Monday Memoirs

On Friday, Jed and I had a fun date night. We went to Chipotle for dinner and then watched the Rangers cream the Yanks! We're going to the World Series!! Such an exciting game!

We woke up early on Saturday and went to help out with a service project. Our city and two other surrounding cities got together to clean up and beautify some homes in the area. The house we were working on was super close to our apartment, so Jed and I dropped our car off at home and walked there after we checked in.
Clouds started rolling in in the morning and we had some sporadic light rain, but we plowed through. We took down a fence and put up a new one, painted all of the trim of the house, planted a tree, and cleared out some brush and debris. Not five minutes after we finished securing the new fence, the winds picked up really strong and rain started pouring down. We scrambled to get all of the tools put away and then the sirens starting going off and we took off running toward home. Yes, I ran! I wouldn't have been able to run as far two weeks ago! :)
Anywho, we spent the rest of the day inside, watching the storm. It was a good day.

Yesterday was pretty low-key. I went and visited two women from church, then we went to church, then we went to choir, and then we had the missionaries over for dinner. I made my mom's tortilla soup. One of the missionaries doesn't like Mexican food or anything resembling it. Poor guy ate a whole huge bowl of it before he told me. :( 

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that I was able to pull off a great surprise today.
I am thankful that I got to be the first one to see Tom get off the plane.
I am thankful to be in Cleveland with my family.
I am thankful that Tom made it home safely.
I am thankful that Tom served a valiant mission for our church.

Mission Call

My cousin, David, got his mission call yesterday! He's going to the Chile Concepcion Mission!! His dad went to Chile Santiago and Jed went to Chile Osorno. Isn't that interesting?

We walked to David's dorm from our house in the rain. A mile and a half both ways! We were soaked by the time we got there. :\

David, with his unopened mission call.

Getting his parents on the line.

He opened the envelope with a huge knife...

***FYI: As soon as he says Chile Concepcion, it gets RIDICULOUSLY loud. So plug your ears or turn the volume down real quick***

David was shaking, he was so happy and excited!!

We're so proud of you, David! You're going to love Chile and the people down there. And you're going to make an excellent missionary!! You're awesome. We love you so much!












***You can generate your own pretend mission call at this website***

Elder Busath

My brother Tom (Elder Busath) is on a two-year mission for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He flew in to Salt Lake last night and Jed and I picked him up from the airport. We then drove around to see some family and got dinner (at The Pie!). We drove back down to Provo and our cousin Sarah came over to say goodbye and we got to visit with her for a while. We don't see her enough - she's such a fun and cute girl.

This morning Elder Busath woke up way too early (around 8:00), showered, and had to sit around for a few hours twiddling his thumbs. He was so anxious to leave and get to the Missionary Training Center, or MTC, but he couldn't really do the things he would typically do to take his mind off of it like TV, video games, etc. However we did throw in Planet Earth, but that wasn't engaging enough...When he decided he couldn't take it anymore, we left the house and went to this nasty yogurt place that Elder Busath loves, that's only in Provo, called Yoasis. Then we picked up Jed at school and headed over to the MTC. We checked Elder Busath in and took some pictures, went to an orientation for new missionaries, and then said good-bye while trying not to cry too much.My brother, "Elder Busath", will spend 3-4 weeks in the MTC where he will learn how to be an effective missionary. Then he will travel to the Boise, Idaho area where he will teach people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ for 23 months. The next time I will see him will be in two years. I'm very proud of him and I know that he will be an amazing missionary and do wonderful things that will enrich not only his life, but the lives of many who know him.

Tom "The Bomb" Busath

As some of you may know, I have a younger brother named Tom. He turned 19 in June and put in his mission papers a few weeks ago. His mission call came last week, but he was out of town on a business trip, and he wanted to be the one to open it rather than have somebody read it to him over the phone. So it sat, unopened, in my parents' house for almost a week! He got home Saturday, and we got a call that night. Jed and I were out at dinner with Mike & Kim Keay, Justin & Amanda McDaniel, and Amanda's brother when we got the call. Kim knows Tom, so it was fun that she was there when he called.

Jed and I stepped out of the restaurant to hear, but it was still hard because there were about 5 people on the line we were on (Tom conference-called Grams and me, and I conference-called Laurel & Nathan). Sitting on the phone, listening to everyone else on the line talking at once was pandemoneum! Laurel and I were having a side conversation together, which was kind of funny.

To get to the good stuff...

Tom will be serving the Lord for two years, starting in the middle of September.

He has been called to serve in the Boise Idaho mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!