After he was set apart, his friends came over to hang out and say goodbye. They were here for awhile--it's always fun to see the group all together. Kaden has been blessed with great friends. I am terrible at NOT taking pictures so I don't have anything from that night!
Zach and Nano stayed the night with us that night and Wednesday morning we got up early and went to have breakfast at Herm's Inn. It was fun to be together as a family!
Zach and Nano were not able to come down to the MTC with us because they both had to work. After breakfast, we went home, got the last minute things done and packed and loaded up the car. Kaden said goodbye to Zach and Nano and then we headed south. We had to make a couple stops--one for luggage tags and one at Zagg to have the cover put on his tablet (nothing like saving it for the last minute). We were running a little late so we weren't able to go to Spanish Fork first to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson, so we asked if they could meet us at the Provo Temple grounds to say goodbye.
After they left, we had some alone family time to say our goodbyes. They were hard!! It doesn't get any easier the third time around!
Then the tears came!
After our goodbyes at the temple, we drove to the MTC to drop him off. His drop off time was 1:15 pm. We were so grateful for a tender mercy. I had prayed that Kaden would see one of his friends who was in the MTC already--to help him feel better. As we were pulling into the MTC, I saw his friend, Parker Bernhardt, crossing the street from the volleyball courts across the street. He had just finished his gym time. Kaden rolled down the window and called his name. It was so awesome! Parker was so happy to see him and went on and on about how great the MTC is.
The MTC has a new drop off place, we headed down to an underground parking area where host missionaries were lined up welcoming us. One was assigned to our car and came to get Kaden. We got out of the car, got his luggage out. The Elder took a picture for us and he was off!! He turned back and waved, but we didn't get that picture!
Just like that--he was gone! We all cried on our way home! We had to make a quick stop and while we were there, not even an hour after saying goodbye, we received this email:
Family,
Gosh that sucked! Just got here and doing some orientation stuff on the computer and I have to go to class in like two minutes so I just wanted to say, I am good! I have not gotten a companion yet or anything so I'll probably email you guys later.
Love you so much!
Elder Kaden Johnson
We dropped Brynn off at Girl's Camp at Camp Browning up Ogden Canyon on our way home. That was perfect for her! Something fun with great friends and leaders to keep her busy! She had a great time! Greg and I got to see what it's like to be empty nesters---that was weird! It was also a little fun!
We look forward to hearing from Elder Johnson on Tuesday--his pday at the MTC. He will fly out to Oregon on August 9th. His MTC address is on the right hand side on the blog if you would like to send him a letter or package! There is also dearelder.com where you can send him a letter. If you send it before noon--he will receive it that evening!! I'm sure he'd love to hear from you!
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