No more braces.....for now

One month from now Michael will be in Texas speaking Spanish, cooking his own meals and sharing the gospel. He entered the MTC just over a month ago. I wish I could say that it has gone fast, but to me it seems like forever ago. But that's ok because I know that he is healthy and happy in the MTC!

Last Tuesday Michael had to have his braces removed even though his teeth weren't quite ready. He will have to get braces on again after his mission but it shouldn't be too bad as long as he faithfully wears his retainer (which he has been threatened about)! Our friend Clark was so nice to take pictures for us and even used the video feature on our camera to film Michael talking to us after his braces were removed. It was so good to hear his voice again - even if it did make me cry!

The last time Michael went to the orthodontist, the volunteer from the MTC who drove Michael to his appointment asked if they could run a quick errand before heading back to Provo. Michael was quite surprised to find out that the place the man needed to go was two doors away from Marty's office!! It was very strange for him to be right where his dad was(the same place where he worked before his mission)but not be able to go in and say "hi". He was actually glad that Marty didn't just happen to walk out and see him because he said it would have been too hard. So close and yet so far!!!

Michael is LOVING the MTC. His emails are short and sweet but filled with excitement and happiness. For our family, and anyone else who may be interested, here are some of the excerpts from his recent letters:

*"My district sang in the choir.(MY son sang in a choir?!!)It was really awesome. We sang "This is the Christ" by President James E. Faust."

*"This week we went to the referral center (that's basically like a telemarketing thing the church does where missionaries call and see if people got free Bibles and Book of Mormons and other things like that). It was really neat. My district was able to send four sets of missionaries to visit people. It's so cool to sit and listen in the calling rooms. I love going there because we can actually fulfill our purpose as missionaries here at the MTC. The spirit is always strong at the RC (referral center)."

*"This morning was another awesome time at the temple. I'm going to miss going when I get out in the field seeing as the closest temple is in San Antonio. It's amazing how much you learn after going a couple more times."

*"Next week is going to be tough. We get to teach the first lesson in "Preach My Gospel" entirely in Spanish. I think we can do it but it's definitely going to take some practice."