--I had signed up to run the Chuck Norris 5K the next morning with my friend, Ashley. She's set the goal to do one 5K a month. But I just wasn't feeling it. I hadn't been able to run to prepare and with Jared gone and other things on my plate, I was really, really hoping there would be lightning the next morning. That would be the only way they would cancel the race.
4th--We woke up to blue bird skies. So I was going running whether I wanted to or not. The race was located right here in College Station. It was an attempt to set a world record for the most Chuck Norris impersonators at one time. The crowd potential alone was enough to make me say "no thanks." I hate crowds. But Ashley's friend offered to drive us for which I was most grateful. Ashley's husband picked up my race packet the night before, so I dodged that headache as well. I died when I saw the race shirts. They are the most hideous things I've ever seen, patterned after one of his movies or something. The belt buckle we had to wear doubled as our finisher's medal which I thought was pretty smart. The beards were--well, take a look! :o
These are "Nun Chucks." Haha!
After Ashley and I crossed the finish line, we miraculously reconnected with two other women from our carpool and got in line for our free Bluebell Ice Cream popsicle, while we waited in another line for our free Grub Burger with our Chuck Norris water (called CForce). Fortunately, things moved along quickly and we ate our burgers on our way back to the truck.
--The month prior, I had told my friend, Allison, that we would watch her girls for her so she and her husband could go to a movie. Her daughter, Julia, who is in Kindergarten, has juvenile diabetes and as such, they can't just leave her with anyone. As it turns out, May 4th was the afternoon that worked best for Allison and Ryan to go to the movie and I prayed the timing of the race wouldn't interfere with my commitment to help them.
I met Allison and Ryan when I served as Relief Society President. They are super sweet and while not active or a member, respectively, Jared and I were just recently assigned as their ministering brother and sister. They are fiercely independent and don't ever need anything. But after we showed up with flowers for their two little girls at gymnastics back in March, I learned Allison almost called us for help at the last minute to watch their girls. So I persuaded Allison to add us to their call rotation so they can get a much needed break. I guess the pull to see the "Avengers: End Game" was strong enough because she reached out. Which makes me so happy! They wanted me at their house at noon so they could walk me through everything before leaving at 1pm. The race got started late and I wasn't the one driving. It was going to be tight.
I made it back to my house at 11:30. I jumped in the shower and cleaned up as fast as I could. I told Karcyn to make sure she was ready to walk out the door. Calvin and JJ were at a Zions Camp for boys at the church. Karole took them and was going to pick them up and just have them stay with her until I was done babysitting, which we were all happy about. Cooper was working.
We made it to Allison's house about 10 minutes after 12, which I was pretty proud of. She and Ryan gave me the quick overview of Type 1 diabetes that is regulated for Julia mostly with a pump with a smart phone she carries around to monitor her insulin levels. Her phone syncs with her parents' phones, too. I practiced using the high tech, reusable syringe, changing a needle, selecting the amount of insulin needed, tapping out air bubbles and first giving a dose to an orange and then giving Julia a unit before they left. The only thing I really needed to know was WHEN to give her insulin and WHEN to text them. They were going out to a movie after all. I didn't want to bother them unnecessarily. Because they were monitoring her levels, all I needed to do was follow their text instructions if they noticed she was trending too low and text them if she got hungry so they could advise me on the next step. I wasn't too worried about being left to their daughter's physical well being and urgent health needs. Even still...I did petition the Lord for no surprises for those next four hours since I was ministering on his behalf. :) And this was one of those instances when I was SUPER grateful for incredible medical and technological advances. We had a great time. No problems. I ended up giving her only one more unit of insulin while they were gone. Easy peasy.
--Karcyn had the opportunity to play on Allison's baby grand piano while we were watching her little girls.
I guess when Jared saw that Karcyn got up early (on a school day) to make pancakes for our anniversary, it jogged his memory of the day's significance because he was pretty adamant that we go out to dinner that night.
--After school, I took JJ in to see Dr. Salzer, one of the ENT surgeons that Jared works with, for a 6 week follow-up appointment. JJ's nose has been historically runny and gunky 85% of the time. I jokingly call him the "booger maker." At our initial appointment, they checked for fluid behind the ears--which he had. He was put on steroids and Flonase and the nose problem cleared up in just two days. When we went back on the 7th, there was still fluid on the ears which actually could have been the reason why it took him so long to walk--because of balance issues. But--we learned his adenoids are huge, so those need to go. We made an appointment for that in July.
