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| Pvt Welch-far right |
Well, Mike has been gone for three weeks now. It is so strange not having any big boys in our house right now. When we eat or gather to pray we look around and end up counting to make sure everyone is there. The boys just took up so much space that it feels very empty with them all gone.
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| Pvt Welch-far left |
I found that Mike's company at Basic Training has a FB page and that they often post pictures of the things they are doing/learning. It has been such a blessing to me, as a mother, to be able to see my son's face. We can't hear from him right now except for letters, so it's nice to see him. I don't know who takes the pictures and posts them but I am so thankful to that person/s.
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| Pvt Welch-far right |
The thing that first stuck out to me was how young and tired he looks. He looks like a little boy. Then it dawned on me that he may in fact be one of the younger people there, having just hit the ripe old age of 18. Might have something to do with the lack of hair as well. From the pictures I've seen, it looks like they've had some fun and some not so fun things to do. Yesterday was the 'gas chamber'. Can't wait to hear how he survived that!
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| Pvt Welch-3rd from left (not counting the boot!) |
He called us a few times in the first few days, when he was in what is called Reception-lots of line standing and paperwork. But once that was done and he entered Red Phase, he no longer had the use of his phone. When everyone in his company moves on to White Phase, he'll have limited use of his phone. We did get three letters from him last week, which were full of music to my ears. It has been a hard, humbling experience for him and because he has no one else, he has turned to his Heavenly Father for comfort and support. Something I've longed for for him for years. He said also that he is quite homesick and I suppose that he has had a bit of a culture shock. I think he can finally see how blessed he has been to grow up in a loving family with the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the center of it all.
I'm getting excited to go back to his graduation in Oct. I am reluctant to fly and give in to the stupid TSA requirements, but I am more anxious to be with him and support him. So very happy with my soldier boy!!
**Pictures from the C Co 3/34 FB page. I don't know who took them.
