Well, for those of you who know and even for those who don't, Ted started his grand adventure at the Family History Center this week. He has been working from 8 until around 3 every weekday. It was fun to pick him up and ask him what he had learned that day. I think my favorite comment from him was something like, "Genealogy is exciting, and anyone who doesn't know that hasn't learned how to do it." There were a few insights that we had about this interesting mission experience that is so not typical.
First of all, Ted is learning stuff that most people his age have not interest in learning; he will be a big step ahead when the future as far as knowing how to do genealogy goes. It might even give him some hints as to what he would like to do long term. The other thing that Randy pointed out is that he will be learning things on this mission that he might not learn in any other place or time. I have had it confirmed to me, anyway, that this mission will also help Ted understand how unique and cool his brain is. At one point, someone was looking at some handwritten census records, trying to make sense of them, and Ted, with his thinking in pictures brain, was able to look and see exactly what was written. And this is before he has been set apart.
Second, it is giving him a unique chance to bond with some of the other missionaries, both that are his own age and those who are much older than him. Most young people don't see the value of older people fully. Ted will be in a wonderful place to find out the great benefit our older people can be to us if we let them.
Third, I have learned so much from this experience about my son, about the love of the Savior for him and for me, and tender mercies that are EVERYWHERE!
That is our missionary message of the week. We were at Deseret Book yesterday to get Ted a missionary journal and we saw this stuffed missionary bear called Elder Teddy. Do you think I could pass THAT up? It was a sign.
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