A Shout Out from Shelbytucky

Hey everybody!

 

This week has been another wonderful week of lessons learned and self refining. I have been pondering and studying the concept of pride this past transfer and I have recognized how much pride I have and how hard it is to get rid of it! The really cool thing about it is that because of my recognition of these things. I have noticed that the Lord has been giving me many opportunities to strengthen my humility and work on putting off pride. One of those experiences I would like to share. Elder **** and my relationship really struggled toward the end of first transfer and on into the second transfer. I would often try and be kind to him but he seemed to always seek to bring me down. I often caught myself getting very frustrated with him. Right around this time I noticed I had been getting great insight into pride and (with the help of Elder Wilson) I realized I needed to show an outpouring of love to this elder cause I do love the guy and desired to be good friends with him. So as I tried to be kind, at first it wasn't working to my knowledge and sometimes thoughts of discouragement came to me, but as I stayed persistent in just loving him and complimenting him something miraculous happened! It was like some invisible wall crashed down and we became really close within a few days! It felt so good to know that if we truly follow Christ's example and do what he has asked, it will be for our benefit. I loved learning this lesson and will cherish it.

 

I got to see Charles again yesterday! That old geezer is the funniest man! All 6 missionaries went over to dinner last night and Elder Willie and I were laughing so hard listening to Charles tell dumb jokes about other religions :) We are going to be having 3 baptisms here in the next week, possibly four. Melinda's (investigator) two daughters, Stormy and Dameona are getting baptized and then Casey Antle is also getting batized. Melinda is also planning on baptism but with her boyfriend situation she feels that she needs to move her date a little farther back. They are thinking about getting married but not sure. She is so awesome though! Such a strong testimony.

 

I had to give a talk yesterday in sacrament meeting and that went pretty well! They asked me to give my talk on "Not getting offended" (ironic right?) and it went good! Apparently our ward has a bit of a problem with that :D Next week in sacrament meeting I also have to sing with some of the ward members for a musical number. We are singing Holy Night and it should sound sweet (not as good as the 16th ward choir though, Mom :)!

 

Hope everything is going well. Thank you everyone who sent me packages and letters recently, I LOVED them! You guys rock! I love you all and will hope to hear from you soon!

Keep fighting the good fight!

Sincerely,

Elder Young

 

 

P.S.- These are a few pictures from our wards "nativity activity" they bring tones of nativities and you can walk around and view them. also you can dress up and do your own nativity. Elder Easter and I posed just as a goofy picture.... we were being dumbos :D also that was me standing next to someone's "Nativity" haha I thought it was funny that it was a picture of some random guy :D hope you like them!

 

 

 

 

Weekend Update with Elder Young

Hey there!

 

Wow, what a week it has been. There has been so many out of this world experiences with the Lord this week I just feel so happy :) Our Christmas party was this week and we almost had more less actives and investigators turn up than members! it was sweet! I also had to sing at the party :) Then 6 investigators came to church last Sunday! Then last night we had a fireside in downtown Indianapolis called "Why I Believe". It was an amazing experience. Recent Converts speak at it and three of our investigators went with us. What an amazing evening! 

Also I have had some amazing experiences with investigators and less actives this week that have strengthened my understanding and testimony in the Lord. I also have been having some amazing studies in the mornings and it makes me so happy to know that the Lord truly prepares us for what He needs to accomplish. 

I have been working on humility this week though cause as all of us struggle with this, I have a problem with it. But I am finding amazing new insight and am loving letting the Lord shape and mold me. I have three weeks left with Elder Wilson before transfers.... its going to stink. Elder Wilson and I have had such a strong companionship and he has taught me so much! I couldn't have asked for a better trainer!

 

Anyways, I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. I love you all and hope the best!

Sincerely,

Elder Young

P.S.- Guila and Billy went to their new ward in Madison Indiana last sunday and have met up with the missionaries! they are so getting married in the temple!

Weekly Update #8...8 weeks in the field ahahahahah! :)

Hello Everyone!

 

This week has been wonderful! Lots of lessons learned and testimony strengthening experiences. So on Thanksgiving day we went and played in the Turkey Bowl with the ward, WHAT A BLAST! haha we brought our investigator Lovell and he had a fun time. Also (drum roll)...... I scored a touchdown! haha Mom, your son isn't as bad at sports as we all thought he was! :D Then that afternoon we went to Wally and Deanna Lopers house for a thanksgiving feast. They are so similar to Grandma and Grandpa Smith its crazy! Wally even has a dream catcher in his car! haha They brought over two investigators and they had thanksgiving with us. What a treat! We were able to teach them some of the Plan of Salvation before dinner and we just had a really spiritual experience the whole time we were there.

