CAUTION: Super long post!!
Elder Cody Nield is officially a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!!! It was an eventful and crazy week! We started off with Cody's farewell on Sunday, February 19th. He did a fantastic job on his talk and he had so many friends and family there to support him. It was great! My parents put out a delicious lunch, and Jess and Carly made the most amazing chocolate covered strawberries that were to die for! They were seriously the best I've ever had and everyone loved them so much, that they were gone very fast! It was fun to see everyone and catch up with what everyone is up to. Since we live in Arizona right now, we don't get the chance to see everyone very often, so it's nice when we all get together.
The beautiful lunch!
Yummy desserts!!
The most amazing chocolate covered strawberries in the world!!!
My mom got these beautiful flowers for the centerpiece and they lasted a long time.
The handsome missionary!!
It was also my Aunt Debra's birthday and so my dad had us sing Happy Birthday to her! :)
Some of Cody's friends.
My aunt Lezlie, Ollie, and my cousin Taylor
My paternal grandmother and my cousin Brylee
My friends Danielle, Matt, and Kathy! (Matt is like the older brother I never had and Kathy is his mom and like a second mom to me.)
Me and Kathy
Cody chowing down with his friends.
The family crowd.
My beautiful mom!
Kathy, Don, Matt, and Danielle. Oh, and me poking my head in! :)
My adorable cousin Seth!
Carly and aunt Debra
Cousin Brylee
Carly, Jess, and Jess' friend Alexis
Carly, Grandma Nield, and Jess
Sisters!! :)
On Monday, we went and had a day just for Cody. We went to ABC Mandarin for lunch and we went bowling after. It was so much fun, but I have to say, bowling when you're 32 weeks pregnant isn't easy! And I didn't do so well. :(
Yours truly attempting to bowl.
Cody
Barrett
Carly
Mom
Dad
Jess
My adorable parents!
Ollie and Uncle Cody, right after he got ordained a missionary!
They were trying to re-create an American Gothic themed picture. Oh boys... :)
Then came Wednesday and taking him to the MTC. We went to P.F. Changs for lunch and it was delicious! And we weren't the only missionary family to go there before dropping them off at the MTC.
We then went over to the Provo temple to take some family pictures. Oliver was dead asleep and had a hard time waking up for pictures. Poor guy...
With the proud parents!
We were only allowed to bring one car into the MTC and so the 8 of us crammed in my parent's little Rav4. It was quite amusing! Barrett was shoved in the trunk next to the two big suitcases with Carly, Jess, and Cody holding Oliver in the backseat. Then Dad driving, Mom sitting on the middle console, and me in the front. All of the missionaries on the way in were laughing at us. We were like a clown car as we piled out onto the curb.
We all did great emotionally until we got to the curb. Then we all pretty much broke down (except for Barrett who is a tough 16-year-old). Even dad teared up a little. It was so much more traumatic than we all thought it would be! Saying goodbye to him was one of the hardest things we've had to do. I don't think we were prepared for how hard it would be. And unfortunately, it doesn't help that I'm 32 weeks pregnant and incredibly hormonal. That just made things worse. Even Cody teared up a little and that made my cry more.
Funny story, this missionary who picked Cody up is actually really good friends with my aunt and uncle in Idaho Falls, Debra and Lamont Pack! What are the odds?! I thought that was awesome because Cody had something in common with someone and I expect that made things a little easier. I think the Lord knew what Cody needed to get through the transition and I'm so grateful for that.
Our missionary walking away into the MTC.
It was a seriously traumatic experience and it was so hard to let him go, but we are so incredibly proud of him!! We're so excited to hear all of his stories and hear all about the adventures he's having! We got his first letter on Saturday and he seems to be adjusting well and doing well with learning the language (Tagalog). We are so proud of you Cody and we love you so much!!! Good luck on your mission! You will be a fantastic missionary!
