Hi my wonderful son! I cannot tell you how much we all loved you letter last week. It was like I was talking to you because your personality came right through. I saw Coach Stanton at church today and he asked that I make sure he gets your letters every week. He laughed so hard at your "hey shawty, whacho numba?" I have sent your letter to the very long list that was on your instagram and Facebook comments. Everyone I talked to loved your letter! I also created a blog for you and posted the blog. Now people you don't even know have come up to me and told me how excited they are to follow your adventure. Just keep writing the letter to us. If I need to take some parts out, I can always do that. Make sure you include your spiritual journey in the letters. If it feels too personal, I won't include that part in the letter that I send out to everyone. Please don't edit for your friends!
Before I go any further, I want to give you some info: You should be receiving a DHL envelope (international shipping) this week:) Me and some of the other moms of guys in your district have become friends on Facebook so we are sharing an envelope to get you guys some letters in your hands. Dearelder.com letters are taking 3 weeks to get to you! Many of our family have written you letters on dearelder so they don't take up your computer time, but it is taking very long! It is the same if we stick them in the mail… 3 weeks. So just know that no one has forgotten you! The letters just take a long time! Once you are in the field, I hope you will have more time on the computer and this won't be an issue. So in the DHL envelope (it costs $60 for 1 envelope to get to you in 4 days - so we are splitting it 4 ways) will have a print out of all the email addresses for you. It will also have copies of our previous letters and some others so you can keep them with you. I'll try to stick a few pictures in there if the weight is not too much. We can only send 1/2 lb.
I'm so happy that the language is coming along for you. I know you are being blessed because of your desire to do this. Where are you on the spanish BOM reading? That would be an amazing accomplishment and at the same time such a great testimony builder. Do you get anything from the reading? We are not as far as you in our reading but we are steadily reading too. Abby is awesome! She reads the BOM every night! Plus she is reading the D&C because it is required for Seminary this year. Gray is reading the D&C too. Gray is trying to decide if he wants to go to homecoming. I'm not sure he is really interested in anyone right now. I hope he will at least take a friend.
How is the food there? Do you get sick at all? Are you taking your 3 pills every day (probiotic, vitamin, b12)? Have you been able to go to the temple yet? Are you still getting along great with the guys? Wish I could see your buzz cut. I bet you're rocking it.
We have a cool opportunity. There is a missionary serving in Lewisville and his mom posted something about him (on the FB missionary mom page) having a really hard time because he has only been out 1 month, and September is the month that he had one brother and one sister die a few years ago. So dealing with the anniversary is hard when he is away from his family. Plus, they typically go to the temple together as a family when they honor the anniversary of the day they died. So I responded to her… and long story short, our family is going to surprise him on Tuesday and bring him a care package of some of his favorite things. It makes me feel like I'm closer to you by taking care of the missionaries. I'll let you know how it goes. Im so grateful families are forever. What a blessing that although we may be separated briefly during this life, we have eternity to be together. BTW - we have a babeliscious sister missionary in one of the Prosper wards! I was like, holy cow! I should find out when she'll be home so you could chat with her when you get home. But, we've got a while to worry about that:)
So here is my mom thoughts for the week… I know you miss all my advice and post-its on your mirror, so I won't let you down… I'll make sure you get some mom advice each week! (You know you miss it!)
I was reading something by George Q. Cannon: He said that when Satan unleashed his fury against the Father and the Son in the pre mortal world and was cast out of heaven, we who are here today "stood loyally by God and by Jesus, and … did not FLINCH." I love that because it shows what strength we used to stand against Satan and with our Father… Like we just stood there like a boss! In the most difficult of circumstances, we stood loyally by them… the question is for us today, will we do it again? I'm sure before we came to Earth, we promised our Father and our Savior that they could count on us even though we would be away from their presence. In order to do that, you need to always remember 1. that you are His son! You were born for greatness. 2. How to receive guidance and revelation when you need their help and direction in life. 3. HF has a mission just for you to accomplish. You are supposed to be exactly where you are now doing exactly what you are doing now. He needs you to be valiant and on His side.
I love you, Sam. I miss your face. I miss you singing in every room of the house. But I'm so incredibly happy that you have chosen this path! I'm so very proud of you. Keep working hard. Work with your companion and look for opportunities to help others in your district. I can only imagine that many days are difficult. I keep praying that you feel our love and arms around you supporting you. You are loved! You are prayed for in our every prayer.
Your letter was great! Keep us informed. We want to hear your successes, joys, frustrations and the funny parts too. Each time I get a letter from you it is better than Christmas!
Infinity + infinity and even more than that!
xoxox
mom
p.s. They had a funeral last Sunday for Davis Wagner's mom. It was during church so we didn't go but I heard it was really nice.
No comments:
Post a Comment