Elder Utley will be serving in the....

Texas, McAllen Spanish speaking Mission!

Wow, what a relief to finally know when and where! We are all so excited! It's been a whirlwind of a day. I checked the mail at about 1:30 and it wasn't there. I thought I would drive around the neighborhood to see if the mailman was anywhere near (we have a community mailbox down the street so I can't see it from my house). After driving around for a few minutes I didn't see him so I started driving home when he passed me going the opposite direction. I turned around and started following him so I could get an idea of how long until he would be at our mailbox. I hurried home and ate lunch and then went back just as the mailman was filling our box at 2:15. He wouldn't hand me my mail so I stood next to him and waited for him to finish loading the boxes. I unlocked my box and there it was! I took a picture of the letter with my phone camera and texted it to Michael and Marty. As hard as it was to wait, we had decided to open the letter at 5:30 because Michael and his friends had tickets to a concert and had to leave around 6:00 and Marty and Nicole had Mutual. It was kind of crazy with a house full of teenagers, family and a bunch of neighbor kids who had been playing with Sarah and Isaac, so I didn't hear where he was going at first. We fed everyone sloppy joes and then Michael and his friends were off to the concert. Michael did take a few minutes to check on maps.google.com to see exactly where McAllen, Texas is. It's great to see Michael so excited! We are also excited because he will be entering the Missionary Training Center on September 3rd, the same day as his cousin Matt who will be going to Rome, Italy! It's been fun having everyone guess where Michael is going. There were 138 guesses (most people guessed a foreign location and a state side location). We had six people guess Texas (Nicole, Jason, Teresa, Kori, Anne and Brandon). My Aunt Anne and Brandon Schvaneveldt both guessed Texas, Spanish speaking so they will BOTH win a prize. Yay! Thanks to all of you for making this process so fun and for your love and support! I know that Michael's mission call is inspired and that he is going where the Lord needs him. I also know that a mission is the best place for Michael to be at this time in his life. I remember hearing a talk in church years ago by a boy who said, "a mission may not be the best two years OF my life but it will definitely be the best two years FOR my life". I absolutely believe that!Please keep Michael in your prayers as he prepares for his mission!