 

Yesterday at church, our investigator Casey finally came to church! We have been trying to get her to come for weeks! That was a great experience for her and after testimony meeting was over she leaned over to me and said "Hey, could I do that?" and I told her that she could do it next fast sunday (motive to keep coming to chuch :D ) so that was totally wicked. Also earlier that week the Featherston's invited us and Casey to come to their house for dinner and a message. That was so wonderful for Casey, they invited her to church and I think that is what got her to come.

 

We have really been able to establish trust with the ward and it is such a blessing to see the ward's motivation for missionary work increase. I love this ward so much, they are the type of ward I would call the "battle-field ward" cause they are the ones that are fighting everyday to strengthen the ward and do missionary work. It's funny cause they found out I do ballroom and my ward mission leader's wife really wants me to teach a ballroom class to the ward (mostly for her husband) and I told her that I dont choreograph and also I would have to dance with Elder Easter or my ward mission leader, but that didnt seem to phase her haha. So we will see where that goes...

 

FUNNY STORY: I might have found the funniest old man I have ever met in my life. His name is Charles. Brock, I know you would think he was the best thing since super meat boy. He is Sister Featherston's dad and he is about 90 years old and lives with the Featherstons. He is always cracking jokes and has the funniest laugh/facial expressions ever. AND HE WATCHES THE BIG BANG THEORY RELIGIOUSLY!! hahaha apparently the whole Featherstone clan watches it. Also he is presbyterian and studies "the details" of the Bible. Now your wondering why I quoted the details, here is the funny story: So while we are teaching the lesson I ask Charles something and he says "oh you don't want to teach me, you could'nt awnser my questions." and when I told him to "try me" he asked "How old was Mary when she was pregnant with Jesus?"....??? haha then he asked me how old was Joseph when Mary was pregnant and then Brother Featherston said "Charles, those questions aren't even important!" haha oh it was grand :) then before we left he came up to me with a smile on his face and said "Hey, you know why I am still alive?" and I asked him why and then he said "Cause Jesus doesnt want me and Satan knows that I will take over if I go to hell!"..... :D what a goof ball.

 

Anyways, be a missionary is truely one of the best things we can do in this life and I am honored the Lord trusts me enough to help out in this work. Love you all and hope everything is going well.

 

Sincerely,

Elder Young

A little video of Jake's days as a Special Needs Seminary helper.

Each day they would act out a scene from a super hero movie and then the students would have to guess the movie. We watch it often to hear Jake's laughter and also because it's so dang cute! :)

A few pics

Weekly Update

Hello Everyone!

 

This week has been a wonderful week full of miracles and growing experiences! This week Guila (our super solid investigator) not only helped us teach other investigators but has a new boyfriend who she gave a book of mormon to,  and brought to church this week. Turns out his name is Billy (how cool is that!!!) and he is a WONDER INVESTIGATOR! So in gospel principles at church, Elder Wilson (my companion) and Elder Willie taught the Plan of Salvation and apparently he was helping them teach out of the scriptures and told everyone that he knew that the book of mormon was true, ALSO in Elders Quorum he informed us that his only desire in life now is to be a servant of the Lord and serve him forever.... Elder Wilson and I were having spiritual poopies in our pants. :D 

So all in all it has been a great week! We have a quarterly goal of 7 baptisms and so far we have had 2. We are exercising great amounts of faith to accomplish that and we can feel the Lord working through us.

Hope everyone is doing well! My video diaries will soon be send home to be put on a blog for all to see. Ta ta for now!

Sincerely,

Elder Young

 

P.S.- Here are some picture of my apartment and other random stuff. and Elder Easter says hi!!

Weekly Update (a week late - mama's fault)

Helllooooooooo!

 

Life is going good over here in Shelbytucky! We almost had a tornado last night and that was awesome! I was bummed I didn't get to see one though :( We are still working dilligently with our investigators and loving everyone we come in contact with. I found out that the hardest part about my mission is myself. As humans we have so many weaknesses that we have to work to overcome that if you focus on yourself on your mission it will be hard. So my companion and I are working on becoming as humble as possible at all times and just thinking positive thoughts. With that said though we do have amazing experiences everyday and are thoroughly enjoying our time serving. We are pretty goofy in our apartment and that makes up for some fun times. 

