January 15, 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR ELDER...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Happy 21st Birthday to our Elder... My, how the years have flown by!

Mom and Dad;s perspective on a great year!

We are overwhelmed with emotion at the growth this past year has brought to our cute Elder. The past year has flown by (in my eyes, not his father's). We have loved watching him develop a greater understanding of the Savior's love and the plan of Salvation, along with a greater knowledge of the scriptures and how they apply to his life and all of ours. We celebrate with him, a year of hard work, growth, maturity and love for the service rendered to his Heavenly Father and the people of the South. We look forward to another great year of service in the Kingdom and the blessing that come to him and to our family through this great work.
We are so very blessed...

Who is this?

During the Priesthood session of Conference, Stuart received a text saying "Hey, your son says to get your butt on a mission"... After replying "who is this", he was told that it was Brother Drake, 2nd counselor in the bishopric in the Southaven ward. He was sitting with our son Jake. He told Stuart that they were looking out for our son, while others were looking out for his son while he served in Pocatello, Idaho. It was great to hear him say "it is a pleasure to know your son". We also learned that Jake was having lunch and dinner at the Drake home on Sunday.

We are so thankful for special people like the Drake's, that look after our missionary...

We are so proud!!!

After reading this weeks e-mail, our hearts are full and we feel so very proud of our cute missionary! We just love that he loves his mission and the people of the South. We are grateful for his spirit, his caring heart and what he is learning and "Becoming"... It is a wonderful blessing to have our son serving in the Kingdom!!!

Mom says "Quick is good"

Our e-mails are getting shorter, but that is okay with us... We are so thrilled that our Elder is busy, engaged in the work, and loving his mission. We love you Elder, and are so proud of you!!

April 18, 2011

Hey Pops, Things are going good. We had a pretty good week this week. On Saturday we knocked on this guy naned Brian's door, and he let us in. He is one of the coolest guys ever. He is 20 and he was just like, "I know there is a reason you guys came here today, and he came to church the next day. He hasn't been to church in like 5 years, and we are talking about baptism, he wants to get baptized, but he wants to make sure first. The whole thing was pretty sweet, how we found him and everything, definately led there by the spirit. We have 3 baptisms this weedkend that should happen. This lady and her two kids, I'm excited. The new ward is pretty cool, there are actually 8 missionaries serving in just this ward, so there are a lot of baptisms and we are around other missionaries a lot, it makes it a little more fun than being 100 miles away from the nearest other set of missionaries. Don't worry Pops, we are staying safe. We were talking about this the other day, and how watched over and protected we are as missionaries, and we are always just comforted when going into a shady spot. We were laughing because everyday we do something that back home we would have been scared to death to do, like walking through some apartments where some guy was threatening to shoot us haha, but you have to do it, the work must go on, and it's like it doesn't matter. We don't even give it a second thought. We are living in a big house that is actually in Raleigh Tennessee and our next door neighbors are actually members, the Carter's. They are pretty cool. Being in such a big ward, I don't think we really get as personal of a relationship with the members like we did in Blytheville, but it is still pretty sweet. Well, we have to run, sorry for being short but we just got a call and have to run back to the apartment. Love you, talk to you next week... Love Elder Nelson! p.s. I love playing ball with the black guys, they call me the "white Kobe"!!! haha p.p.s. could you send me my basketball shoes, or send me money to buy some?

Thank you to the wonderful people of Blytheville, Arkansas

A heartfelt thank you to the wonderful people of Blytheville Arkansas for taking care of our son. He has loved the area, the people and the ward and has grown so much while serving in this area. We hope to meet all of you some day.

It's a small small world...

This past week we learned that my dear friend Julie Gibbons and her husband Dan have been called as Mission Presidents of the Arkansas, Little Rock Mission starting in July, when Pres. and Sister Drewes are released. Julie and I spent 6 years together in the Stake Young Women's Presidency (and also grew up in the same ward), and President Gibbons was my parents bishop as well as living across the street. We are amazed and excited!!! It is a very small world.

Mom and Dad...

We could not be happier.. Hearing just how happy he is and how into the "work" he is makes us so very proud...

Christmas Day

Christmas was wonderful this year! The blessings of having a missionary are indescribable. We had an "unofficial" call in the morning to let us know what time he would be on "Skype". Stuart and I had a great conversation with our Elder and he sounded great... Later that day, the family all joined on Skype.. Elder Jake looked handsome as ever (from a proud mom) and we were so happy to talk to him and hear all about his mission and the wonderful people of Arkansas who have been so very kind and loving to him. He loves his ward and the members there who take such good care of the Elders. He spent Christmas Eve with a wonderful family where they helped in placing red luminaries down the street making a runway for Santa... (along with reindeer food)... Christmas day was spent delivering food baskets and a wonderful dinner at the home of the Bishop and his family. Thank you to all who made our son's Christmas complete!!!
The only tears were from Mom (just when we were about to hang up) but they were tears of joy and gratitude and knowing it would be five months before she sees her boy again.

One last call from Texas!

We received one last call from Fort Worth Texas while our Elder had a layover. By now the excitement had worn off a bit and he and his companion were feeling a bit overwhelmed at the thought that now they were in for the "real deal". We loved talking with him and updating him on all the news, so when his calling card said "one minute" it was hard to say goodbye... He was doing great though, and the only tears that were shared were from mommy... (after we hung up of course) We would just love to be there when he meets his Mission President and his new companion. He is in for great ride.

ARKANSAS...Here he comes Nov 30, 2010

Elder Nelson left the MTC at 3:00 this morning, and at 5:00 am we received the greatest call from the Salt Lake Airport. Stuart and I could not be more proud of our sweet Elder. It was amazing how much he had changed already. His testimony has grown, he loves the Lord, and is humble but so excited to head out into the field. He sounded great, and was dodging the TV sets (since they are off limits) haha He is an obedient Elder!!! He will fly to Dallas Fort Worth, and then on to Little Rock. We love and miss him, but would not want him to be any other place at this time. Good Luck Elder, may the Lord bless you and keep you safe.

THANKSGIVING DAY BLESSINGS!

This Thanksgiving Day we give thanks for family, and are so blessed to be surrounded with two of our four children and their families. We miss the other two, but are grateful that they are well. We are especially blessed to have a missionary about to head into the field of "Arkansas". We loved hearing from him, and that he is happy and ready to head out on this amazing journey. We are so grateful that has turned himself over to the Lord and trusts in him.