8th--Months ago, I had scheduled physicals for Karcyn, Calvin and JJ with our pediatrician beginning at 3:30, back-to-back, as close to the end of the school day and year as possible. It's hard enough to find end of the day appointments for your kids, but trying to coordinate a date with state testing and other end-of-year exams and projects, it's nearly impossible. I refuse to go to the doctor or dentist on different days for each child when they see the same providers. But the stars seemed to align with all the calendar and end-of-year "Maycember" gods on May 8th for me to get them all in together! Hooray! Karcyn and Calvin dismiss at 3:50, but I would need to get Karcyn first around 2:35 before she headed to her last period, which is athletics, where she has to dress out. Then we would head to JJ's school to get him at 2:45 before he gets on the bus at 2:55. And then we'd have to swing by and get Calvin. Fortunately, the schools are next door and around the corner from each other. It's very convenient.
I spent that morning at a Girls Camp meeting and then booked a Caribbean cruise for me and Karole in September. We had received a certificate for a discounted cruise and since she'll be watching our kids for us while we go to Iceland in July to see my parents, I figured taking her on this cruise would be a nice thank you. Except when I booked it, there wasn't really a discount, at all, unfortunately. *sigh* But I had already told her we'd be doing it, so I felt like we needed to proceed with that plan.
Around 1:23, about the time I was getting some lunch, I received a text from Jared. He said Franklin and Hearne (in our stake boundaries) were under a tornado WARNING again. Franklin was hit with the first tornado of the season locally on April 13th while we were at Youth Conference. A destructive tornado would be bad, but a second one less than a month later would be horrific for those areas. My friend's house in Franklin, which received substantial damage, was still being repaired and I prayed that they wouldn't have to go through this twice. I continued making lunch and gathered things for the doctor appointments.
At 2:12, we got a text from the school district that all campuses were in Duck and Cover due to the tornado warning. I texted Cooper and Karole to see how they were doing. Karole was taking cover in her bathroom. Cooper was ducking in geometry. Hopefully the other three kiddos were remembering to pray and not feeling too scared.
At 2:18, an alert came in reporting a tornado was on the ground at the Easterwood airport, about 10 miles (or less as the crow flies) from our house.
At 2:25, another weather statement said, "This tornadic thunderstorm will remain over mainly rural areas of Central Brazos County including the following location...Wellborn. Take cover now!" Okay, that's really us. We live just a mile from the Wellborn post office and water tower. Time to move.
At 2:27, my husband of 22 years and 1 day, who knows me so well, texted and asked: You in shelter?
I responded with one word: Pantry and he gave me a thumbs up.
At 2:30 Jared said the rotation was over the top of us--Wellborn Road, Graham Road, Greens Prairie Road, and William D. Fitch--the roads where all four schools are and the vicinity of our home. The thunder was getting pretty intense, shaking the house.
At 2:31 I texted Jared: Oh my goodness. This is crazy close to home. It's getting loud.
At 2:34 Jared: Ok. I'm watching the news now. It's right in our area. Stay put.
When I didn't immediately respond, he added: Keep talking to me.
As much as severe weather excites me, staying in the pantry wouldn't be a problem in this case. Despite what people may think, I do have a healthy respect for tornadoes, too. I was shaking a little bit from the adrenaline rush and how this was, very literally, close to home and every single Hough was in a different place. But I was at peace, too, as I waited for any loud "train like" noises.
But none came. We were all in shelters or in duck and cover until 2:54 when the tornado warning expired--almost an hour long for the kids.