We just had stake conference and that was amazing! The whole session was on member missionary work. It was really inspiring! My mission president spoke at it and he is such a boss! I love listening to him speak. He looks just like Riley too! So Riley, if you see a picture of him, that is what you are going to look like when you are an old geezer :) 

Also on Friday, Elder Wilson, Guila(investigator), Jeff Loper(Member), and I all went to movie night in Franklin. The ward there hosted it and we watched "Ephraim's Rescue". it was pretty cheesy at some parts but really good for the most part! very powerful experience! Guila is doing extremely well! she has a person of interest and she was so excited to tell us that she was talking to him about the mormons and how she is going to join and that she wants the missionaries to come and talk to him :D she is great!

 

Anyways, I am learning SO MUCH and LOVING MY MISSION! Hope everyone is doing well, love you all and I pray for you.

Love,

Elder Young

Weekly Update!

Hello everyone, 

I have like 10 minutes to write this before my time runs out so here I go!

 

This week has been one of great excitement and enlightenment. My companion and I are becoming better everyday and trying to maintain great attitudes everyday. I have been experiencing SO MANY MIRACLES this past week. its ridiculous! I will talk about them more in my video diaries which I am hoping to put on here.

It snowed today and it is so darn tootin cold out here I am scared for the next 4 months.... :) anyways other than that, I have been realizing how much food I actually eat each day.... to be honest its scary.... I don't know where it all goes! :) on the bright side I eat pretty healthy compared to Elder Willie who buys two two liter containers of mellow yellow each week and donuts and cheese... (that's literally all he bought yesterday for the week) :D haha we love to make fun of his eating habits! You would be proud of me mom, I buy a container of that weed mix salad and eat one of those every week! I just bought ceasar dressing, cherry tomatoes and parmesan cheese and make ceasar salads everyday, ITS THE BEST! 

Yesterday our zone got together to play games at the stake center and it was a ton of fun! I realized how much I stink at sports :) 

Also an update on our investigator Guila, she got released from jail a week ago for surgery and she is released till her trial in a week! so she is progressing in the gospel and the ward is taking good care of her.

Alright, well I go to go, my comp is waiting for me. 

Love you all!

Elder Young

A few field pics

Another great week!

Hey Guys!

    This week has been a great week of learning and growing. I often have many spiritual battles in my mind every day as my natural man wants to take control and my spiritual man is constantly beating the natural man down. It can be a weary process sometimes but I am determined to win the battle!
     We have been so blessed to be led to several new investigators this week. We gained seven new investigators this week and now have 12, I believe. Many of these new investigators are hungry for the truth and eat it up as the spirit teaches them. Its a marvelous thing to behold. We are also thinking of new ways to work with members and we are finding success in our new methods. I can feel the members starting to feel that fire of missionary work and are trusting us more and more. I feel that the spirit is about to take us over the brim of major spiritual success and it is simply our jobs to stay as close to the Lord as possible and be courageous in all our efforts.
     Some funny stories this week. So there is this guy that apparently EVERYONE in Shelbyville knows, and his name is Carl Bond. Well I haven't met him but the other set of missionaries have been over to his place a few times and the stories they tell us about him are hysterical! They say that he is about 65 years old, has the hair of Einstein and looks like Elton John and Ozzy Osbourne. He also has 7 pianos in his tiny house (he fixes and tunes pianos). Well the other missionaries said that went they went over to his house he went on and on about how awful and wretched the people of Shelbyville are and how he pities anyone that has to come here (which is ironic cause he is probably the biggest goober in the area) and he also had a gay roomate that feels the same way about this place. He is a less active member and I guess that he plays piano and organ for like every church in Shelbyville... except the church he belongs to... :) Oh and also I guess he talks and talks and talks for hours. haha last time the elders went over they were there for 2 hours and they said they literally said 2 words, HA! Every time the other missionaries come over and tell us stories about him it makes me want to meet him more and more! We went over to visit him and my companion was going to play him a song he is writing (my companion is this freaking amazing composer) and if Carl came to church he would play the rest of the song for him at church. But when we went over there he wasn't home but his house totally matched what I thought a person like himself would live in! it made my day!

