When Nathan's missionary tag arrived in the mail, things started to get real. We had been doing several things to prepare for his mission: buying lots of shirts, pants, socks, ties, shoes, and other supplies. We also had to figure out how to get the typhoid and yellow fever vaccines, which was no easy feat. We couldn't just run in to the doctor's office for those. We eventually ended up at Walgreens Pharmacy for the typhoid shot. As we traveled over an hour away to get some documents for the Visa, we tried to get the yellow fever shot at another Walgreens. We had made an appointment on-line and showed up at that time, only to find out they didn't actually have the yellow fever vaccine. They sent us back to our hometown Walgreens, but they didn't have it in stock... We were back to square one. There was a $400 option at a specialty clinic or we could try signing up for Costco's travel consultation program, which cost $40. It was a little bit of a hassle putting in all of Nathan's immunization history and filling out the forms, but we did get that in quickly, which allowed us to make an appointment at Costco Pharmacy. We ended up going in there on Monday August 1st, when Jaden was here. Jaden and the other boys ended up waiting in there with us for over an hour for Nathan to get that vaccine. Just before that, we had gone to a friend's house to try on wetsuits. Since we were already on that side of town where Costco was, we were planning on running in there to get that done. It took us a LONG time in there AND it still cost $150 (because insurance wouldn't cover it). I guess it was better than the $400 option.
Gathering the necessary Visa documents was also really challenging. Nathan had to get a local background check / fingerprinting and then do a federal one as well. Some documents had to be notarized and apostilled (sent to get a seal that it was an authentic document). When Nathan first tried to do the local background check, he was 5 minutes late for his appointment and they wouldn't allow him to do it that day (even though he still had 10 minutes before the next person's appointment). He had to re-schedule to another day, which was after he got back from Oklahoma (and the one day we had for family pictures and such before Jaden got here). We eventually did everything we could do, and the remaining process was then waiting on the federal document to get apostilled in VA. That ended up taking a full 6 weeks to arrive. It was a couple weeks into Nathan's mission training in Provo when I sent the complete packet.
Nathan was set apart as a missionary and given a blessing on Sunday, August 7th by our Stake President. That was a really special thing to listen to. The whole (immediate) family was there to see him have that missionary mantle placed upon him. The Spirit was really strong. The tears started for me as soon as the blessing started! One of the things said in his blessing was that he'd be blessed to learn the language quickly and at times have the gift of tongues in speaking without even realizing what he said.
After being set apart, he was officially a missionary and was to wear the name tag and start following the mission rules right away. No more TV, no more phone chats or social media (except designated missionary posts), no hanging out with friends, and time to start following the mission schedule and wearing missionary attire most of the time. Sunday was still a family, church, and rest day. He came home and fell asleep for a bit on the chair - it was a pretty draining day (and week). We went and said farewell to Nathan's friend Shawn, who was leaving 2 days into Nathan's home MTC. Nathan wouldn't be able to see him off at the airport, so we got one last quick good-bye with our new missionaries. Nathan and Shawn have done so many things together - friends since elementary school, shared family vacations, cub scouts and getting their Arrow of Light together, prom, graduation pictures, graduation, temple prep classes and Endowment together, mission calls, mission farewell talks on the same day, and starting their missions just a week apart. The rest of us went to see Shawn off at the airport on Tuesday the 9th. Nathan had started home mission training.
While Nathan was doing home MTC for the next 2 weeks, the rest of us also adapted a bit to his schedule as well. He had to have a companion (a family member) with him whenever he went out, so we had to exercise, go shopping, or be right with him at church. Nathan did a couple ministering visits with Alex, with a pretty memorable experience in helping to give someone a blessing. Owen was Nathan's companion for exercise, since Jared was busy doing cross country and things for school. Owen ran with Nathan the first week at about 2:00pm (when it was hot), and then they got up at 5:30am the next week. It was nice for Owen and Nathan to have that bonding time. Out of the kids, their personalities have clashed the most, but they were able to leave on good terms. Jared was sharing a room with Nathan, so Jared gave up his room all day for Nathan to use for training.
