Tuesday, September 8, 2009

just journaling the missionary- no pictures

*Last week we got a letter in the mail from Chile-- very excited I opened it. It was from a girl who Brian taught nearly a year ago. It was 5 pages- front & back (10 pages!) all in Spanish. Brett took it to work & a guy in his office translated that: she wants to come to America & have lots of babies & Elder Messer is her beloved. Oh boy.
*So I gently told him about this in his Monday email & he wrote back that she is a forty something lady who does this to all the missionaries & is slightly mentally ill. Okay.
*Yesterday one of his missionary friends who is home now stopped in for a visit. Sister Crook went to school & was very good friends with Megan- so it was a thrill when she got her mission call to the same place & went into the MTC on the same day. Girls can go on missions when they are 21 & only stay out for 18 months. She took one look at our picture of Brian with his missionary count down calendar & said- he looks like a baby here! He has really grown up. That made my heart stop. Oh my gosh, he is really coming home.
*She told us about Chileans & how they are great people. How it is so cold there in the winter & if you are lucky you have a wood stove to keep you warm. How it is beautiful there & how our missionary picked up the language & accent really fast. How their food is very bland and to send him peanut butter in his next package. His next package is his birthday package. He asked me not to send anything at all, but to save the money for the new things he will need when he gets home. ha! NEVEr- I am sending a package this week!
*She told us that he is a good missionary. That he balances work & fun. That he talked constantly in the MTC about his family, especially his brother... the stud... Jack. I wish Jack could have heard her say that. How he got more mail than anyone (he probably had more siblings?) How he would read each outside of the letter- I wrote "notes from MOM" funny happenings around the house on the back of them- to them all. I can just see him doing that & laughing.
*Having her visit made me realize- I need to make a list of all the questions & things I want to say to him when he gets home. I had a million questions for her & went blank as soon as I saw her. Like: have you really had diarrhea for a year? or were you trying to scare me?

Time seems to be speeding by-

7 comments:

Jill said...

Oh my goodness, a 10 page letter in Spanish from a mentally unstable woman proclaiming her love for Brian...that's a first!

It must have been great to get all this insider information from Sister Crook.

I can't believe he's almost done!

Kristy said...

Oh dear.....you better watch out she may make it to Utah one day!!!

So much fun stuff happening in your family the next few months!

jakenapril said...

wow! what a treat to have someone from the mission come and visit. and also to put you at ease...and remind you of another list you need to make! sheesh! aren't missions great?!? i wonder what other 19-year olds do? how do they 'grow up'? glad he's over the hump and closer to coming home...for you and jack and the rest of the m fam.
hooray!

Rachel said...

Oh, what a letter to receive!!! And how lucky to be able to talk with someone from his very same mission at the very same time!

I have LOVED reading your blogs about Brian, and still can hardly believe he's all grown up! My niece just got her mission call - to Italy! - and I don't even see her much (she lives in Florida) but WOW am I going to miss her! Don't even talk to me about sending one of my own children out - kindergarten's up next year for Charlotte, and I'm already hyperventilating.

michelle said...

How fun for you to get this inside info! There was a woman in Marc's mission who wrote letters like that to all the missionaries as well... I wonder if every mission has one?

Karrie said...

WOW all I can say is YIKES..I'm with Kristy she may make it to the US someday and then what...Brian better come home and get married fast or she might get him.

I'm excited to meet him..I've never met him seems so weird

Kim Sue said...

wow...every time I read about the mission it is overwhelming for me. you are really my first experience with really grasping what these guys commit to.