Exactly one week from this moment.

In exactly one week from this moment, Eldrew's plane is scheduled to arrive in Salt Lake City

Down to lasts...

We are getting down to lasts...

Today was the last email we will send to Eldrew on his mission. Tomorrow will be the last email we will get from Eldrew before he comes home.

Just a few more 'lasts' and he will be home. It is sad, happy, and exciting all at the same time.



The one digit midgit rides his broken-down bike.

Eldrew is in the home stretch of his mission. Counting today, he is down to only nine days left. That makes him officially (to borrow an old phrase from his Dad's navy days) a "one digit midgit." In other words, he is down to single digits in the days left on his mission. The celebrations are almost ready to start.

A couple of notes from last week's letter as it relates to the final days of his mission...

Broken down bike.
Just like his Dad, Elder Bellomy is limping his bike* to the finish line. He writes:

Probably the funniest thing that is a part of my daily life down to nearly every second is that my bike is giving up the ghost. Gear boxes are breaking (i'm down to a 3 speed from a 21 speed), my crank arm is stript so when I ride I have to twist my leg and body to get it to turn over and all kinds of little things are falling off. ha ha I was going to send it home but I guess not.

Special experiences.
Elder Bellomy is having special experiences right down to the final days of his mission.

I think the cool thing to announce for this week is that I am going to have the best day of my life on Friday...I go to the temple with my departing group and then I drive home and 2 hours later I turn around and head back up north to a chapel in the north part of our mission where we will have the pleasure to hear from Elder Jeffery R. Holland!!!!!!! Yeah! He is taking a major unplanned detour to speak to the 3 houston missions. I am so pumped up. He is a power house.

Elder Holland has a special place in our family's heart. He was the President of Brigham Young University when Eldrew's parents attended. He is a great speaker, and is Susan's favorite Church leader.

Here is a short video to give you a sense of Elder Holland. He is speaking to young people of the Church...but is the spirit of him as a person and speaker.

 

 

* The photo of the bike is just representative. I will replace it with a real photo when Eldrew gets home.

Updates from Elder Bellomy.

Wow! Time is flying by.

We get regular emails from Eldrew, but not a lot of news. He is focused and working hard. He loves his companion...and tells us a few funny stories.
To be honest, there isn't a lot of news to tell.

Houston is blazingly hot.

Eldrew and Elder Tufaga are teaching a lot of people...but not too many are willing to follow through. He speaks of constantly sifting. He loves the area he is in.

Some snippets from his last few letters:

Learning charity:

We have some really exciting things going on in our area right now and I am learning a lot about charity. I think that is the lesson the Lord wants me to learn right now. It's not that I'm having my charity tested all the time or anything, but there are a lot of elements to missionary work where charity is intergral and I am finding that if I'm having one of those days it is hard to muster that love. It is a great lesson to learn to go even farther to get outside of myself and love more. Like Christ taught, if I love those who love me, what reward do I have?

Gladys Knight.

Did you know that Gladys Night is a Latter Day Saint? Eldrew reports the following news.

Another cool thing that is happening, which I will miss but it is still cool, is Sister Gladys Knight and the Saints Unified Voices Choir is coming to do 5 free firesides in Houston (all with in our mission boundaries). She and her choir sing gospel music and she bears her testimony and shares her conversion story and makes some bold commitments to non members in the audience.

Elder Born update:

Elderew speaks of a great Zone Conference (a missionary get together for about 20-30 missionaries). He mentions Elder Born is an Assistant to the President...I think this is the same Elder Born that Eldrew trained and really thinks the world of.

Yesterday was Zone Conference where we recieved some awesome counsel from President Saylin and his 2 wonderful assistants--Elder Bayles and Elder Born.

Mormon moment...here is a video of Gladys Knight performing with the Mormon Tablernacle Choir.

Wednesday, 7:18 PM, Mountain Standard Time, September 6, 2011.

It is official.We got the 'coming home' letter and travel itinerary from Elder Bellomy's Mission President. As of tomorrow, we have 35 days until we see our missionary again.

He will be routing through Phoenix and will be arriving just before 7:30 PM.

Also planned...

Elder Bellomy will officially be released that evening by our Stake President, President Morris.

On Sunday morning, September 11th, he will report his mission to the High Council* of the Stake. (This will be cool since Eldrew's Dad is a member of the High Council.)

Then, Eldrew will speak to our congregation during our Sunday morning services. This will be followed by a family and friend gathering at our house...sort of shake-his-hand-and-say-hello affair.

At this point however, we have barely spoken to Eldrew about his homecoming. He wants to stay focused...and has asked us not to really talk about it.

 "Hoorah!!!"


*Mormon speak: The High Council in the LDS Church is sort of like an advisory board composed of 12 High Priests drawn from the congregations of an LDS Stake...similar to a Dioceses in the Catholic Church. This group advises the Stake President and carries out assigned administrative responsibilities.