Our youngest son, Ryan, was ordained a Deacon on Sunday by his father. We are so proud of him! His brother, Brent, got to stand in the circle as well as, Bishop Doxey, our hometeacher, Chris Rees and Grandpa Gage. It was a great experience but we missed Elder Gage. He wrote in his last letter that he is sad not to get to be there.

YEAH! We got a 7 page letter from Dave last week and a 6 1/2 page letter this week. He is doing great! He said it is hard to write everything he wants to tell us because he was always used to telling us everything but he'll do his best....7 pages is pretty darn good!! He wrote it while doing his laundry. He said you don't realize how long laundry takes until you have to sit and wait for it. (So we are grateful for laundry! We get long letters because of it!) He said he was one of the few guys that knew how to do his own laundry. But he is also one of the few that never made his bed! So he sent us a picture and a video clip of his beautifully made bed, it shocked us all!

His companion is Elder Iuta Levy Laimaui Faamausili. He said it has been an adjustment getting used to him. They are very different. But Dave said after some talks with their district leader, Elder Pili, they are starting to understand each other better. And he is grateful to get to learn these things while still in the MTC. He companion is actually quite a crack-up, we have some hilarious video clips of him goofing around and dancing! And his accent is awesome!

He told us the story of falling out of bed...the top bunk bed. He said his alarm was going off and it is really loud so he kept trying to reach for it but he was reaching the wrong way and fell off the bed. He said the other guys in the room were still sleeping and didn't even know what had happened but later said they did remember hearing a loud boom. He said at the time he did not feel any pain but later he found bumps and bruises on him. And he is happy to report he has not fallen off his bed since then!

He has shared some amazing spiritual experiences with us! And what is so awesome is we have felt this same missionary spirit in our home and I know it is one of the many wonderful blessings we have received for having a son on a mission!! He got to hear Elder Richard G Scott speak. One of the things he told them was that "he knew Christ leads this church personally" and then he said it again very strong. Dave said there was an amazing spirit and he got chills! Then Elder Scott asked who had not shook an apostle's hand and almost every missionary, About 2,000, raised their hands. So Dave said they waited in line over an hour to shake his hand. When he finally got to shake his hand he said he looked him right in the eyes and Dave said he could feel his amazing love and spirit! Dave said the thought came to him, wow this is a modern day apostle like Peter, James and John. Dave said it was "such an amazing event in my life". He has been grateful for other wonderful talks and lessons were he has learned, he can only do his best and it only matters what Christ thinks of us, through trials we can learn and grow-like a refiners fire and he is growing stronger because of it and he only has 2 years to serve the Lord and he can't waste a single second.

We are very grateful for this amazing time in our lives to have a son on a mission! Our

testimonies have been strengthen. Our love of each other and the gospel has increased. And like I said we have all felt this incredible spirit! Love y'all! laura

More MTC pics!

Well David's birthday came and went without a celebration here or any word from him so I guess that means he is gone. It's been so hard to sink in that he is really gone and gone for 2 years. Hope everyone sent him a Happy Birthday wish! We sent him a birthday cake and a box of presents. I called his branch president and left a message to make sure someone knew it was his birthday. Hopefully someone did. We sure miss him but are soooo proud he has chosen to serve the Lord at this time. Here are some pics we took with him at his "good-bye/birthday party the day before he left.

Dave's Testimony

We got some pics and a small note from Dave. He said:

He loves us and misses us but "when I focus on the work God has called me to do I'm not homesick" That made us so happy to hear and we feel the same. When we focus on all the blessings we have from having a son on a mission we are not too sad either.

He really likes his fun comp, especially his tattoo and gold front tooth!!

He said the MTC food is good and plentiful! That is good for Dave and his huge appetite!

He also said he has the top bunk and fell off it the other morning! We will let everyone know that whole story when Dave fills us in.

Got a letter from Dave Sat. He is doing great and having a great time. He found his companion just fine. His name is Elder Faamausili. He is part Samoan, part Tongan and from Australia. He said he is 6'4 230 and sometimes is hard to understand because of his accent. He is fun loving and likes to kid around so they should get along just fine. We consider that another blessing. His letter was short because it was written on his first night there. We are still very excited and know that he is being blessed. Hope to hear from him soon. see ya, Don

10-08-2008

Well, the big day has finally come and gone and our Dave is an official missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We took him to the MTC at 12 noon. It was the best of times, It was the worst of times. His MTC address is:

Elder David Gage
MTC Mailbox #97

SAM-API 1209

2005 N. 900 E.

Provo, Utah 84604-1793

He will be there until approx. Dec 9, 2008 and I am sure he would appreciate all the letters we all could send. Please know that we will miss him and love him dearly but we also know that he will be protected and blessed for his service. We are so proud of him, as we are of all our kids, and are looking forward to lots of great experiences to post and brag about. Thanks to all of you who have given and offered support both spiritually and financially to get him on his way. It is greatly appreciated. We will continue to post pictures and info as it becomes available. Love you all, Don & Laura

Welcome to The Gage Family blog!!

Welcome to The Gage Family blog!

My sweet brother David set this up for us so we can report on our son, David's mission.