A Missionary Update....

I haven't done a very good job at updating what is going on with The Missionary

Boy...on this blog...or on his blog...and the reason for that is that I have two huge binders

filled with letters, pictures and anything else that applies to The Missionary Boy...and those

I go keep very updated.  Side note...my dilemma is how to best organize his mission experience

for him, so that when he returns home...it will be basically done.  My personal experience

with my own mission, was that I thought I would never forget a face, or an experience, so

aside from a well kept journal....I didn't keep my letters organized, or my pictures...and

now...the memories just sit in a box.  I don't want to repeat this for The Missionary Boy...

but there are too many options!!!  A blog book????....a binder scrapbook???...or does

it really matter as long as it is organized???  Anyway,  so there it is...my dilemma!

So, a quick update on The Missionary Boy.  He is great!  He recently left his very beloved

area of Reading, England and was assigned to the area of Trowbridge, England.  The area

had had some problems with previous missionaries, and so he did what they call a

"whitewash,"  where they basically start over with completely new missionaries.  He was so sad

to leave Reading.  He had really grown to love the members there and they were soooo good to him

too!  He had also really become close to his companion Elder Fawson.  So the move was

sad...but he was ready for a new challenge.

(Reading, England)

Also with the new move, came a training assignment.  He was asked to train a new missionary

from Switzerland, Elder Von Allmen.  A sweet sister from the Reading area called and left

us, (we weren't home), and left a message telling us that he was going to move and that

he was going to train.  She said that when he stopped by to say good-bye, he felt excited

and overwhelmed at the same time!  He said in a later letter that Reading had been his

beginning place for his journey as a missionary, and that it would always be very special to him.

(Reading, England)

He and his companion (who was also called as a trainer) headed to the mission home, which

is located next to the London Temple to meet the new missionaries.  Pres. and Sis. Shamo, who

will be finishing their mission in June....first introduced the Elder who would be training and then

introduced the new missionary.

I LOVE this picture soooo much!!

I can see in The Missionary Boy's face, genuine excitement and love for his new

companion!  The new group of missionaries was on the small side, I think there were

8 new Elders and Sisters.  They all spent the night in the mission home and headed to their

new areas the next morning.  The Missionary Boy wrote in his letter, that the English

countryside was "breathtaking!"....interestingly enough, he is in an area where PreShie toured

the Summer he left.  She knew the area, and that seemed to thrill them both!

The Missionary Boy's companion is an exceptional young man.  He has an amazing family!

I have been blessed to be in touch with his Mother in Switzerland.  It has been great to know

a little about them;)  These two Elders are growing together....learning together....and I hope

that they will forever be "brothers" and keep in touch throughout their lives!

A few weeks after settling into the new area....The Missionary Boy was called to be

the District Leader in his area!  He is humble and excited all at the same time....

I was visiting with a brother-in-law a few days ago...he was asking about The Missionary

Boy, and how he was doing.  I told him that I thought I had been exposed to missionary

work on several different levels...as a missionary, as a teacher at the MTC in Provo, and

that I though I understood pretty well, the experience of a mission.  What I didn't know until now

what what it means to be a parent of a missionary...and wow...I wasn't completely

prepared for all the emotions that go along with that!  The miracle of the mission really is

in the conversion of the missionary....the baptisms are a beautiful bi-product of a life that

had been given completely to Heavenly Father.  What an incredible experience it has been

for us to watch on the "sidelines" as missionary parents!