It's been a while

I finally got the Jason & Amanda's wedding photos from their wedding almost one month ago.

Fortunately everything went well on wedding day. The Temple ceremony at the Mesa Temple was beautiful!

To be honest, I loved to see Jason's face when Amanda came out and he saw her in her wedding dress, his face lite up like a light bulb and a big smile came across his face. He must really love her - which is great since they will be together for eternity now.

The ring ceremony was very nice, Bryce's letter (which I posted in Bryce's blog) lighten and set the mood. The reception was fun, lots of people showed up to celebrate with us. The bride and groom left around 9pm - they seemed eager to leave, hmmm, I wonder why. The next day they left for California and a week cruise to Mexico.

Another great thing about the wedding is that Mati, Misti and the girls came down to visit. They only stayed a few days but it was so much fun to have them.

This coming week is Bryce's birthday, he'll be 20 yrs old!!!! boy, my baby is getting old!!!! and a week later, it will mark his aniversary on the mission - which means I can start the countdown to have him back! Yay!!!! I wonder if the people in Argentina realize how bless they are to have him there. He is such a great guy, he can teach and make you feel the spirit while making you laugh your heart out. He's amazing!

A mother's day call from my missionary in Peru

After an extremely long wait and quite a few prank calls from Kirk, finally, at 6:38 pm the phone rang and I heard the wonderful voice of my missionary in Peru.

Jason sounded good. He told us how much he enjoys working with his companion, Elder Medina. He also said that Elder Medina's home is barely an hour away from were they live - I admire his parents self control, I would have gone to visit him 20 times.

we held a little question and answer session and these are some of his answers:

1. Have you been robbed?
   no, I'm trying not to limp when outside so they don't think we are easy target.
2. Do you shave? your photos always look like you have a goatie.
   I Do shave! but there isn't always water to shave, and i need to do it every day while other missionaries can shave every other day. don't know why the goatie shows more than the rest of the face. By the way, can you send the power cord for the shaver - that would help or a new electric shaver so i can use it when there is no water.
3. what activities do you do with your district?
   you are going to like this one mom, this week we are going "shopping".
4. Do people respond better to the latino or the american missionaries?
   people like the american missionaries better, I guess they are used to the peruvian missionaries.
5. How much do people make a month there?
   they make about $100 u.s. Not much - that's why you have 2 or 3 families living in one house, and why it's so hard to find a room to rent.
6. are there senior missionaries in your mission?
   no, there are some in the temple but not in the mission
7. do you speak a lot of english with the missionaries or people there?
   most latino missionaries don't speak english. Elder Medina however speaks very well. some people like to practice their english by speaking with the missionaries.
8. what do you eat most of the time?
   I eat a lot of rabbit, chicken, fruit and some fish.
9. How often do you eat guinea pig or cat?
   Not often, the guinea pig takes about 3 months to grow before it can be eaten, the cat they buy at the market
10. how is the young man/young woman program in your branch?
    It's a small group, about 4 good young men and 5 young women.
11. what will you do to celebrate your one year in the mission?
    i will burn a shirt and a tie. I was supposed to burn a tie at 6 months but since it was Christmas, i forgot. I will not forget my aniversary.
12. what was your most embarrasing moment?
    sliding into a wall and hurting my foot.
13. what is your most spiritual moment?
    it's kind of weird, but it's when you are teaching and suddenly is like you are turned inside out and you hear yourself talking but is like it's not you talking - and you are learning at the same time.

So it was great to hear from my bearby- now i have to wait till Christmas for my next call.
and on Christmas I'll even hear from Bryce - this time I was cheated of his call.

Bryce receives his mission call

Just before Valentine's day, and the day he came back from a trip to Mexico, Bryce received his mission call to...Argentina Bahia Blanca

the family had gathered together to open the envelope. It was really hard for "some" to wait till everyone made it to the house. Even Rhythm was chewing the envelope but he wasn't allowed to finish opening it.

We all expected him to be called someplace in the States, since Jason is serving in Peru so when he said Argentina we thought he was joking but when he couldn't say Bahia Blanca correctly, we knew he was actually reading the letter.

Dad kept saying "que increible, che" or "that's incredible" in spanish. Kirk was especially happy since that is the mission he served in and Dan was on the mission just next to it, so they all started telling stories. Bryce kept smiling the biggest, most beautiful smile.

He will enter the MTC in Provo on 4/29 and, as of now, we don't know how long he will stay there - I guess it depends on how his spanish goes.