September 7, 2012

Yay!  We got our first letter! 

Dear Family,

Hello from the MTC!

Let me tell you a little about this place.  My MTC companion is named Elder Johnston.  He's from a small town in Montana, is very tall from the "middle" and from the ground, and has a beautiful tenor voice.  He's a recent convert, which makes for interesting conversations.  We get along great, and though it's only day 3, I'm sure we'll get along fine.

I just got back from breakfast with Elder Johnston.  The food is decent, and there's lots of it.  I've been very conservative about how much I eat, and I work out for 15 minutes a day to burn calories.  I'm NOT coming home fat!

The room where we stay is a little bigger than the loft back home, with two other Elders living here as well.  We basically just use it to store our things and sleep in, so the smaller quarters don't bother me.

We are being kept quite busy.  The MTC seems big on role-playing; we are teaching an "investigator" today, and will pretend to be investigators ourselves later.  We have a lot of study time, but that's okay, because there is A LOT to study.

I can only e-mail you guys on P-Days, which is Tuesday for me.  If you use Dear Elder.com to e-mail me, I can have a hard copy of your e-mails sent to me.

I'm happy to be here, but I miss you guys already.  I don't have a lot of free time to write to you, but I'll send another letter soon.

Love, Matt

Mission Address Update

We got a letter from the missin office this week.  They asked that we NOT send letters or packages to the mission office.  They asked that we wait to ship our first letters of packages until he contacts us with his address in his first area.  So in case you were planning on having something waiting for him . . . don't. :)

The mission president said he would write us the first Monday he arrives.  We will post his address here as soon as we get it.

Also, we will be making the blog private so that his current address is not publicly available.  If you are family, you will receive an invite to this blog.  If you want to be able to access the blog, you must accept the request.  If you don't receive an invite and you would like one, please e-mail me at boren8@msn.com and I'll add you to the list of allowed readers.

Going to the MTC

On Wednesday morning, it was finally the big day!  We only had to wait two months from call to MTC, but that was a LONG two months.  It's hard to wait once you know your assignments and by Wednesday morning, Matthew was ready to get the show on the road.  We were ready for him to get there also.  We are so excited about the great opportunities and experiences that lie ahead for him.

Matthew decided that he would prefer to say his sibling family goodbyes at home and not at the MTC.  We had a whole bunch of sibling goodbyes that morning.  Some of them kind of tearful.  Some of those tears may have been from dad who was taking the pictures.  I dropped off two sobbing sisters at school--hoping their teachers were going to be understanding of their tears and patient with their sad day.

Faith was the first one out the door and the first one to have to say goodbye that morning.

Matthew . . . probably thinking, "I'm going to miss these guys!"

Matthew probably having second thoughts about missing them

Matthew definitely having second thoughts

Grace was pretty sure that she shouldn't let Matthew out the door.  It's tough to have your big brother go away for so long.

This is where all the kids get their back-to-school pictures.  It seemed only fitting that he stand here for his best off-to-school experience ever.

Ted and Matthew ran some last minute errands and then we took off to head to the MTC, stopping for a few more things and our last lunch together for a while.  For lunch, we pulled into the Village Inn because they had huge signs for pie out front and that looked totally like what we needed.  When we got inside we found out that missionaries entering the MTC get a free meal.  Yay for us!  That was a fun and lucky little break.  We actually ate ourselves kind of silly and didn't have room or time for pie, but maybe when he gets home we'll revisit the restaurant and finally get our pie!

We headed to the MTC, all feeling pretty excited and chipper.  It sounded like there were a few deep breaths coming from the backseat, but mostly everybody was doing great.  Matthew even told me that I was doing much better than he thought I would be.  I WAS!  Yay me!  Then the stoplight turned red right before we pulled into the MTC and we had to stop . . . and wait . . . and watch all the moms hug their missionaries and get their last minute pictures.  Brutal.  All semblance of a stoic exterior was over at that point.

We turned into the MTC and were greeted by two young missionaries.  One of them helped Matthew remove his luggage.  I had the distinct impression that the other missionary's function was to manage me and Ted and get us moving along.  They were nice, but to the point.  Ted and I got one final picture with that great big boy.  I gave him a huge hug and told him, "You are going to . . . "  I actually couldn't get any more words out (there were a lot of tears at that point, I'm not going to lie), so I'm hoping he filled the rest in with the appropriate message (not something like . . . break your leg, or . . .come home next week,  or . . . hate the food).  I was actually going for, "You are going to . . . do GREAT!"  Because he will.  Matthew is so determined when he puts his mind to something and fully commits himself.  I know he is going to fly and be a spectacular missionary. 

Matthew's the guy in the suit rolling away with his luggage. 

Ted and I went immediately from the MTC to the Provo Temple to be close to Matthew for those first few hours and offer our very fervent prayers for his success and well-being. I wouldn't have wanted to be any other place.