And then it was a mess for us after that. The little kids weren't going to ride the buses home because they expected to be picked up for their doctor appointments. I hurried and called the doctor to find out if they were even seeing patients. They were. But told me that it wouldn't count against us if we cancelled under the circumstances. I told her we would try. It took forever for me to get those appointments all on the same day, back-to-back. I wasn't about to give up now, come hell or high water--or possible tornadoes--I was determined. I hurried and called JJ's school to see if they could make him a car rider. It sounded iffy but they said yes. So I headed to Karcyn's school first. The rain was coming down so hard, it blocked visibility and the drive was not as efficient as I was hoping. And her school parking lot was completely flooded. I had my running shoes on and they were saturated with water the second I stepped out of the burb. As luck would have it, Karcyn had already gone to athletics, so it took an extra long time to first, locate the kids (she was one of several being picked up...from athletics) and then I had to wait for her to change and get all her stuff before coming to the front office. After we got in the car, we headed back toward the boys' schools. We were closer to JJ's and I saw that the car rider line was a mile long. So I opted to go down the road and pick up Calvin first before swinging by to get JJ. It was 3:30 at that point. We were going to be a little late. As I drove to get Calvin, I was on autopilot and went to the back of the school where the car rider line is like I do in the afternoons, not to the front of the school where I would need to go in order to sign him out. I realized this as I immediately came upon two rows of stationary cars, sitting in front of me, blocking any possible "pass through" option to go around the loop and back out to the main road again. I flung my head around to see if I could back out and escape that way, but there were three cars coming in behind me. Dang it. We were stuck. Trapped in every sense of the word. To quote Jake: "That moment when you realize you've made a terrible miscalculation." I literally could not move forward or backward. I actually considered driving my super SUV up over the curb and through the large median with grass and trees, but thought the school district might frown on that. I resigned myself to defeat and called the doctor's office telling them we were literally stuck in a line and couldn't get out. I called JJ's school and told them I was stuck also, but that I was still coming to pick him up. And then Karcyn and I sat in the car going nowhere for an agonizing 20 minutes until dismissal.
My heart went out to JJ. I knew he'd be wondering where I was. His school was just 1/4 of a mile across the swampy, muddy field between his school and Calvin's. I was looking at it while we sat in line. I even thought about getting out of my car and walking across the field to get him, except the fields would be gross and there was still quite of a bit of lightning flashing in the sky. Ugh. So close, yet so far. Finally, at 3:52, we started moving ever so slightly. Once I had Calvin, we drove with great purpose to Greens Prairie. I went to the back of the school where the pick up line is, but of course no one was there. So I drove all the way around the block to get to the front of the school. It was 4pm (over an hour since JJ's dismissal) when I jogged up to the front office. The secretary, who knows me, saw me and said, "Ignore that message I just left for you." I felt TERRIBLE. They were worried something might have happened to me. What was a hopeful grasp at salvaging our appointments for the physicals went right down the toilet. Poor JJ. They had taken him to the computer lab to play while he waited so the assistant principal went to fetch him while I continued to apologize to the office staff. JJ was a big boy. He didn't cry, but he was sure glad to see me. At that point, I was glad to have my three baby chicks and to just go home.
When we asked the kids about how it went at school, they were all pretty brave. Karcyn was in orchestra and so they got to just go into a large soundproof room and hang out without having to kneel and cover their necks. She didn't cry at all like she did the first time this happened four years ago. Calvin said he got to sit into a storage closet near their collaboration room. JJ had to leave his room and instead of going into the hall, they went into their interior pod area where the computers are and got to sit in there. But he said he thought I died.
9th--JJ's first grade class was having a "Learning a Game" Day that morning. When I arrived, Mrs. Miller greeted me with a side hug and said that JJ was so scared for me during the tornado warning the day before. He didn't cry but cowered up behind on her side and quietly said, "I'm worried my mom died." Mrs. Miller told him that I am a smart lady. That I wouldn't be outside and that I would take shelter like they were. I smiled and nodded my head when as she told me this, grateful she reassured JJ when he needed it and didn't correct her by admitting that I actually DID go outside and didn't take shelter until about 15 minutes after everyone else. Maybe JJ was justified in being worried!
--Karcyn's final orchestra concert. She had to audition to be in the philharmonic (advanced) orchestra next year and she made it!
11th--I woke up and called the temple first thing to cancel our appointment so they didn't think we were no-shows. I was so bummed. I had been looking forward to this for a long time. When Karcyn woke up, I told her what happened and she said, "Oh!! I have a new recommend! It's good until next February!" Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!! We could have gone ALL ALONG!! Dang it! I'll just have to console myself with the fact that perhaps our lives were spared from a terrible accident because I can't figure out why else that happened. Several times that day I had to consciously tell myself not to beat myself up about it and not to sulk because it was a constant temptation for me to slip into that frame of mind.
