Merry Chrismas for the Wilcox Family!!

Hey all! Just wanted to say that we got to talk to Tavia on Christmas and it was wonderful!! Mom put her on speaker phone and she offered a family prayer for us and we were all in tears. . . even the boys. She is still Tavia but she has that mature spiritual feel about her. And a confidence that I think she was lacking before. She loves serving but is also looking forward to getting home. We love her very much and we are so glad that she is out there being faithful and serving the Lord.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SISTER WILCOX!!!!!

So today is Tavia's birthday and since we can't call her I just wanted to do a little shout out to her today. Tavia is doing great on her mission. She is getting ready to transfer to her next area and she is great about writing letters to all of us that are uplifting and delightful. She set up an entire family home evening for us and it turned out great. I felt like it was a really good experience for our family. Anyway, so Happy Birthday my beautiful sister. We are all thinking of you today and hope it was great. We love you!!!

6 months of service

Not really much to update. Last week Sister Wilcox and Her companion had to stay in because Tav was sick and the mission Pres. Mom didn't want her to spread it to anyone. So they were a little stir crazy. But other than that they are doing great. I don't know if I wrote that she is on her second companion, Sister Singleton, and she gets along well with her also. Tavia is 1/3 of the way done with her mission and we are excited to get to talk to her for Christmas. Mom is so good at supporting Tav out there. I have been really impressed with her. She keeps Tavia updated on everything. We are all missing her quite a bit but are thankful for her willingness to serve Heavenly Father and his children and for the blessings that come from her doing so. At the rate things are going Sister Wilcox will be home in no time. Thanks for reading if you are still keeping up with this. Sorry it's been a while.
Shay

4 months down....

Don't know if anyone is still reading this but i thought I would write and let everyone know that Sister Wilcox is doing great. She has had four baptisms and is loving her mission. The heat has been a little hard for her but she continues to be upbeat. Her companion was transferred this week , and she had a hard time with that because they were very close. It was lucky that she got such a great Sister as a trainer. But again, she is optimistic about the future. She has been out 4 months!! The time has gone by so fast. And she actually may be coming home in August of next year because the sisters get to choose which transfer they want to leave on. If not then then September of next year, but still, it is going fast. And we will see if she really even wants to come home at all by then. Meanwhile we are all enjoying her uplifting e-mails and letters and love to see the changes taking place in her. I will post a picture of her "Southern Grandma" as she calls her. She looks like a great lady. 95, I think, and still looks very strong. So I will get that up soon along with some other pictures I have received from her. Thanks for the continued support.

Shay

This is just one of many e-mails we have received form Sister Wilcox. She is very upbeat about everything. Please continue to write to her and support her. Thanks Everyone!

Family Hello!!!! How are yall? I am doing great! Brother Moffett got Baptized Sunday!!! yay it was my first official baptism and it was amazing! You could see such a big difference from the time we started teaching him to now. It is amazing the things the gospel can do for ya...
Also there is another lady in the ward that has been coming for a year with her husband but she is just investigating the church and no one has taught her before us cuz they have been too afraid so we finally started teaching her and she wants to be baptised before our district leader(Elder Liddiard) goes home...thats only 2 weeks cuz this transfer ends early cuz of the new mission pres coming in....
It just keeps getting more and more humid here...I am not liking it very much but it only lasts for 4 more months haha.
I had Jambalaya for the first time the other day and it is now my favorite southern food and dad needs to make it at the reunion but only if he puts hamburger and sausage in it..I will get the recipie from the lady that made it....well I love yall...Keep writing...even letters! hope to hear from yall soon....LOVE YOU!!!!!!!
Love, sister Tavia Whitney Wilcox

Mother's Day missionary visit

Well, we all got to talk to Sister Wilcox today. She is doing really well. we talked to her for almost an hour. She sounds so happy. She says she doesn't miss her phone, she is dealing with the bugs, and she has a cute car. She talked about so much. She said that they have a few people they are teaching, two of which have dates set to be baptized. And she said that after seeing the power of the priesthood in action, (not that she hasn't before, but I think there is more use of it in the mission field,) she will not settle for anything less than marrying a priesthood holder. I thought that was wonderful. We talked about how she needs socks, and her camera charger, how she had to teach a lesson all by herself yesterday so she can start learning the doctrine really well, and how it went fast because she was nervous. She told me she would try and catch a firefly for me and send it home. Jeremy was like, "Shay, it won't survive, it will just look like a little dead beetle." but I don't care. I just want to see one. And hopefully I can go with mom and dad to pick her up and see them actually glowing. She said the weather is OK in her area right now. She said it has been raining a lot but everyone tells her that is just what it does there. In areas close to her they have had tornado and flash flood warnings but not where she is YET. She has not had to use her Bike yet, but says it is pretty, purple and has designs on it. LOL Also, they live kind of far from the other area they are over. And I guess they can only put so many miles on the car per month. So there is this lady out there, a member, who has a lot of money. I guess she has a castle. Weird. But anyway, she also has a cabin there. I kind of got that it was like a guest house on her property or something. But they got special permission to set up stuff out there for a couple days at a time and then just stay in this lady's cabin so they don't have to run back and forth and put miles on the car that they aren't able to in the first place. I just thought that was really cool. Really, I don't know what else to write about. It was just good to hear her and talk with her and laugh with her. She sounds so happy. So that is my update for now. I will continue to update, even if I am the only one who reads this blog. Ha ha. Take care and say a little prayer for the missionaries out there.

