The Adventures of Wildabeast: The Burger of All Burgers.

 Because this is all new territory for us- it's a whole bunch of firsts. 

But we are wise enough to know how spoiled we are to get to talk to Will every week. 

The other night we spent an hour just going over all the stuff.

And then we ran out of things to talk about.

That felt nice.

Nice to know that though he is gone for two years, we will be connected enough for that to happen. 

God is so good. 

It's been a good week.

And with that being said, here is the weekly email:

Good day to you ALL! It's been a minute since I talked to you last! Much has happened since I emailed you last, and per the title, these things are either going to make or break my moms day! So let's get right into it, shall we?

1. I am opening a new area with my comp in the little town of Bisbee Arizona. The ward has about 187 members, but only 20 are active. So this means we are out in the boonies with NO SUPERVISION. The nearest elders are a half hour away and half the ward is too.

2. So, mother, remember how you always tried to get to to clean my room and stuff an I never did? Well now my room never gets dirty, AND I make my bed. EVERY. MORNING. Wish it could happened sooner, eh?

3. As a big part of me being homesick (which hasn't been bad, mind you), my companion and I have started decorating for christmas already. GASP! WHAT?? WHO AM I!!! Yeah I know I'm a hypocrite, its FINE. 

4. Before we left to come to our area, the pres came up to us and said, "Hey. So there are a few areas in your mission that you CANNOT go to when the sun goes down. One is the border, because that area is run by the cartels at night. And the other is old Bisbee. That ones not physically dangerous, but it IS spiritually dangerous. So... have fun!" So ya love you mom!

5. Remember how you always tried to get me to eat oatmeal every morning, something about it being healthy and I would always just eat my sugar cereal instead? Well. We eat oatmeal every morning and its AWESOME.

6. So I started running again. Ya. My comp and I RUN. So that ones for you AND Sister Jensen. 

7. So I have Facebook for the mission, yeah? Well in 7 days I have gone up 1100 friends. Sure over half of them are Filipino or they speak spanish but hey a friend is a friend!

8. My first day out street contacting, we had a guy approach us and call us antichrists because of the temple. So that was fun. Another man came up to us and said that he took a DNA test, and he found out he has the blood of Jesus Christ, so he's saved. That's just the people of old Bisbee haha they have opinions and aren't afraid to tell you them!

Ok before I destroy your dear heart, I'll stop haha! But I do have a story for y'all. 

So when we got to or house, we were desperately hoping for a washer and dryer, meaning we wouldn't have to drive a half hour to wash our clothes every week. But alas, there was none. So we spent the week looking for a washer, praying, looking on facebook marketplace, yard sales, anything. But no dice. Until yesterday, when we went up to a members house for dinner. These people had just moved in, and had inherited all of this stuff from a guy who died, and they bought his house. As we were getting ready to leave, the wife said "Do you guys need anything? At all? How about a couch?" I looked st my comp and was like "YES. WE NEED A COUCH!" And she said "Ok. Um... how about... a washer and dryer?" So long story short we got our washer and dryer, a couch, a dining room table and chairs the night before we would've had to go a half hour to wash clothes. This is just my story to prove that God does know your needs, and he WILL provide!!

So that's all I got for this week. If y'all dont know what Old Bisbee looks like, look it up. It's super cool. I'll send a pic of one of the buildings, I want able to get a shot of the whole town yet. But ya! Love you all, thanks for sticking with me!

-Elder Labit

Pic 1: flying over the heckin Grand Canyon

Pic 2: an old 1800s church in the middle of old bisbee

Pic 3: the border wallllllll

Pic 4: a burger I got at the Bisbee Breakfast Club

Pic 5: Tucson Temple. Yes i know its lopsided

Pic 6: the beginning of our decorations 

Pic 7: the old abandoned mine in the middle of town. Its HUGE

The Adventures of Wildabeast: The Longest Week so far....

 Tomorrow marks one week in the mission field. And even though it was a loooong week, I have to remind myself that we are actually 7 weeks in now, thanks to home MTC where he didn't really feel gone, because he wasn't, duh.

 

His companion from St. George, Elder Williams

Thanks to his mission president's wife we have a few pictures of the arrival. 

 

President and Sister Grisel

 

 

And on Tuesday, because it was a half p-day, he actually got to call. Which was great and hard- he looked a little shell-shocked. So amazing the crazy courage it must take to do this mission thing.

 

 That's the round-up. We miss him like crazy- can't wait to hear the summary of his first week, first-hand. Sooooo glad for the weekly phone calls. :)

The Adventures of Wildabeast: The Drop-Off.