    I am loving this work. It feels my heart to see the gospel start to take root in these people's lives. Elder Wilson and I are making leaps to become creators of circumstances and not creatures of circumstances.
The things I am working on to become a better missionary is first, of course, staying very humble. Secondly, I catch myself in my free time often day-dreaming about my future and how weird it will be when I return home in two years... I am working on quenching those thoughts and strictly focusing on the work at hand. I want to be a missionary who is completely involved in the task that is before me. I am confident that through diligence and relying on the Lord I can continue to better myself in these areas.
Thank you for your love and support!

Elder Young

P.S. oh and Guila got out of jail!! She got out this week and came to church. She is doing good and the ward is taking good care of her. She got out because of surgery and then they just released her for no reason until her trial in a month. she is recognizing the Lord's hand in her life and relying on him. she said she prayed like 50 times a day in jail and finally said her will was his and then a few days later her gall bladder acted up so she got out for surgery! I love the Lord!

Week 3 in the field.

Hello Everyone!

 

This week has been yet another great and glorious week. I have seen the Lord do some miraculous things and I am just honored to take part in them. We recently had our ward halloween party and Elder Wilson and I had two of our investigators come and it was a blast! they loved it and we all played touch football. One of our investigators name is Lovell, he is a huge black football player. He is 18 and wants to be a chef. He also plays the snare drums in the marching band. Before he moved here he lived in the getto in downtown chicago. He is pretty much a boss :) When he read the Book of Mormon he cried! lots of great things are happening down here. These past few days my testimony has been tested and tried but I know the Lord is over me and is helping me become stronger in my faith in him. I am out of time but I love you all and next week this will be my first email so i will write more! Love you all! Go out and share the gospel with someone!

Sincerely,

Elder Young

Snippets from Jake's 2nd week in the field. (The rest of the letter are things he needs...:) )

Hi Mom!

so i literally have no time this week. things are going hectic with investigators and its taking up all of our time. Things are actually going wonderful here. the ward is great. the work is great. the investigators are great. haha i hate writing letters cause it never gets what a want to fully say. honestly i have NOTHING to complain about and i am super scared that there is like going to be like a week straight of hellish days because i haven't had a bad day yet and i am just loving it so much.  i just love life here and i feel like i am truly needed here. There are definitely things i can work on and i am working on them everyday.

We have several awesome investigators but there is one that i thought was worth sharing about. her name is Guila. She is a single mom with two little kids. she is one of our investigators with a baptismal date and when i first met her she was in the hospital, pregnant, with gall stones.... ya this woman has had so many bad things happen to her since i have gotten here it makes me sick inside. after she got out of the hospital she was still very sick and her boss fired her from her job and because of that her land lord is going to give her a notice on her apartment. she also didn't have money after that event to pay rent on her bed(she was renting her bed from someone) so they took the bed but luckily some of the members who have become friends with her, got her a bed so that was super cool. but it gets worse. so on Sunday she came to church with her two adorable kids and we were able to teach her and go over the baptismal questions with her during the second hour. the poor girl cried and cried about her the crap she was going through and i wished i could just give her a hug. anyways when we offered to move her baptism date back she got tears in her eyes and said "i want to get baptized." and so we told her to pray about it and let us know when she felt it would be best. anyways we were excited that she was still fighting but that night we got a call from her..... she was in jail. turns out that earlier that evening her ex-husband came over with his girlfriend and he had a big bruise on his face and they called the police on her and blamed it on her... and the only witness was his girlfriend. so she got put in jail and is now has no money to post bail and if she doesn't she will be in jail to the end of November and lose her house and all her stuff... it has appalled me all the crap she has had to go through. we are hoping Bro. Craig Sr. can post her bail and so she can get out. he is a member of the bishopric and has been a huge help. i wish i could just give her plane tickets and send her to live in Rexburg but that can't happen.... anyways its a sticky situation.

(I remember clearly as a missionary wishing I could send everyone back to Rexburg where they would be safe and okay... :) -Jake's Mom )

First Week in the Mission Field

Hey Everyone!

