Nathan in WA-VAN

Nathan gave his farewell talk on Sunday, Dec. 17, and did an amazing job. He talked about always wanting to be a missionary and the examples the elders have been to him. He also talked about how when his friend passed away this past summer he had just finished AP camp with Josh and Crue and all he could think about was the Plan of Salvation and how he knew he would see him again. It was really cool. Josh and Sunni and kids came, we got to hang out with them that morning for a bit. And I went and met them at La Posta after I got off of work Saturday evening. Other people who came to the farewell were Steve (of course), Amy and Jimmy (Noah), Russell, Diana, Ryker, and Rush, Jaimi and her boyfriend Nick, Klynn, Karen H., Marshall and Heidie D., Mike J., the Mark, Sheri, Maya, Eva, and Sam H., and Ryan and Beverly H. - Ryan used to be one of Nathan’s YM leaders) and Kayla and Jared B. both happened to be there visiting family, which was really cool. After the farewell talk. Ryk...

The farewell talk (or how it was written, anyway). Given on December 17, 2017. My name is Nathan, soon to be Elder. I got my call a little more than 2 months ago to the Washington-Vancouver Mission, I report to the Missionary Training Center in 3 days on the 20th! Before I begin the meat of my talk, I'd like to show my gratitude by thanking some people, my family (especially my Mom), my friends, and my leaders and anyone who has been a mentor or teacher or example to me my whole life in dealing with my shenanigans. It is pretty amazing how I got here, throughout my time as an Aaronic Priesthood holder I have had many challenging experiences to build my Faith and Testimony in the Gospel to facilitate building me into the person I am today helping me through my journey with the Priesthood and through the Temple and now when I need it on my Mission. A big part that helped me, especially through my teenage years were the Missionaries. I was born into the LDS church so I do not have...

Nathan received his endowments at the Albuquerque Temple on December 9, 2017. Steve E. was his escort in the temple and we were blessed to have Grandma and Grandpa E. drive all the way to Albuquerque to meet us there. Anika and Jesse also came to the temple with us that morning. We went to the 9 am session, and Nathan and Steve had to be at the temple at 7:30 am to meet with the temple president. So Nathan, Steve, and I drove up Friday evening after I got off of work. Mom and dad got there Friday as well and stayed in a hotel, so we went there when we got to Albuquerque and visited for a while, then I stayed at the hotel with them and Nathan and Steve went to Anika and Jesse's for the night. We met at the temple the next morning and had a wonderful spiritual experience there. Then we went to the distribution center and got some white shirts and other necessities, Anika and Jesse had to go back home and then to volunteer at a nativity display, and the rest of us went out to lunch ...

Nathan was ordained an Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood on September 10, 2017. Grandma and Grandpa came out for it and Grandpa ordained him. It was wonderful to have some amazing and influential men there with us that day. From memory (and of course no picture, so boo): Grandpa E., Steve E. (long time YM president), Bryce H. (long time bishop), Russell A. (long time family friend), Jeremy G. (current YM president), Adam S. (current bishop). It was a short and sweet blessing and a special day.

Despite Nathan's compulsive mailbox checking, for some reason, he didn't check it on Saturday, October 28, 2017. I did (mom here). Jake and I had just come back from doing something and Nathan was at work at the Launch Pad Cafe. We got out of the car and I went to check the mailbox, expecting it to be empty since Nathan had been getting it every day. But it wasn't empty! There was a big white envelope in there from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints addressed to Elder Nathan!! Holy cow! Jake was already in the house when I realized what it was and I ran up the driveway and burst into the house and yelled, "LOOK WHAT'S HERE!!" He didn't realize what it was for a few seconds, but then we had to decide what to do! The CALL! So we jumped in the car and drove up to the Launch Pad. We had been telling people we would Facebook Live broadcast him opening it, but hadn't done a trial run of it or anything. And hadn't, of course, antici...

Filling out and turning in your mission papers is a big deal. And for a first time missionary mom and a first time missionary, we were floundering a bit. But eventually, Nathan met with our bishop and the stake president and got the "papers" meaning he got access to online recommendation system. He had a physical exam, lab work, dental visit, and luckily had his wisdom teeth out a year or so before (after which he was HILARIOUS, but that's a different story!).  Finally, he hit "submit" on the last form... He changed into a white shirt and tie so we could get a head shot. Kept the warm-up pants on though! The head shot. We were so excited! And nervous! But mostly excited! So now to wait for our bishop to review and sign off of the forms, then the stake president to review and sign off on the forms, then they get sent to Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City. We hit a couple more bumps on the road - bishop didn't get the email notific...

This blog has been created to keep a record of Nathan's mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He has been called to serve in the Washington Vancouver mission and reported to the Missionary Training Center on December 20, 2017. My goal is to update this weekly with his emails home and a few extras at times. For more information about the LDS church or LDS missions in general, visit www.lds.org or mormon.org. Missionary Service