 

The unbelievably gifted, David Osmond...

Close to the beginning of MTC- Will told me he had gone to Noodles and Co. during the summer with his friend and she said to him- Look,  there’s David Osmond.” 

I was appalled that he had never told me about that experience, knowing how much I love David. 

So 3 or 4 times a week for 5 weeks he would say,

“Mom, guess who I saw at Noodles and Company?” 

It became our running joke.

So this morning, as he and Michael were in the checkin line- Michael texted me this: 

"Will says guess who is standing in line in front of us?” 

I knew immediately.

Coincidence? 

Most definitely. 

Tender mercy though? 

Absolutely!

 

 

You might be happy to know that there were no tears at the airport.

But there were quite a few when I got home to this empty chair...

 

The Adventures of Wildabeast: Call of the Wild

It's just so weird to get a mission call through email. My friend's son opened his in chemistry class and texted her the news. Yikes.

Will wanted a little more than that. 

We gathered- some via Zoom and some in person. 

It is really a strange moment. And actually pretty vulnerable.

He was so worried that he would be disappointed in his call- even though he knew that shouldn't be a thing. 

Wherever it was to, he just wanted to feel it. Feel God telling him it was truly for him. 

Vanuatu, Port Vila Mission- we had to look it up.

Never heard of it. But we felt it.

Will felt it deeply. Relief and happiness.

And now, he is temporarily going to Tucson. That assignment came less dramatically and I was worried. One week in the MTC and another big change. A disappointing one. I worried all day about how he would take it. But he didn't even flinch.

Though he didn't know it then, but what he felt on that day way back when, was God affirming his call to serve. Period. Wherever.

So Tucson tomorrow and Vanuatu some day. 

All is well. 

The Adventures of Wildabeast: Things Eternal.

I attended the temple for the last time this year the day after my dad died.

As I sat in the Celestial room I thought about all things Eternal.

 I remember thinking to myself, "I believe it. I believe it all-Creation, Jesus, Eternity, everything. 

And I just sat in that Peace for a good, long time.

Six weeks later when my mom died, the temple was closed. 

And still yet, I sat in that Peace- the peace of Creation, Jesus, Eternity, everything. 

Seven long  months later that Peace is a little bit stretched.

Every once in awhile on Tuesday morning, when that peace felt like it was about to snap,  I would shower and dress in my Sunday best, gather my scriptures and  head to the temple. I almost believed I would go inside but really, I sat in it's parking lot and read and poured out my heart. Somehow, just reentering my beloved Tuesday temple routine was healing. 

All this to say when Will received a temple date to be endowed, I am pretty sure I was more happy for me than him. I prayed really hard for weeks that I would not fall apart when we walked in the door. I warned him over and over again that I might be a mess- but it would be a good mess and not to worry. 

I will never be able to put into words how amazing that experience was. For him. For me. 

But these words come to mind: "I believe it all- Creation, Jesus, Eternity, everything". 

Soooo happy I got to share that with my son.

The Adventures of Wildabeast: Vanuatu bound with a detour in Tucson.

Five weeks ago, this kid, this youngest kid of mine, was set apart to be a missionary. 

Honest to goodness. 

And in just one week, he will leave the nest.

There are lots of emotions wrapped up in that but for now, we will just pretend it's all going to be great.  

Before all of that happens, here is a recap of Home MTC:

It might be only a mom and dad who have noticed-but he has changed. So much. It is miraculous to see a kid who HATED anything to do with Zoom, LOVE his classes, his district, his companion, and the gospel over Zoom. God is working miracles for sure.

It's sad that he has missed some opportunities that could have been had only in the Provo MTC but what wasn't missed? Having to drop him off at the curb while he was still reeling from the goodbyes. It has been awesome to talk him through the hard parts of leaving friends and his other life- we have had lots of heart to hearts. 

We have walked together every morning for 5 weeks- wouldn't change that for anything.  

We recap his day and pray together every night-wouldn't change that either.

We've played LOTS of games together as a family, still have family dinners on Sundays, and even spent a P-Day at Lagoon (not sure if that was super legal but none the less...).

Home MTC has been a different kind of wonderful. We have loved every minute.

Yep, I know that a different curbside drop-off is unavoidable and it's coming up fast. 

But now, I have seen him grow up a whole lot these past 5 weeks.

 I can feel a little more confident sending him out into that missionary world because I have seen for myself- that he prays a little harder and a little deeper, and knows what it feels like be comforted by the Spirit.

Love him.

Pray for me. :/

Oh yeah, and for him too. ;)