A Texas Christmas!

Although we missed Sawyer a ton during the holidays, he had a great Texas Christmas!

This cute little 'Elder Varvel' went everywhere with us and did everything with us over the holidays.

It's tradition that our kids get a new ornament to hang on the tree each year. We sent one to Sawyer, but we needed one for our tree too. He got a Lubbock, Texas mission ornament.

It was hard not having him here on Christmas Eve, and Christmas morning. There are some things we wanted to get him that he can't have in the mission field, so we put them under our tree, and he'll just have them waiting for him when he gets home.

The BEST part of our Christmas was getting to Skype with Elder Varvel! It was so good to see his face and here his voice! We got to meet Elder Walker, and talk with Sawyer for over an hour.  I hardly even said anything, because I was just sitting there taking it all in. He seemed so happy, and is really enjoying his mission. When we got down to our last minute, I could feel the panic and tears start to come.  He reminded me that I only have 4 1/2 months, and we'll get to talk again. 

That was Christmas from our end, so now here's a little bit of what Sawyer experienced during his first Christmas as a missionary, and away from home.

He made a Batman snowflake at an investigator's house.

Elder Walker made them twin missionary gingerbread men! I love the glasses :)!

Elder Walker with his gingerbread man.

They had this cool Joy to the World light display in Muleshoe.

They had a big Christmas party for the missionaries. He said it was awesome because he got to see other missionaries that he hadn't seen in a long time! Some even from the MTC! He saw Elders Martin, Chapman, King, and lots of other friends from Abilene. He also saw Elders Stoneking and Baggaley from the MTC.

Elder Varvel and Elder Stoneking. They were in the MTC together. 

Elder Varvel and Elder Chapman. He was Sawyer's first companion in Abilene. 

Santa!

At the party, they got the Christmas boxes their families had sent. We sent Sawyer the 12 Days of Christmas! It was so fun! There was a tag on the outside telling him what day to open a certain thing, and then a poem explaining what we got him on the inside.

On the first day of Christmas my family gave to me,
a little baby missionary Christmas tree.

On the second day of Christmas my family gave to me,
an ornament to hang on my little baby missionary Christmas tree.

His little tree was so cute! He loved his ornament. It says, "How come both y'all's  first name is ELDER?"

On the third day of Christmas my family gave to me,
a stocking to put next to my little baby missionary Christmas tree.
His stocking was so cute! It even had his name tag in Spanish.

On the forth day of Christmas my family gave to me,
music to enjoy around my little baby missionary Christmas Tree.
We got him the Piano Guys Christmas CD.

On the fifth day of Christmas my family gave to me,
stories to read around my little baby missionary Christmas tree.
His good friend, Tyler Klingler, is serving a mission in Africa right now. His mom was the author of one of the short stories in the book we sent him. He thought that was cool!

On the sixth day of Christmas my family gave to me,
antlers to prance around my little baby missionary Christmas tree. 

On the seventh day of Christmas my family gave to me,
candy to munch around my little baby missionary Christmas tree.

On the eighth day of Christmas my family gave to me,
hot chocolate to sip around my little baby missionary Christmas tree.
This was a fun one. We sent him and his companion fun cups and straws, hot chocolate,  flavored creamers, and marshmallows.

On the ninth day of Christmas my family gave to me,
SNIFFY to give me company around my little baby missionary Christmas tree.
We thought we were hilarious with this one! He thought he was rid of Sniffy forever! I love the expression on his face!  

On the tenth day of Christmas my family gave to me,
presents to put under my little baby missionary Christmas tree. 

On the eleventh day of Christmas because I still believe,
I'll leave cookies and reindeer dust so Santa finds me Christmas Eve.
Not having him here for reindeer dust was one of the hardest parts of the holidays for me. He always made the best faces! I was SO happy when I got these pictures! I knew he wouldn't dissapoint us!  

Love him!

Awe! He really did leave the cookies out for Santa :)!

On the twelfth day of Christmas my family gave to me,
breakfast to eat around my little baby missionary Christmas tree.
We sent him powdered donuts (those are his all time favorite), Hershey's syrup for chocolate milk, and this great straw! 

