Headed for the MTC

This morning at 6:45 we said farewell to Matt. We are so proud of him. The past few days have been tough, but family bonds have been strengthened. We had some of the best family time together as he prepared himself for his mission. Lots of laughs, lots of tears, lots of hugs. The whole family will miss him tremendously, but we know that what he is about to begin will be the greatest thing he will ever do. He will make an AWESOME missionary. Once he arrives in Salt Lake City will we post his mailing address. He will be at the MTC for about 8 weeks.

We just got a call from Matt from the Salt Lake airport. He had a good flight, but was not able to sleep. He will be tired tonight. It was good to hear his voice. He had tried to leave a voice mail (a prompting of his mother's) but the answering machine wasn't working. Unfortunately, this will be the last time we will hear his voice until he calls home at Christmas. We will all be looking forward to then. He has about a 45 minute ride to Provo and then the work begins. Almost immediately upon arrival, he will be assigned to a companion, shown around a little, find his dorm room and then off to the business at hand. Quickly diving into work will keep his mind occupied on things other than home. We wished him well, encouraged him to work hard and left him with our love. Our son--Elder Vivona.