Jake Van Hoff, a 2015 graduate at North, spent his Monday evening flipping burgers at the local Culver’s on August 17. He was anxiously awaiting the moment the clock would strike 11:00pm, marking the end of his shift. The cause of his eagerness to leave being a text his mom had sent him earlier that day.

Her text contained pictures of a letter Van Hoff and his family had been anticipating since August 1, prompting him to respond, “HOLY COW.”

Van Hoff, a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, had received a letter from his church stating the location, among other information, of a mission trip he would embark on for the next two years. He had sent in his application for the mission trip about two weeks prior to receiving the letter.

The night of August 17, he returned home from Culver’s shortly after 11pm. His family had concluded celebrating his sister, Sophomore Allison Van Hoff’s birthday, before he opened the letter revealing the location of his mission, a much anticipated event for any Mormon missionary. He tore open the envelope, revealing his call to Sofia, Bulgaria.

“I was excited, very excited,” said Van Hoff. “I got home real quick. I was still in my uniform, my mom has video of this.”

His call to Bulgaria, he described as a surprise. Both of his parents had also served missions for the LDS Church, but were sent to Argentina. Because of this, his family had expected him to be called to South America, following in his parents’ footsteps.

Bulgaria, however, was especially intriguing to Van Hoff. He had hoped beforehand that he would be sent to a European country to experience a different culture than that in the United States.

“I’ve never been to a European country before so just being able to experience a different culture [is interesting],” said Van Hoff.

He spent about an hour after opening his mission letter, researching the geography and culture of Bulgaria.

Men in the LDS Church are expected to serve two-year missions at the age of 18, upon graduation from high school. They send their application to the Church headquarters in Salt Lake City where they are assigned an area to serve by church leaders.

In a 2012 conference addressing all worldwide members of the LDS Church, leader of the Church, Thomas S. Monson stated, “We encourage all young men who are worthy and who are physically able and mentally capable to respond to the call to serve. Many young women also serve, but they are not under the same mandate to serve as are the young men.”

While in Bulgaria, Van Hoff will have minimal contact with family and friends. He is allowed a short period of time to email each week and can Skype his family on Mother’s Day and Christmas. He won’t know how much time or what day he will be allowed to email until he arrives in Bulgaria.

“It’s gonna be weird [with little contact] because we do spend a lot of time together. Emailing him will be a big thing,” said his sister, Allison.

Adding on this, Van Hoff stated he would have to improve his “email game.”

Van Hoff doesn’t depart for his mission until December 30, but sees a greater importance in spending time with his family because of the little time he will have to communicate with them once he leaves

“I work a lot now because I have so much time between now and December 30, when I leave,” said Van Hoff. “Just finding the gaps between working and sleeping to find time to spend with family. That’s been a challenge but it’s also been a very rewarding challenge. I’ve got to try to spend as much time with them now before I don’t see them for two years.”

Following his mission, Van Hoff will attend college at Utah Valley University before transferring to Brigham Young University, where he plans to major in computer science.

Fellow LDS alumn Taylor Hollingshaus is also serving a mission, but left July 29 to serve in the Missao Brazil Belo Horizonte mission.