Ellie is a Missionary!

On December 15th Ellie gave her missionary farewell talk at church before she heads off to the MTC next week.  

She gave a beautiful talk and we had a good group of friends and family that came for the occasion.  

At the end, she bore her testimony in Spanish (such that it is at this point).  Afterward, we had an open house at our home, where we spent time with friends and family and served some of our favorite Christmas goodies.    (browned butter rice krispie treats, Grandma's cracker toffee, my {sort of} famous rocky road fudge, mint swirl fudge {a new recipe}, fruit, veggie tray, our family's favorite mediterranean dip, deviled eggs, crackers, cheese, and some fun soda {at Ellie's request})

I was terrible at taking pictures that day, but here we are with some of our good friends from Virginia who came. 

And one with one of our Thailand HXP girls, Sarah.

A few of the other people who came were the Durhams (shown above), Palmers (shown above), Bennetts, my 95-year-old Nana (shown above), my Uncle Buddy and Aunt Debra (shown with Nana), Glen's brother's family, the Rohrers (our neighbors), my sister and Mom, Rachel (Ellie's HXP trip leader from Malawi),  Bryn and Charley (more friends from an HXP trip), and a few other people I can't recall at the moment.

We very much enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with family and old friends and celebrate Ellie as she goes off into the world to be a part of a great work!   Later that week, we attended the temple together...

And on December 22nd, she was set apart as a full-time missionary.   

It's been an amazing experience having a missionary in our home for Christmas...

Her Christmas haul was filled with practical gifts, like shoes, dresses, a bag, and such that she will use on her mission....

As per tradition, we have a Christmas ornament we add to our tree for each of our missionaries for every Christmas they are serving.  It is tradition that these cute little ornaments are for the first year they are serving and we have a completely different ornament we get for their second Christmases.  We figured it was only fitting that Ellie have a Christmasy version of the ornament, since she started her mission two days before Christmas! 

 

Left to right they represent Cami who served in France Lyon, Emma during COVID in Salt Lake West, Adam in Portland, and Ellie heading to Ventura.    The height differences between them make us giggle and I love knowing that our collection is complete now!  

Hurrah for the love, service, and sacrifice that these missionaries make to bring the light of Christ wherever they go!   It truly is a great work that we are thrilled for her to be a part of...

 

...though I'm really really really dreading the goodbye in a few days when we drop her off at the MTC.  💗