Farewell, my son!

     Nathan's mission farewell was held on June 13th.  I was very glad that he did it early, as he had his choice to wait until the 20th...two days before he left.  It was nice not to have the talk hanging over him until that late time.  The main gist of his talk was on the importance of strengthening ourselves and not being afraid of the "pain" that life sends our way, as it will end up only making us stronger if we face it head on (at least I think that is what it was about...it's been almost 6 months now).  He gave a weight lifting analogy related to his lifting at the Y.  It really resonated with the congregation.  I was proud of him.
     A bunch of high school buddies showed-up for his farewell, many of them not members.  His buddy, Leon Manu even took a bus in from the L.A. area.  I felt bad that we hadn't planned any type of open house for them...so did Nathan, so he scheduled one for the next Saturday (I think it was a small group..I can't remember what they did, so it must not have been too stressful for me).

     I have yet to create a tradition of a mission open house when they leave OR when they come home.  I'm assuming I'll just play it by ear with every child.  I refuse to leave church early for one, that's for sure; I hate the idea of having them haul out to our area twice in one day.  I guess it would be a nice social gesture for inviting ward members if nothing else.  Once again, a lackadaisical response to an open house and the Peru trip planning thwarted a "real" open house.  I think he got to say "goodbye" to everyone he hadn't seen for some time since going to BYU.