Kyle asked me to share a few experiences that we had prior to him entering the MTC and post a few pictures. It's hard to imagine not seeing your child for two years but it would be more difficult if he was here instead of where he's at.
On Wednesday morning, we left our hotel but it was still way too early to go to the MTC and so we were trying to kill a little time. We decided to go to Costco and walk around. We saw some kind of funny things like a father and his missionary son who was also entering the MTC that day buying luggage. He didn't start packing until that morning and decided that he didn't have enough room and so they made a quick trip to Costco.
As we were strolling around, an older gentleman and his wife came up to me and asked where my missionary was. I pointed to Kyle and he told him to come to him because he had something for him. This man gave him a coin that was in a plastic case. We wonder if he goes to Costco on Wednesday mornings to find the new missionaries entering the MTC. Kyle commented that he wanted to be just like that when he gets older. The man told us his name was Jack Clarkston from Orem, UT but we haven't been able to find any info. for a man with that name. What a great example people have been to my children.
We had the opportunity to attend a session in the Salt Lake Temple. That was a great experience for all of us. We thought a lot about the sacrifice that the saints made during the 40 years of building that temple. We also had the opportunity to visit Kyle's cousin, Cameron. Cameron is battling cancer right now and he is a pretty sick young man. We went to see him on Tuesday and he had had a pretty rough day that day. Todd asked him if he had any advice for Kyle as he prepares to leave on his mission. Cameron struggled to speak and had to use an inhaler to be able to get enough air to talk to Kyle. He gave him some amazing advice and Kyle made sure that he recorded it in his journal that night. Kyle has a great love and respect for all of his cousins that have set such a great example for him.
