Such a bad week... and then this !

This week was so bad for me. Lots of problems at work and I was missing Jared terrible, and I came home to find this ! Our sweet little 8 year old activity girls and their leaders came over and gave me a 'heart attack', complete with frosted heart sugar cookies decorated with candy hearts. Jenna called me at work and said that I had a surprise on our door when I came home. I couldn't have imagined anything like this. It was so darling and I loved the fact that they thought of me.

OUR 1ST EMAIL FROM JARED !

Hurray ! Today is the day that I have been waiting for since he got in the MTC! He's written me another letter, but I got my first official email from Jared this morning. It's pretty amazing. I see how much he's grown in only 10 days. The MTC is doing marvelous things for him. Read on....

Dear Family,
This is my first official e-mail from the MTC!! Yay!! Well, what can I say? Things here at the MTC are always pretty routine. We are either in class or we are eating in the cafeteria. It seems like we eat alot here! I think I've actually gained some weight. Oh well. I'll work it off during gym anyway. So in class, we are still learning French, (we've already passed what I've learned in my high school years.) It's crazy, the class is going so fast!! I am picking up on most of it but not all. Yesterday, our teacher Frére Lyman was teaching us about the house of etre. Basically it's just this way of learning how to use words in the past tense with the verb etre. So we had to draw this big house looking thingy, and Elder Mason (The district clown basically) said "Hey let's make it into "the Dojo of etre" So we did. We had these ninja ropes and a zen garden and a dojo master. And we had to use these verbs that describe a physical change in action like To descend, To be born, or To Return. It was pretty cool, I'll have to admit.
Elder Spicer and I got to go to the TRC (teaching resource center) and we had to make 3 contacts in French, and then we had to teach the first lesson in English. I think we did pretty well, but we will definately do better next week.We also got to go to the RC (refferal center) where we got to make a bunch of phone calls to people. It was cool. I want to go back, but I have to wait until Monday. The MTC is freaking crazy. We always have meetings and class and meals and we are always somewhere all the time. The days are so scheduled out for you here. It's crazy. We've been going over how to contact people and we've been trying (With not much success) to learn how to do the passe composé. It's all really confusing. My first official week and a half here at the MTC was pretty fun.
Oh have to tell you about our district. We have two sisters in it, one from Ireland, and the other one from Germany. They've been teaching us a little bit of their language too. It's cool cause they have all these different sayings for things, like for schetchy, or mysterious, they say "dodgy" so that has pretty much become our whole district saying now! Elder Zarate (Say KA-RA-TE like an Asian person would say it.) is crazy good at French. He can speak for like minutes at a time!!Elder Mason is always happy or smiling, and he's way funny too.
What else???? I've been getting every one of your letters Mom. I don't really have a whole lot of time during the day to write anything back, so sorry if I haven't sent very many yet. I just sent one today, and another one just a couple of days ago. Life here at the MTC goes on.I miss you all. I love you. Thanks for all the support.
Love,
Elder Walch

Ta-daa! Do I have an awesome son or what??? We were so excited to get this first email. How crazy that some words on a page can make your heart hurt and burst with pride at the same time? He's having the time of his life. I, on the other hand, have been writing every day and have been trying to cope with him being gone. Tears still come quite easily, and not just for me. Gary has been welling up himself when I get emotional or when he reads one of his letters. What can I say? We just miss our baby boy! Anyway, thru the tears and all, today has been such a good day as we got this terrific email from him. He'd love to hear from any of you that would like to write to him. So please do...

My friend Lindsay at work asked me if she should buy stock in Kleenex...I told her absolutely...! We've been using alot at our house !
Until next post... Love to all
Colleen

MOM.... How Old Is Too Old?

I need to start out by giving you some history. When Jenna was born, Jared's nose was a little bit bent out of shape. He was 4 years old at the time and didn't want that new baby sister taking his place. He was very clingy to me and one day... He said.. "Mommy? How old is too old to sit on your lap? Is 5 too old?" So, of course, I scooped him up and put him on my lap and gave him the biggest hug he's ever had. I told him he would never be too old to do that. He asked the same question at 8, and then at 10, with the same reaction from me, but I haven't heard anything like that since. Well, a few weeks before he was going to leave on his mission, I was sitting in the living room trying to unwind with some peace and quiet. He came in and asked me what was wrong. I told him nothing, and he got this huge smile on his face. He said... "Mom... how old is too old to sit on your lap? Is 19 too old?" Well, you know that the tears streamed down my face as this HUGE young man sat down on my lap and let his mommy hug him and remember him being so little. Jenna, being such the smart gal that she is, grabbed my camera and took these pictures so that we will have this for all posterity. I'm not sure that my Jared would want everyone to see these photos, but this tells what kind of young man I've been privileged to raise and call my son. I love you so much Jared.

OUR 1ST LETTER !!!

We received our first letter from Jared. I think I've read it 50 times ! It was good to hear from him:

Dear Family
Today was really long. I still can't believe or get used to the fact that I am actually on my mission! The MTC is really cool. The spirit here is so strong. My first companion, well... other than Dad, is Elder Spicer. He is from Pocatello, Idaho and he is a year older than me. He's going to Belgium, so he won't exactly be in my same mission, but in my same area.