We are so incredibly proud of Matthew's willingness to sacrifice two years of his life for this great cause.  I know that he will come away with more than he could ever give, and I am so looking forward to see where this journey takes him!  We really love that boy.  He is loved.  He will be missed.  But we know he is where he belongs and he is ready for this experience. 

Setting Apart

On Tuesday night, we went with Matthew to the stake offices to be set apart.

President Delis first spent some time with the family, talking to all of us about the responsibilities of missionaries and particularly of the responsibility to gain and teach by the Spirit.  He asked JJ to come and help him read some scriptures, which she was proud and happy to do.

He gave Matthew a blessing and set him apart to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

After the setting apart, this whole thing we've all been thinking about, preparing for, working for became a reality.  The reality of it hit a lot of us strongly.  There were a lot of tears as siblings (and parents) thought about missing Matthew for a couple of years, but we were also so happy and excited for him to get started.

We really love our stake president and the wisdom and counsel that he has given our family over the years.  He is a great man and we were so happy to have him be there to bless Matthew and help him begin this journey. 

Family Farewell Party

On Labor Day, we went to our favorite gathering place . . . Ted's parents' backyard for one last Boren Bash.  We had a potluck and a barbeque.  It was so much fun to visit and play!

Grandma Reesa talking to the Rue Clan

Matthew sitting with Ted's family

Never a party at Grandma and Grandpa's without trampoline fun--Grace catching some air

The boy cousins enjoying hanging out

Anne and new cousin Josie

Aunt Jessie and new cousin Josie

Matthew and his fan club--Kai, Grace, and JJ

Lyndi clapping for a job well done on the trampoline

Matthew and Mikayla

Mikalya and Abbey

Overview of the fun!

Reesa had researched some really cool things to know about Ohio and Ted's sister, Anne, helped her put some of those fun facts into great activities for the kids.  For instance:

• Did you know that the first stoplights were used in Ohio?  The kids got to play red light, green light with the older kids playing the game wheelbarrow style.

Abbey is an excellent stoplight

Kai and Grace thought the whole thing was hilarious!

The big kids got in on the action too

JJ and Gavin (and Tanya too)!

 

• Did you know that chewing gum was patented in Ohio?  The kids got to have a bubble gum blowing contest.

• Did you know that Thomas Edison was born in Ohio?  Uncle Justin showed us how electricity works and made a light bulb glow by increasing the salt content of water.

• Did you know that the Ohio state tree is the buckeye tree which is named for the nuts that look a lot like the eye of a buck?  Aunt Reesa made a traditional Ohio-an treat that looks like a buckeye (a peanut butter ball dipped in chocolate)

• Did you know that there are a lot of astronauts from Ohio--like John Glenn and Neal Armstrong?  The kids got to shoot off rockets.

• Did you know that the Wright brothers were born in Ohio?  The kids got to design and fly paper airplanes.

• Did you know seven US President were from Ohio?  Grandpa taught the kids about some of those important guys.

After the fun Ohio activities, we had a missionary relay race.  The kids ran from one station to the next doing different activities and trying to beat each other to the door.  They put on missionary clothes and road a tricycle to the next station where they had a scripture chase and then ran to shave the shaving cream off a balloon.  They ran to the next station where they got chased by a stuffed dog up to the door to give a door approach.  If their door approach was good they got a prize!  A glow stick with the scripture Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven." 

Everybody was glad about their glow stick except for Ben, our little nephew.  He came running up to me with his glow stick and paper and said, "Can you read this to me?"  I was so excited that he was so interested in the message, so I read him the scripture with great feeling and said, "Isn't that great?"  He said, "OK, where do I get my prize?"  I said, "Oh buddy, the really cool glowy stick is your prize."  He looked crestfallen and said, "Oh, I wanted a dog."  That made me laugh . . . a lot.  Anyway, on the whole everybody seemed to have a really good time. :)

The end of the night was hardest when it came time to tell everybody goodbye!

Grandma Reesa and Grandpa Phil

Jessie, Dave, and Corey

Don and Amy

Anne, Josie, and Justin

Matthew and Tanya

Darrell and Sierra

Jeremy and Matthew

Chase, Jill, and Tyler

Matthew had a great time and it was the perfect send off!  Thanks for everybody's help!

Idaho Road Trip

Matthew and I decided that it would be really fun to take a couple of days and head to Idaho right after his farewell.  We both needed one more visit with Grandma and Grandpa Jackson and Grandma Kristie and Grandpa John before taking off.

It was a fun trip.  Matthew put up with 80's music like a true champion.  He was nice to his mama.

Grandma and Grandpa Jackson

Grandpa John and Grandma Kristie

Me and Grandma

 

We had so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa.  We played fun games, ate great food, went bowling, did some more missionary shopping and mostly just enjoyed visiting and giving a lot of in-person love.  There's not much that can substitute for that.