, and we ate leftovers on Christmas Day (and for several more days!)  We spent the rest of Christmas Day in our pjs, enjoying being together.

Last minute Christmas to-dos

Christmas Eve day, while I wrapped last-minute gifts and Dan continued to recuperate, the kids worked together to deliver fruit and nut gift bags to neighbors and friends.

Writing to Santa is an important part of Christmas Eve. Joseph took it very seriously this year, even sealing the letter in an envelope before setting it next to his stocking. Only Brandon didn't write to Santa this year.  Below, the Santa letters and Santa's replies.

 

This wasn't a Santa letter, but I thought it was cute.  One of the first nights Brandon was home Joseph dictated this letter to me, which he hand delivered to his older brother. 

Christmas Eve

The Porter children acted out the story of Christ's birth on Christmas Eve 2010, with Joseph playing Joseph, Bailey as Mary, Aubrey as the angel, and Brandon as the shepherd (his last appearance in this role for a few years).  Below, Aubrey as an angel, sharing glad tidings of great joy and Brandon demonstrating his "fearful shepherd" look, and then all the actors in the play trying out "fearful."

After we read and acted out the Christmas story, the kids opened their sibling gifts. They did a great job shopping for gifts for each other.

 Finally, we opened our Christmas Eve pjs and book - this year the books were the third in the Auntie Claus series and Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus. 

A Porter family tradition . . . a big sleepover in the bonus room on Christmas Eve. This was the first year that Joseph was able to fully participate, and he was SO excited.  We dragged in a few mattresses and the girls slept on the couch.  The idea is to stay up as long as possible watching Christmas movies, but at 11:30 p.m. I peeked in and only Brandon was awake, watching "Miracle on 49th Street."