28 March 2021

Last Sunday, before she left to go back to school, Sofi helped Abe create a map to collect the guesses of family and friends for where he would be called to serve a mission. We all had fun making our predictions and checking to see where other people thought he might go.

It's a good thing we made our guesses early. On Tuesday, while Abe was on break at work, he checked his messages and found out that his mission call was waiting for him to open in his missionary portal. He waited until after soccer practice to open it when family and friends could join him, creating a zoom meeting so more people could join in.

We projected the zoom meeting onto a screen and the room felt like a party while we waited for the exciting news.

Here are Spencer, Camden and Jake straight from soccer practice. Ashton and Malakai were out of town and joined on zoom.

Here are Helen, Aunika, Alena, Gibson and Abigail. The suspense was overwhelming.

Busan, South Korea! Abe is delighted with his call and we are all excited for him.

This is a map of his mission. There are 3 missions in South Korea and the Busan Mission is the southern part of the country. There are about 88,000 members in South Korea, living in 12 stakes and 5 districts. Seoul is the capital of South Korea and also home to a Latter-day Saint temple. Busan is known for its beaches and mountains. The busiest port in South Korea (and the 6th busiest port in the world) is located here. We already love South Korea and look forward to learning more about it.

Abe is having a hard time deciding where to go to college. With a 2 year mission before he begins college, he has some time to decide. Currently colleges are sending boxes of goodies to catch his attention. The University of Utah is winning the free stuff contest with their bucket hat, disposable straw, a power pack, a silicon wallet and stickers.

The University of Oregon is not winning with their cardboard VR glasses. Honestly, the swag Abe would be interested in is a scholarship and he's still waiting to hear about that.

With warmer weather, we have plenty of yard work. Becky ordered a load of bark to be delivered on Friday and worked hard all week to get ready to spread the bark. When our friends heard about her plan, they offered to come help. This is a photo of Jason and Gib waiting to reload the wheelbarrow.

Here are Scott, Abe and Helen spreading the bark. Fresh bark dresses up the whole yard, making everything look fresh and extra green.

Here is our amazing crew! The work was finished in no time at all. From the left are Abe, Andrea, Eddy, Scott, Gib, Jason, Sam, Angel and Helen. We are overwhelmed with gratitude. What a gift of time they gave us!

Friday was also Gibson's birthday. He invited Eddy and Jason for dinner and bowling.

Eddy and Gibson share the same birthday, one year apart. Gibson turned 14 and Eddy turned 15. We sang "Happy Birthday" to both of them. (Eddy had a birthday party on Saturday.)

Gibson is super delightful! Easy-going, kind, smart, curious, mechanical and hard-working. 

Abe can now invite 4 spectators to each of his home games. Brandan and Becky enjoyed a sunny Saturday afternoon watching him play. This is photo of Abe taking a shot on goal, but it didn't make it in. You'll have to take our word for it since the photo is not great.

Andrea and Beka took photos of the boys at Chick-fil-A while all 6 of them still work there. Their jobs have been a fabulous blessing during corona virus, giving them something to do and the opportunity to save lots of money for missions and college. At the same time they are ready to move on. From the left are Ashton, Spencer, Malakai, Camden, Abe and Jake.