On Sunday, July 21st, Gabe gave his farewell talk in church at 1:30. I was grateful our church was at 1:30 that day because I spent a lot of the morning getting the clubhouse ready for Gabe's farewell. We set up all six of the round tables and chairs that they had in the closet, plus we brought in some long tables for food. I hung the Spanish flag up on the fireplace and strung up a banner of mini Spanish flags across one end of the room. We had gone to Costco and Winco on Saturday and gotten a ton different kinds of deli meat (ham, turkey, etc.) and buns, croissants, watermelon, Caesar salad kids, cookie platters, etc. It was kind of a make-your-own sandwich type of buffet. Then all the sisters-in-law brought salads or desserts too. We had a TON of food. We didn't have too many buns left over, but we had plenty of extra meats and cheeses. I spent a good part of Saturday evening preparing meat and cheese platters with Zeus watching me intently for any pieces I might drop!
Anyway, Gabe gave his talk in church at 1:30 and it was really good. I told him to try to not talk so fast, but he still did. My mom was watching it on the internet broadcast (we got her the link from the Bishop) and she said it was a little fast, but then she added, "When he has to give talks in Spanish, that will slow him down." The church meeting was PACKED with people. Gabe about 20 friends there from the track team and school, including Sophia, her older sister and brother-in-law, and her little brother. I guess Sophia's parents were on an Alaskan cruise, so they couldn't be there. After Gabe's talk, my friend, Claire, sang a song accompanied by a teenage boy on a violin. It was really nice. Then Sister Flamm gave a talk, and I gave the closing prayer. It was a good church meeting!
After church, we hustled home and got a few more things out of our fridge and rushed over to the clubhouse to get set up. People were already showing up and sitting down at the tables, so I was a little stressed just hurrying to get everything ready. But Josh's sisters and my friends were all super helpful. By about 2:00, we all started eating and there was a huge line of people. I snapped a few pictures, but I don't think you can really tell how many people were there. We estimated between 150-175 probably. It was a huge group, but it was really fun to see how many people cared to see Gabe!
By about 4:45, the last people were leaving, so we started the cleanup. We had to kind of hurry because Gabe's appointment to get set apart as an elder with President Rawson was scheduled for 5:30! We barely made it in time! We had a brief chat with Kyle (Pres. Rawson) and then he officially set Gabe apart as a missionary! He took his missionary tag out of his pocket (that I told him to take with him) and we went outside and took a couple pictures! It was crazy how fast the whole day went!
On Monday morning, July 22, he woke up for his first day of home MTC. He and I went for a bike ride in the morning, and then he had to be on his first Zoom meeting at about noon. I wasn't sure what the whole home MTC experience would be like, but I have realized quickly that they keep them VERY busy during this week! His first day he had a welcome meeting online at about noon. There were about 700+ elders and sisters on that one, so Gabe didn't have his own video or audio on. It was nice for me to sit and listen in on that. One thing the man talking said was that home MTC is nice because it's a way to meet your people in your district before getting to the MTC, so it makes the day of getting dropped off a little less traumatic. At first, Gabe was not excited for the home MTC because his friend, Porter, had told him it's basically just sitting in front of a computer screen all day and it's super boring. But after yesterday, Gabe said it really wasn't too bad. He said all his teachers are really energetic and fun, and his people in his group seem really nice. None are actually going to his same mission in Madrid, but they are all going someplace Spanish speaking. Some are going to Peru, Ecuador, Texas, and more. He said his companion, Elder Walker from Utah, is going to Spain Barcelona. That is who he will also be sharing a room with when he gets to the Provo MTC. They emailed out a picture of all 12 elders and sisters in his mission. I'll post it here so I don't forget! There are 4 girls and 8 boys.
So far, it seems good! It's weird having him here, but totally consumed by his zoom lessons. He basically is here in the house, but sitting in his room or the office with his headphones in, so we can't really talk to him or hear what's going on. I guess it's "easing" him into being on a mission! My goal is to go through his suitcase and the checklist of everything he needs to pack in the next day or two and make sure we have everything! It's stressful making sure he has everything he needs for two years, but at least I know there's Amazon Spain and he can get most things over there! We even went and got him his own Costco card on Saturday because there's one in Madrid and one in Seville, and someone said that Costco is the only place you can get some American foods over there! (Maybe he won't even want American foods after a few months of Spanish food, but we will be prepared anyways!;) That's the update for now!
