ONTO SPAIN!

There will not be a posting this week directly from Jason, so as the mom I will fill you in on the good news.  Jason called for only 5 minutes on Tuesday to tell me he had his visa and this travel plans!!  He would be able to call for about 30 mins on his layover in Atlanta on Wed.  He was able to give us a window of when  he would be calling and we tried to stay busy all day while waiting for him to call.  If you know anything about us, staying busy is not a hard thing to do, especially on Wednesday where we have every extra curricular activity on this day.  Jeff came home early and we all waited at the appointed time for the call.

I LOVED hearing the sound of his voice!!  He did sound tired but really excited about being one of the "lucky 5" missionaries who got their visas and could leave for the Madrid MTC.   Jennifer & Cameron told him about our trip and some of the things they had written to him.  Jason filled us in and the endless classes and studying that he did for the past 4 weeks.  He was able to give the word of wisdom lesson all in Spanish and was very happy about that.  He did not know much about what to expect when he arrives in Spain.  They told him that only 2 missionaries know English so he felt a bit like it was a sink or swim experience coming his way.

He was at his max weight for both his bags at 50 lbs - whew just made it.  He took all his snacks that we sent as he had NO intentions of leaving them behind.  They gave him lots of books both in English and Spanish and that counted for lots of his luggage weight but gratefully he made it within the limits.

He left at 645pm from Atlanta and will arrive I think by 8am Spain time Thursday morning.  We don't know how long it will be until we hear from him again so we will be anxious for the first pday. 

He was very grateful for all the letters that he received from everyone.  He hopes they do not all disappear now that it costs twice as much to send a letter overseas.  Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers on his behalf.  He will be 5 more weeks in the Madrid MTC then to Malaga.  His Spain MTC address is included on the right side of the this blog.  Ashley will remove it once we know he has arrived in Malaga.  Thanks again for all your love and support.  We sure love the tall son and it was so wonderful to talk to him today.