The Spirit Will Testify

"We had zone conference and interviews this week which is always fantastic. Any time that we get to spend with the mission president always leaves me motivated and encouraged. He is such an inspired dude! Our zone conference was centered on teaching the Saviors way and we learned a lot. I really learned about active listening and how to better understand the questions people are asking by putting it their emotions. I keep thinking though of something president once said in MLC "You have 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason" haha so true, a lot of us could be better off if we did twice as much listening and understanding as we did talking.

We finally got our new schedule change that every missionary has been talking about. Really nothing has changed though except we do some planing in the morning instead of night but we still go to bed at the same time, wake up same time and all of that. so not much really changed. but its good."

Selfie with mission mom!

"My group! 20 months out and 2 more transfers to go"

Elder Mbangi and I

"We had an awesome lesson this week with three wonderful sisters we have been teaching for the past couple weeks. They haven't really started progressing a ton but they do keep their commitments and read what we leave them with. They have just been struggling accepting the book of Mormon and gaining a testimony. We spent a good hour testifying of the love the Jesus has for us and His sacrifice that He made for us. We testified of the Love of God and His plan. Eventually as we stumbled through the lesson we invited one sister to close with a prayer and ask God here and now if the Book of Mormon is true. She prayed and pleaded that we would feel of the spirit to know if it is true. By the end of the prayer we all said amen and sat in silence. time went buy as we all just listened. I turned to the one next to me and said how do you feel. "happy, and I don't know why" she said, I looked across to the other and asked the same question "I just cant stop smiling" she explained and then to the last she simply said "the spirit is here" We all could feel that peace and joy that comes from God. We could feel it and it was strong!!! 

That was the highlight of the week! ah mission is good

I love you all! thank you for your support,

Elder North"

I loved that story about the three sisters that they have been teaching. It's so cool to me that the spirit will testify to each person that the Book of Mormon is true, even if each person receives that confirmation in different ways. I love the Book of Mormon and I challenge anyone who has never gotten that confirmation that it is true to get on their knees and ask because the Lord will answer. :)

Humility

Definitely been a slacker as of late when it comes to posting, so this week will be two in one! It's been crazy getting back into the busy season of soccer and getting settled into my new place and all of that. It's about to get even busier when school starts on Monday! What I'm really excited for, though, is that our first game of the season is tonight!! It will be my first game back since my injury and it's crazy to me that it's been almost 10 months since my last game. I'm looking forward to what this season holds for this team! I have a feeling it's going to be a good one.

Transfers are coming up pretty soon and it's crazy that he's been in Lesotho for about 6 months now. He feels like he will be getting transferred and while he loves where he is now, he's ready for something new.

August 8th
"Okay fam,
Tract..... knock..... buzz....... all of these things have been a big part of my week. we dont really have to many progressing investigators at the moment and our teaching pool has shrunk which means we go back to the grind and get knocking on those doors.
Bolelang, our old investigator moved to the other missionaries area so we are no longer teaching her which kinds sucks for me because I love this women and pray constantly that she will be able to progress in the gospel.
Nelson and his wife have been super busy and out of town a lot so its still a work in progress with them.
We do have a new girl named Kilebile. We found her tracting a while ago and now she is progressing well, She can't come to church often because she has school on Sundays, but we are very hopeful of her.
We are really trying to get the less active members to start coming back to church and we may not have success in the numbers department but I do feel like our work is getting us somewhere. We are trying our best out here and really that's all we can do.
I have really been enjoying the scriptures this week. I mean ah they are good. I always try to read them with a pen in hand and when I do find things that speak to me, I can mark them.  Lessons that I need to learn and important messages and truths that I otherwise miss. If we study with real intent and a desire to know more we will gain so much more out of our studies.
Lesotho is starting to get pretty cold most days and we are bundling up for it.
I road a taxis to church this week which was quite a fun experience. Now taxis here aren't like what we got in the USofA. They are soccer mom vans that they fill to the brim with passengers.  They stop anywhere all time cutting everyone off to unload and load different passengers. Its quite hectic but it got us there. It makes it even more difficult because you find that a lot of them don't speak any English so explaining to them our destination can be a struggle and a half."

His email to me that week included a lot about what is on his mind about what will happen post mission. There's still a long way to go until he gets home, but I can see why he's starting to think about it because it is getting much closer.

