Elder Jaren Sweeney

The Adventures of Elder Sweeney 

In an effort to keep people updated on Jaren's mission I will be posting all about Elder Sweeney and his mission here. I will post thoughts, excerpts from letters, photos etc... So... Stay tuned!

One of our most favorite traditions is going to the temple when we take our sons to the MTC. This time we brought Michelle. She wasn't sure she could afford to miss school and make the trip. Junior year is brutal! In fact, she had decided not to come. I was pretty sad about it. The night before we left, as I was saying my prayers, my heart ached and the tears flowed as I thought about leaving Michelle behind. We had just had a wonderful week with Jaren, but it was busy with so many activities, friends and family. I wanted Michelle to have a chance to have Jaren all to herself. As I wept the answer came. She should come. Everything would be fine. That next morning as we were loading up the car and Michelle came downstairs dressed and ready for school I gave her a hug and said "I want you to come. Everything will work out. I know you are supposed to be with us." With tears in her eyes she agreed. So we headed to Utah! It was WONDERFUL! Again, I LOVE being in the temple with my children. I LOVE that we have taken each of our sons to the Salt Lake Temple to go through a live endowment session with them. It is a sweet experience. This time we first did baptisms for the dead with Michelle. It was AMAZING! Jaren did all the baptizing. Good practice for a soon-to-be missionary. :) The Spirit filled the room and filled our hearts. How thankful I am for wonderful, worthy children. Words cannot adequately describe how it felt to be with Jaren and Michelle that day. After our baptisms Michelle went out and met up with Ashley. Doug and I stayed with Jaren and went through a live session. What a GREAT DAY! There is no better place I would rather be than in the temple with my children!

Even after the wonderful experiences of the temple I'm not sure my heart was ready to let Jaren go. Don't get me wrong: I WANT him to serve a mission! He is so ready to serve. He is so eager to serve. He is so very worthy to serve. But, my heart will miss him! But I am equally thankful for and proud of him for being ready and willing to answer the call to go and represent his Savior and share the GOOD NEWS of the GOSPEL!

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