Received an email from the branch Presidency - it included a picture for proof that he's still alive and said:

Dear Families, May you know that your missionary is alive and well and very happy this Christmas season as they serve the Lord. As their branch presidency, know that we are well pleased with every Sister and Elder whom we serve. May the Lord’s choicest blessings be with you and yours this day and know of all our love for all of you."

What an honor it is to be Jon's dad - he has always been a great kid. I had the honor of putting his name tag on his suit pocket. He walked up and said "I'm supposed to have a family member put this on." I started to put it on my pocket, and then he said, "no, on my pocket" then in typical Jon fashion, proceeded to call me an idiot. It was pretty funny. After the official clipping on of the name tag he was ready to go.

Entering the MTC

Jon, or I guess we'll refer to him as Elder Match now, entered the MTC on Wednesday, December 3, 2008. In attendance to make the drop were his dad, his mom, his brother Steven, and his grandma Rook.

There was a slight mishap with his mission papers. They told him he checked in at 10:00am, but it turns out he didn't check in until 12:00pm, two hours later. He was freaking out a little bit because he just wanted to get it done and over with, and then he had to wait two extra hours... Jon'll tell you that's the story of his life!