Bentley Update-- Mexico MTC

I'm probably not going to post a ton about Bentley on my blog.  Most of the people who read this blog are already getting his emails, so it seems silly to post all the same news here, too.  If you aren't on his emailing list and want to be, totally let me know-- he writes great emails, and I'm not just saying that because I'm his mom!  But I'm only human, so I will occasionally share pictures that he sends.  I'm just so proud of him-- you can't expect me to not brag a little, right?

So yes, he got to the Mexico MTC without any trouble, and it was so cute, he told us how happy everyone in his district was when they all met up at the airport for the first time in real life!  And he's pretty much been doing great ever since!  

Taking the shuttle from the airport to the MTC-- so much luggage!

In the classroom

With his companion, Elder Carter.  They share this room with two other elders, and then there are about 24 of them in the house.  It's mostly just a bunch of bedrooms and bathrooms with a living space just big enough for them to all gather for devotionals and such.  Apparently the MTC was originally a really expensive private school before the church bought it!

His whole district plus one of his teachers

He's not so happy about the cafeteria food any more, so it's good this was documented early on!  😂

Apparently they spend a fair amount of their "gym" time playing pickleball ("Fastest growing sport in America, baby!"):

But Bentley got a little too into it and broke his paddle and had to buy a new one.  Ah, well...

I think this picture is so cute

Look at that smile!!!

His second week, Elder Stevenson came to visit everyone at the MTC.  It turns out that his grandson was there, also, and just happens to be best friend's with Elder Carter!  So Bentley got to hang out with Elder Stevenson a whole bunch!  This was especially awesome because Elder Stevenson just came to Virginia in June, and most of us got to shake his hand, but Bentley was too old to join in with the "youth" and that was kind of a bummer at the time.  So I guess he's made up for it now!

Also in the group of visiting high ups was Marcus Nash, who is a general authority seventy in the church.  What's really cool about him, is that his father, Dr. Nash, was the man who performed Craig and my sealing so many years ago!  He was my grandparent's stake president-- my Grandpa served as his clerk, and my Grandma worked for him in his dentistry practice for many years.  So I kind of feel like we're all practically family, right?

Anyway, they had a much fancier lunch with all these bigwigs to impress!

(You can barely see Bentley near the end of the table there!) (That might be Elder Nash leaning in on the right hand side?  I'm not sure...)

Anyway, Bentley was on quite the spiritual high his second week there!

So, naturally, Week #3 was a bit rough.  They had some drama with the sisters (I like to call it Hermana Drama), they had a lot of stomach bugs and time spent cozying up to the toilets...  But even with all of that, he still seemed in pretty good spirits!  

Now he's got less than a week to go before he heads to Puerto Rico and he can hardly wait to get out there!  And I am just so proud of him for putting in the work to get to where he is.  He's right where he's supposed to be, and that's such a joy for Craig and me!

This is another one that I just think is so cute

And then someone turned into an anima version, and I kind of love it, too:

Bentley just sent me a whole mess of photos, so maybe I won't wait so long to post about him again...!