And so it begins...

     This kid is a deep thinker...always has been. So, when it came to making a decision to serve a mission or not, he, naturally put a lot of thought into it.  We told him that we needed a decision by Christmas. And, Christmas came and went. The poor kid was questioning everything at this point.  He had went through a brutal first semester in Biological Engineering where over half of the kids in his major had dropped out.  He had come home and announced that he was getting out of the program while the getting was good.  We had told him to give it a few weeks, to let the sting of finals fade.  We didn't even dare bring up the mission subject.
     So, that kid thought and thought.  He, then, came up one evening to get something out of the fridge and there was his answer...on a magnet that has been on our fridge for 10 years.
 "To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch.. to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.  This is to have succeeded!"  -Ralph Waldo Emerson
He said that this is when he knew that he should take two years and focus on selflessness and serving our Heavenly Father.
And, that was it.  The next steps moved like lightning.  He had a dentist and doctor appointment within a week.  He had his wisdom teeth removed a week after that.  In less than a month, his papers were in.  The grass doesn't grow under Kolton's feet.

                                                         So cute!