My Pleasure

Cooper has loved working at Chick-fil-A this summer. He has just over a week until he starts at-home MTC, so his job is coming to an end. On Friday night we went to visit him at work and cheer him on.

Peter: Week 9 in Pictures

Peter: Week 8 in Pictures

Peter: Week 7 in Pictures

 

This is the only picture he shared from last week. Well, there was one other, but it was of street names, so I'm not going to post that here.

And with that we're caught up!

Peter: Week 6 in Pictures

Peter: Week Five in Pictures

Peter: Week Four in Pictures

Peter: Week Three (Which Was Week Before Last) In Pictures

This picture deserves context. These two elders have known each other for over a decade, ever since their dads were in the BYU MBA program together and we participated in a babysitting co-op with them and two other families. Every Friday evening for about three months these boys, and their siblings, got together for a playdate while the parents took turns going on dates. Did either of them realize this and recognize each other? Nope. But the other elder's mom saw a picture of Peter on the mission Facebook page and knew right away what family he belonged to. She contacted me and told me they were serving in the same mission.

And I think that's very cool.

I don't know what church this is. I should probably ask.

Peter: Week Two in Pictures

Peter: Week One in Pictures

Delayed Check-In

For those following along at home, the Philadelphia Mission, where Peter is serving, moved their Preparation day (P-day) from Monday to Thursday this week. 

Why is this a big deal? The missionaries can only call home once a week, on their P-day. This is a huge difference from when Bryan served in the late 90s. At that time, missionaries could call home twice per year, on Christmas and Mother's Day. The rest of the year they relied on letters to communicate with their loved ones. The change from twice a year to once a week is relatively new, maybe in the last five years.

The P-day change means that we didn't talk to Peter today, but hopefully we will on Thursday!

Called, Again

Tonight something happened that Peter has been hoping for ever since he got his mission call in September.

He switched from a service mission to a teaching mission.

We got the word a few weeks ago that his request to transfer had been approved. We've spent the time since then trying to get him ready. Many errands were run today gathering all the needed items.

And then we drove him down to the mission home this evening and dropped him off.

There were tears, at least from those that were in the van as we drove away.

It was a mixture of happy and sad tears, but mostly joyful.

The House of the Lord

On Sunday Cooper was ordained an Elder in our church. This is an important step toward being a missionary.

Yesterday, he took another step. He went to the Philadelphia Temple for his own endowment. This is a very big deal. He was excited and a little nervous. Bryan, Peter, and I went with him and were so happy he made this choice.

Traffic was pretty intense. It took us about two hours to get to the temple. Luckily, we left early enough.

The underground parking garage makes it feel like we're not in the middle of a big city, even before we officially enter the building.

We arrived in time to stop at the Distribution Center, then head into the temple itself. I got a few before shots while we waited for the elevator.

This is the shift that Peter has been serving in for the last six months or so. Several people, when they realized we were Peter's family, told us how wonderful he is and what a great job he's been doing. That was a lovely, unexpected perk of going on a Thursday evening.

There were several people that came to support Cooper. We use last names at church, but for the sake of privacy, I'll list them my first name here:

• Tina and Richard, dear friends from our old ward, they helped prepare Cooper to go to the temple
• Scott and Robyn, Cooper's seminary teachers from his freshman year, they were in our old ward and they moved into the new ward with us, Scott wrote Cooper's letter of recommendation to get into BYU, and they also helped Cooper prepare for the temple
• Dave and Colleen, friends who are in our old ward, Dave is one of Cooper's biggest cheerleaders
• Kim, a good friend from our old ward, she brought her two sons to do baptisms while we were in the endowment session, just so they could be there to greet Cooper when he came out, that was at least three hours in the car just to give Cooper a hug and show their support (her husband was our Bishop in our old ward and would have been there as well if he'd been in town)
• Spencer, Cooper's good friend who went to the temple on Saturday for the first time to prepare for his own mission, and his dad Joe, both from our old ward
• Michael, a good friend from both the old ward and new ward, he serves in the Bishopric and has been one of Cooper's Young Men leaders
• Graham, another one of Cooper's Young Men leaders in our new ward, and the youth Sunday School teacher

It was really meaningful having these friends join us in the temple. They were all so happy for Cooper!