"I have been thinking so much about life and whats going to happen after mission. I want to do so many things and I want everything to work and happen and it just makes me think constantly about it because I dont know how I am going to do it all. I am a person who likes to have a solid plan, I like to know when where and how it is all going down. I am not sure if I was like that before my mission but I am now. and you know how my brain is in the logical sense that thinks have to work logically. so thats been kinda hectic.

I dont think I have told you about my idea for school when i get back. so there is this thing called dev mountain. its a three month intense programming class that gets you a career job at the end of it. it cost ten grand. my brother did it and my parents both think that it was an awesome program and he is now truly qualified to work for any company in the work field. so I want to do programming as a carrer and this could jump start me in a career by three years and also save a lot of many. you know I didnt necessarily do the best in high school. and so I dont do anything unique or special that would qualify for scholarships. Now the down side is that I want to go to the U for a couple of reasons. one and prob first is you, I want to spend every second of every day as close as possible to you. now dev mountain has class in downtown so its not far but still. and two I want to have a college degree as a back up. so I think maybe after I get a job I can do some night classes and slowly work on getting a degree but most people who say they will go back to school never do. and three I want to atmosphere and experience of going to college and living at college and ll that. but  it dosnt really make the most sense. What I really want is to get married to you and have a job to support us. and this dev mountain thing looks like it can do that in an amazing time frame. I figure I will still get to be with you when we are married and come home to you every single day. I also want to coach. It would be amazing to do it at the highschool for the girls team but even a club team would be amazing so I want to get my coaching license. I still want to ref but I dont think I will have time. I want to work at the temple when I get back for a while so that I can have those blessings that I have missed so much on mission. I also want to play soccer so that takes time as well. I dont want to go into debt or take out a big loan so I have though about working at a call center for a couple months to save some money to be able to do this dev mountain thing and then get a job quickly after it. but then I also think It would be better to do the course sooner and then have a real job with real income and just pay off the loan. so there are a lot of things I hope to do when I get back. and above all of this I want to spend time with you and of course marry you so finding time for all of these things is a bit stressful. but I really shouldn't be worrying about it now seeing as I have quite some time before I come home and I will have time when I am home to make these decisions and get a feel for it all but like I said, I like having plan and I dont like flying blind so eish. haha thats a bit of what has been going on in my head a lot this week. I pray so much that you will know how much I love you and how much our Father in Heaven loves you. Not a moment passes where I dont have you in my heart and in my prayers."

Pretty much I just told him that he needs to take one thing at a time instead of feeling like he has to take everything on all at once. Adjusting to being home is going to be hard enough, but trying to take on all of those things that he wants to do would make it harder. And as much as I would love going to school with him here at the U I don't think that's the most logical option when put in comparison with the 3 month programming class, so I'm kind of trying to steer him in that direction. I guess we'll see what happens!

August 15th

"So this week we had quite a lot of interesting and for me humbling experiences.

To start off there is a less active member in the area who is really struggling right now.  Not with just coming to church but family issues as well as work. One of his daughters had to leave her husband and needed a new place to stay so he did some looking and found a humble home for her and her son. We helped pick up this brother, his daughter and his daughters son. They had just a handful of possessions, we drove to another village to the home they will now be staying in. It has two rooms. No kitchen, no bathroom really nothing. You open the door and enter into a room smaller than my bedroom back home. Then there is an even smaller room through the next door. That is the whole house. This kind of housing is actually really common and we teach people that live in these circumstances all the time.  It really hit me this time though. She borrowed a mattress from the neighbor and sat down her four or so bags, all her and her young boys possessions. They had no heater to keep warm but a few blankets. The nights get cold here and I sleep with a heater blanket all night to stay warm. We left her to her house and headed home. I wanted to cry as I though about how much I have. I have clothes, food, electricity, water, tables, kitchens, chairs, rugs, and so so so much. She really didn't have anything and I am constantly ungrateful for the many things I do have. I pictured how they would spend the night as the boy would cuddle up next to his mom on the only thin mattress in the place with some blankets trying to keep warm. I though on how she will probably continue to live like this for a while, and my heart aches that I am helpless to do more. I just see it. And I see it daily. People who are suffering. who are sick and literally dying. I can't do anything but watch, and it hurts to see it, to love these people and watch their pain. Their struggle. 

