How excited we were to have our first missionary come home and be all together again! It has been a long (but short) two years. Elder Joshua Matson returned home on September 25, 2008, after serving in the Canada Calgary Mission. He was surprised to see how much his brothers had grown! Jason is on the left and Jeremy on the right. After picking up Elder Matson, we headed to Mama Inez for dinner (he wanted good Mexican food) and then we had a special family meeting at our home. We started out with "I Am A Child of God" and a prayer. Then each family member was able to share something with Elder Matson and we ended with Elder Matson sharing a few things with us. We knelt in family prayer and then had dessert. Then it was time to head to the Stake Center for Elder Matson's release. President Dye made the release such a special event. He asked Josh what two things he learned on his mission and then he shared a story with us from the scriptures. He then had Mark join him in a blessing and released him from his mission. It was so interesting how the blessing began....first addressing Josh as Elder Matson, then Brother Matson and then Josh. It was a beautiful blessing and something that we will never forget. Thanks President!
Then the fun began....we had a great weekend!
We spent the next morning in the temple with Josh and then we met up with the Dye Family at Jensen's Grove. We spent the evening waterskiing...yes, on the 26th of September, it was a little cold! On Sunday Josh spoke in Sacrament Meeting and then we had a dinner in the park. The weather was beautiful and it was so much fun spending the weekend with family and friends! Thanks to everyone who stopped by to welcome him home!
