Alles Gute zum Geburtstag

Today is Daniel's 19th birthday!  He will spend most of his last teenage year as a full time missionary.  Last weekend all three boys came home for a visit and we celebrated Daniel's birthday then.  When I asked him what cake he wanted he said the traditional cookie cake, which means a 12 inch decorated chocolate chip cookie.  So I got two--one in English and one in German.  We ate the English cake here at home and he took the German cake back to his dorm at BYU to share with Matt Hutchings as they celebrated being called to the same mission.

Happy Birthday Daniel!

So what birthday present do you get for a 19 year old who is about to leave for a mission?  White shirts.  I also gave him his copy of the Book of Mormon in German.  And we have a major missionary shopping session when he finishes his semester at BYU.  Happy Birthday Daniel!  We love you!!!

Something Unexpected

Last week Daniel's best friend and BYU roommate, Matt Hutchings, received his mission call.  Matt is also going to the Germany Frankfurt Mission!  What were the chances of that happening?  Both  Daniel and Matt are very excited to get to serve in the same mission at the same time.  Matt enters the MTC in August.  Daniel and Matt became very good friends during their sophomore year in high school.  They were both in my seminary class that year and they sat in the second row.  It was fun, although I had to remind them to stop talking during my lesson more than once!  They both took several years of German language and will have fun practicing together for the next few weeks.

Daniel bought this German flag and has it hanging in his dorm room.  He was home this weekend and I gave him a Book of Mormon in German and sent one to Matt, too.  When Daniel got back to his dorm he had this picture taken for me with the flag and the books. 

The full time missionaries from our ward get to have a plaque hanging in the display cabinet outside of the bishop's office.  Daniel's is already up.  Since he was home this Sunday he got to see it and I  took a picture of him standing next to it. 

As you can see, the plaque includes his picture, name, mission and dates, where his mission is located in Germany and the scripture he has chosen for his mission, Alma 39:1-2.  I will be happy to add this to my collection when  he gets home in May of 2014!