As most of you know- my brother Kade is serving an LDS mission in Spain. Spain has different areas to be called to.... So Kade's area is shown here, is the Barcelona Mission (my cousin James- Kade's bff- is ready to leave the missionary training center and is called to serve in the Madrid Mission. So they will be pretty dang close!!):
Brother has been gone for 19 months already!!! It seems like I have not seen him in forever- but at the same time, it feels like he just left. We don't get to talk to him on the phone except Mother's day and Christmas (so I have heard his voice 3 times, and we were actually able to skype him 2 of these times, so I have seen his face). We are able to email him every week, but his time to email is so short I usually receive one liners saying "I ran out of time, I'll email you next week." Or "I can't wait to see how fat you are getting." Or "You suck at updating your blog." Or "When are you going to do a blog post about me?" He does send a nice long one to my mom and dad though, so I can stay updated on him through those emails. Bottom line--- I miss my brother!! These next 5 months are going to fly, hopefully!!!
Kade has served in only 4 areas these past 19 months. He was just transferred to his last area, so those are the 4 he will serve his whole mission. This is very unusual. I think some missionaries would get restless and bored serving the same area for nearly 6 months. But it was perfect for my brother. The Lord truly knows Kade! He takes a while to break out of his shell, and is not real good with change. Staying in the areas for so long made him feel more comfortable, helped him become the best missionary possible, and truly made him fall in love with the people he was serving--- and they all really fell in love with him. Along with that- transfers were all really difficult for him, but he got through them and looks forward to returning to each of his areas after his mission is completed!
So- my goal over the next 4 months is to blog about each of his areas. I will show pictures, tell my favorite stories of Kade (how he grew, funny quotes he has said, challenges he gave, etc), along with some of Kade's favorite memories and introduce you to some awesome families he got to know and teach. And then the last month he is out--- I will just get excited for his homecoming, and.... oh yeah, HAVE A BABY!! (*P.S. our due date is 2 weeks before his mission is complete- Exciting times!!)
As a jump start to the count down of brother's arrival, here are some of my favorite pictures from his mission:
(Kade's favorite companion- in the blue striped shirt- and family. They are awesome. We were actually able to meet them all over Christmas while we were in Utah).
(Bother's first day in Spain. Look how scared he looks!! Poor little guy!!)
Welp--- brother has not changed much the last 19 months he has been away. He still has has stupid sense of humor that I love. He still makes fun of everyone. He is still immature. But--- he has also grown a ton. He is a true missionary. It's fun to read his emails now and compare them to when he first left. He loves his mission, he loves the Lord, he loves the gospel, and he loves the people of Spain. His Spanish is awesome (it was fun listening to him and my dad speak Spanish together on Christmas morning), he is way more open-minded and less judgmental and less selfish. So yes--- he is pretty much awesome!!
Stay tuned for more of Brother's mission!!
