Mission Pictures

Grace took Jonah's mission photos.  She always got so many great ones of him at football games, she is a great photographer.  Jonah was excited to have her take his pictures. 

They went to Provo City Center Temple to take the pictures.

This is Kyle's old mission suit. He left them at our house after his mission and a few years ago he said he didn't want them back.  Jonah tried this one on and it fit him perfectly.  It was such a blessing that we only had to buy him one suit.

He took his French Book of Mormon that we bought him in elementary school. 

I love this one.  He highlighted that verse when he was a kid.  

He was pretty fluent in French in elementary school and I think he would read the English and French Book of Mormon side by side.

We got a France flag for the pictures.

She got so many good pictures!

I still can't believe we are here and Jonah is old enough to serve a mission.

His suit and tie are similar to his baptism suit and tie.  Wow, ten years went by so fast. 

I wasn't sure Jonah would want to serve a mission.  A few years ago he wasn't interested in any spiritual teaching from Keith and I.  He told us that he had Cody for that and he didn't want to hear it from us. 

Over the last couple of years I have watched Jonah change.  

He started getting interested in spiritual things.  He was studying on his own and decided he wanted to get his patriarchal blessing.  After that he grew and changed quickly.  He started sharing thoughts during our family scripture study that blew me away. 

Jonah has always been one that needs space and can't be told what to do.  We have tried to give him as much freedom as we can over the years.  We didn't put any pressure on him to go on a mission.  I want him to go if he has a testimony and if he wants to go.  I don't want him to go for any other reason. 

He was not happy about the ward change back in September, but Bishop Abraham was the perfect bishop for him.  It was the perfect time for his influence in Jonah's life.  He called Jonah to be the first assistant in the Priest Quorum and Jonah wanted to start his mission papers shortly after that. 

Jonah felt a rush to get his papers in.  He debated on when to put his availability date and kept moving it up.  At the last minute he moved his date up to the beginning of June and he was assigned to start on June 9th.  I really think he was guided in the process!

I really do believe and feel that he is in the right place at the right time.  I'm so grateful to know that because it is hard to send your child off to another country for two years. 

I told Wyatt I was a little surprised when Jonah decided he wanted to serve a mission and Wyatt said, "I'm not. He took his time to figure it out for himself and that is why he is the most spiritual guy I know."

I agree with Wyatt. It has been a beautiful thing to watch Jonah figure out for himself what he believes and once he knew for himself he decided he wanted to go out and share that message with others.

Jonah has the perfect personality for a missionary.  He is fun and easy to talk to.  He can connect with anyone and loves people. 

I don't feel ready to send him off, but I know he is ready.  He has worked hard to come to know his Heavenly Father and seek His will for him.  I'm so proud of Jonah for having the Faith to follow God's will for him and the desire to share his Faith in Jesus Christ with people in France. He is going to be an amazing missionary.