And so it begins!

Joseph entered the MTC on Wednesday, January 13, 2010.

I'm still trying to sort out my emotions. We miss him terribly. There is a gaping hole in our little home and in our lives. We will miss his tender spirit, his humorous impressions that left us laughing so hard we could scarcely breathe, his mouth-watering cooking, his always-present smile.

Joni Mitchell sang a song with the line, "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone." We certainly understand this in a new and profound way in our home. After we dropped Joe off Mom, Emily and I all had a good cry. We miss our brother and son.

But, on the other hand, this will be such a wonderful adventure! Even though he would deny this, Joseph is extraordinary with people--as evidenced by our grief in losing him for a season. The problem was that he just preferred not to be in the middle of too many people at once.

Guess what? Joseph gets an amazing opportunity to be in the middle of a whole lot of people for the next two years. So our loss is Mexico's gain!

This will be so good for Joseph. And, though we can't quite see it now--the day after he entered the mission home--it will be good for us. At least that's what we'll keep saying to ourselves.

We love you, Joseph! And we're rooting for you!

Dad