A whirlwind of a goodbye

Chris arrived home from SVU on December 15 before he entered the MTC. That meant we had 6 short days together. They were filled to the brim visiting friends, speaking in church that Sunday, taking care of last minute items, attending the temple together and getting in a celebration of Christmas or two. Here are some pictures that kind of tell how the week went. It was a wonderful time to reflect and be grateful for family, friends, the gospel and for missionary work.

Close friends of Chris' who stopped by to wish him well.

Awesome Aunts, Cousins and Grandma

Goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa Nielson

Babushka Comes to Visit
For family home evening we had a special visitor! Now, we thought this was really Russian tradition, but we found out later that it is just a made up folktale by an American. Ha! Oh well, it was a good time anyway. As the story goes, Babushka was visited by the wise men on their way to find the baby Jesus. They invited her to come along with them but, sadly, Babushka was too busy to leave her cleaning. So, the wise men traveled on. Babushka had a change of heart, however, and set out to find the wise men with her own gifts. She never found the baby Jesus, but travels around now bringing gifts to other children. Babushka found us and left us with gifts too. (Thanks Sister Janda! What a good sport!)

Best friends...Brother and Sister Jensen and Tanner with Elder Nielson

The Died's...awesome friends and Chris' big boss

Grandma and Grandpa Arnett...this is not goodbye, just "See ya later"

First companionship study

One last throw with Charley

Translation - Elder Nielson
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Caught this shot right before we left home. Football will go with him after all.

The reality of the goodbye was not an easy one for a little brother and sister.

If you look closely, the name badge of this Elder says Elder Arnett which is Elder Nielson's mom's maiden name. This Elder was there to greet Chris. Two Grandson's of very close cousins meet as one welcomes to the MTC. Just a little coincidence we thought was so cool.

Elder Chris Nielson on his way!!

After 3 days in the MTC, we received the greatest little email from a complete stranger reporting to us on how Chris was doing. Sister Hope is a volunteer at the MTC who's friend in her ward is assigned as Chris' mission companion. He is also a Lone Peak Knight and the two are said to be very excited to be companions. They were having a rough time sleeping because there is just so much to be absorbed. Other than that, Chris is doing well. We are looking forward to our first email. So grateful to Sister Hope for letting us know and for sending along this picture with his first companion, Elder Davis!