Our Missionaries' Farewell

It was a whirlwind spring getting ready for high school graduation and doing all the preparations to submit their mission papers, and a crazy June and July completing all the shopping, doctor appointments, and necessary mission paperwork requirements before their missions started on Monday, July 18. The weekend before their short-term home MTC started, we celebrated them and their willingness to serve the Lord. It was a glorious weekend with so many good moments, which I was so grateful for, especially after all the stress of the previous months leading up to it!

Jonah and Micah both went through the temple on Friday afternoon the 15th for their first time. It was such a neat experience to do an endowment session with my children! Josh was their escort, which was an honor for him. We were able to reserve 20 spots for our group, and Jonah and Micah gave me a list of who they wanted to invite. Several family members and ward family come to support the boys that day, and several members of our ward were also serving in the temple that day too, which made it even more special for us! Family that came were: Grandma & Grandpa Tolman, Aunt Tiffany & Uncle Scott, cousins Joel & Aysha, Aunt Linette & Uncle John, and Aunt Janet & Uncle Ben. Members of our ward who joined us were: Ted & BJ Shinderling, Jordan & Cheyenne Hansen, and Bishop & Cindy Clark. Amanda and Ryan Berube drove up from Ogden to support the boys as well. I loved being able to see Shirley Anderson and LaRae Birch who were serving in the temple at that time, and was tickled that they got to be mine and Amanda's helpers. It was such a neat experience and I really treasure my memories of it! 

After we got out of the temple on Friday, we went to Reed's Dairy to have a quick meal and some shakes, since it was such a hot day and the cool ice cream sounded good. Amanda and Ryan were the only ones who joined us from our temple group; everyone else left after the ceremony. After we ate and were walking back to our car, Hyrum Spencer and his parents showed up! They were just heading to the temple, too! Hyrum got set apart as a missionary at the beginning of July, and Jonah and Micah drove down to Monteview to his farewell, but they hadn't seen him since. It was such a fun surprise to run into him! We invited them to join us at the twins' farewell on Sunday, too. 

Their mission farewell program at church was on Sunday, July 17th. They each got to speak, and Amanda and I sang the song "Go in Peace" between their talks. The program was broadcasted on Zoom, so family and friends who couldn't join us in person could still hear them speak, which was great. It was the largest attendance on Zoom that our ward has had since COVID! There were a lot of visitors to our ward that day, too, which I was so grateful for! Jonah and Micah both did a fantastic job speaking: they gave spiritual insight, made the audience laugh, spoke of our Savior Jesus Christ, and were honest about their feelings. It was an absolutely wonderful program! My only complaint is that there was a family whose kids were screaming throughout the talk, and they happened to sit right behind me, which was very distracting! Thankfully, I was still able to feel the spirit and my heart was bursting with pride to see and hear my sons. 

We held a gathering at the city park afterwards for family and friends to come join us for a meal. It was a great decision to hold the meal at the park, which has a covered pavilion, rather than at our house because: 1. we were able to host more people, 2. we didn't have to clean our house, 3. we didn't have to set out picnic tables, and 4. we didn't have to worry about the weather (when we hosted the Linger family farewell party outside our home in May, it rained, and we had to move everything!). However, what I didn't anticipate was the wind. It was SO windy that afternoon! Everyone who came was a good sport about it, but I felt like we were 0-2 for hosting summer BBQ's (I felt like the weather got the best of us both times!). To prepare for the feast, Josh rearranged the picnic tables and took in a few banquet tables to set the food on. The day before, I'd made 2 giant crockpots of homemade sloppy joe meat and shredded BBQ chicken meat. We served both choices with buns, and I also made 2 large bowls of salad and 2 pans of O'Henry bars, and brought chips and drinks to share. Some of our friends and family also brought salads, sides, and desserts, which made for a great feast. We had a pretty good turnout, and it was so fun to hang out with our loved ones to celebrate the special occasion. 

The Boyz piled into Tyler's truck to come to the get-together
after they were done with their mission prep class after church.
It was so funny to see them all squished in together!

Towards the end of the party, after most everyone had left but a few of our closest friends, a family celebrating their child's birthday started encroaching into our space, which was a little annoying since we had paid for the space, but people from the other pavilion sent them our way because they had more people and a smaller outdoor building, and our party was dying down. As their family celebration grew, our group gathered around just 2 tables and we were still having a good time talking and laughing, and then we noticed a giant smoke pillar in the distance to the northwest. We all knew what it meant: a wildfire had begun. At that time, we had no idea the extent of the damage or the exact location, but due to the strong winds, we knew the outlook wasn't good. The party dissipated after that...a fun party where lots of laughs were had and good food was eaten!

The fire grew so much in such a short time: this picture was taken on
our drive home, just 45 minutes after spotting the initial smoke clouds. 

On Sunday evening, we drove back into town and met with President Stokes to set apart the twins as missionaries. Their 6-pack of friends came, too (minus Nathan who was on vacation). Grandpa Tolman and Uncle Tim joined in the circle along with Josh and President Stokes to set them apart, which was neat. It was another wonderful experience, listening to President Stokes as he gave them individual advice and spiritual enlightenment to help them in the next 2 years as they embark on their missions to serve the Lord. 

Erik, Elder Jonah Tolman, Boaz, Elder Micah Tolman, Tyler

It was a great farewell weekend for our boys, whose missions started the next morning. There were so many moments during that weekend when I overwhelmingly felt God's love, through the people who surrounded us at the temple, during the church farewell program, and at the feast in the park. We are so grateful to have raised our children alongside such good people, and we recognize that it truly does take a village to raise a child. We are blessed for our "village" who have helped these boys become the wonderful men that they are!