Life Changes for Caleb

Caleb really wanted to receive his endowment before leaving for BYU, which left 2 days to make that happen due to the timing of his birthday and his flight. With the help of our local church leadership, Caleb received the Melchizedek priesthood and his endowment on his birthday. He prepared well, and it was a special experience.

We celebrated his birthday the next day by eating dinner at Benihana.

I flew up with Caleb to drop him off at BYU, which meant I had to do a lot of adulting. 😆

We figured things out together. He is just going for a semester and then going on a mission. We submitted his mission papers right before he left. I was a little nervous to see whether Caleb would sink or swim as he would be all alone at school figuring everything out and trying to make new friends. He is staying in Helaman Halls and doesn't know his roommate. After getting him all moved in, including a few trips to some stores, we walked the campus. A kind friend from my ward has a house in Provo and let us eat dinner with them as well as letting me sleep there two nights.

 

I met up with my good friend, Kim, for lunch at Costa Vida after the temple.

The rest of the afternoon, we walked Caleb's schedule and made sure he felt all settled. I flew home Thursday morning while he started Freshman Orientation. I left a big piece of my heart behind!

One of the final things Caleb had to do submit his mission papers is have his wisdom teeth removed. No funny videos. He was very coherent after waking up from the anesthesia.

After he was all healed up a few weeks later, one side of his mouth started to get puffy again. He had a rare infection that required lancing, draining, and antibiotics.

A week after arriving at BYU, Caleb received his mission call! He opened it on his own as soon as it arrived on September 2nd. We scheduled that he would read it and share the news that night with us, but the rest of my family and his Aunt Marilyn jumped on the zoom call as well. He is going to the Dominican Republic, Spanish speaking. Home MTC starts January 26th and Mexico MTC on February 5th. We are thrilled for him!