--We had a pretty packed day after the temple baptisms. Jared took me out to lunch for Mother's Day. Karcyn had her first piano recital after only 4 or 5 lessons with her new teacher. I know from experience how hard it is to play on a different piano than you practice. She was poised and fabulous!
Karcyn and JJ made me Mother's Day cards during their fun time at the church.
--I was a bit mortified when I saw this was what JJ was wearing when he arrived at church.
I was aware that his shoes (which had been Jake's) were in need of repair or replacing. But they seemed much more acceptable to wear when JJ used black socks with them. *sigh*
--For Mother's Day, I got two different yummy cupcakes at church (I took a second cupcake out of pride with a smile and confidence, saying, "If it weren't for me and my connection with the Stropes, no one would be eating cupcakes right now.") Karole got me a fun card that lights up and gift card, JJ and Calvin gave me massages for my hands and feet and Karcyn and Cooper got me an IOU for a full body massage. But the best gift was on Saturday when Jared cleaned our dirty bathroom that had been evading me for weeks! He was definitely speaking my love language there! And I got a sweet message from my Brazilian boy, Luke! His mom, Zanza, also sent me a sweet Mother's Day shout-out on Facebook.
--Sunday afternoon, Karole brought over some left over pizza to share with us in this tupperware container.
This container is legendary in the first generation Hough home. When I lived in Pontiac, IL after Jared and I were first married, this container would show up on the weekends, filled with chocolate chip cookies, that Brenda, their beloved housekeeper always made before she left. That was the routine for many, many years in Jared's home growing up. Even for the short amount of time that I lived with Jared's family, it didn't take long for me to recognize the significance of this tupperware container either. When Jared came home Monday evening and saw the container on the counter he let out an excited gasp, laced with nostalgia. "The cookie container!!" Even though he's not eating sweets, I hated to burst his bubble. But alas I told him it was holding pizza not cookies. I don't think he ever considered it capable of holding anything but chocolate chip cookies. :)
14th--This was the day of our after school dental appointments at 4:30. This time, there were no tornado warnings the hour before, so we were already succeeding! Calvin had an early baseball game though and had to be at his field at 5:10pm. That morning, I told him it would be tight and we would be going straight to the field from the dentist. As such, he wore his baseball uniform to school (sans cup). I couldn't argue with his logic, but checked the district handbook just to make sure there wasn't some dumb rule he might be violating. There wasn't. After school, he informed me that he got quite a bit of flack from his ELA teacher about it though, which was really disappointing. Let the kid plan ahead and applaud him for his efforts. Please. Especially the one who has shown mostly indifference with his school work as of late.
The kids all had glowing reports from the dentist and we were only five minutes late to the baseball field. We dropped Calvin off and then parked the car and the three of us began our tailgate party.
--It was also the night of Calvin's last Pinewood Derby. He got to shape and paint a car this year, only because they did it together during scouts. Which I think is such a great idea! He painted it in the colors of the Hungarian flag (red, white and green), put the number 99 on it (Jake's birth year) and named it "Jikey" (a combo of Jake/Spikey). It was touching to see Calvin's tribute to his older brother. We asked another boy to race the car for him in Calvin's absence.
--On the way home, I caught a picture of this beauty--above the Wellborn water tower and TX Burger. :)
Cooper left for his concert call time and before we had to leave for our respective venues, we did our Come Follow Me discussion with...just Calvin because JJ was out cold on the couch. Our discussion was on the Rich Young Man and after reviewing the story, we asked Calvin, "What did Jesus invite him to do?" Calvin said, "Sell all he had."
"Right. And?"
"Give to the poor?"
"Yes. And?" (We were looking for the invitation to 'Come Follow Me').
"Ummm, pay taxes?"
"No." And then Jared and I busted up laughing.
--Cooper sang the song "Pompeii" in a duet (turned trio at the last minute). He looked so different on stage with a microphone in hand! I almost didn't recognize him (far left). So grown up! He rocked the song!
I took the boys to get celebratory and consolation ice cream at the Chevron by our house. They carry small tubs of different Bluebell ice cream flavors because that's just a staple around here.
Karcyn made it home around 10:15pm that night. I was so pleased that she had a WONDERFUL time in San Antonio. They got first place and a trophy for their orchestra performance and she and her friend Sebastian had a blast going around the Six Flags park together. I gave Karcyn $25 to spend on drinks or treats or games (she had to eat her own GF food on the bus there and back since she couldn't take it into the park). She came home with 65 cents. She did a great job allocating and spending her money! She won this Pokeball playing the balloon dart game. She got two darts for $3. She had to pop two balloons and she did!