We also adapted our lives by not watching TV or movies for two weeks. We did get to watch 2 movies with Nathan - one on each Preparation Day (P-day), which were Saturdays. We could watch Disney movies, so we watched Minions Rise of Gru and Planes. We also got to play some games a few times, so we played several rounds of "Cover Your Assets" as a family, and Alex and the boys played some other board games. We went on a walk one evening while Nathan was in classes. Nathan was using the lap top the whole 2 weeks, to be on classes and watch devotionals, so none of us could use the computer either. (I worked on birthday scrapbooks and home projects.) His mealtime schedule was weird too, with early mealtimes. Lunch was around 10:30am and dinner was about 3:30-5:00pm, so I needed to have dinner ready by at least 4:30, which meant early meal prep. Nathan was very diligent about the rules, his personal studies, and obeying with exactness. He enjoyed the online classes but was definitely ready to get out and talk to people.
Alex and I got one last temple visit in with Nathan on his first P-day (August 13th). We weren't sure how that would work if his P-day was on a weekday (especially if on a day the temple wasn't open), but it was a tender mercy that it was on Saturday. We did back-to-school blessings on Sunday the 14th, which was quite emotional for me. Alex gave the kids and me father's blessings, but then for the first time Nathan gave Alex a blessing. It was Nathan's first experience being the one to give the blessing and Alex's first experience receiving a blessing from one of his sons. It was a good experience for both of them, and I was crying happy tears the whole time.
One of the cool things about home MTC was that during the evenings, Nathan would share some things he was learning. He usually had a couple hours of free time at night before bedtime. We still did our Family Home Evening lessons. Nathan taught the lesson the night before he left. He had us all share our testimonies, which turned out to be a tender time and good chance to share our thoughts with each other. It was fun to listen to Nathan practice Spanish with us. He said some prayers and also sang some songs in Spanish. I started recording one time - I'm not sure you can hear it really well, but I'll share it. He's singing "Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy". He wasn't too happy about me recording him...
Our last Sunday at church together was hard for me. I got to the point where I couldn't even look over at Nathan sitting there on the pew without the tears coming. I did somehow manage to pull it together to sing with the choir in "I Need Thee Every Hour." I definitely needed the Lord in that very hour. I couldn't think about our family without Nathan sitting there next to us. We've been sitting together as a family at church just about every Sunday since Nathan had been born. We were about to have a missing seat, although for a good reason. On that last Sunday, I made apple pie, Nathan's favorite. He signed our neighbor's "missionary board". It was almost time to say "farewell."
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Meanwhile, normal life activities were still going on for the rest of us. We had youth activities. Weston and Savannah had swimming lessons two times a week during August. They both did really well. Owen made key lime pie with a homemade graham cracker crust, which was delicious! Weston inherited several new hats from Nathan to his already large hat collection. He put about half of them on all at the same time one day... just because he's Weston and does funny things.
Jared and Owen started school on a Friday this year (who starts the year out on a Friday...?), so they started school a few days before Nathan left. We did our pancake breakfast on that Friday morning. Nathan had about a 10-minute window to join us for breakfast (just a break, so he had to eat fast). Weston and Savannah started school the day after Nathan left. Jared is at the High School in 11th grade, Owen is at the Junior High in 8th grade, and Weston and Savannah are at the Elementary in 6th and 4th. It's Owen's last year of junior high and Weston's last year of elementary. We'll still be at 3 different schools for a few years though until Savannah finishes 6th grade. Weston got one of the new teachers to the school and Savannah got the teacher she had in 1st grade. Luckily she liked her teacher, so she was happy to have her again. Savannah got a few good friends in her class but not one of her best friends, Ellie. Weston has been happy to be playing kickball again. Jared and Owen seem to like their teachers and classes. Owen rides the bus most of the time, but we take him at 7:40am on Monday and Thursday mornings for a 0-period choir class. This year, Jared participated in Link Crew, helping do tours and orientation for the freshmen. The week before school started, Jared had a full week of cross country camp. He started off around 10:00am, did a run, had lunch and activities, did another run, and ended the day after dinner. He even did a camping night on the last night, which Jared wasn't thrilled to be part of, since most of the kids were up all night being loud and obnoxious. Between work, church activities, and cross country, Jared was pretty busy this summer.
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