General Conference & Grandparents

My parents had planned to come visit us in Salmon in early September, but on the weekend they were going to come, my dad got sick so they came the last weekend of September instead. They got here on Friday, Sept. 29th. They attended the Pocatello temple on their drive here, so they didn't arrive until about 5:00 that evening. I worked at the pharmacy until they arrived, and Kanyon was just getting off work, so they met us at the grocery store and took us out to dinner to the Bistro. (Josh was out of town driving bus for the football team, so he was unable to join us.) We ate out on the back deck because the restaurant was full inside, but my dad was cold out there the whole time. The food was delicious, though--their chicken coconut curry rice bowl is one of my absolute favorites!

On Saturday, we just hung out at our house. Since it was General Conference weekend, we watched conference together, and my mom and I worked on a puzzle as we listened (we finished it just as the last speaker spoke!). In between sessions, Josh burned our brush pile--my dad liked standing by it for a few minutes until it got too hot and ashy. He said it was the warmest he felt since he'd arrived in Salmon! After the last session of General Conference, my parents took us all out to dinner at the 28 Club that evening. We had a delightful meal together!

I showed them the "Triple S" area we've developed near our home
in recent years. They liked the peaceful, private corner of our property!

Puzzle completed!

After burning the pile in between sessions, Josh was tired!

Grandma and Grandpa Perkins left on Sunday morning to drive back to Logan. We watched the last two conference sessions ourselves and ate at Grandma Kathy's for lunch in between sessions. It was SO nice to be able to see all four conference sessions--I don't always get that opportunity. And watching conference with my parents was fun; it was the first time they've watched it at our house! It was such a lovely weekend in our home. I just love listening to our prophet! President Nelson has brought me so much hope and filled me with peace and provided me direction throughout the pandemic and the past few years. 

Temple Serving and Mission Training

I had the awesome opportunity to go to the temple 4x just in July! I hadn't been since before COVID, and it was so wonderful to be able to go again without restrictions. I loved feeling the peaceful spirit in the temple. Josh and I went to the Meridian temple mid-July, then we took the twins to the Idaho Falls temple for their first time, and a week later we went to the Logan temple with my parents, and at the end of the month, Micah and I went back to Idaho Falls when his friends Boaz and Erik went through for their first time.

Idaho Falls with Jonah & Micah for their first time.

Logan temple with my parents.

Idaho Falls temple trip to support Boaz & Erik.

It was a beautiful day spent with friends
in the Lord's house.

We ate at Olive Garden after the temple with the Oliverson family.

Jonah and Micah's LDS missions began with mission training. Jonah had one week at home doing online training before going to the Provo, Utah MTC for 2 more weeks. Micah had 2 weeks at home doing online training before going to the Mexico City MTC for 4 more weeks. I purchased StarLink internet in June, in order to have high-speed internet at our home for their online training. I moved the dining room around, so they could both use it as their desks. But because they had different lessons, and different trainers, they preferred to do their online training in their bedrooms. They were busy for about 8 hours a day, and often had online group devotionals every evening, too. When they had extra time, they spent it packing up their room and getting ready for their departure. When they got to the actual MTC, they were in the same groups as their online training, so they had the same companion assignments and district members, which was nice. In fact, when we were taking Jonah to the Provo MTC, and we stopped for lunch, we met one of his district sister missionaries! 

Micah doing online MTC in his room.

We took Jonah out to In N Out Burger before
dropping him off at the Provo MTC.

We said goodbye to him in the underground 
parking garage at the MTC. I hated that
it was such an impersonal place to leave him!

Wed., July 27--Jonah started the MTC in Provo.

Aunt Linette made the boys missionary pillow
covers. They had to take their own bedding,
so it was a perfect, personalized gift!

We joined Micah on a pre-MTC group webinar, where we could
meet the Mexico MTC President & his wife. It was a neat
experience. We were out of town the night Jonah unfortunately
had his and were unable to meet his Provo MTC President. 

Micah was very ready to go! Especially being home an extra week
after Jonah had left. On his last day home, he finished packing up
his room and all his bags, and we listened to a podcast until Josh was
done with work to drive together to Idaho Falls. We spent the night
at an air bnb & drove Micah super early in the morning to the IF airport.

We woke up at 4:30, checked in his luggage, and
said goodbye about 5:00am for his 6am flight. None
of us had slept well at the air bnb, so it wasn't the most
pleasant of goodbyes. There was a bunch of other 
missionaries on the same flight. That first flight was
to SLC, where he got on a connecting flight to Mexico. 

Micah left for the Mexico MTC on Tues., Aug. 2. 

The 6-Pack's Missionary Calls

Jonah and Micah have been so lucky to have an incredible group of friends who are their same age, who share common interests, and who are also members of our same ward at church. Initially, it was Jonah and Micah, Erik O., and Nathan D. Then Tyler H. moved back at the end of their junior high school years (he moved away when they were in the younger elementary grades), and last year, Boaz O. moved here, completing the 6-pack. All 6 boys ran XC together, participated in the high school music program together, and they were leaders in our Young Men's program together. They went on dates together, had Bro's nights together, and all 6 boys even decided they were going to go on an epic post-graduation trip across the west together (more info coming in a later post). More incredibly, though: they all committed to serve LDS missions together, too. They can serve after they turn 18, and Boaz's and Tyler's birthdays were both in May. You can submit the papers before your actual birthdate, though, and they all decided to put their papers in at the same time. Leading up to submitting their papers, we had to do a TON of paperwork, have multiple doctor and dentist appointments, and have interviews with religious leaders. April was basically filled with these appointments and completing items on the paperwork checklist. 

