Ethan's blog

If you want to keep track of Ethan while he is on his mission, you can subscribe to his mission blog at www.elderepack.blogspot.com.

We will put his weekly letters on there along with information about his mission.

Being set apart

Tuesday, June 30th

We got an envelope in the main for Ethan.  He opened it and it had his tag, manuals, and a couple other things in it.  Wow!

Ethan had an appointment to be set apart that evening.  We went to the Stake Center to meet in the High Council Room.  It was a beautiful blessing.  Ethan received some amazing promises and the Spirit was very strong.

Here he is after he was set apart.

Pies & Goodbyes

Years ago I had a friend who was talking about what she wished she would have done when her son left on his mission.  She told me that when it was time for Ethan to go on his mission, I should do a "Pies and Ties" activity for people to say goodbye to him.  She explained that after the farewell you would invite people to come to your house and they are invited to bring a pie or a tie.  She was so excited about it and I wanted to do something along that line but wanted to change it a bit.

I didn't realize what was going to happen in the world but it turned out okay.  I changed it to "Pies & Goodbyes" for the Pack family since they weren't able to say goodbye to Ethan before he went on his mission.  So I made invites, bought small pies from Walmart, shipped them to the family, and then we set up a Zoom meeting for the Pack family.  

It was a great night.  Bryan and Ethan logged on and then all the family got on to give Ethan advice, eat pie together, and say goodbye for 2 years.  Ethan said it was a lot better than he thought it would be.  He enjoyed talking to everyone.

Cereal bar

We have a sweet family in our ward who brought the MTC cereal bar over to Ethan.  They said that was the best part of the MTC and they didn't want Ethan to miss out on it.  It was sweet to see their little family on our doorstep.

Ethan always has to make a goofy face when I ask if I can take a picture.

Then I get a good picture from him after he gets it out of his system.

Ethan's farewell

Ethan gave his farewell talk on June 28th.  It wasn't our alphabet's turn to attend Church but we went anyway to hear him speak.  He was asked to speak for 7 minutes but he only spoke for 3 minutes and 30 seconds.  He was happy with his talk and I thought he did a great job.

Here it is if you want to listen:

Moonwalking Courtney

Courtney figured out how to moonwalk.  It was hilarious to watch her when she figured it out.  She tried to teach it to Ethan but he just didn't get it.  Congratulations to Courtney!

I don't agree...

The kids had a discussion about how Bryan let Ethan drive the truck the day before he turned 15 when he didn't have a learner's permit.  Courtney made an argument that she was treated unfairly.  She wanted to have Ethan to drive with her when she was learning so Ethan told her he would take her driving before he left on his mission.

I told them to do it when I didn't know about it because I don't agree with her driving before she is old enough and has a permit.  So one day they went out and this is what happened...

You need to click on this link to see the video.  It's too large for Blogger to let me upload it.

Video of Ethan and Courtney