Another man who we teach goes by the name of Zacharia. He is really struggling and works a twelve hour day seven days a week for a pay of thirty two rand. That is practically nothing. In one month he would make around 900 rand if he worked every day without a day off. As missionaries we get 1500 rand a month and that is just for food and toiletries and other things we need to buy but our electricity is paid for, our housing, our car, our petrol (gas) and we still struggle sometimes.  When I tell people that is how much we live on month to month they are surprised that its so small, it is about 100 USD.  This man has to buy food, gas to cook his food, rent and all the things of life on less money than we missionaries without a day of rest. You cant do it, and he is but is suffering pretty bad. It's tough and we don't know what to say but to just encourage and be there.

So those are two of the humbling things this week. My mission is teaching me a lot. And I hope I can really learn from the experiences here."

It's crazy to me to think that there are so many people in the world who live in situations like that. I've always had more than I need in every aspect of my life and here these people are just trying to get basic necessities. It is very humbling to think about.

We have an inside joke about tanks so this picture made me smile :)

"I'll share a bit of a conversation I am having with Hailey about the book of Mormon,

It is amazing to me the Love the Jesus Christ has for us. He led and guided prophets throughout time to record which may have seemed at the time insignificant, but in reality with a grand purpose. I know that God would preserve or have written down one particular verse or even chapter for just one person. That is how much he loves each of us.

I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and it is so true and so so good. If we but read and pray with sincerity and our whole hearts, wishing with every fiber of our existence, God will answer. I have read and prayed many times about the message this book contains and I am met each time with a prick in my heart that screams to the the very sinews of my being YES!  To me the book of Mormon is a testament not only of Christ himself but of his great love for us. I know it was translated by the power of God. I love what Elder Holland says from his father " No bad man could write such a book. And no good man would, unless it was true" There is a light contained within the book that seems to connect with the light within each of us when we allow it to.

I love that I can feel my Savior near as I read through the pages. I find answers, council, and comfort from withing the pages.  You will feel the love of Him who died for us if you read this book. You will know who the Savior, Jesus Christ was and is. You will know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, You will know that you are a daughter or son of God, you will know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is His church.

I love it, I live it, it's good for me its good for you. Read it!

I love you all and am truly thankful for your prayers, you are in mine.

Love,

Elder North"

Cops and Surgery

Well it sounds like he had an interesting week! From a couple interactions with the cops to his companion getting surgery on his eye. They will be staying together for another transfer because of the surgery. It has made it so they can't go out and teach much, but he sounds like they are making the most of it and they are just enjoying each others company. It's crazy that it's already time for transfers, that one felt like it flew!

"So funny story I forgot about two weeks ago now. I was driving down town and went to park in a parking spot, now this is Lesotho and I have never seen worse driving in my life.  Partly do to the fact that people buy their licenses from the black market because it can take over year to go through proper channels. So I crossed a solid line (which happens all the time) to get a parking spot. I didn't notice the cops that were there this day and they came up to me and talked a while as they read me my rights and said I was under arrest. Now in Lesotho they don't give tickets they just arrest you.... so we talked a bit more trying to see if there was anything we could do. He later told me I should buy some drinks for him and his colleagues. I of course said I couldn't and he said no as friends... he wanted a bribe of some sort... we continued to talk and then teach about the gospel and he then said that we could go. So I almost go arrested, that was fun. haha

Now more cop stories. We had to take Elder Leonard to the border so he could go to Bloem with some senior couples the get his surgery. As we went to our car after parking in town what I thought was legal we went back to our car to find a nice big clamp on it. eish... I picked up an new motto it goes "would it help" so when I come to my car and see a clamp and want to be angry I think "would it help" if not then why get angry I am only hurting myself so I just laughed as we waited for some other missionaries to take us to the border. we then get their and drive through the parking lot and let Elder Leonard walk across. We then realize that to go back we have to pass the immigration desk... we don't have our passports. We were quite worried that they would not less us back into the country even though we didn't technically leave. luckily we got back over the border then headed to the police office to get the clamp sorted. Now one of the high ranking officers is our district councilor at church so he got the clamp of for free which was very nice. He helps a lot when we get arrested for dumb things. Anyways that's Lesotho and the police haha

Elder Leonards cornea transplant went great! we go for a check up tomorrow. So needless to say we didn't do much this week because he was on bed rest recovery and needs eye drops every two hours, but it went good. We have been enjoying each others company and bum bum bum dah we are staying together another transfer. (In response to me saying to him last week I would be surprised if they changed him if his companion is having surgery.  hahaha)  The weird thing is we are scheduled to be staying in Bloem for 4 weeks. We will see if we end up being that side for that long but we will see. I am excited. I think its good because a change of companions after the surgery would have been hard. So today we leave for Bloem and plan to be their for about a month, we aren't sure why but oh well.