A few minutes later, there was a set of Elders who walked by. One of them saw me sitting there and said, "Great talk today!" I was caught off guard and said, "Oh, thank you." He told me he took lots of notes. Turns out they are the missionaries assigned to the Young Single Adult ward that is assigned to the A&M campus. With school out, they got reassigned to our family ward for the summer. We chatted for a little bit and they asked about Jake serving in Hungary. Allison and I eventually got to the point where we felt we could be done with our brainstorming. We had a YM/YW planning meeting on Thursday and she said she'd get it outlined and bring it to me then. Honestly, my participation in this devotional is only a formality. Allison is completely capable of doing it all on her own. She just subbed for Cooper's seminary class the entire last semester.
20th--I woke up to Jake's letter with the subject heading "Hospital Food is the Worst." He said not much had happened that week because he was still not well and had to go get more tests done and he and his companion couldn't go anywhere or do much. And my personal email from him didn't say much either. Probably the shortest and vaguest letter I've ever received from him. I didn't expect it. I felt this urgency that I needed to fast for him that day, so I did.
--Around 11:30, I got a call from President Sharp. I instantly wondered what it was about stake YW he wanted to talk to me about. But he started telling me he just spoke with Jake's mission president, Pres. Hettinger. And I realized this was taking a very unexpected turn. And I just listened. He didn't know what I knew, but Pres. Hettinger wanted to keep us both in the loop. They have run every single test (Pres. Sharp listed off many...Complete Metabolic Panel, urinalysis, thyroid, Lyme disease, mono, vitamin D, etc.) they can think of to try and find out why Jake is all of a sudden not doing very well--and they are all coming back normal or good. About this time in the conversation, I was wondering about mental health issues. Before I could say anything, President Sharp said, "And they've ruled out mental health issues." He told me they were going to try an MRI of the brain later in the week--basically grasping at straws to find anything somewhere in this kid's body to give them an indication of what's happening, but if that follows the pattern of all the other tests and comes back normal, Pres. Sharp said it looks as though Jake will be coming home next week so he can use the medical care here in the States to find out what's going on. I didn't react. It was almost like I was still processing what he was saying. Like, "Wow, this is really happening and this is worse than I thought." But I wasn't upset or scared. And I just listened with an occasional "okay" thrown in there so President Sharp knew I was still on the other end of the call. President Sharp told me that Pres. Hettinger said if I wanted to reach out to Jake (because communication with missionaries and families is instigated by the missionaries when it works for them) I could do so. President Sharp also told me that Pres. Hettinger said Elder Hough is one of his hardest working missionaries and that he really, really wants Jake back. In fact, they gave him the nickname of "The Motor" because he just goes, goes, goes. Ironically, his current companion, Elder Bridges, was with another elder previously who wouldn't work at all. And it was killing Elder Bridges. Elder Bridges was elated when he found out he'd be serving with Elder Hough in his last area before going home. He knew the two of them were going to kill it out there in Gyor because he'd heard about Elder Hough's mission-wide reputation of working hard. President Sharp said he'd keep me posted as he finds out things and I said I'd do the same.
Wow. Jake was coming home. President Sharp said there was a good probability. I knew it was certain. And I had feelings that Jake probably wouldn't be going back to Hungary as a missionary. Poor kid. His missionary heart had to be breaking. But beyond this medical mystery, where he isn't in any physical pain, I was actually REALLY excited at the prospect of seeing Jake again!! I sent Jake a message through our google chat saying I got permission from on high to reach out to him. I thought with it being P-day he would answer. But he didn't.
--At 12:30pm, I received an unexpected message on Facebook from our friend Lala in Hungary. He said, "JENN, JENN, JENN! I am so happy!" And then he sent four pictures of him and Jake.