 

Life is going great here in Indiana! I am in a town called Shelbyville. It pretty much consists of farmers and factory workers... oh and homeless people! haha but I am loving it here. Believe it or not, I have not tracted yet.. We have had full day after full day after full day. The missionaries before I got here really did some good work. My new companion is Elder Wilson. He is an insanely hard worker and a really caring person. We get along great! His companion/trainer before me was very different from him and they struggled pretty bad so he is still detoxing from that. But he is learning to become more relaxed. Also I have been getting more ripped since I have been out here!!!! I never thought that would happen. They refer to me as the buff elder in our area. Another elder in my area, Elder Easter, came up to me when we were shopping on preparation day and said "You are so freaking buff... its sick." haha and he was dead serious! it made my day :) my traps have gotten pretty enlarged :D ANYWAYS, the work is moving on down here in Shelbyville. Its coming slowly but steadily. Many of these people live in poverty or just have bad thing after bad thing happen to them. I often wonder how they can get out of the bed in the morning. One of our investigators name is Guila, she is about 26 and she is pregnant with her third child, divorced, and just got out the hospital with gal stones. She has to go into surgery in a few days and her boss fired her today because she has missed to many days being in the hospital.... thats a glimpse of the lives people live down here. Also we have an investigator named Maria who is about 45, has some kids, missing half her teeth, works in a pizza dough factory, and is living with a less active member boyfriend. Her husband slept with her mom so she is still traumatized by that (who wouldn't be) and yet she has the sweetest spirit. There is many more stories just like these I could tell you, it so sad because we have a message that can change their lives and yet they don't accept it. But we are working hard and won't give up. I am growing so much out here, its ridiculous. My testimony is growing so much everyday and it is from absolute obedience. My companion and I are so obedient sometimes it bugs me for no reason... haha but we are so blessed from it. We also pray literally 24-7... like today my companion prayed over a bowl of cereal, then after he finished that he made a sandwich and prayed over that too.... (he's crazy! haha jk :) I am loving relying on the Lord so much. Anyways, there is so much to tell but not enough time. Just know that I love you all and will write you next week.

Love,

Elder Young

 

P.S.- I didn't write Monday because it was Columbus day and they closed the library. But my preparation days are on Monday so expect letter then!

A text I received today:

Your son has arrived in Shelbyville, IN!  We just had them over for lunch.  Elder Wilson is his trainer and a super missionary!  We'll take good care of him here.
Susan Loper ( a member who had them over for lunch) 

(I LOVE TEXTING and I LOVE COOL MEMBERS!)

)

And he's....outtahere!

Unprepared, I got a phone call this morning and when I said, "hello" I heard, "Hi momma." WOW! I wasn't expecting the rush I got from hearing Jake's voice. I can't imagine what people go through who haven't heard from loved ones for years. I felt so emotional; proud, sentimental, happy, longing, excitement, tender. It was so great to hear my sons voice mainly because he sounded so upbeat and excited!

He said his district had the best time together. All except Jake were from Utah. He loved his companion. There are 20 Elders flying out today for Indiana. There was one creepy Elder that he would be scared to be comps with. Jake said this Elder flirted tirelessly with all the Sister Missionaries, touching their hair and so on. He reminds Jake of this guy:

I told him now that he's expressed his anxiety about having him as a comp, he will. :)

He said he has not been homesick. He said all the Elders in his district/apartment cried the first night saying, "I miss my mom." Jake never did cry and the Elders told him he didn't love his mother and Jake told them he was raised to be a big boy. THAT'S MY SON! There's no crying on a mission!! (see A League of Their Own) I told Jake he should buy them all pull-ups. :)

He called Ira and M'Lynn this afternoon. He was in INDIANA! He had tried to pass out pass along cards but everyone in the airport and on the plane was Mormon.

Well, here we go. I don't know how to express how proud I am of Jake. He is so great!! Can't wait to be part of this great work again, even vicariously!

Last Day in the MTC

Hello!

Today is my last day in the MTC! We had an absolute amazing weekend here with conference and all the Sunday evening devotionals and church movies. What was everyone's favorite talk?? I had so many I don't think I can pick one. I did really love Elder Uchtdorf's talk on getting up. Last night we watched the Joseph Smith movie before checking in for the night and it was sooooo powerful!! our district was so pumped after we watched it, we all wanted to go proselyte right there! It was a grand old time :) Today we are just getting packed and getting ready to depart. Our last classes are this afternoon and then we leave for the airport tomorrow morning around 4:30 am. I should be in Indianapolis around 2pm. tomorrow so that should be exciting! Hope everyone is doing well and I am looking forward to hearing from you guys! Getting emails here is way more exciting then it was back home. Love you guys!