On Christmas morning they opened their presents. He got a Batman robe and slippers from us (because we're hilarious). He also got the October 2013 General Conference on CD, and the Volume 2 and 3 John Bytheway CD sets. He got a missionary calendar, some books, and a few other things. They spent the day with the Donnell family. They played games and had dinner with them. I'm grateful that so many families welcome the missionaries into their homes and take care of them. I hope I get to meet all these great people someday.

I have no words! 

In his stocking there was a bunch of stick on Batman mustaches!  This picture makes me laugh for several reasons. When we talked to him on Christmas day, his hair was REALLY short like this. He said the day before, he tried to give himself a haircut. He messed up pretty bad and cut some spots really short. I think his companion finished for him. He turned sideways and showed us the short spots. What a nut!

We love you Elder Varvel! We're so glad you had a great Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving Elder Varvel!

We missed Sawyer a lot during Thanksgiving! We wanted him to know we were thinking about him, so we packed up a fun Thanksgiving package to send him. We got him stuff to make a 'turkey' dinner, complete with all the fixings. Sometimes we think we're pretty dang funny :)!

Thanksgiving dinner for Elder Varvel!

Here's his turkey!

We even got him place settings, and a nice centerpiece :)!

The best thing in the package was an awesome turkey hat! 

The zone leaders loved his hat :)!

Now THIS is a handsome little turkey!

Sawyer and Elder Walker had arrangements to have Thanksgiving dinner with the Carrion family. They are a part member family that the missionaries have known and worked with since they got to Muleshoe. They had spent some time with the family the day before Thanksgiving, and then got a call a few hours later and found out that John Carrion (the husband/father) had passed away very unexpectedly. It was so sad for them! They had transfers coming up right after that, and were really worried they would be transferred. Sister Carrion didn't want them to leave. She said she needed them there during this hard time. Luckily, Sawyer and Elder Walker were not transferred, and both remained in Muleshoe. The missionaries volunteer at a senior citizen center each week, and there is a lady there that is in charge of the food. She loves the missionaries, so as soon as she heard what happened, she invited them to Thanksgiving dinner. So they were still able to have a nice day, despite what had happened. After Thanksgiving they attended John's funeral services, and tried to help the Carrion family out with things they needed. Sawyer has never really experienced anything like that, and just by reading his letters, I can tell it was a learning experience for him, and really made him appreciate the Plan of Salvation, and his knowledge that families can be together forever.

Happy Halloween Elder Varvel!

I knew the Holidays would be hard without Sawyer. So it begins....Halloween was so boring without him! He had a boring time too. The missionaries had to be in by 6:00 that night. So him and Elder Walker just played some games that night. We did send him a fun Halloween package though :)! 

Happy Halloween Elder Varvel

Memories from Abilene, TX

We received Sawyer's SD card with all of his pictures and videos from the first area of his mission. He loved his time in Abilene. He met some wonderful people, and made some great memories. He said that leaving was really hard, and it felt like leaving home all over again. We're grateful for all the people there that took such great care of him.

Elder Harris, Elder Dalley, Elder Chapman, Elder May, Elder Simonson, Elder Martin, Elder Varvel, Elder Evans, Sister Davidson, Sister Kramer, Sister Archibald.

Sawyer's first companions were the zone leaders, Elder Martin & Elder Chapman.

A tour of his first apartment. Be prepared to get dizzy :)!

One of the first things that Sawyer experienced in Abilene was a storm! He said that when it rains, there is nothing quite like it. The rain comes down so hard, that within minutes the streets turn into rivers. They drove through the streets with water up to the door of their car.

An Abilene rain storm!

On one of their P-days, the missionaries got to go to Prime Time. It's like Fat Cats or Blastoff. They bowled, played games, and he won at laser tag!

Prime Time

 The Bundy family loved the missionaries, and always took good care of them! Sawyer loved them, and will miss them greatly. 

Dinner at the Bundy's!

Hanging out at the Bundy's house.

The Bundys had an old military truck. 

The Bundy's dog was making the donkeys mad. I cracked up at this video just listening to how entertained the missionaries were.

Elder Varvel is working on his domestic skills! Cookies!

Here is Sawyer's cool insta-freeze magic trick :)!

