Family

Another pretty quiet week, but not without rewards.  So one of the elders came up to get his laundry on P-day and visited with us for a few minutes.  He said a few things that made my mom say "we're learning your secrets,"  his response, was "I can tell you guys this stuff, you're family."  That really made me feel good.  I mean, I feel like they are family, but for him to come out and say we are family is a great reward for what little I do for the missionaries.  I found a missionay's blog on the internet (written by his mother) and really enjoy reading it.  She mentioned the sacrifice that families make to send their son or daughter out and how they miss them.  I thank those moms and dads for the sacrifice they are making, but I sometimes don't like the sacrifice I have to make.  Here the missionaries stay for a few months and we get attached to them only to have them leave.  Some of the missionaries don't seem to get so attached, but others really become part of the family and it's sad to see them go.
My nephew is also getting into the family stuff too.  We had like five elders here one day (district leader meeting and somehow there were 5 elders from different zones).  As they were talking it came up that as one of the elders drove by the school bus stop a young boy yelled out, "Hey elder, why aren't you driving?"  I didn't know this, but it turns out that there are some missionaries who don't have driver licenses so they can't drive.  It turned out that it was my nephew who called the elder out.  Pretty funny, but a bit embarassing if you have a potential teaching candidate in the car with you.  So, the next time my nephew and his family were here for dinner, we kind of asked him about it and said that maybe he shouldn't have said that.  He has such tender feelings for the missionaries that he got a bit teary over the "reprimand."  As it turns out the elder called out to the boys at the bus stop teasing them for having to 'ride the bus'.   So, I guess it's just like family for my nephew, he teases the elders, just like he would a member of the family.  I know for me the teasing from my nephew would have been the same. 

For our elders we have now, we are getting used to the new elder, my nephews were in the back yard playing hacky sac and the missionaries drove up to pick something up from the apartment, and Elder L. took time to kick the hacky sac around a bit.  My nephew couldn't stop talking about how good Elder L. is and bragged about how he (my nephew) was able to do better than his cousin and Elder L.  I'm pretty sure the elders had some place to be, so the game ended with the perception of victory for my nephew.

Quick note to Sis Buz. et al.  Are there any special recipes, food, mementos or anything that mom can do special for your son?