Elder Deegan Bushman

Ben's oldest nephew just left to serve a 2-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He will be teaching the people in the San Bernardino, CA area about the Church of Jesus Christ and the fullness of His gospel!  We are so excited and happy for him! 

Ben and I were able to make a really quick trip to Midland to say goodbye to him.  On Saturday, May 26th, we woke up at about 9:30am, did some packing and cleaning up, showered, I went to work at 1:00pm, got off work at about 10:00pm, jumped in the car with Ben when he picked me up, we got some gas and food, and then drove 5 hours to Midland!  We got in just after 3:30am and went to bed around 4am.  Wow.  It was a long day!  After sleeping for a few hours, we got up and went to church at 12:00 noon and listened to Deegan's fantastic farewell talk and the song his dad sang.  We got together that evening for dinner and played Balderdash and "the story game" (where one person writes down a story told by everyone going around the circle and saying one word at a time, and then you read it all afterward).  On Monday morning, I took some pictures for Deegan's family and then we had a yummy brunch of french toast, bacon, and fruit.  Brunch was followed by shopping for the girls and basketball for the boys.  Then we got together again for Deegan to be set apart as a missionary.  It was a wonderful and emotional event. He'll be such a good missionary; he is a really good kid with a very strong testimony!  Then we met up at Texas Road House for dinner, but we didn't get to stay.  Ben was feeling sick just before we went there, and lost his brunch in the trash can outside the restaurant while we were waiting to be seated.  We ended up saying our goodbye to Deegan right then, and then headed back to Ben's parents' house.  We were supposed to leave for home right after dinner, but we ended up staying the night and Ben had to call out sick for work the next day.  He was all better by morning though, so we packed up and headed out.  We drove the 5 hours, then I had an hour to shower and get to my work shift at 4pm!  Whew!  It was a whirlwind trip, but we loved being able to see Deegan and be there for his talk and setting-apart.  I almost didn't even get to go, but with some last-minute schedule switching and plan changes, I was able to be there!  Here's my favorite shot of Deegan being hugged by his awesome family: