Dear President Stevenson,
My apologies for not emailing you earlier. James received his mission call to serve in the Colorado, Colorado Springs mission and Laura and I could not be more excited for him.
James is the oldest of our three children and is an absolute pleasure to have around. I'll give you some information about James that will give you a little insight into who he is.
James loves life. From the time he was little, he wanted to try so many things and didn't really have many fears. This allowed him to live life to the fullest. From high adventure camping with the Young Men to Adventure For Youth in Idaho, he was not afraid to meet new people and make new friends. He is very adventurous and very out going.
He is talented with music but might not admit that. He played cello in the middle school orchestra and all through high school. In addition, he plays piano, guitar, ukulele, bass guitar, and violin - some of these he is still practicing. He loves singing and has found his voice with singing bass. So, if you need him to sing in a mission choir, he will accept the challenge. He has also been a stand in chorister when the ward chorister was absent.
Laura and I believe in teaching our children the value of hard work and so we encourage them to find a job outside the home as soon as they can. James has worked at Chick fil A since age sixteen and he has loved it. He quickly moved up levels to be a leader among his peers and was able to train a few employees. James is not afraid of hard work and he can handle the pressure.
James attended two semesters at BYU Provo and knows what it is like to live on his own and to get along with a variety of roommates.
James has played a variety of sports throughout his years. His favorites are surfing, water polo, volleyball and the occasional ward pick-up touch football game.
On the spiritual side, James has a strong testimony of the Gospel and has been a wonderful example to us and his siblings. Last week we were able to go with him to the temple. After receiving his endowment, he said to me that the endowment ceremony all seemed natural and made sense to him. He loves the temple and will be working there in the next week or two. He is currently reading his Preach My Gospel and becoming familiar with that. He is also reading the Book of Mormon as well as our weekly Come, Follow Me lessons. James is also a rule follower which has been a huge blessing in our family. He has a strong testimony of his Savior and of the Atonement.
We are excited for James to serve the people in Colorado Springs and for him to have the ability to speak Spanish. I served my mission in the Spain Seville mission (now the Spain Malaga mission). He is reporting to the MTC almost 30 years to the day of when I entered the MTC!
Thank you for your dedicated service to the Lord. I loved my mission president and I still keep in contact with him and his family. I know James will love you, your family, the missionaries in his mission and more importantly, the people of Colorado Springs.
Sincerely,
Mark Mendenhall
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