Packages

Good Luck Greenie

I thought it would never come, but on Tuesday Elder Bentley will be done his 6 weeks in the Argentina MTC and will be heading to Uruguay! To celebrate him becoming a greenie...but mainly to celebrate the fact that I have made it this long...haha I made him the typical greenie package! So creative.

what's in it?
>Open when...letters. Cheesy, and over done? Probably. But I did it anyways because I knew he would love it.
>Mission Book. I created a book through apple and compiled all my favourite talks, quotes, scriptures, gospel pictures, and his missionary pictures.
>The Mountain t-shirt.  Mason wore these nature t-shirts all the time before his mission, and I found the perfect green one to add to the package.
>Green Tie. Mason told me that tie trading is a big thing in the mission, so I included a nice tie for him to use specifically for that purpose.
>Klean Kanteen. My brother's swear by this water bottle, and I thought it would be extremely useful for him.
>Green Treats. You know what your missionary likes, so make it personal (and shippable!)

Here are just a few more ideas that I thought of after I had already mailed it:
>The Infinite Atonement. This book is small (good for shipping), green, and is an awesome book for missionaries to study...if their mission presidents will allow them.
>Pocket hymn book.  If your missionary is learning a language, try to find a hymn book in their specific language.

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Celebrations

October and November are full of celebrations. Thanksgiving, halloween, and probably the most exciting for Mason and I this year—Our one year mark. I cannot believe it has only been one year since I met my sweet boy. It feels like I have known him my whole life, but at the same time this year has absolutely flown by!
It took me such a long time to come up with something to give Mason for this special event. Missionaries are complicated! Combining practicality and meaning into one gift that fits into a standard rate box is extremely difficult. Trust me. In the end I ordered him a leather bound journal, and I am extremely excited about it! It turned out better than I was expecting. That was one thing I admired about Mason, he always wrote in his journal. I also included my favourite book of the moment: The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox. It is an AMAZING book. I know I have loved this book, so I figured Mason would enjoy it. The only downside is that I'm not sure how strict his mission president is when it comes to the books they read.
This package had a little bit of everything. Spanish CTR rings to hand out to the children in Uruguay, Nutella—because who doesn't like nutella, pringles, and as many fall/halloween treats as I could pack in the box. There is no better feeling than seeing all the time and effort come together to make a package for someone who means so much to me. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

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1st Missionary Christmas

To: Mase 

Love: Mich

Mason's first missionary Christmas is coming up, so obviously I had to put together a package for my boy. I kept it pretty simple: some socks, handkerchieves, pingpong set, lots of treats, but my favourite thing was definitely the personalized puzzle I included.  Mase always does a puzzle with his mom Christmas day, and I didn't want him to miss out on the puzzle tradition even though he won't be at home this year.
The last thing I included in the package was a letter with my testimony inside. Although gifts are fun and exciting, I wanted to include some aspect of the Savior—the true meaning of Christmas—into the package. It was just a small and simple way to let him know how much I love and am grateful for my Savior and Redeemer, and to #sharethegift this Christmas season.
One Christmas down. One Christmas to go.