Headed to Bogota

Up by 6, to the airport by 7:15 and through security at the airport by 8, Alec is now headed to the Colombia MTC in Bogota via Atlanta for his mission. It was so wonderful to see how excited he was to hit the ground running. We wanted to hold him longer for pics and hugs but he was so ready to start this wonderful 2 year adventure that we felt just a tiny bit cheated. Right now we are feeling so happy and proud of him but I’m sure the tears will come frequent over the next few days. We love you Elder Meyers. You will be an awesome missionary!

Sharp Dressed Man

The official picture is done. Mike took it and it may not be as awesome of work as his talented sister Barbara but I think it is perfect! Tomorrow is the big day, we'll be dropping him off at the Salt Lake airport. From here on out all posts will be letters from Alec himself after tomorrow morning.

Set Apart - Its Official

With travel papers finally in hand, Alec was able to be set apart today. Even though he leaves Tuesday they set him apart on Sunday since they really like to keep Mondays free of church stuff as much as possible and his early morning flight on Tuesday made it difficult to do it then. Both sets of his grandparents came over for dinner and then came up to the stake presidents office with us to see him set apart. It was really a nice evening with a few tears, a lot of hugs and bonding to try and make up to the coming 2 year absence. It’s getting very real now. We’re really going to miss that boy!

They Finally Arrived!!! Travel Papers Are Here.

Alec’s original mission call stated that he would be reporting to the MTC in Bogota on March 13th but as that day got closer and closer and we had not received his travel plans all of us started to get a bit worried. Several calls to the Missionary Travel did nothing to soothe our fears. He was told that Colombia would only issue his visa for exactly two years. It was not hard to get but they wanted to wait to the last minute to apply for it to give him as close to 2 years on his mission as possible. We were told not to worry, that he would have his passport and plane tickets fedex’d to him over night 7-10 days before his reporting date. The morning of day 7 dawned and still no travel papers. Missionary Travel said he might still get it in time to report straight to Colombia but he needed to start preparing himself that he might be switched to reporting to the Provo MTC at the last minute. Needless to say, all of us were not happy about a change. Alec really wanted to jump in to his real mission as soon as possible. The next day we had an early morning doorbell ring and Alec jumped up and ran downstairs. IT WAS HERE!!! He had his passport and tickets to fly to Bogota in 5 days, Tuesday the 12th. What a relief. Now to try and get some Colombian pesos for him before he leaves. 

The Farewell

Alec’s farewell was on February 24th, a few weeks before his actual departure date. He chose this since the week before he left would be spring break so no one would be around and the week before that we would be out of town. It was actually really nice to not have it all scrunched together. He did an awesome job on his talk and you could tell he really felt the spirit delivering it. After we had some awesome desserts for family and friends at our home so they could come and say their goodbyes and wish him well.

Temple Worker

Mike and I work on the Tuesday shift at the Draper temple baptistry and when we heard we were losing the missionary on our shift since he was reporting to the MTC, we were quick to volunteer Alec as his replacement. He has loved getting in practice in the font and confirming. He also has now become a military aircraft specialist after chatting with all of the veterans on our shift. They have lots of stories to tell and Alec gets to hear them every Tuesday now from 12-6 until he leaves for the MTC in Bogota. Working with him in the temple has been one of the best Mommy moments ever. Between this and his missionary prep classes he will be totally ready for his 6 weeks in the MTC.

Looking Sharp

With the expense of Christmas done and the double missionary payments looming in the future, we decided that getting Alec’s shopping done sooner rather than later would be a good budget move. He cares about what he wears so we knew helping Alec chose his mission clothes would be a new experience after the anti shopping of his brother Braden. We spent several afternoons at Mr. Mac, Target, Distribution Center & Nordstrom Rack picking the basics and completed the few missing pieces with some online ordering. Alec is going to make one sharp missionary.