I love the scriptures! a lot a lot..... You can read them or you can READ them! See the difference. when we think about what the time was like, why people said what, why they were where they were. Things like that we start to understand and learn so so much!!!"

"Learned how to make battered chicken! Yum"

I'll also share all of his personal email to me because I loved what he says at the end. I've been struggling with feeling like I'm not progressing in the gospel, and his response to what I said was perfect! The day that I got his email I decided I needed to listen to a conference talk on my way home from Salt Lake so I just had my phone play a random one and it happened to be President Uchtdorf's talk from October 2014 "Living the Gospel Joyfully". It fit perfectly with what I needed and what Mikel said to me, so of course it was no coincidence. I highly recommend reading it or listening to it, it's a good one :)

"He is an awesome mission president, he is super excited to work and loves the outdoors and has a good sense of humor. I like him a lot. we still dont know him super well and how he deals with things but we will see.

 I was thinking the same thing. I will be with you next fourth of july!!! can you believe it! ah it sounds so good :) :) :) dont worry I am really good at relaxing (lazy) so I can help when I am back ;)

the house really looks so cute and perfect! how often do you practice with the rsl womens? I am sure you did great and I have no doubt the you will quickly become better than you ever were before :) you are becoming an adult... it weird... but I think I like it haha.

ah you are watching greys anatomy without me!!! sad news for an enamored heart haha. 

Going into tackles will probably be something that will take time but thats natural and 100 percent normal. dont beat yourself up to much babe I know you got this.

Life is full of ups and downs. but only good experiences. I dont believe there is such thing as a bad experience (I know ive mentioned this before) there are no bad experiences because we learn from them. they may hurt, be sad, and hard but they are for our benefit. 

sometimes we do find ourselves in a rut, even on mission. we do what we are supposed to but find not much gain. I am not sure on the answer to a lot of things. but I know that we can pray for desire, pray for the spirit. and I know our intentions and willingness and heart play a big role. If we do things simply because we think we should or we must then we get the same mediocre response from the performance but if we do something out of love, joy and excitement then we receive 100 times more. we need to find joy in what we are doing. for example if I go to practice and I practice hard but I do it because it is expected of me and I should as to if I go and love it and give my all. in which version do you think I would gain more from the experience. I think we can apply this to life and how we must find joy and love in what we do, especially the gospel. Reading my scriptures isnt good enough. praying isnt good enough. but love is always enough. I dont really know babe, but I am here for you. I love you!"

New Mission President!

So just last week I went to two wedding receptions which is only the beginning of the weddings that are coming up. It feels like everyone I graduated with is either getting married, already married or on a mission! It's crazy. Most of the weddings I will miss because of soccer, but it's still crazy how many invites I've gotten lately. I was telling him about all of the weddings I've gone to and how different all of them are. Some with no dancing, some with lots, different venues and foods and all that good stuff. All I know is that at my wedding we're going to have dancing! Because it's boring without it haha.

"Our wedding will be so much better, I will refuse to do it in a chapel because you feel like you need to be reverent, no I am going to roast an entire pig and we are going to dance and it will be fun buy golly!

Just think that all these weddings are helping you to plan the best one yet! and their cant be that many more before I get back right? the summer bulk is probably almost over and then you got the winter weddings right? probably not haha.... people are just marry hungry."

"We had a braai at Brother Thebes house. Ate with our hands right out of the bowl, African style!"

"Interesting week. the week started off just as any other, teaching preaching and knocking on doors. Come Thursday we went to the mountains to continue to help Sis Lineo (Di-nay-O).  We spent most the day up there just digging holes, not in the snow this time. 

We went to go teach Bolelang a little bit latter and boy was that an interesting lesson. We got there and started to follow up on the lesson when me and my companion just started laughing.... we couldn't stop. It was an inside joke from earlier and it just erupted in an unprecedented fashion. We would stop for a few honorable second but inevitably erupt into laughs and tears. All the while Bolelang sat, waiting, confused and probably concerned, not just for us but probably for her safety as I am sure.  We seemed to have completely lost our minds. Eventually we were able to start the lesson though. We are currently undergoing addiction recovery with her and that is a first for me so we are really praying for the guidance on how to help her kick her habit. We asked about her Book of Mormon reading and she told us she finished first Nephi but restarted it so she could go through it with the student study manual we gave her so she could understand everything. She is power and always has great questions. She hasn't missed a day of church since I met her over two months ago!!!!

