To hear his voice!

Cole flies off to Riverside in six minutes as of right now.  He called us from the airport at 7:00 am.  We all huddled on our bed, and I mean literally huddled. We left the fan in our window all night long and it was a balmy 55 degrees in our house this morning! We put the call on speaker phone and and savored every second.  He sounded just like Cole but happier.  You don't want to think that you'll forget what their voice sounds like but in a way you do.  You don't hear them everyday and it fades from your memory a little. Hearing him brought it all back.  I wish I could have recorded it.  I heard someone say to have your missionary leave you a voice mail before they leave so you can listen to it when you just need to hear his voice.

Cole loved the MTC but was glad he wasn't there for 6 weeks.  The food was really good considering they are cooking for so many people.  They only sang Called to Serve one time.  He went to the temple one time.  His district enjoyed the sugar cookies Grandma sent and they left the few leftovers for the new missionaries coming in.  He was a little sad that he can't email everyone.  It's much faster for him to type. He wished he'd brought his own blanket to the MTC, not because it was cold but because the blankets they give you are nasty.  He bought a slidey clip holder for his MTC card and an extendable pointer for teaching.  He just said "everyone has them"  The peer pressure of the MTC.

There were 8 missionaries on his flight going to Riverside.  One is called to Ecuador but is waiting for a Visa.  They are all English speaking (except the Elder going to Ecuador).  Cole bought to paperback Books of Mormon so he could give them out on the flight.  Norm said, "Good Luck!  Most likely it will be a Mormon sitting next to you."  Can't wait to hear how that goes for him!

He asked for a cover for his Preach My Gospel so it doesn't get destroyed.  He wished he had taken a binder and notebook paper to take notes.  He might want a separate scripture bag, a fleece jacket and gloves.  He really loved the devotional they watched by Elder Bednar called "The Character of Christ"  He's pretty hyped up about it.  He asked us if we found it and watched or read it yet.  I think he was disappointed that we hadn't yet.  He believes that if they just released that to the world everyone would be converted to Christ and they wouldn't need missionaries.  He's still on that MTC high just a little bit!  But we loved every second of it.  We all started out our day on a high...a listening to Cole's voice high.


I'm not going to lie, it made me miss him again.  It made me realize how much we are going to miss him. But I am so excited for him. It makes me so happy that he is excited. He's ready to hit the ground running!  Next Monday can't come soon enough.  To hear who his trainer is, where he's living, actual teaching experiences, how he's eating, how the biking is going;.... I can't wait! Christmas can't come soon enough either...to hear him and see him!