Something about the British Commonwealth

My younger brother Justin got his mission call yesterday. He will be servingfor the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Canadian Toronto mission, Spanish-speaking. I couldn't easily find a photo of him alone (what DID I do with all those CD's when we moved?) but he's the tall one in the middle here: My other brother Brandon, the one with red hair, served his mission in Australia. My dad served in London. His dad served in Jamaica. My mom's dad served in Canada. I served in Canada (Winnipeg). I'd say we mostly have some kind of British Commonwealth theme going on. So David, the youngest brother, will have to end up going to India or something. We'll see. :) I'm so pleased by my family's wonderful legacy of spreading Jesus Christ's gospel. I look forward to that Lo having so many good examples to look toward.

Interview with an RM

Just a few days after he returned home from serving 2 years in Australia, we got my little brother on camera...So cute. My aunt Jennifer had stopped by my parents' house that morning and had the idea to do a quick impromptu interview. Good idea! Gotta capture that accent before it fades away. This will be an especially fun clip for anybody who has known Brandon before his mission.

hallelujah

My little stinker of a brother has only sent home 2 (two) (TWO!!) pictures during his entire mission and he will be coming home in just a few months. So finally in his latest email, there were some photos attached and since I haven't seen his face for about a year, it blew me away. He turned all MANLY on me! Look at his jaw! His Adam's apple! *sniffle* my wittow brudder is all grown up... And he's not the only red-head missionary in his area:

With his three "sons" (the missionaries he trained):

I'm a proud sister. And I hacked into my mom's email to retrieve these photos, so let's see if she checks my blog and gets a happy surprise...;)

The Best Two Years

Happy 2nd Wedding Anniversary to us! Our last anniversary we spent in Hong Kong--and in utter contrast, this year we kept things pretty low key. It felt fitting; we needed some down time. We have enjoyed spending time together this weekend doing things that needed to be done. Yesterday morning I helped sweet Husby teach the primary kids at a church activity. Then we cleaned the church because it was our assignment this week on the ward schedule (every family in the congregation takes turns). Next we got our car repaired...and while we were waiting for the car to get fixed, we spontaneously decided to use a coupon I scrounged up in my purse for a free 10x13 wall portrait at Sears, as the department store was located on the same block of our car repair garage. After driving home in our newly fixed car (yay, it still keeps getting us where we need to go!), we exercised on the treadmill and finished preparing our talks for today's sacrament meeting. Though from a worldly perspective it may seem like this anniversary weekend was rather unromantic, we feel happy to note that the parts of married life we most enjoy are these simple day-to-day times spent together. When we reflect on our activities, themes of our marriage emerge--faith, service, provident living, and personal improvement, to name a few. These are the parts of our marriage that bring us happiness.

After walking in a drizzling rain to our impromptu Sears photo shoot, I felt less than picture-worthy and thus liked this hands shot the best because it showed less of me, and more of "the baby." Cute Little got featured in more than a few photos, of course.
And here we have it: the 31 week belly shot.

We discussed this morning how that phrase, "the best two years" usually refers to how an LDS mission is the best time of a young person's life up to that point--but we agreed these two years of marriage have continued to build on the joys we experienced as full-time missionaries. Part of the reason we are so happy as married people is because of who we became during our missions--the choices and habits we made during our respective times of service have forever changed us for the better.

My little brother Brandon is just hitting his one year mark for time spent in the mission field, and I get a deep satisfaction out of noticing his growth already. The tone that comes through in his letters and emails shows he is becoming a generous, kind, patient young man. These same qualities Jerry refined on his mission, and they continue to grace his everyday actions even now. He is wonderful and I feel blessed to have him. Sorry for waxing mushy, for any of you people out there who roll your eyes at this sort of blog entry--I figure I'm allowed to do it once or twice a year. =)

MTC

Our little man entered the Missionary Training Center (MTC) this past Wednesday! Highlights from the send-off: Eating an authentic Chinese lunch (Jerry is the expert chef) with Dad, Mom, Elder Steele, Cousin Sara Anne, and her babies, Marshall & Luke; walking Elder Steele over to the MTC; watching the glow on Elder Steele's face as he viewed some LDS Church Commercials; getting to coach him on the first time he put on that black name tag! We are so thrilled for him to keep working on his Mandarin. Anybody who wants to write him, please do. He will be at the MTC until the first week of December.

Try using DearElder.com, or snail mail. Here is the mailing address for the next few months:

Elder Brandon Steele

MTC Mailbox 187

AST-BRI 1202

2005 N 900 E

Provo UT 84604

The AST-BRI stands for Australia Brisbane, and the 1202 stands for his estimated departure date to Australia (December 2nd).