Elder May, Elder Hancock, Sister Archibald, Elder Chapman, Elder Pasquale, Sister Kramer, Elder Thorpe, Elder Martin, Elder Dalley, Elder Varvel

This is a video of what they do when they are bored during planning meetings.

Sawyer and Brother Murrow. He was their ward clerk.

This is a video of the missionaries trying ghost peppers. A ghost pepper is the world's hottest chili pepper, and is 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. Most of the missionaries started going numb, but Sawyer must have got a lot of seeds, because he got pale and broke out in a sweat. Good times in the mission field!

Sawyer saying goodbye to the Bundys.

Jessie and Chelsea

The Cannons- He was their ward mission leader.

Sawyer with the Hedin Family.

The Elders with Lovenia. She is a recent convert who loved the missionaries.  She owns Chicken Express and would let the missionaries eat for free. Sawyer said her husband makes the best food ever, and she makes the best dessert!

 One of Sawyer's hardest goodbyes was with Chado and Bobooshka! :(

Sawyer and Bobooshka 

Chado, Babooshka, and Sawyer

Sawyer really grew to love Chado, and he will miss him a lot. I hope we can all go to Texas someday and meet all these people.

Elder Varvel & Elder Pasquale 

Elder Varvel & Elder Hancock

Elder Watson and Elder Varvel. I miss his goofy faces!

Elder Varvel, Elder Chapman, Sister Kramer, and Sister Archibald.

Saying goodbye to Elder King. 

Elder King and Elder Varvel.

Elder Moffitt and Elder Varvel 

Elder May and Elder Dalley both came out to Texas with Sawyer.

He says this is his last moments with his parents :)! He learned a lot from these guys, and I'm sure he'll miss them a ton.

Sawyer loved his time in Abilene. He will miss it a lot, but he is excited to start a new phase of his mission is Muleshoe , TX. I hope he can meet just as many great people there, and have just as many wonderful experiences. 

Turn Around! Turn Around!

When Sawyer was getting ready to leave on his mission, he got some advice from President Fuller. One of the things he told him was that he didn't need to let his family know everything...especially the bad stuff that would make us worry. That's probably why he 'forgot' to mention a little driving incident that happened in Abilene. Dani let it slip while she was visiting, so I asked him about it. Here it is in his own words:

Elder Chapman got cut off and ended up driving the wrong way on the freeway and it was super funny! We didn't even realize it until we saw headlights in the distance coming at us super fast. I started shouting TURN AROUND, TURN AROUND!

They are nuts! How do you not know you are driving the wrong way on the freeway! I'm glad he thought it was funny though :)!

On a less stressful note, Sawyer loved General Conference! This is what he said about it:

We had investigators come to conference this past week! Oh my gosh, it was so perfect! We told them to pray and come to conference with a question, and that their questions would be answered. They were answered perfectly! It was so awesome to see the prophets and apostles touch lives. I tried that approach too, just to see if it would work, and the same thing happened to me! Those men are called of God absolutely without a doubt!

Happy 100 Days!

Sawyer reached his 100 days of missionary service! We sent him a fun package to celebrate! We wrote a list of the 100 things we love and miss about him. Some of them were pretty funny :)! Our package was all orange stuff, and we said 'Orange you glad you made it 100 days!'

Here's the first half of our 100 things we love and miss about him.

Here's the finished product!

Orange you glad you made it 100 days?

Happy 100 days Elder Varvel!

MTC Flashback!

A while after Elder Varvel had been in the mission field, he sent me his SD card with the rest of his pictures and videos from the MTC. He loved his time there! He had a great companion, a great district, and great teachers. 

This is Elder Varvel's district with Hermana Gibbons. She was his first teacher in the MTC, and they had her the whole time they were there.

This is Hermano Torres. He was their second teacher. He had to leave half way through their time at the MTC. He left to teach at the MTC in Mexico.

The district with Hermano Torres.

This is the district with Hermano Clarke. He replaced Hermano Torres once he left. 

Elder Varvel with Hermano Albaugh. He wasn't their actual teacher, but Sawyer said he might as well have been, because he helped them out with everything.

He claims he's doing a wall backflip, but we know better than that :)!

Sawyer found Curtis in the MTC! 

This is Sawyer's district with the sisters in his zone, the night they left.

Singing the night they left.

There are goblins in the MTC bathrooms!