Update!

Well, it has been a while since I posted an update on the boys. Seth has left for the MTC in the Dominican Republic. He tells us they eat a lot of bananas, have Fruit Loops for breakfast everyday along with large amounts of rice and beans. They are also served some sort of "mystery meat" with lunch and dinner. The weather is 80 degrees each day...Seth is nervous about how hot it will get in the summer! We have been looking forward to the boys calling home on Christmas, but we have learned that they are not permitted to call home from the MTC's. There are simply too many elders and not enough phones. Can you imagine the phone bill? So, we will be waiting to hear from Seth in May, on mother's day. By then he will have been out for 6 months, that's 1/4 of his total mission! Seth is enjoying learning Spanish. He has spent a lot of time writing his friends back home. He has spent less time writing his family back home. I am wondering if he felt that he needs to be a good example and missionary to his friends back home. We are hoping that we will continue to get some letters from him every other week or so. He is able to send a quick email home every Thursday. I look forward to hearing from him! He says he is not able to take pictures without permission from the CCM president. I am wondering if some of the young elders spent a little too much time taking photographs! Seth sounds great, he is maturing each day. He is working hard, his testimony grows more each time we read his emails. I can tell that he is settling into the routine of the CCM very well. Seth was called as travel leader for the trip from Provo to Santo Domingo. He was very nervous. I am sure that he was called because of his quiet, calm nature. He did a great job, he recalls that he had to watch over one elder who got airsick! Good Luck Seth, we miss you!

Travis is on cloud nine in the Provo MTC. He is loving every minute there. He has times when he struggles with the language, but he is persevering and trying his best. I try to remind him that he is not expected to be fluent in Japanese prior to arriving there. He is the only elder in the MTC going to Hiroshima. I have asked him why this is the case, but he has not given us an explanation. He is quite the opposite of Seth, he writes us long letters every week. I enjoy hearing from him! He does not write as many letters to people outside of the family, so we hear from him regularly. He is asking for photographs...quite the opposite of the CCM. Travis states that the Japanese people love photographs, and that is how they get to know each other. I have sent him some, but I know he wants more. Travis has grown so much in the nearly 2 months he's been in Provo. In some ways it feels like he's been gone for a year or more, but then other times it seems like two months! Strange. Travis was called as district leader. His district was composed of only 6 elders, but now they have received a whole crew of new missionaries, so he has more responsibilities. He will be a fine leader, he is very humble and hard working.

Well, both boys are fine. We are so busy that I find several days go by without me missing them. It seems selfish to miss them, as they are doing a great work. I look forward to them being placed in their first areas as "real" missionaries and hearing all about their challenges and successes! We'll try to post more regularly!