Taylor will serve in the Kiev Ukraine Mission!  He enters the MTC on September 21st.

Check out Mitchell’s latest letter!  It  is Erin’s favorite so far.

What a great day yesterday!  Mitchell called at 9:00.  We put him on speaker phone and his voice broke and immediately Taylor started crying and Lincoln was a mess.  It was kind of a gut wrenching feeling.  I just really didn’t know what to ask.  The phone call really left us feeling kind of sick to our stomachs.  I just hurt for Mitchell who was just at home with his comp all day until dinner at some family in the wards.  He said he is doing a lot better, and although he really misses Dover he is learning to love his new area.  HE got to speak in his ward today and said it is a great ward.  He tracks a ton and is very proud of the hole they live in.  He said the roof was leaking and finally caved in!  No dry wall at all in the kitchen now!  I said “do you need to tell the president?”  He said “no way!”  I said “oh you are proud of the horrible conditions you are living in,” and started laughing!  He said “you know it!”  I loved that.  He said the people above them fight all the time and yell so loud.  He said you should hear the swearing!  Not great for missionaries.  I told him that was what our life was like the first 2 years of his life in our apartment in Virginia.  Welcome back to your roots!  Haha.  He did say he likes his comp.  He said it is the first time it just works and he doesn’t have to think about it.  Not that they are perfect together, just it isn’t hard.  I guess his last comp was hard.  A true 2^nd comp.  He just came in like he knew everything and wanted Mitchell to just sit there and shut his mouth.  And true to Mitchell’s nature… he dug in his heels and pushed back.  Not good.  So not a very productive companionship.  Mitchell did say how much he appreciated his trainer.  How he was so humble and approached everything like it was an opportunity to learn.  I loved that.  I hope he models that.  I am sure it is overwhelming and scarry to be the senior comp and feel so young and new yourself.  I hope and pray he uses the good he has learned from both of his companions.  He has to really pray to know the balance between obedience, and love and trust.  He has been on my mind so much this week I know he is not at peace and although he is fine he has got to find his peace again.  He, I have no doubt will.  He will learn to love these people like he did Dover.  The Moore’s are back from their mission and said Coatesville is such a poor town.  It was cute.  They said it is so different from Dover.  Mitchell said the same thing.  That Dover was a wealthier place and Coatesville is not.  Mitchell then called later that afternoon, and although I doubt that is mission rules, I do feel it was so necessary and truly I believe the Lord was okay with it.  The initial emotion of speaking for the first time in 5 months was gone… and it was so fun to just talk.  He told us great stories and funny things.  And Taylor and Lincoln just joked around with him.  We ended that talk totally at peace and feeling so much better.  I am so grateful he called again!  I don’t think it will ever be that hard again.  We asked what was the worst thing he ate?  HE said Fish and cheese cake!  We all laughed and taunted him that that was the worst thing he ever had to eat.  Then he said well I ate “Goat guts… but they were good because Lorraine is an awesome cook!”  So there you have it!  Fish and Cheese cake!  I have to agree.  I hate fish and don’t think even if I were starving that I could eat it.  He said Lorraine gave him a really nice watch before he left and a brother Wells in the ward gave him 2 fitted shirts.  He bought gifts for the Victory children.  I think it was just a huge loss to leave all of them We reminded him that this was the closest he would probably ever be to where he lost Burt.  Mckinley yelled “find Burt Mitchell!”  Mitchell told her she was still his favorite and she just grinned.  I think Christmas was a bummer.  I do hope he felt closer to the Savior.  I do know that this past week I have been overwhelmed with how grateful I am to have him serving a mission.  I have felt so incredibly privileged to have this opportunity!  He is so lucky, we are so lucky and he has grown so much.  How wonderful to have him in the Lord’s care.  To watch the Lord mold him to become what he needs to become.  He said he had never had an overwhelming testimony experience growing up but that every time he opened his mouth to bear testimony he felt it.  He said he was so grateful for that.  I think the testimony that is benefiting most, is his.   I am so incredibly grateful!  I hope and pray he gets to serve with Tyler and that he gets to be a trainer.  How blessed we are!  Erin