Cooper had a positive experience. He had so many questions that we couldn't answer them all before we had to leave. In fact, just before we stepped outside to take this picture after the session, the security guard locked the doors. Cooper is eager to go back.

We love you, Cooper!

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission

Just over two weeks ago, Cooper submitted his mission papers. On Monday evening at about 8:00, his call came! 

I asked Cooper if he wanted to open the call in front of people or on his own. He said yes to people, so we sent out texts with a Google Meet link so family could watch him open it. Then we sent messages to local friends and invited anyone from church and seminary to join us in person. People started showing up around 8:45 with the plan that he would read it at 9:00. By 9:15 the last people had arrived and logged on. Topher had already gone to sleep for the night, but we knew he would be so sad to miss this, so we woke him up. 

Bryan recorded the call and I took a shorter video of Cooper opening his call.

He's going to Juiz de Fora, Brazil! He'll speak Portuguese and go to the Brazil MTC. He starts on September 23. This call is extra special because Cooper's mission borders where Bryan served his mission in Rio de Janeiro. In fact, Bryan was looking at the mission boundaries and it looks like they've been redrawn since he was there. There's a chance that Cooper will serve in some of the same places Bryan served.

Cooper is really excited! And it was so special to have people show up to support him when he opened his call, both virtually and in-person.

Daily Updates

Part of Peter's time as a missionary is spent doing service. He works at food bank, a Habitat for Humanity store, and the temple. The rest of his time is spent serving with the teaching missionaries in our area. An unanticipated benefit of him serving his mission from home is that we've gotten to see him interact with the Elders. He loves finding people to teach. He loves coming home and telling us about the lessons they had that day. He loves the companionship of teaching the gospel with his peers. I'm sure that we could hear all of these stories in letters or over video calls, but it's pretty cool to watch it happening in real time.

Off to the Temple

Ten Times Two

Peter turned 20 in December and I still can't quite wrap my brain around it.

He got missionary things for his birthday like scriptures and the black suit he's wearing in the picture below. A benefit to him being on a service mission is that we got to celebrate with him. Sadly, he was sick on his birthday and it was pretty low-key, but we still made (and purchased) his favorite foods and he opened gifts.

I don't think I've been stunned by any other birthdays, but two decades of parenthood doesn't seem quite possible. I keep thinking that I have three teenagers at home, but I don't, I only have two. Peter is not a teenager anymore.

Time is weird.

Service at Home

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission

Peter was set apart on Sunday night as a service missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a wonderful, spiritual evening.

Earlier in the day he spoke in church about his upcoming service. He shared his talk with me so I could post it here:

Good afternoon brothers and sisters, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Peter. For the past year, I’ve been attending BYU in Utah. In preparation for my talk, I had a few thoughts to write down, but I quickly remembered that I haven’t given a talk in four to five years. I then found out what time I had, which was far greater than any talk I have given before. These two things quickly humbled me, and I hope that the spirit can take the few things I say and expand upon them in your hearts. I hope that I can gain much more experience talking in sacrament meetings over the next two years. After being humbled as I was, I decided to just speak of my experiences and my thoughts, however jumbled they may be, and pray that the spirit can guide me to say more if need be.

In the most recent General Conference a few weeks ago, Elder James E. Evanson gave a talk called Go and Do Likewise, in which he said “Missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are modern-day examples of the good Samaritan that Christ invites us to become. I would like to highlight those missionaries who are called to service assignments. They are examples to us of how service (1) opens hearts to the gospel of Jesus Christ, (2) allows all of us to minister regardless of our circumstances, and (3) brings the power of Christ into our lives.”

I have been called on a service mission, the kind that Elder Evanson highlighted. This means that over the next two or so years, I will be sacrificing my time and energy towards helping those in need. Whether that’s volunteering at food pantries or working in libraries, I will be serving my community and helping to bring the light of Christ into their lives.

