Pandemonium

Spencer's mission call

Even though his call {to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints} came in the mail last Wednesday, Spence wanted to wait until Ski and I were home and for all his friends to be there before he opened it.

He opened the letter but hid the location with a paper and read it line by line until he came to the part that told him where he would be going.

He is headed to the Russia, Vladivostok mission in Eastern Russia. It is across the China Sea from Japan and just above North Korea. We have heard that the area for the mission is as big as the United States.

 

I had told Ski just a week before that I had a feeling he would be called to this very mission. Spencer had to show everyone on the map where it actually was in Russia.

What is really cool about this is that Ski speaks Russian from living in the Ukraine during his time in the Peace Corps. He is already planning our trip in 2 years {this is the amount of time young men serve as missionaries} to go pick Spencer up when he finishes his mission. All three of them (my boys)already speak to each other in German and I can't understand 95% of what they are talking about. Now they'll be able to do it in Russian and I won't understand any of it. 

I'm excited for him to have this experience and proud of him for dedicating two years of his life to the service of the Lord.

 

Grad School for Ski

 
As I posted a couple weeks ago, Ski had received letters of acceptance into the PHD programs at Berkley, Cornell, UPenn, UCSD and Brown. After 8 days touring New England and visiting colleges, Ski has chosen Brown University. We were both impressed with the beauty of the campus there as well as the neighborhood surrounding the college which is filled with Victorian-style houses. 

Brown is in Providence, Rhode Island and is one of 11 colleges in this small, very walkable city. The downtown is very nice and only about a 10 minute walk from the Brown campus. It had lovely architecture and sits on the river. The airport is about a 15 minute drive from downtown too.

He will be there for 4-6 years working in the Fluid and Thermal Dynamics division of the Engineering School which just happens to be the oldest Engineering school in the United States.

I am very proud of him and excited that he'll be in such a beautiful area. Selfishly I'm delighted he chose Brown because I love visiting the New England area and NYC which is only 3 hours away by train.