Dad and I just stopped for lunch at BYU Creamery. It was full of students having lunch with friends on a Saturday afternoon. As we looked around the room, we were struck by how young the freshmen looked. It is the age that the missionaries will be when they arrive in our mission - 18 years old. It looked very young. As we walked out, we stopped at the donut case, just to look. I asked Dad, "Was there ever a time in Church history - Brigham Young's day or George Albert Smith's - that 18 year old boys have been sent out as missionaries regularly?" There was a nice gentlemen at the case, too, so I put my question to him as well. He said, "You may be too young to remember but 40 years ago there was a war, and 70 years ago, too. There were boys who were 15 and 16 who fought in that war. They lied about their ages. They could do it and these men can, too." He had a very slight hint of an English accent. If he was a young man growing up in England he had a lot more immediate experience with WWII than boys in America did. We are not too young to remember the Vietnam War. The draft stopped the year Dad turned 18. Our gentleman was right. Eighteen year old men have been called upon to do remarkable things and they will be dedicated missionaries, too. I am grateful that he was put at that donut case at just the moment I needed him.

Hello Blog. It's time to get reacquainted with our friends.

And so the next chapter begins...