It has been a long journey to get to where I am now, in deciding to serve a mission, and I am grateful for those who have been by my side through it. 

I would like to highlight one word from Elder Evanson’s talk, that word being “examples”.

It led me to think of three kinds of examples while writing this talk

The first example is that of the savior. He was the biggest example for us to follow, being baptized and living a life of love and service, taking care of the needy and the outcast. He taught us by word and by example to serve our fellow man, and love them as he would. In Mathew 22, one of the Pharisees asks Jesus what the great commandment in the law is, to which he replies:

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Let’s remember that second half for later.

The second example is that of my friends that I made at BYU. While there, I had the blessing of making many friends who were returning missionaries. They would often talk about their experiences on their mission while I was around, and how it was a great experience. Now, I’ve been told my whole life what a great experience missions are, but there was something about having good friends around my age that helped me start to see how positive missions really can on an individual level.

I had friends that served all across the world and some at their own homes as service missionaries, similar to how I will be serving. They were some of the best people I’ve known, sacrificing their time and energy to help those around them. One of my good friends even left his apartment, after just getting home from a long shift, to walk 30 minutes to my apartment to bring me tissues when I was sick, just to have to walk another 30 m minutes home.

These first two examples lead me on to the third example. Myself. I wanted to be a good example like they were, to my younger siblings and my friends that haven’t yet served. I also wanted to get better at the second great commandment. I wanted to get better at loving my neighbor.

These reasons, as well as personal revelations that I needed to serve a mission in order to go where I wanted to go in life, were the biggest factors in me deciding to go on a mission.

I wanted to go help people, I wanted to be a better person myself, and I wanted to be a better person in my current friendships and relationships.

Early on in my plan to serve a mission, my heart wasn’t really in the right place. I had wanted to serve as a service missionary because I thought it would be an easy way to get my mission over with. Because of the people that I was blessed to meet over the past two years, I began to see the true value of a mission, and began to realise that I should serve a teaching mission instead. I eventually got to a point in my journey where I was ready and willing, and even excited to serve a teaching mission, and be of service to people in other parts of the world. I was however still called on a service mission, and I realized that maybe I just needed to have my heart in the right place, and that I really did need to start as a service missionary all along.

This hasn’t been the easiest decision, by far. My records were bounced all around the world, delaying the submitting of my papers, which was a little bit discouraging. I’ll have to put my relationships on a temporary pause, which is admittedly very hard. These hard things aren’t going to dissuade me from serving a mission, and they are not meant to dissuade anyone thinking of serving a mission. Instead they highlight sacrifice. In an April 2012 talk, titled Sacrifice, President Dallin H. Oaks says “Quote Our lives of service and sacrifice are the most appropriate expressions of our commitment to serve the Master and our fellowmen. Close Quote” I highlight sacrifice as an example of the importance of commitment to our Savior Jesus Christ, and to our fellow men. I hope that through this sacrifice, I can brighten the lives of the people around me, as Jesus did through the ultimate sacrifice. Through all of these hard things, I have come to know with certainty that serving a mission is the right thing for me.

I have always been drawn to service, whether I be a teaching or a service missionary. I have always liked the idea of helping people in need, and by doing so paving the way for the gospel to eventually find its way into their lives. Over the past week or so, I have been looking into various service opportunities in the area, and in doing so I got a brief glimpse into just how many people need people that are willing to help. I hope that as a service missionary I can brighten their lives, and learn how to be more willing to help others, even continuing far beyond my mission. I want to become better at learning how to understand people and their needs a lot better than I do now. I hope that I can also continue that far beyond my mission, and be able to be like those first few examples I mentioned earlier.

To summarize, I decided to go on a mission for growth and for an example. I hope that I can grow to be a better son of God and a better neighbor to my fellow men. I hope that I can help myself and others grow in faith and love of God through my service.

I bear my testimony that being of service to everyone is following in the example of our elder brother, Jesus Christ, and that through service we can bring light to our lives and the lives of those around us. I know that he lives, and he paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we may return to live with him and our Heavenly Father, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.