Day One: A Fond Goodbye

There are a few too many photos for day one, but there were just too many good ones to share.

This just might be one of my favorite photos ever.

Thanks to friends Clay and Jordan who came to say goodbye.

Last family selfie for a while.

A photo of our selfie

A final goodbye.  

Today we bid goodbye to Josh as he departed on the first part of his two-year journey.  For those of you unfamiliar with LDS missionary service, Josh has been called to serve in a specific area, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for the next two years, to preach to the people there.  That means that he will will put aside family, friends, school, etc. to dedicate himself to daily service and work.

Josh has been called specifically to teach people from the Marshall Islands that live in Oklahoma in their native language, Marshallese.  It's our belief that the Lord has declared in scripture, "For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ."

 For someone who has gotten teary-eyed thinking about Josh leaving on his mission since he was about two, I kept it together better than expected.  Honestly I am more excited for him and what he will experience than I am sad that he will be away for that time.

Thanks for his friends Clay and Jordan for coming to see him before he left and for being the official family photographers.

We look forward to the wonderful things ahead and hope to be able to share them with you here.  In the future as Josh writes, we will share his letters with you on this site.

William