Notes From SLC

At 6 am we got our phone call from Elder Urmston while he was waiting for his flight to
Boise. He and 5 other Elders were on their way to begin their service out in the field. It
was amazing to hear his sweet voice. Ever since he was a little boy his voice has brought
a smile to my face and heart. He was using quarters and not a calling card so the phone
kept hanging up. His first call was 4 minutes and we thought we had hung up by trying
to put him on speaker phone. I was a little upset and thought maybe he wouldn’t call
back as he thought that was his one phone call. About 3 minutes later he called back. He
didn’t have any more quarters so he had to go to the cart machine and get change. The
second call was great but I couldn’t take the phone because my heart was so filled with
gratitude that I wasn’t able to talk and I didn’t want to be crying on the phone-not fair to
him. It stopped after four minutes again right when Marc was handing me the phone so a
few minutes later, he called again and this time on my cell and the phone number of the
pay phone showed up on my caller id. He said okay I only have four more minutes and I
kept saying throughout our short conversation “let me call you”. Finally when the phone
lady said deposit more quarters, I said I’ll just call you. He told me that’s okay mom,
they told us to not talk very long. So once again tears welled up in my eyes. I told him
I loved him and couldn’t wait for his next email to let us know where he was. I know
the tears weren’t from missing him they were tears of a mother grateful that her son put
the principle of obedience first in his life. I am so excited to be able to see the great man
this boy has become. His strength is an example to me but you have to look for it as his
words are chosen carefully. I already have seen him be open to sharing more thoughts
and feelings and I know that this is through the Lord’s blessings. 3weeks down and 101
more to go.