Elder Travis had a pretty unique month 12 of his mission. He left behind the beautiful sites of Honolulu to come home and have surgery. He marked his one year anniversary here at home recovering. There were other things that happened before he flew home though and I'm going to recap the month for him.
It was a month of more creatures that live in Hawaii. I've never seen such a small Gecko as this one! They like geckos since they eat the blue centipedes.
He left his companionship with Elder Davis and his mom and dad became his new companions with his mission president being our stake president while he was home.
They were able to see some sea turtles while standing on a rocky ridge above the ocean (picture is zoomed in). I'm so happy that sea turtles became part of his mission and I'll share why with you at a later date.
There were more funny signs that he said could only be found in Utah! He's probably right about that too.
There were wonderful gifts from new friends.
There were many times he had to say hello.....
and many hugs he needed to give.
There were new family members to meet (who by the way adored him!)....
and a quick trip to temple square.
There were family pictures to be taken before church too. He also had the rare opportunity for a Hawaiian missionary to shovel snow! He didn't like that so much though.
There were improvisations to be made when there was no room in his closet to hang his clothes.
There was the traditional Christmas Eve party....
and the joy of watching his nieces open their gifts. Savannah fell in love with Uncle
Travie too!
He taught his family how to properly cut a pineapple.....
and posed for the traditional picture by the tree in his new Christmas pajamas.
This year I bought him a white T-shirt to go under his Jazz jersey. Usually he gets a graphic T but none seemed appropriate this year.
There was time spent helping his father....
and calling and making his reports to the Zone Leaders and
APs since he's a District Leader. Too bad he's wearing that horrid pink tie! Okay,okay, his mom isn't a fan of men in pink. He also kept pulling weird faces every time I tried to get a picture!
He pitched in and did service helping to get dinner going
.....
and all too soon it was time to pack up and head back to his full-time mission duties in Hawaii.
The ride was too short....
but it was time and Elder Travis was anxious to go.
A passerby at the airport offered to take a picture of all three of us. We met kind people everywhere during his time home and we're grateful for the rare opportunity to spend time with him while he was set apart as a full-time missionary. Most families only get the chance to be around their missionaries after they're set apart until the next morning when they send them to the
MTC and when they arrive home for a couple of hours until their stake president releases them. It was a choice experience I wish every family of a full-time missionary could have and for this experience we all know that we were extremely blessed by our Heavenly Father.
Elder Travis had a pretty unique month 12 of his mission. He left behind the beautiful sites of Honolulu to come home and have surgery. He marked his one year anniversary here at home recovering. There were other things that happened before he flew home though and I'm going to recap the month for him.
It was a month of more creatures that live in Hawaii. I've never seen such a small Gecko as this one! They like geckos since they eat the blue centipedes.
He left his companionship with Elder Davis and his mom and dad became his new companions with his mission president being our stake president while he was home.
They were able to see some sea turtles while standing on a rocky ridge above the ocean (picture is zoomed in). I'm so happy that sea turtles became part of his mission and I'll share why with you at a later date.
There were more funny signs that he said could only be found in Utah! He's probably right about that too.
There were wonderful gifts from new friends.
There were many times he had to say hello.....
and many hugs he needed to give.
There were new family members to meet (who by the way adored him!)....
and a quick trip to temple square.
There were family pictures to be taken before church too. He also had the rare opportunity for a Hawaiian missionary to shovel snow! He didn't like that so much though.
There were improvisations to be made when there was no room in his closet to hang his clothes.
There was the traditional Christmas Eve party....
and the joy of watching his nieces open their gifts. Savannah fell in love with Uncle Travie too!
He taught his family how to properly cut a pineapple.....
and posed for the traditional picture by the tree in his new Christmas pajamas.
This year I bought him a white T-shirt to go under his Jazz jersey. Usually he gets a graphic T but none seemed appropriate this year.
There was time spent helping his father....
and calling and making his reports to the Zone Leaders and APs since he's a District Leader. Too bad he's wearing that horrid pink tie! Okay,okay, his mom isn't a fan of men in pink. He also kept pulling weird faces every time I tried to get a picture!
He pitched in and did service helping to get dinner going.....
and all too soon it was time to pack up and head back to his full-time mission duties in Hawaii.
The ride was too short....
but it was time and Elder Travis was anxious to go.
A passerby at the airport offered to take a picture of all three of us. We met kind people everywhere during his time home and we're grateful for the rare opportunity to spend time with him while he was set apart as a full-time missionary. Most families only get the chance to be around their missionaries after they're set apart until the next morning when they send them to the MTC and when they arrive home for a couple of hours until their stake president releases them. It was a choice experience I wish every family of a full-time missionary could have and for this experience we all know that we were extremely blessed by our Heavenly Father.
