Hey--Taylor's in the air! He is currently (right this very minute) flying over the ocean, almost over South America. He has been in this part of his flight for half the time--has just over 4 hours to go. He flew out today from Salt Lake to Georgia, had a short layover, and then headed for Brazil. It was great to see him in the midst of the "Army of Helaman." There were about 25 missionaries leaving today for Brazil, including a senior couple who will be in the area office. They have been in the MTC in Provo for 10-1/2 weeks, and most of the other missionaries have been there for 3-4 weeks, according to Taylor and his two companions; however, they don't really know because they were't been there long enough to really get to know anyone other than who was in their own district.

He seemed very happy and "at ease." Way more at ease than last week, as you can imagine. I'm glad he seemed to be comfortable and not worried at all. They all seemed like they just wanted to get on the plane.

We didn't know if we'd even meet up with the group, but there they were--probably only arrived about 5 minutes before we did. He was second in line to get his luggage checked in, so we had plenty of time to chat while he waited for the rest of the group. It was nice to have a little time. While Taylor was in the line waiting for the security check, he kept looking back to where we were. I think he was happy to see us. Just before he went down the ramp to his desination in the airport, he made sure we saw him wave. It was a good parting.

Taylor and his two companions--Elder Rich and Elder Holmes.

All in all, it was a wonderful day--kind of a total "closure" thing. Maybe that sounds dumb, but I think I'm relieved that he's actually on his way to Brazil. I've been bawling more today than I did before, but I have been feeling a lot of gratitude today for missionaries, missionary work, and a wonderful son who is beginning an incredible new adventure.