May 14, 2018 Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day was wonderful.  We were able to have dinner early and had the kitchen all cleaned up and ready for the phone call. We had Spencer and Dani and Connor connected and ready when Mitchell called. We used Google Hangout so that way we could all participate in the call.  Mitchell was at a member’s home and used their iPad to call.  He called right around 5 pm our time.  Lauren and Dennis and the kids and Grandma Linda and Grandpa Clarke were here.  We had a nice visit with him.  We laughed and joked with him. I was surprised but his brothers didn’t tease him about his Mexican accent.  He is doing really well and loves being in Oaxaca.  We did talk about him coming home but he didn’t want to talk much about it.  He’s not ready.  He kept saying that he was going to work hard right up to the end.  He has a great companion and they get along very well.  He thinks he’s going to “die” in the area he is in. He is still Zone Leader and he hopes he will be released from that before he is finished.  He likes serving but he said it would be nice just to be a normal missionary.  He was in the process of finding a new apartment so we will see what happens.  He is working with lots of people right now but no one is ready to “get wet”.  We talked about school and what he needs to get an apartment and signed up for classes.  He will be home in time to do that so we don’t need to worry about that until later.  He still plays the piano and can play most hymns with his right hand.  He doesn’t think he could play for church though.  I told him maybe he could take a piano class at BYUI.  He liked that idea.  The kids danced around for a while and Jemma talked to him.  Josh sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” We talked about golf and that the Phoenician was redoing the whole course.  That was really cute.  He told me he would go to the big Cathedral the next day and take pictures.  He said he didn’t feel comfortable going inside though.  Oh, that boy! The weather is really nice right now and he is enjoying his time there.  We talked about going to visit there someday soon so we will see if and when that happens.  It was just a nice visit and we talked for about and hour and a half.  It was pretty easy to say goodbye because I knew we would see him in 4 months.  He didn’t really have any questions for us so we said goodbye and he was gone.  It was nice to have the family together again even if we were spread all over the place.  It’s crazy to think that he is on the tail end of his mission.  He has done so well and he loves it in Oaxaca.  He is obedient and a hard worker.  Because we talked on Sunday, he didn’t write on Monday.