A post from Dana...

So, we've had a great couple nights! Andy got his temple recommend signed by the Stake Pres on Sunday...we hadn't made any definite plans to go to the temple but the Stake Pres encouraged him to go this week and we also knew our ward's YW/YM were doing baptisms today (Wed.), so, he was all excited and we decided we'd get him through for his own endowment on Tues so he could baptize people on Wed. Tuesday afternoon I took Andy shopping at the distribution center (it's a small one ) for all the temple gear, white pants, a few different pairs of garments so he can decide what he likes, etc.  He had done a temple prep class and had told me on the way to shopping that he was just excited and wasn't nervous, but after the lady helping us get his stuff at the dist center was rambling on about robes, aprons, etc...Andy had become a bit more puzzled Still, he was amazingly prepared/composed/engaged through the whole endowment thing...I've really never seen anyone take it all in with such awe compared to such "what the heck is all this?" that you often hear about.  We had the two nicest men escorting him all over...after the session, they took him on a tour of areas he hadn't seen in the process of getting his instruction and to the session (like, they bypass the chapel and he hadn't seen the sealing rooms)...it was all really great. The parents of two of his best pals came with us which was very nice...especially since one of the dad's had already done a session early that morning!  Afterwards I asked him if he had any thoughts and he just said he was feeling very humbled.  So then today, the YW/YM go to do baptism...Andy coming along as one of the grown up men (I went too just to help out and Mark met us there too)...a member of our bishopric baptized the first three girls while Andy was a witness and got used to the whole idea, then Andy went into the font and guess who his first baptism was??!!  Madison !  It was all rather sweet in my opinion!  They all did family names submitted by our ward members...in all Andy had to have done at least a hundred baptisms...he would alternate with the bishopric guy and the YM pres...Andy was excited to baptize one of his best pals in our ward that's a senior this year...after they were done, this young man, Dylan just gave Andy a big huge "we're too cool for normal handshakes" gigantic handshake...sort of ghetto style or whatever is cool...while they're standing there in the water! So, Andy  is happily wearing his garments  and we're all happy because...D & C 109:22 (the kids are making fun of me because I keep quoting it  ): And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy aname may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine bangels have charge over them. What more can I say?!?!

 

 

 

Andy Gets His Mission Call!

So Andy's mission papers were submitted to the Church on August 30th.  Before he left for his mission he wanted to see Gichan and Aichan in Japan and so we sent him over on September 1st for a visit.  We figured  it would be a great distraction to be in Japan while he waited for his mission call to come...what we didn't plan on was that it might arrive at our home before Andy did! 

So, needless to say, we were excited to see the call come in the mail on Thursday, September 9th, and yes, there was some talk of whether we should call Andy and let him know (and even a very brief discussion about steaming it open :)).  We decided to just let him end his visit to Japan in peace and didn't mention it to him...we could wait three more days till he got home!

Whenever we would tell people that his mission call had arrived but that Andy was still gone and didn't even know about it, the reactions were varied, including:

• "Steam it open!"  
• "How can you stand it!?"
• "What willpower you have!"
• "You know, if you put it in the freezer you will be able to open it"

As tempting as it might have been to open it ahead of time, we knew we were not skilled enough to act adequately surprised when Andy actually opened the letter...so we opted to put it on the mantle in front of the big map of the world and let it be.

We brought the envelope with us to the airport when we went to pick Andy up...we gave it to him in the car...he looked at it, turned it all around and over and up and down...but didn't open it at that point.  He was sort of nervous and way excited to open it, but tortured us a bit longer while he got ready for church and unpacked a little...finally he came down and had a nice big glass of chocolate milk to prepare himself and opened the envelope.

He started reading while we all held our breath...when it came to the exact name of the location where he would serve, we were clueless as to pronounciation, but got the Brazil part!  Leaving January 26th to the MTC in Sao Paulo.  The actual name of his mission is Joao Pessoa.

 

Shock and awe...total amazement...where is this place and how do we say it !!??

After the intitial excitement we all headed to our respective phones and email accounts to spread the great news! 

How fun for Andy that one of his best friends, Jeff Walton had entered the Sao Paulo MTC just 2 weeks or so before all this...going to a different mission in Brazil, but still learning Portuguese and everything!

We went to church not long after that and Andy was mobbed with people congratulating him and wishing him well.  He even got lucky because the member of the bishopric who announced his call had gone to Brazil on his own mission and could teach us how to say the name of the mission!

The fun continued when, that Sunday night, Andy learned that another good friend, Christian McComber, who opened his call that night, was also going to Brazil...again a different mission, but entering the Sao Paulo MTC just one week before Andy!!