UPDATE!!

Well, I got a letter from Sister Wilcox today. She seems like she is doing well and staying upbeat. Her one complaint was that since the weather is getting warm the mosquitoes are coming out and "eating them alive!" So, hopefully no west nile for her. And hopefully no swine flu either. That would be yucky. So keep her in your thoughts and prayers and I will keep updating.

Mississippi here she comes

Well, Tavia is off to Jackson Mississippi!! She called this morning from the airport to say she was off and she sounded so good. Already she has that awesome spirit and clam contentedness about her. Ok, I don't know if that was actually a word or if I spelled it right but you get the idea. It was great to get to talk to her. She said she feels ready to get out there and start teaching. She was telling me about this awesome teacher she had there when the phone started to die, so we had to cut the conversation a little short. It will be exciting to get to talk to her on mother's day and see how she is doing. Before she got off the phone we promised to write and said our I love yous. I'm totally excited for her!!!

Time for an update

Just a short update on Tav. She will have been in the MTC one week tomorrow. Mom and Dad got a letter from her and mom says she seems to be upbeat and in good spirits. Her and her companion got lost one day but I don't know all the details, mom was just summarizing the letter for me. She wrote that we can now start the count down and she will be home before we know it. I hope to get a letter soon , but it is good that she is at least making sure to write to Mom and Dad. I will continue to update when I hear more. Until then remember to keep Sister Wilcox, and all the missionaries, in your thoughts and prayers. We love you Whit!!!

...................

HA!!! I was just on my blog going through and reading those of my family and friends. Well, they are in alphabetical order so of course Whit's is at the bottom. I clicked the link wondering what she might have written and then realized, as the picture of dad popped up that she hadn't. It will be me writing here for the next 18 months. Wow. That was kind of sad. It is going to be hard for all of us to get use to her being gone. Even when she was in Texas we could at least call her, text her or whatever to communicate with her whenever we had the inclination. I am so excited to have a missionary to write to again. I love to see how they grow and progress through letters. But life without one of my sister's readily available is going to be hard. Also, I know mom and dad are having a bitter sweet realization of all of this as well. Wish us all luck. And send some prayers in the direction of Sister Wilcox and her family if you could. We could all use the extra lift. Thanks all. Hopefully I'll be back soon with an update from Whit and maybe even pictures.

Pictures!

Dad waiting for Whit to drop her luggage off.

Cassie and Harlee Waiting also...

There she is!!

Here she goes!!

This lady is telling her all about her name tag. How and where to wear it and such.

She's getting excited!!

There is her name tag. (Sorry, it's blurry)

It's tradition for the moms to put on the name tag.








Oh, so proud of Sister Wilcox!!

Goodbye pictures

Last "sister's picture" for 18 months.

So long Sister Wilcox

Today We all took Tavia to the MTC, (Missionary Training Center) and said good bye for a while. I (Shay) was so nervous for her. But it was very cool Yes we all cried when we had to say goodbye, but there is also a lot of joy about letting her go. Last night when she was set apart it was such a neat experience. She received many promised blessings for her choice to serve The Lord. We are all so proud of Whit, (AKA-Tavia), and can't wait to hear about her first day as a missionary. I will continue to keep everyone posted. And as soon as I can find out her passwords I will put her address on Facebook so that everyone can keep in touch with our Missionary!!! I will also be posting pictures soon so keep an eye out.

-Shay

Mwahahahaha!!

Whitney made it very clear that she DID NOT want me writing on here until she left. But I've noticed her slacking and I have some pictures that I would like to post for her. Hope you're not too upset Whit. These pictures are of the day she went through the temple. What a delightful day it was.

I also found these pics of the night she got her call. Thought I'd share them as well.

Good luck out there Whit!! (Or Tavia for those of you who know her as such. LOL)

I love to see the Temple....I went inside Today!!!

Yes thats right I actually went inside the temple yesterday but that sounded better lol. I went and recieved my endowments yesterday! It was an amazing experience! I am so glad I am a member of this church and have an amazing place where I can go whenever I want to to feel the spirit and do work for those who are no longer living so they can be with there familys forever and have the opertunity to be a member of this gospel even after thay have passed...

Yesterday was one of the most spiritual amazing days of my life! I can not wait to go to Mississippi to teach the amazing people there about this wonderful gospel...They deserve it in there lives!

Thank you everyone who came yesterday! That just made it even more of a special day! I am thankful for my family and how supportive they are of me and my decision to serve our lord!

I love to see the Temple I went inside yesterday,

to feel the holy spirit to listen and to pray....

It truely is such an amazing place and if you have this oppertunity in your life to experience the wonderful spirit of the Temple you should take every chance you have to go....I know I will!

I got it!!!! Its here!!!!!

Hey everyone!!!! I got my mission call!!!! I am going to Jackson Mississippi!!! I really am so excited!!!!! I will leave to the MTC on March 18th!