The biggest transformation happened in April when all the boys decided to get a haircut. With the exception of Micah, the other 5 boys had grown their hair fairly long: especially Jonah and Tyler. Tyler was the first to get his hair cut, which inspired the others to get their hair cut to missionary standards, too. It was a sad moment for me to see Jonah's curly locks go, as it's been a part of his appearance for several years now, but I was proud of him for his decision and the reason behind it. We even donated the hair to a local lady who makes wigs for cancer patients, which was fulfilling, too. It had grown over 10 inches long!

BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

The first Sunday after all the boys had cut their hair made quite an impact at church. Several people bore their testimonies about these young men, and how inspired they were by them. It was amazing how simple haircuts made the young men seem so much older already. It took my breath away when I first saw them all together with their new haircuts! In that moment, I realized the years of their youth were behind them, and it brought tears to my eyes.

BEFORE (this photo was taken at the end of January, 
and it was the last one I could find of the group with their long
hairdo's--unfortunately Nathan wasn't in the photo)

AFTER (this photo was taken in May on the day they all 
received their mission calls)

At the end of April. the Stake President submitted all 6 of their mission papers to the church on the same day; because even though they all finished the requirements on different days within 2 weeks of each other, he knew of their desire to get their calls back at the same time, so he held onto a few of them until they were all done before he submitted them all together. The boys knew there was a chance that some of the calls might come at different times, but they were wishing and hoping they would arrive together.

On the morning of Tuesday, May 10, five of the boys received the email saying their mission call was ready to open. They got the email within 5 minutes of each other. They were at school, and instantly started texting each other. The only one who didn't get his call was Nathan--and they were trying to figure out if they should wait another week (calls only arrive once a week) so Nathan could join them, or if they should just open the calls without him. Thankfully, an hour later, Nathan's call also arrived. The boys didn't open their calls at school, because they wanted to open them all together. All the parents were now alerted to the situation and were texting each other, and it was decided we would have a gathering that evening at the church for the boys to open their calls together in front of an audience, and a zoom link was created for family and friends who lived out of town. We all brought some goodies, set up chairs, and waited with anticipation for the moment that would change all our lives. There was a great deal of family, friends, classmates, and community members who joined the grand opening of the mission calls that evening, which was exciting. We planned to start at 7:00, but Nathan's parents were late, so we waited until they arrived before the event began. 

Tyler and his dad set up the zoom camera for the broadcast, which was awesome. Stacie also had a family zoom that she had going on her phone. I used my phone to make a Facebook Live post. You could literally feel the excitement in the air, and it was evident how excited the boys were!

After Nathan's parents arrived, the Bishop consulted with the boys on how they wanted to proceed. They decided to all open the calls at the same time on their phones, read the intro all aloud in unison together, and then take turns reading the locations and languages of their calls individually. 

L-R: Jonah, Micah, Erik, Tyler, Nathan, Boaz

Once they finally began opening their calls around 7:10, there was a lag in the internet, and they had to wait for 2 of the boy's phones to actually download the document. That was a little nerve-wracking, and they feared now they finally had this event all set up, that they might not be able to all access the online document to announce it together...it was a stressful few minutes, trying not to look at their phones that HAD downloaded the mission calls (and spoil the surprise) while they waited for the others to try and access theirs.  

Thankfully, it finally worked out that they all had access to their mission calls, and they began to read aloud together. It was an incredible moment that I will never forget--seeing these close-knit boys reading their calls simultaneously: "Dear Elder....".

"...You are hereby called to serve in.." They announced their calls from right to left. 

Boaz: Philippines, Urdaneta mission, speaking Tagalog, reporting to the Philippines MTC on Sept. 9.

Nathan: Philippines, Quezon City mission, speaking Tagalog, beginning Sept. 19 (home MTC & Provo MTC).

Tyler: Brazil, Recife mission, speaking Portuguese, beginning Aug. 8 (home MTC & Provo MTC).

Erik: Philippines, Tacloban City mission, speaking Cebuano, beginning Sept. 19 (home MTC & Provo MTC).

Three out of four already read were going to the Philippines which was amazing! And all 4 of them were going international. My boys were the last to read theirs, and by now I was on pins and needles!

Jonah was called to the Canada, Toronto, English-speaking mission, beginning July 18 (home MTC & Provo MTC). Everyone else had started in August or September, and when I heard July, I gasped--wondering how we were going to get everything done in time!

The last to go was Micah, and at this point, I worried that he would be called to a nearby statewide mission, when everyone else got to go international. I closed my eyes and waited with anticipation for the last call to be read...

Micah was called to the Chile, Santiago mission, speaking Spanish, beginning July 18 (home MTC then Mexico City MTC). In that moment I was relieved that Micah also got an international call. All 6 got international calls!! Then I was shocked that Jonah and Micah were going so far apart from each other. Two different hemispheres!! Then I was SO grateful that they would begin their missions on the same date. Identical twins starting on identical dates! Then I felt instantly stressed about trying to get everything done before then: with their impending high school graduation, their boys' trip to the coast, all the shopping and Dr. appointments and additional paperwork requirements. 

I was simply overcome with emotion, overwhelmed with so many feelings at once! It was a lot to process. But beyond all, I felt love, pride, and joy for these young men who had the incredible opportunity to do this together, and I'm so blessed that Jonah and Micah were a part of it! It's hard to put it all in words: it was truly was a moment I will always remember and forever cherish!

Stacie, Erik, and Mark Oliverson

Craig, Boaz, & Wendy Oswald

David, Nathan, & Leslie Deschaine

Tiana, Tyler, & Ryan Hilton

Kala, Micah, Jonah, & Josh Tolman

Some of the young girls from our ward
made this cute announcement on the dry erase
board, complete with stick-figure pictures
of the missionaries in their new locations!

The moms--we were all a blubbering mess by the end of it!