We are beginning the last week of our transfer which just blows me away. I don't know how the time is going so fast. Days are longs and weeks are short, that is so true! Elder Leonard has been a hoot, but think I may be getting transferred this time. I don't know how I feel about it but I think I am ready for a new area and a good kick start for the year. 

Elder Leonard will be going in for surgery to get a new cornea in his eye this week. when he comes back he will be on bed rest for about one to two weeks. so that's going to be tough on us both. I will be rotating with the other missionaries every day so that I can still do missionary work and not sit on my rump for a week and a half. but it will still be weird not really working in my area."

Soda Floats!

"So the big news was President Thompson this week. He is here!!! I was quite anxious to meet him but also thought it would be super awkward when we did.  However, it actually felt quite normal. I really like him. He loves the outdoors. He likes to laugh and smile and I just think I will get a long really well with him. I feel like we have a lot of the same interests. He also brought his 18 year old daughter who will be here for maybe a month or a few. So the mission was quite the  buzz and about seeing her haha I guess that's what happens when you don't have sister missionaries in your mission. I also found out that sister Thompson, our new and amazing mission mom, has been reading my letters... eish..... and so she may read this as well..... I hope she like it..... maybe not the part about mentioning how excited the mission was to meet her daughter haha. They are from Boston but have lived in Alpine Utah for the past little while. I am very excited to see the new things that President implements into the mission. I think we are going to focus a lot more on the Book of Mormon which is great!"

"Getting swole digging in the mountains"

"I ate myself sick while we were in Bloem. it was worth it... but not really the next day if you know what I mean haha. We went to a buffet for dinner which was pretty good but I think that's what killed all of our stomachs the next day. We had McDonalds for lunch and then the next day a buffet at the hotel, then unlimited pizza for lunch and yes McD's for dinner again.... Needless to say I am out of money and probably chubby now but hey when you live Lesotho and you don't have any of these things you get excited.... :)

So I have related mission to a big hill before, and I think it is quite true. You spend your first year going up, it is hard, you slip but you keep going up and working hard. You get to the top and look and see the beauty of it all. You have done so much worked so hard. but now you got the second half, down hill. Now I see two approaches. One, you go down and hit the brakes. You slow down, and coast. You see this a lot as missionaries are getting ready to go home. Or you run. you go down the hill faster than you came up. You do as much as you can and you don't stop, don't slow down, and you "finish strong"as we say. I  hope I continue to run rather than slow down as I go through my second year of mission. I am so excited that I get to spend another entire year serving my Lord and God."

"I know that the work I am doing is good, I know it is true! I know that our savior Jesus Christ died, rose, and continues to lead us today through a living prophet named Thomas Monson. I know that the work of God is lead by His power and watchful eye. I know that my Father in Heaven loves me. I know that the book of Mormon is the most true book you can find here on earth today! I love it, I know it!"

"apparently I am getting more mature according to my last mission president. I still think I do a lot of childish things though but then again I will always retain a bit of the goofy childishness because I lauve it :)

We sure are getting along great, He is awesome! we laugh a lot!!!! I love you babe, we are almost there. Dont forget when it seems so hard you have to temple. and you can remember why.

Always

Elder Mookie"

Halfway There!

June 23rd marked one year since he left! It's so crazy to look back on that time and remember how I felt like time was never going to go fast enough. I remember thinking that two years is so long, even one year felt like an eternity, and yet here we are. One year down and one to go!

"This week was an interesting one.

We had our final interview with our mission president, he goes home in under two weeks now. It was quite weird to say the least. Said our good byes and he talked a bit about the changes he has seen in me since the beginning of my mission, that was probably the highlight of my week.

