Nine

That's how many months Elder Trace has been serving his mission. That's how many new types of foods he's tried (believe it or not. That's how many times we pray for him every day. The time seems to have gone by so fast for he and all his friends serving missions. He continues to write us every week. We love that we can start our work week on Monday with word from our Elder. We continue to marvel at how much he has grown and changed. We were impressed with his diligence to serve an honorable mission when he came home for a few months to better prepare himself to dedicate his life fully to the Lord. Since he's been gone we've been able to see how his commitment has blessed his life and the lives of others. We see through his letters how his patience has grown, his acceptance of others, his work ethics, his love for the people he is serving for and with, and most of all we have see how his testimony and love for the Lord has grown. He left still a teenager, not quite an adult, and now we have seen how he has grown to become a man. Pride is probably not the best word to use but we are beaming just the same.

Well another month has passed. Trace has remained in the same area he started in. He and his companion have done amazing there. They have already surpassed the mission goals and have seen more baptismal success in the past four months than the area that was once considered one of the worst areas. He reports his language is coming along as is his appreciation for the people of Texas and his knowledge of the gospel.

We were thrilled to talk with him at Christmas and listen to the stories of mission life. It was funny to hear how his English accent has changed since he's been speaking Spanish. They are very close to the border of Mexico (about 10-15 minutes)and often hear gun fire from the disputes that happen with law enforcement and those working in the drug business. He says its different to live so close to a war-like zone but he feels safe and most of the time is too focused on the work to worry about it much. Here is a little something from his last letter about his P-day.

"p day yesterday was LEGIT. we played basketball for like 3 hours. then we went to a members house and had a bbq. after that we went "tie diggin" down here in texas they have these huge warehouses full of used clothes, and you can buy like ten pounds of clothes for a few bucks. almost all these places have ties too. i have no clue where they get them from, but they have tons. most of them are pretty dirty but if you just oxiclean them there are as good as new. yesterday i grabbed like 4 tommy hilfigures, like 3 donald trumps, a few geofferry beans, some jones new yorks, some calvin kleins, and a bunch of others for like 3 dollars. i wouldve spent like 400 bucks brand new. yep, thats life next to mexico. i'll send you some ties one day dad, and when you come to pick me up we can go diggin."(We remember the time when we took over an hour to find just one "perfect" tie."

We are very proud of him and are delighted to see him grow into a great man. One who loves the Lord.