--This was the day of the rescheduled physicals for JJ and Calvin. I couldn't get Karcyn in because she had a choir rehearsal. Karole also needed a ride to the airport that afternoon. That would make it super tight and maybe it would work if I held my mouth right and crossed my fingers. I was afraid I wouldn't get back in time to pick up JJ before 2:45 when they start loading the kids on the buses. As I picked up Karole, the thought came to me, "Pick up JJ now and then you don't have to worry about getting back in time." It was a brilliant thought. Clearly not mine. Calvin had a field day in 6th period he didn't want to miss, but JJ didn't have anything happening, so that's what I did. Karole got off without any problems for her trip to Utah, Iowa and Illinois. The physicals went off without a hitch and we went to Karcyn's final choir concert at 7pm. She had stayed at school to rehearse and then they had a dinner and end of year awards before their concert which I thought was a great idea.
Karcyn's choir awards.
21st--I texted my bishop to ask him if he had talked to President Sharp. He called me and we talked a bit about what it might look like when Jake does come home...like being a church service missionary until we know for sure if Jake can or can't go back out on a teaching mission. I also mentioned to bishop that we were leaving on Sunday for our vacation to Branson and weren't sure if/when we need to cancel it. He suggested we should have the Church fly Jake into Branson so we can pick him up there, which I thought was brilliant!
--Around 10:45, Jake responded to my chat message from the day before. He said he didn't believe me that we could chat and so he asked permission just to make sure. Haha! He called me on video chat. We could see each other and he could hear me, but I couldn't hear him. So we did this awkward little dance where I talk and he types. He said they were waiting for the second round of blood tests to come back, but it's pretty certain they're sending him home. He said he is fine spiritually. He just spoke with the area mental health guy in Europe and he thinks it could be neurological--like narcolepsy--which is why Jake would need to come back to the states, so he could get a sleep study done. He says he's getting worse by the day and that his condition just popped up one day. He went to bed and then felt like trash when he woke up the next day, could hardly get out of bed. I told him I was SO sorry he was going through all this, but I couldn't help being so excited to see him again!! He smiled and nodded in agreement. They had just finished leading Zone Conference--one of the best they've had--and he would be meeting with President for his interview in the next hour. That's when I suggested that he find out when they would be sending him home and if it's next week to see if he could fly into Branson (Springfield, Missouri). Jake said that he was pretty sure he'd be coming home later that week because they don't know what's going on and it's getting worse. No sense in keeping him there.
That made sense although made things a lot more real. Hopefully he would be home before Sunday. Jake said they were going to get it figured out that day. He also said he knew he was going home before they said anything to him about it. He felt that was the Lord's way of preparing him for the blow. Jake also said that he had to learn two hard songs in under 24 hours for Zone Conference. "And somehow God guided my hands and it was awesome." He worries most about losing his language. I told Jake to make sure he asks President Hettinger what we can do at home to make sure we are honoring missionary standards so we can help him get back out there as soon as possible. Jake turned his head and I saw him nod and smile and mouth the words "best mom" to the missionaries I couldn't see on the screen. He typed, "I love you for being willing. And everyone thinks you are the best mom for offering that." I said hi to the Elders (Spencer, Running and Bridges) who were in the room with him. Jake typed that Elder Bridges feels my prayers. I just can't imagine how hard this experience has been on him either. I let Jake go so he could go eat and Jake said he'd know more in an hour.
--I texted President Sharp to let him know about the interview and that Jake will likely be coming home this week, not next like we originally thought. He said that he will do all he can to support Jake and that he's praying we can get to the bottom of this medical situation and that it's something we can treat quickly and easily. I responded that yes, we are eager for answers, but that we're all doing well. I told him that while I never expected this, I am SO excited to have Jake in our home again. It will be a wonderful family reunion as we celebrate his incredible 10 months in Hungary and that we're anxious to see what the Lord has in store for him next, whether that's Hungary or something else altogether. President Sharp said our approach and the way we're handling things seems PERFECT to him and that he was so impressed. Around 1pm, Jake sent a message saying it's final--he's coming home within the week. They would be figuring out specifics that night and he was headed home to Gyor to pack. I told him I couldn't WAIT to see him!!
22nd--I went to a YW camp meeting that morning to basically tell the camp directors the news about Jake and to not plan on me attending. *sigh*
--Saw this game at Walmart! Might just have to get it! CStat-ers are serious about their town!