 

Elder Young

MTC Week 1

Hey Everyone!

I have now been in the MTC just over a week and it's been going great! I absolutely LOVE all of the power packed spiritual experiences. All day long it's like you are absorbing all of this gospel knowledge in. I love it! My comp is Elder Palmer, he is awesome! He loves to tease everyone so we pretty much get along just fine :) our district is six elders and we are all roommates. they are so awesome! we are actually all nerds except my comp so it is a hoot and a holler! sometimes we laugh too much and it gets out of hand so we always have to calm each other down and feel guilty about it :P We are actually not staying at the MTC, infact we are at the new campus called Wyview. I haven't been to the actual main campus since day one. Its so much nicer down here though. We got spoiled and we are sooo blessed. Also I am just going to put this out there, I really hate the age change for girls right now because there are so many beautiful sister missionaries here! all of us have to keep coaching ourselves to stay away. haha its hard but we are keeping strong :) We are teaching three different Investigators right now and they are all so different! its also very humbling cause once you get comfortable teaching you get totally smacked down and have to humble yourself again... we were meeting with one investigator yesterday and we were really confident with him but when we came to teach he had all these doubts and we didn't even get to teach him... It was really hard on me cause I had no idea what to do but then my teacher read this scripture "The Lord chaseneth whom he loveth." and it made me feel a lot better. Anyways, things are going dandy out here and I am striving to be the best missionary I can be. The food here is pretty sweet, its pretty much a buffet for all three meals :) But i am not gaining any weight and actually I am getting more and more muscle from the micro workouts i do throughout the day! its great. I am increasing my push up number every day and today i did 40 in one set. so i am hoping to do 100 before this year ends! so i am hopeful that i will remain in good shape for Marines :) Love you guys and before I leave I want you to all tell me how you guys feel the spirit. does it come as a whisper in your heads? or just a good feeling? I would love to know cause I am trying to become better at recognizing the spirit.

Talk to you guys soon!

Elder Young

P.S.- these are some pics i took this week, the one with all the elders is my district, my comp is standing to the right me and the other picture is my apartment.

 

 

Elder Young in the News

 

 His mission announcement:

 

The Headline in the newspaper the day he left:

                                              

Give 'em Heaven Elder!

First, I have to thank Leah Hoogland for creating this blog and for all her future help in maintaining it. :) She is multi-talented and so awesome!

Today was a really great day and mainly because Jake was very excited and ready to go! What a guy! He has been preparing for a long time. For preparation he feasted from the scriptures and gained a testimony of his own. He attended the temple often and he made choices that allowed him to have the Spirit with him. He is ready and I am sure Heavenly Father is excited to have him as part of His army.

I have to say that I am so thankful that I served a mission because taking him to the MTC was so exciting! I cried afterwards only because I wish I could go with him; not that I want to re-live my mission but because I want to watch him experience everything that's ahead of him and I think it's a little unfair that I raised him and now I don't get to watch him become a man except through emails and hopefully some pictures but knowing what is happening to him as a missionary gives me a lot of peace as his mother. I loved my mission because it's exactly what I needed and so I have a lot of faith that it will be the same for Jake.

We will miss his silliness and his jokes and his laughter and his craziness. We will also miss our long talks and solving the world's problems right there around the kitchen table. I will miss him in ward choir. We already miss his friends Riley and Brock but hopefully we won't miss his friends that will still come around.

Elder Ira Jacob Young

 

In the beginning there was a boy who received his mission call . . .

 

 

 

Here is a link to listen to Elder Young's talk on the Atonement, just click on the cloud to the left and it will take you to it.



Also here is the choir number that was performed in church that Jake's mom Teralyn conducted.  In the choir were members of the 16th Ward, Grandpa & Grandma Smith, Grandpa Young, Uncle Jared, Uncle Jeff, Jake's friend Jean-Luc, cousin Carson,  sister M'Lynn, Jake, and his dad Ira.

That boy is all grown up and ready to serve a mission!



"Thank you for your I-Phone!"
 

 

 Fatherly love wouldn't be complete without,

 last minute fatherly advice!

Last supper at Rodizio Grill

 

 

Wait, just one more hug!

 

Welcome to the MTC

 

Last minute instructions . . .

 

and he's off!  See ya in two years buddy!