Expensive...But Worth It

Last night I got my best Christmas present - I got to talk to Jeffrey on his mission in Mexico. It was wonderful to talk to him, but also extremely expensive. For various reasons, we haven’t been able to get a landline here in Italy. We only have cell phones. We have a Magic Jack, which is a phone system we use with our computer which lets us call the United States for free. I know there’s a way to make international calls with the Magic Jack, but whenever I clicked on their link to set it up, it said their server was down. Whether their server was really down, or whether our internet was too slow and crappy to handle their server is unknown. Skype was out of the question because Jeffrey didn’t have access to a computer yesterday. So we decided to use our cell phones. We knew it would be expensive, but it was our only option.

Cell phones in Italy are different. You don’t sign up for a plan. You put a certain amount of money on your phone and replenish it as needed. We all had money on our phones, but we decided to add more. Robert put an additional 50 euros on his phone (so he probably had over 75 euros on it) and 25 euros on my phone (so I probably had 50 euros).

Christmas night we called Jeffrey. We tried to put the cell phone on speaker, but we could barely hear him, so we gave up on that idea. I talked to him for a little while, then passed the phone to Brian, who passed the phone to Scott when he was done. About 20 minutes into the phone call, Scott said there was a beep and then the phone went dead. We then got a message saying we had less than 1 euro left on the phone! We went through over 75 euros in 20 minutes! We next called him on my phone. Scott finished up his call, and handed the phone to Kimberly. She talked to him a while then gave the phone to Robert. After about 15 minutes, my phone went dead too. It was out of money. We couldn’t even get Scott’s phone to work - he may have been too low on money. Robert quickly raced over to the bank and put 50 more euros on his phone (you do that at the ATM). I called and talked to him another 15 minutes and then the phone went dead. Our Christmas conversation with Jeffrey was over.

We did get to talk to him for about 50 minutes, but we spent at least 175 euros to do it! With the exchange rate, that’s almost $230.00!

But you know what? It was worth it. Every cent of it. It was money well spent to talk to Jeffrey and hear that he is doing well and loving his mission.

My Christmas was complete.

Feeling a Little Gypped

Moms of missionaries look especially forward to four days (not including the day their sons come home) - each of the two Mother's Days and each of the two Christmases. On those four days, we get to talk to our sons.

I remember how excited I would get when Brian was on his mission and one of those days was approaching. I couldn't wait to hear his voice and hear about his mission. I didn't really care what else happened those days - Brian's phone calls were what I was waiting for!

Well, today is Mother's Day, and I have another son on a mission. But I won't be getting a phone call from Jeffrey. He's in the MTC, and there is no way, logistically, for all the missionaries in the MTC to get to call home.

I realize I just dropped him off a week and a half ago, but I still feel a little sad. I mean, lets face it, with just me and Scott at home, it's not like this is going to be a very exciting Mother's Day anyway. A phone call from Jeffrey would have made the day much better.

I have heard he should get to call me from the airport when he flies from the MTC to Mexico at the end of June. I guess I will just have to wait for that.

The Last Phone Call!

Today we got to talk to Brian in the Dominican Republic. For the last time!  This was our 4th phone call.  Next time we talk to him should be September 2nd ... in person ... at the airport in Houston ... when we greet him up at the end of his mission!  

It was so nice to talk to him.  He sounded wonderful.  We were able to have a nice looooong talk.  Some mission presidents put time limits on the calls, but Brian's doesn't, so we talked for a while.

I am so grateful to whoever it was in the Church that decided that families should get to talk to their missionary on Mother's Day.  That phone call made my Mother's Day WONDERFUL!