I loved serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It defined the rest of my life. It created in me a curiosity for truth and understanding. It set a course of faith and learning that has defined the next 20+ years of my life and will forever. It was that experience that gave me a passion for learning; especially things related to eternity.

In our home “we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” (2 Nephi 25:26) We are excited that our son will now do the same among the people of the Philippines 🇵🇭. I am grateful that he has chosen to follow the Savior and obey the command to preach the Restored Gospel to the nations of the earth.

For the past 18 years we talk of him serving a mission. We sing about it. We hung pictures. We looked forward to it. Now that moment has truly come. We dropped Elder Howlett off at the airport where he would embark on 18 hours of travel ✈️ to report to the Missionary Training Center in Manila. We cried and will miss him but we are so excited for the adventures and love he will have with the Filipino people.

In our faith, young men and women are encouraged to go forth and “see that ye serve [Christ] with all your heart, might, mind and strength” (D&C 4). He will teach of Jesus Christ’s church and gospel restored in its fullness in these days with living prophets. It is a great thing to serve.

Talmage has shown great growth over the past year but I am excited to see how that will be compounded now. We will miss him but we are so proud of him.