President Sharp called us about 20 minutes later and said those were great questions. He received an email from a leader in the church over this process and in bold letters instructed President Sharp to "not release this missionary." President Sharp was actually trying to talk to the mission president over the church service missionaries in our Houston area to find out the specifics we were hoping for, but they weren't able to connect. There is an initiative that just began about six months ago where all missionaries who come home early, for whatever reason, transition over to church service missionary work. Which could be something like working in the temple in Houston two times a week. Or at the cannery. Nothing huge, but even still, we didn't feel it would be safe for Jake to drive alone, 90+ minutes each way, with his inability to stay awake sometimes. President Sharp said he'd work on getting these answers and also learned that he is supposed to talk with Jake and us on a conference call BEFORE Jake leaves the country about these plans moving forward and would let us know when we could set that up.
--A couple hours later, President Sharp said he had just spoken with Pres. Hettinger about our conference call with Jake. We decided on 8AM America Texas time :) He also told me it was looking like Jake would be on the 6AM flight out of Budapest on Friday morning.
So I continued to clean and get ready for Jake to come home.
23rd--We got linked up in a three-way video chat with Jake, President Sharp, Jared and myself on Thursday morning. We discussed what to do when Jake gets home. Unfortunately, President Sharp had not heard back from Elder Ellis (the emeritus general authority who is the church service mission president in Houston) about our questions like he had hoped. We had a missionary in our ward come home early who transitioned to being a service missionary, so we asked Pres. Sharp what that would look like for him and us. It would allow Jake to remain a full-time missionary, but he has no companion and is not teaching. There's a separate handbook for him and his parents. President Sharp can call him to a church service mission (which is not an every day thing) to avoid a hard break or release from his mission. We talked more about the uncertainty of Jake's situation. President Sharp shared an experience he just had the day before with a missionary from the YSA ward who left for Lima, Peru who developed a painful stomach issue that they couldn't figure out. He was home for 3-4 months. They couldn't find any answers here either. But the ward did a fast for him a few weeks ago and the day after the fast, he had no pain for the first time and it's been three weeks of being pain free. This young man is going back out on a teaching mission! That gave us hope and we clarified that if he was released while we search for these answers, if Jake could be called out (reassigned or reinstated) again on a teaching mission and President Sharp said yes. President Sharp also shared that when he spoke with President Hettinger the day before, the mission president gave his honest counsel that he felt Jake should not be called as a church service missionary. That he should be released given his declining health and uncertainty of the situation. I was SO grateful to hear that. President Hettinger has been with Jake through this whole ordeal and knows Jake's heart and I feel like that was all we needed to know. President Sharp told Jake to think about it on his way home but we were all leaning toward him being released.
President Sharp said his goodbyes and then it was just us with Jake (and Bridges Elder) on the call. He would be heading to the airport in less than 12 hours. My parents were wondering if anyone was accompanying him home. I said I didn't think so. Jake confirmed he was coming home alone and that they were just going to have him take a taxi at 4am by himself.
--I loved this post that Jared's sister, Nicole shared.
This is my poster. It says: We love you so much! Welcome home!
Calvin's poster--
JJ's poster--
--At 3:30pm, President Sharp sent me a text saying he was able to finally speak with Elder and Sister Ellis in Houston and then, based on some questions he still had, he called and spoke with the missionary department at Church headquarters that morning. "Everyone seems to be in agreement that the best thing to do today is for me to release Jake as a missionary, especially since Pres. Hettinger seems to think that is also best. So Jake will be released with the idea that he will either be reassigned as a full time teaching or full time service missionary once he recuperates and once the doctors get some answers as to what is causing this. This means as long as he is physically able to go with your family on your trip, there is no missionary related reason why he can't go with you. They raised a question about whether he should be home getting tested by doctors next week rather than off on a family vacation, but everyone understands that the family vacation was already planned and I suspect it makes the most sense to just take Jake with you, if he can handle it."
I responded that his direction sounded great. We just want to focus on getting Jake better and getting him back out there and that releasing him (as a missionary) will release him from other worries he had about not being "all in." I told him I appreciated all his phone calls and inquiries and assured him that our trip was very low key. Just R&R for all of us and Jake doesn't have to do any of it. We just want to surround him with our love.
President Sharp said he completely agreed that allowing Jake to be surrounded by family is the right course of action and he felt totally good about releasing him as well.
