Happy 19th Birthday!

Parker's 19th birthday was yesterday! Here's the photo ecard we made for him...

Make a Smilebox photobook

Congrats from Big Brother

(Photo taken on July 5, 2007, the day Elder Ryler entered the MTC!)

Parker's missionary brother sent him the following congratulatory letter dated 2-23-09; we enjoyed it so much we wanted to share it on the blog!

Dear Parker!
An epistle to my beloved brother fighting for the cause of truth in distant lands. Yea, I make a letter in the language of my father namely English.

Wherefore it came to pass that I, Elder Ryler came to the knowledge that thou hast received a call from the Lord to serve in the land of our brethren the Italians. This came to pass in the second month of the reign of Obama in the year of 2009!

Behold, how great was my joy upon the receipt of the news! For I beheld the great mercies that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ had poured upon our household!

I write this epistle to the intent that thou wouldst remember the great and bounteous blessings from the Lord and that thou wouldst continue to prepare thyself for thy call to serve!

I would exhort you to remember the words of the Lord written in Doctrine & Covenants 31!

And now my brother, I bid you farewell for the time being and pray for your safety until our reunion! Adieu

I love you!

Moroni 10:32-33

Love/Elder Nielsen

Called to Serve!

After waiting all his life, and nearly 2 months after submitting the official application, Parker finally received his mission call!

He has been called to serve in the Italy Catania Mission where he will share the gospel in the Italian language! He will enter the Provo MTC on April 22, 2009!!

This blog will (hopefully) be your up to date source for all the latest info, letters and photos as we follow this mission journey!!

We're already learning a lot about Italy and more specifically Catania (pronounced kah-TAH-nyah, with emphasis on the middle syllable and which rhymes with the girl's name Tanya). Check out the links in the side bar to find out more about " il bel paese " (the beautiful country) of Italy!

If you go to the translation web site first and get the Italian translation for an English word, you can then enter that Italian word in the pronunciation site to hear what it sounds like in Italian! My favorite so far is the phrase you'll see when you first click the pronunciation link:

" Ciao bella gioia " which means "Hello beautiful Joy!" ;o)

Parker's cousins Shaun served in the Italy Milan mission, and his brother Shane served in the Greece Athens mission; Shane pointed out that Parker's mission is between Shaun's Milan and Shane's Athens so they can all share their "Mediterranean experiences"! Cool!!

Please let us know what you'd like to see on this blog as we share Parker's mission with you!

~Missionary Mom