Monday, December 21, 2009

The Temple

Saturday, Dec 18th was Ben's big day. He went through the Mt. Timpanogos temple for the first time to receive his own endowment*. He was very excited and ready and willing to take on the extra responsibilities that go along with that. His father was his escort and we had the bishop there as well. It was wonderful meeting him in the chapel after his initiatories were done and even better meeting him in the celestial room. I can only imagine that is what it will be like in heaven, meeting your loved ones as they cross over.

Again we are very proud of Ben and his decisions and obedience. You will probably get tired of hearing what a wonderful young man his is.

*Endowment: A gift from our Heavenly Father. We make covenants (promises) with Him and if we are faithful and obedient He promises us special blessings. We also receive further light and knowledge regarding the gospel. Only worthy adult members of the church can enter the temple and receive these blessings. For more information contact me or go to mormon.org.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Letter from the Mission President

The news this week...Ben received his letter from his mission president. It arrived the same day that he sent out his letter and pictures (as requested in the packet). One of the first things Ben pulled out of the letter was an insert telling the boys to disregard the request for pictures as they will be taking pics on their arrival. Oh well, at least Pres will know Ben's is obedient.

One of the exciting aspects of the letter was the schedule for his day of arrival. The Pres and his wife will pick Ben up from the airport sometime in the afternoon, then have dinner with him then take him back to the mission home where there will be interviews and he will be assigned to a companion. He'll spend the night in the mission home then out to the field the next day.

One of the less exciting aspects of the letter was the assignment of home work. Ben was given an outline of a lesson on the restoration and he needs to fill it out. In other words, prepare a 30-40 minute lesson on the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ in it's fullness.

He and I are also having a race to read the Book of Mormon before he leaves. So far I'm winning, but I won't tell you how far along we are.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Opening the Call


This was at our opening party. You can tell from the look on his face that he was just so excited.
OK, so I've decided that until Ben leaves, I'll be making new posts on Sunday. Not much is happening right now, except for the shopping, and boy is that more than I expected. All the little things. Twin bedsheets? Anyway the excitement is still there.

Also, you may notice that there may be a few explanations of church terminology and such. That is for all our family and friends that may not be members of our church. If any of you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me. You know where to find me.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Preparations Begin

I think Ben might be a little excited. We went out yesterday and bought a "missionary package". 2 suits, 8 shirts, 5 ties, 2 pairs of shoes. Watch out Pittsburgh, here he comes.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Destination....

It came, it came, it finally came!

Yesterday about noon we all got phone calls from our oldest, Nate. The call was here. Now all we had to do was wait until 7:00 when Ben was inviting everyone (friends and a few neighbors) over for an (opening party). As mentioned earlier I was able to get off work earlier to go home and get stuff ready. Thankfully for my wonderful children, the house was already clean. I just needed to get the food ready. Nate had even cooked dinner for us.

Seven o'clock rolled around and people started arriving. An extremely excited and newly shorne (BTW I also gave Ben a hair cut when I got home. Just call me super mom) Ben greeted them. By 7:10 every one had arrived except Austin S. A phone call was made. He was on his way. How far out you ask? Just a few minutes. No matter how hard we tried to persuade Ben to go ahead and open the envelope, he wouldn't do it until Austin was here.

7:30 finally rolls around, Austin finally gets here, Ben finally opens the envelope and reads "Elder Benjamin Serrano...you have been called...Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh mission (dots added for brevity). The excitement was pal papal. Personally, I was suprised (I thought foreign for sure) then...I don't know how to describe it. It's really the Holy Ghost confirming that that is where he is supposed to go. It was almost like "of course, Pennsylvania. where else would he go".

Language you ask? English. Which is good. Only 3 weeks in the MTC.

Ben can hardly stand it. He's so excited. He wants to start his shopping today. BTW he reports to the Provo MTC on February 3. Now that may be almost 3 months when you think about it, but really with Thanksgiving and Christmas it will only seem like 1 month.

Well, now the fun starts. Keep checking back, I'll keep you posted on all things Pennsylvania.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

No Call Yet

The mail has come and no call today. I thought for sure it would come today. Mostly because it would be the most inconvenient day to have people over to open "the envelope", but the heavens are smiling on me. Ben, I'm sure, is slightly disappointed, but he's very easy going and will take it in stride.

I'll be back on Thursday to give you the good news. We are all very excited.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

In the Mail

We were informed today by our bishop that Ben's papers are at "in the mail" status. We would normally look forward to getting them on Wednesday, but....Wednesday is Veteran's Day and there is no postal service that day. Now the question is.. Will they come Tuesday or Thursday?

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

The Papers Are In

Well, last Sunday we were informed by the bishop that Ben's papers are in Salt Lake. We're hoping for a call next week. We have a world map and a USA map on the wall. We all have our guesses posted on the maps.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

In The Beginning

We anxiously await Ben's call. Right now the papers are stuck in the Stake Presidents office while he's out of town. We're trying to be understanding and think it's all part of the plan.