What a weekend.
I flew to Newcastle on Sunday morning. My little brother, Tim, was set apart as an Elder. It was wonderful to participate in something so special and important to him.
I was able to hear him speak in his final sacrament meeting in Australia. He spoke about how he'd come to the decision to serve a mission. He talked about his experience in gaining a knowledge that the things he was questioning were indeed true. 100% were his words. And it was such a terrific thing to hear.
Sunday night after church there were around 30 people seated at the dinner table to eat chicken, lamb and pork as well as roast vegetables galore! Everyone loves Tim and we were glad to say goodbye to him.
He kept me up until 2.30am packing for Japan. His bag was super heavy and he took way more than he needs, but he's going for two years, and he wants to be prepared.
Farewells at the airport were really nice. It was exhilarating to watch him walk through the doors to customs waving goodbye and smiling so broadly in anticipation of where he is going and what he'll be doing. There were lots of tears from mum, Alisa and Dad. I wasn't close to crying, I'm too excited for him.
Then I flew home to be with my family again. I love them so much and missed them terrible even though it was just over 24 hours that I'd been gone. They're so special.
So now Tim's in the USA, probably about to head to Provo. He'll be there for 3 months learning how to teach the Gospel, and how to do it in Japanese! It's not long, but I'm sure the Spirit of the Lord will inspire him and he'll pick it up quickly.
And life resumes its normal pattern for us again.
But it was a special weekend, full of love, laughter, spiritual highs and genuine delight.
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