In the run up to Mother’s Day, I was a bit outspoken about taking care of our wives and mothers. It made for interesting conversation, and added pressure on me – because my EC reads my blog. (Which has helped fine-tune her eye-rolling and head shaking skills.)
I think I did a decent enough job. You doubt? OK, I’ll ask.
Me: Honey? Did I do OK on Mother’s Day? I put myself out on a limb with all my preaching…
EC: Yes, you did great. It was a wonderful day.
Me: Anything else?
EC: You aren’t typing my exact words…?
Me: Yes.
EC: Just make it up – you know what I would say.
Me: No. That wouldn’t be honest. (exuding self-righteousness)
EC: Fine. It was an especially hard day for me because it was the first without my mom, and you and the kids focused on me so much and took such good care of me that I didn’t have much time to think about it.
Tah-dah! Success. But if I dig deep and look at Mother’s Day objectively, I know that whatever I did had less impact that one 40 minute chunk of the day.
Yep, we got to Skype with our missionary – and that gave my EC joy.
We had arranged the precise time that he would call through emails the week before. Which, of course, he missed. But about 30 minutes later, the phone rang, and it was him. He mentioned that he had just found out that he could Skype (or tele-conference for you troglodytes) for the first time. So we gathered around the computer, turned on Skype, then realized nobody could log in because nobody remembered their Skype name or password.
Eventually we figured it out, and managed to bring my other out-of-state FOML into the conversation on another screen. It was high-tech in all it’s glory for all seven of us to be together again.
Now, if you have never used video-conferencing before, make sure you build in adequate time for everyone to ignore the conversation and make weird faces. At first, it is as if no one had ever seen a mirror before, and were discovering their reflection for the very first time.
Eventually that fades, and you can engage in real conversation. A group conversation. We met a very nice lady from the branch, her daughter, and the missionary companion – none of which could speak English. Fun for me and FOML2, but nobody else. Eventually the focus turned to my son, and it was wonderful.
He looked good. He looked happy. He is glad he is serving. You pick it up in emails, but to see his face, and his countenance, let me know in an instant that he is doing great.
The technology was such a blessing. We had a great visit for 40 minutes. We talked and laughed, asked and answered questions, and enjoyed being together. He shared his testimony with us in two languages, and *poof* he was gone.
I think back to when I was a missionary – the idea of video-conferencing was the stuff of Star Wars and sci-fi.
One of the years that I was in South America, we had to arrange a time to call home with the help of the nearest business that had a telephone. So it ended up being a Saturday, because we wouldn’t patronize a business on Sunday. We gave the shopkeeper the numbers to call, and then returned to our house. Over the next few hours, the shopkeeper tried to call out to the States- and had trouble getting through. Eventually, some little boy came running down the street shouting for us to come take the call.
We hurried up to the store, and picked up the receiver – only to find the line dead. So we tried again. Eventually we got through to our parents, which was great. But instead of taking the first part of our time making faces on a computer screen, we talked about how expensive the call was.
Times have changed, and the world is much, much smaller. That is a great blessing for so many reasons- not just for the world, but especially for missionary moms on Mother’s Day.
A couple of years ago I had two missionaries out at the same time. I had the presence of mind to take some screen captures of our skype call. mwhahaaa….
We don’t have any missionaries out right now, but skyping with the out of state kids was the highlight of my Mother’s Day . . . but the chocolate was great too!
XXXOOO – I love you my very own MMM! I am so lucky to be your EC!
I must learn to Skype or Google hangout before Christmas!
Yes, the focus of my Mother’s Day was that phone call from Korea. I dearly love all my children, but oh, I how I miss my missionary! He’s my 4th missionary, but you don’t “get used to it.”
Lots of our Skype time with the missionary son was taken up with not so much face-making, as it was sticking objects like stuffed animals, pencils, the iphone that had the sister’s head on facetime, and the pet lizard right up in the webcam lens.
Oh, I love technology! (sung in your best Kip voice)…Being able to Skype my missionary on Mother’s Day made the “holiday” actually bearable. It was amazing to see my son’s face as he sat in a little tin shack in the jungle of the Philippines. AH-MAY-ZING! Now I have proof he’s still alive and not wasting away. A high tech tender mercy fo sho.
We spent most of the time making silly faces. And then me touching his face on the screen took up the rest.
I second google hangouts. I thought little kids were the only ones that liked to make silly faces on the webcam. Mine always do when I’m traveling. It’s good to hear they never grow out of it.
How great is Skype?!?! Of course that was the highlight for your EC that day! Best Mom’s gift ever!
My husband was worried that our boy didn’t call “collect.” Yeah, he served his mission 30+ years ago. My son and I both said “cell phones usually have unlimited minutes.” Welcome to the future. We didn’t get to Skype, maybe next year.
One thing that made my Mother’s Day better…having the missionaries over to our home to Skype their Moms 🙂 We’ve done this now with several sets of missionaries, both on Mother’s day and Christmas, over the past 2 years. It sets up such a great feeling in the home as we listen to them interacting face to face with family. Technology is not only a blessing for those using it, but also for those who open their homes up for it to be used…
You know what is even better than Skype? Google plus hangouts!! Multiple people on one screen and it’s even FREE! And not only can you make silly faces, you can add mustaches and hats and even make sound effects.
My family and I live in Scandinavia and use Google hangouts all the time to talk with Grandparents and other family back home. Without todays technology I don’t think I could stand to live so far away.
Yes! Google Hangouts are much, much better than Skype! We always have trouble with Skype dropping calls, bad connections, etc. but never with Google Hangout.
Last Mother’s Day, we had a hangout with our missionary which included South Carolina, Austria, Canada, Utah and New Zealand. It was incredible! The world is getting so much smaller with technology.
I was grateful to be home for both Mother’s Day and Christmas with my fam while my hubby was deployed. I too, was comforted and overwhelmed with how joyful and bright my brothers countenance is while he serves! I’m glad Skype was invented to show me that awesome kid loving his Lords work.
We were able to speak with both our missionary sons on Mother’s Day…one via Skype, the other a traditional phone call. You are right…it absolutely trumps anything else that could possibly happen or I could possibly be given on Mother’s Day.
Skype is such a blessing! When I think about past military wives who relied solely on written letters that came months apart, my heart just aches for them. I got to Skype my husband once a week, text daily and call if I stayed up late enough. I am spoiled!