Elder Jordan Smith's Farewell

All these years of hearing, "Before you know it, it will be Jordan's farewell" has finally come true. It was a very joyous day at our house. Not sad or tearful, but a true celebration of this momentous occasion in Jordan's life.

He gave a very beautiful talk on the Apostasy of the gospel and the pitfalls of Personal Apostasy in one's life. I was so impressed with his use of the scriptures and his organization of his thoughts. I remember helping him with talks and papers his whole life, but after spending most of the week working on it, he did this one all on his own. My boy has definitely grown up!

What a blessing it was to have so many of his friends and family travel from near and far to support him. The pictures above are just a few of his BYU roommates and friends.

A very proud momma and her missionary son!

As I pondered my feelings of the day, I must say that I was truly sustained by the prayers of all my family and friends. I thought I'd be a blubbering baby all day, but I felt so happy and calm. I am so thankful for the sweet spirit that I felt starting in sacrament meeting. A few things too sacred to share on a public blog, but truly a day I will never forget for so many reasons.

We had a packed house to say the least. We estimate that we had over 150 people come. Somehow we were able to squeeze them all in our house and we had plenty of food for all. I'm so thankful for all my family and friends who so graciously helped with the food. I couldn't have done it without them. I am especially thankful for my mom for helping me with everything for weeks! She worked tirelessly in the kitchen all day, despite it being her birthday. I love you Moms!! Brendan and I spent most of Saturday moving things around to accommodate our family and friends. It's kind of amazing how many people we were able to fit once we de junked a few rooms and had people spread ALL over our main floor and basement.

I love these fun pictures below. The first one is of "Coach Smith" with two of his little 6th grade football stars, Josh and Max. He helped Coach their football team this past year and it was a highlight of his summer! He only wishes he could major in football coaching at BYU because it's become a love in his life. The second photo is of Coach Smith with two wannabe football stars, aka Ocho and Justin. They have been great friends and a source of a lot of fun for Jordan. Three Amigos forever!

This is the only photo that I took of Jordan and Nicole the whole day. I was kind of bummed. It was so crazy and busy, but I think it has a tender feel to it.

Brendan spent a good part of the week before putting this video of Jordan's life to play during the farewell brunch/party. I'm so thankful for all of the hard work that he put into it. It's a treasure that I know I'll be playing over and over during the next two years. It's almost 10 minutes long so it's for Jordan die hard fans only. It was actually 13 minutes long, but You Tube has a 10 min. max. so I had to cut a few things to make it fit.

Jordan is ready. He's prepared.

He's almost all packed.

He's anxious. He's excited.

It's time.

We couldn't be prouder of our missionary son!