--At 4:45, we headed to the Easterwood Airport about 15 minutes away. When we arrived, there were already friends waiting. People who I didn't even know followed Jake's mission experience. I thanked one of these women I never expected to be there and she applauded my attitude about this whole situation and that she really appreciated my positive outlook and joy. She told me that's the way to do it. She spent a lot of time worrying about the health of one of her kids and missed a lot of the joy and happiness. I was so pleased with our crowd of people, especially since there was less than 24 hours notice. The plane landed and we waited down in baggage claim with our posters and anxious smiles.
Calvin keeping a watchful eye on the plane (using my poster because he left his at home even after I told him to make sure he had it with him).
--JJ was so sad when Jake left and now he's SOOO happy he's back. He doesn't want to let Jake out of his sight. When JJ's primary teacher found out Jake was coming home, she said, "Oh, I bet JJ is so happy! He talks about him every week in class and is so proud to be wearing his (white hand-me-down, church) shirt."
Jake brought me a beautiful, blue dyed house blessing that's hanging in our living room.
--Jake kind of wandered around the house looking at the rooms as if he were seeing them for the first time and any changes that he missed. When he walked into the kitchen he said, "Oh! We have a toaster. That's so cool!" And as he approached the fridge, the small side-by-side we had to get a few months before he left because our big one died, he opened the freezer door and commented, "This freezer is really big!"
--JJ still glued to Jake during daylight hours.
26th--Since it was Sunday, we didn't kill ourselves trying to leave for Branson by 5am because traffic through Dallas wouldn't be crazy like it usually is on a weekday. We left by 7am which allowed us to eat breakfast at home and we packed food for lunch and snacks, so we would only need to stop for gas and a potty break.
--There were a LOT of people who wanted to talk to Jake--in Hungarian--at Jake's earliest convenience when they learned he was coming home. Using my phone and FaceTime, he talked to Lala for about an hour in the car on the way to Branson. He also talked to another Jacob (a former Hungarian missionary who Jake has never met, but read his testimony in a book they had at the MTC and connected with him that way). Jake called him and they talked on the phone, in English, for the first time about the country and what Jake can do to adjust during this time. When we got to our condo, Jake then spoke with his former MTC instructor, Colton Squire, who emailed me earlier in the week and told me he has regular correspondence with Hungarians who all say that Jake speaks incredibly well and is an amazing missionary. He wanted to make sure Jake knew that. They spoke in Hungarian as well for quite some time.
--On the drive up, my mom called and sent this text. Our dear friends and former neighbors, Richard and Natassia Scoresby, were in Iceland for a work conference and they went to my parents' branch for church that day. So fun!!!
--The cabin was AMAZING!!!
The actual bathroom had another sink, toilet and shower (with an awesome shower head).
--We had tickets (though, we had to get a last minute one for Jake) to see the show "The Haygoods"--a family of eight siblings (six of which still perform together) who grew up in the Ozarks. You can read about their amazing story here.
Jared and I saw their show as a last minute activity while we were there in September. It was really fun and we thought our music-loving kids would enjoy it, too. They did not disappoint--the Haygoods or the reactions from our kids. :) The "buy one ticket, get one half off" is really awesome, too!
On another song about summer fun, they tossed out lots of beach balls for people to smack around. Some of the balls came right to us.
We found some picnic tables and ate lunch and the kids played on a playground. When we were done, we headed to Wild World which was actually well timed, because there was a HUGE storm about to hit, so being inside would be a good thing!
Calvin's turn.
This was a shark.
Calvin and Karcyn trying their "hand" at the doctor fish tank--where the little fishies come and nibble the dead skin off your finger.
The kids were sitting, getting instructions and learning about the animals. The dingoes sure seemed to like Calvin.
On our way out of the animal part of Wild World, we had to get pictures with the moving T-Rex head.
Jake next to a ginormous spider. It was a goliath bird eating spider (tarantula).
Calvin making small talk with the parrot--and she talked back!
We had tickets to play the black-lit 9 hole-miniature golf course on the other side of the building. Lots of fun! Despite JJ's face.
JJ
This is the front foyer. The washer and dryer were in there. We needed a condo that slept 7, so we got a combo. Meaning the main unit slept 4. Then there was another smaller unit (with its own door that you could enter from inside or in the foyer area. It also slept four. So we got both (adjoining) units, though I realize now that I didn't get pictures of the smaller unit. We put Jake and Cooper on that king bed and Calvin on the hide-a-bed.
--Playing Manipulation with JJ.
And I was relieved that there was finally an end to May!
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