The work was okay this week. We also went to the mountains for a service project to help dig holes for sister lineo. She needs us to dig 3000 holes to plant trees..... its rough.... but its also good service and a good back work out. So we headed the 45 min drive to find that she bunked us! she said she was worried about snow and didnt want to do it that day. well we just drove almost an hour and we werent about to waste that time. so we drove a little bit further down the road to get to some mountains with snow! yes snow in Africa!!! We parked on the side of the road and started our journey up the frosty slope. of course this is the day I forgot my camera so I didnt get a ton of great pictures..... eish..... but onward.... We were about 30 minutes behind the first group of elders. The mountain we decided to climb didnt have a path or trail by any means so luckily since we were behind the first group we were able to follow their foot prints in the snow. None of us were quite expecting to take an expedition through the snow but hey, adventure is out there! there were parts along the mountain where the snow got fairly deep. When we got to the top we took some cool pictures and then built a snow man. some of the Elders were to cold and left early but we toughed it out and froze our fingers to do something that none of you will ever get the chance to do in your life. and that is build an amazing snowman in the mountains of Africa.... worth it! After the snowman needless to say we were all frozen and ready to go home..... but unfortunately we had a snowy slope to get down and home seemed far far away. we decided the best approach would be to run! I still don't know how no one broke any bones as we were sliding down the mountain as fast as we could, slipping and falling along the way. Elder Adlard did get a nice gash in the leg and filled a nice circle of blood in his jeans. we then found it to be to dangerous to run down so I then sat down on my butt and scooted down creating a nice slide for the others to freely follow. now we were cold and soaking wet head to toe from sliding, rolling and falling in the snow. but finally we made it to the bottom. it twas quite the adventure."

Saying goodbye to his mission president

Mission Coin!

"Well it was a pretty weird week with a lot of spare time and other things happening so I guess that's it.

Love you all!

Elder North"

Package!! :)

He sent a package a little while ago and it finally came this week! I went over to his parent's house to pick them up and hung out with them for a bit. I got an Africa necklace, his name tag, two keychains: one of a lion and the other spells out my name, a South Africa bag, a mini traditional Lesotho hat and a handmade ornament with my name embroidered (spelled wrong, but he knew that haha) and a letter. I seriously love all of it so much! He is the best.

Fixing a toilet of less active member with Elder Changler

Glass coke bottles

"Our awesome investigator studying the Book of Mormon like a boss!"

Semp and beans

Time has flown by in so many ways but there have definitely been some slow days, weeks, and months. I've had a lot of time to reflect on this last year of life and it just kind of hit me how much we've both grown up in such a short time. Don't get me wrong, I still feel like a kid trying to adult with no idea what I'm doing sometimes, but I at least have a year of trial and error under my belt haha. We've somehow gotten through one whole year of being apart, of growing, of learning, of trials and setbacks, of sadness and joy and through all of that we still have each other. I think back to how I felt during those last few days together, how scared I was, how excited and sad and happy I was at the same time, but also how much I loved him and would miss him. One year later and I'm still a little scared. Scared of the future, scared of not being what he needs me to be or what the Lord needs me to be. One year later and I'm still excited about so many things. Excited about our future, excited about how much more we'll get to grow and learn in the next year and of course excited to see him again. One year later and I'm still a little sad, because it's hard to be without my best friend and the man I love for so long. One year later and I'm still so happy, because I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have him to love and to love me in return, even if it is from far away, and I'm still so happy because he gets to spend this time serving the Lord and His people. One year later and I miss him so much more than I ever thought would be possible, and I miss him more every day. One year later and I've only fallen more in love with him in every sense of the word. I didn't know it would be possible to love someone this much, especially being apart, but I've learned to love him in new ways that I don't think I could have if he were here. One year later and I'm still sure that he's the one I want to spend the rest of forever with, to share those sacred temple covenants with and take on whatever life throws at us hand in hand. It's the best thing ever that I get to say that I'll see him in one year!!!

This is just what I sent to him last week, and I'll include his response:
"I'm thankful for every moment I've gotten to share with you, together or apart. This last year has been one of the hardest of my life but with you by my side cheering me on it's been one of so much growth and maturing and I wouldn't change a thing. One year from now we'll be together again, and I can promise you that I'm never letting you leave me again :) But until then, here's to one more year of learning, experiencing, growing, trials, triumphs, and love. Continue working hard, giving your all to your mission and loving the people with all of your heart. I'm so proud of the man you're becoming and it's amazing to see your testimony grow. You are such a strength to me and I'm so thankful for you every single day."

"one more year. one day closer, one step further. to be together as one. I love you so much. I am not really going to even try and say something as great as that or act like I have this all under control but all I really know is that I love you so much and always will! You make it so easy to love you! thank you babe.

Always
Elder Mookie"

This one made me laugh hahaha

"Got my new suit today!! I lauve it!!!"

And here's some fun little throwback pictures to when he left. :)

This pictures still almost makes me cry every time.