My other roommates are pretty cool too. Elder Christiansen is from Centerville, Ut and Elder Jolley is from Fresno, Ca. I told him that's where you grew up Mom ! The meetings here are pretty long. Tomorrow ( Thursday, Jan 29th) we will be in class for 14 hours ! Our P-day is normally on Fridays, but this week, it will be on Saturday.

We have to prepare a 3 to 5 minute talk for next Sunday ( Feb 8th ) and we have to prepare it in French ! I hope I can do that. I just wanted to let you know that I am okay. Things here are so great ! I 'll write again soon. I love you all and I miss you all!

Love
Jared
( Elder Walch ) Isn't that cool???

So there you have it. His first official correspondence as a full time missionary. I've discovered a website that you can write to him in the MTC for free. They will print out and deliver your letter while he is in the mission home. It is dearelder.com. I know lots of people knew about this but this is my very first time of writing a missionary ! You will need to know a couple of things. His name, of course, and then his MTC mailbox is #104 and his mission code is SWI-GEN and he will be leaving the MTC on March 30th. Other than that, you can just log on and create a free acct and write him for no cost at all to you. It's really pretty handy. Sister Jones in our ward said that her son told her that the saddest thing for a missionary is an empty mailbox. So write to him. He'd love it !

Elder Jared Walch

MTC Mailbox #104

SWI-GEN 0330

2005 N 900 East

Provo, UT 84604-1793

MTC ! The Big Day ! January 28th

Jared Getting Ready with All of His Suitcases !

Jared and Jenna right before we left for the MTC!

Here is Jared pulling his 'train' of luggage as they called it to his spot. There were 311 other missionaries that day, so imagine 3 suitcases each x 311 missionaries! That's a whole lot of luggage ! And of course, most of them black ! Gary put tape around the handles so that he would recognize which ones were his.

So when you go to the MTC, the missionaries go thru one door and the families and friends go thru another door. This is him right before he entered inside the building. Can't tell that he is happy or anything, huh?

When they first walked into the MTC, this cute little sister gave them their 'lifeline' as she put it along with their tag. The card was to use for laundry and other expenses at the MTC. It even works on the candy machine ! I think I need one of those !

When he got his tag, he came straight to me and asked me to put it on him. I totally lost it at that point. I started shaking and my whole body kind of went into convulsions. I couldn't calm myself down. He just hugged me and said, "Mom, it will be fine. I love you. Put on my tag." I did just as he asked... well, except for the calming down part ! ( The little orange dot is on there so that they can identify themselves as newbies and if lost, and I quote.... "The other missionaries can tell them where to go ! ")

So this was our last photo taken before we had to shut off our camera. Inside is dedicated like a chapel and there are not any photos allowed. A kind sister who was waiting for her grandson took this shot. Notice the red eyes and swollen faces of Mom and Dad, but the missionary is fine !

So, I guess, now comes the 'endure to the end' part of this journey. I will keep this site updated more often. Sorry, but it's taken me this long to be able to actually look at these photos without crying my eyes out. Thanks so much for all of the support that you've been to me. I so appreciate all of the kind words and hugs and prayers on our behalf. I've been counting down by fast Sundays, and since we just had one yesterday... I only have 23 more to go ! YIPEE !!!! Now... where are those darned Kleenex !

Packing, Packing and More Packing

So we are down to the wire ladies and gentlemen... He leaves in exactly 47 hours... at least that's what he told me ! He has the time figured out in hours that he will be gone. I almost had a heart attach because it was something like 17,000 something hours. YIKES ! I like 24 Fast Sundays better... And this Sunday, Feb 1, I get to mark off my first one !! We are trying to get everything for him for 2 years into 2 suitcases and one carry on besides his missionary bag... Oh, what did he call it? Oh yes... His man purse ! Made me laugh. We are going to be finishing this up tonight and we will get his taxes done. Tomorrow night he gets set apart, with Gary as his first companion. He said that he couldn't have a better companion than his Dad. Made Gary pretty weepy ! Anyway, we are on the last leg of this journey. He's been waiting sooo long and we are happy ( we are??? ") .... ) that he is leaving and getting to start his next adventure. Offer me a tissue if you see me... I'm sure I'll need it !

10 days and counting... Plus 10!

Well, it's 10 days and counting until Jared's farewell, Sunday the 18th. He will be speaking at 2:50 pm in the Grantsville 8th ward. I have an announcement that I will post but I don't have the ability to do so at work without my disk. I will get that done. And then 10 days after that, he enters the MTC. I can't believe that it has come so soon, but to Jared, it seems like it's been forever. He was a little sad thinking that he could have had almost 4 months done on his mission by now. But he's very excited none the less. We would love to have any of you join us if you haven't gotten an announcement, or if you have been missed by my oversight. I've cancelled all of my extra curricular activities until after he leaves. I can only concentrate on one thing at a time. More to follow soon.