29 October 2010

Elder Nelson White

My brother entered the MTC on Wednesday, October 20. That morning he and our parents flew to Salt Lake from Los Angeles. We all had lunch at Magleby's here in Provo. It was fun to hang out with my parents, grandparents, cousins, and of course, my brother.
Since he went off to college it's been near impossible to spend time with him. Even over holidays! I would come home and he'd be off everyday with his friends. One of my favorite days was when my mom and all four of us kids went to Disneyland last year. Nelson came and it was wonderful to spend a whole day with him.
On Friday, October 22 Nelson had a seizure. He has never done well with change and going into the MTC was a massive change. I got to spend all day with him on Saturday while he was in the hospital. I am so glad that he is alright. He's my only brother! He's very special to me. It was a unique experience where it was just us, one-on-one, talking about how he felt about his mission, this new trial, and what he wanted to do. Nelson told our mom, after the fact, that he really appreciated my being there all day.
Nelson went back to the MTC on Sunday, October 24 and on Thursday, October 28 he had another seizure. He is being given a medical release and is going back home on Sunday. This is a challenging time for Nelson and I feel so bad for him. Not only was a mission hard, but he worked incredibly hard to get himself on a mission. He is a good young man and I am proud to be his sister. I really hope that people don't assume things about why he's coming home. We're telling people the truth. It's purely medical. I have faith in Nelson. I know that he will do everything he can to get back on his mission.
On a very selfish note, I'm really excited that he'll be around for the holidays. I hope that this year he'll spend more time with us. Tyson and I will be there for two weeks. It's tough for Tyson because we live so far away from my parents so he doesn't feel super close to them. He sees the relationship I have with his parents and he wants that for himself with my parents. I'm glad we have the chance to spend a lot of time with my family this Christmas. I think it will be good for all of us.

Me, in the hospital, hangin' with Nelson.
And the cookies I made for him!

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