Eric’s party was Friday night.  IT was a blast.    Grandma and Grandpa blew everyone away with their huge effort!  They won hands down and were blind side.  Sandra Bullock and the big black dude.  IT was great!  Kate and Travis were hysterical.  They were the couple that kidnapped Elizabeth Smart and then had Megan as Elizabeth Smart.  I laughed so hard.  IT was FUNNY!  I didn’t realize until I saw the picture… we did pretty darn good.  I felt bad we won and figured it was because we so rarely step up…  I saw the picture and went, no we did good and we deserved to win! ~ haha.  We were good.  Our minions were really good… I should have banded my head on like Lincoln did instead of pulling it over my head.  Reagan had even made the ultra small one out of clay!  So we did good.  Dad made a great Gru.  Jeff and Nat were Alice in Wonderland and Eric and Brandy were Toy Story 3 and we laughed our heads off at Eric being Ken.  He was great!  That was it there.  It was a lot of fun.

Lincoln is doing great, he  goes and shoots every day.  His legs are hurting a lot so I think he is growing, at least I hope that is all it is.  He has great goals as far as grades go so we shall see.  Lincoln and I ran the Millcreek 5K yesterday.  Lincoln came in 3^rd overall in 20 minutes but did not feel good about that time at all.  He was struggling.  Funny there is no way I could have done it in 20 minutes!

Madison still puzzles me.  She had a group of girls over on Friday after the game.  I was no impressed.  I do love her two best friends Abby and Melanie… always have.  The other girls were singing along to not good lyrics and not embarrassed at all and then they were trashing every girl we drove by.  They were so mean.  Madi never said anything, but she didn’t speak up and stand up for the girls they were trashing. She said she tried really hard to change the subject and I did comment how I had noticed she is never the one to say bad things about someone else.  I love that.

Anyway she seems to be trying to fit in with girls again, and learning that just isn’t her place.  She has so many guy friends it is okay, but it is still hard I think.

Reagan MADE STUDENT COUNCIL.  Gymnastics isn’t coming as quickly as she would like and all her friends have moved up a class.  This too I am thankful for.  I don’t love that group and would love her not to have that as a focus in her life.  I would rather she was an officer but she is still working at it and I want her to feel our support of her goals.  She is a good girl and has a sweet heart so we shall see what happens there.  She is doing great in school and so happy.  I hope I am at Mueller Park with her next year.  We did feel very prompted to let her do violin so I am happy she is doing that as well.

Mckinley is doing great.  She is really sick this week so very cranky.  I figured when she came in from school crying that we better take her in for a checkup.  Sure enough she had an ear infection.  I think her little body just gets so worn out.  I have to be so vigilant in getting her to bed.  She loved that you said you go to bed at the same time as her.  How cool that she is saying prayers about you right at that time (this was to Mitchell).  We always pray you will know how much we love you.  I hope you feel that.  WE keep putting off gymnastics or dance for her until next month.  Based on how worn out she is, I think that is a good decision.

Mitchell sent us a package yesterday and several letters.  He had bought Mitch and me each a t- shirt and a temple recommend cover and a little book of Mormon.  At least I think they are for Mitch and me, Maybe he means us to save them for him when he gets home??  He didn’t say.  I was just really touched at his thoughtfulness.  It did have a big note inside that said “I love you.”  It really made me teary.  Who does that??  How sweet that he would be thinking of us.  He wrote 3 different letters.  He detailed everything he has learned at the MTC and then wrote about how excited he is to get to Philly.  He told us about teaching this last week.  I guess they teach “fake investigators”.  He talked about that and being so guided by the spirit what to say to the investigator.  That was way cool.    I do pray he gets such a great trainer that teaches him so much.  I am so anxious to hear.

It truly feels like Mitchell has been gone forever.  It doesn’t feel like just yesterday anymore.  It feels like an eternity and I am excited to start the countdown to him coming home.