May I go to a personal note? I love being a mother! I love being the "Florida" mother to your wonderful sons and daughters, friends and family members who are serving here in the Florida Jacksonville Mission. They indeed bring President and I so much joy!
Personally, President and I are parents to 8 children, 6 in-law children and 21, almost 22, grandchildren! They, too, bring us so much joy.
Our baby, Matthew Barry, returned to us after serving a mission to the Brazil Brasilia Mission. He is the last of 6 of our children and 2 in-law sons who have served missions! He returned July 24. May I share our reunion as he came off the plane in Jacksonville?
 |
| This picture happened after all the hugs and tears. This is President and I with Jessica and Matt. Jess is our youngest daughter. She is the next oldest to Matt. She also served a mission to Nauvoo and has been home 2 years. |
 |
| Missionaries look alike no matter where they serve. Along with the signature look of a missionary (tie, white shirt, name tag,backpack etc) notice the huge smile, the light in the eyes, the confident stride and the desire to find people to teach. Your missionary looks like this! |
 |
| This picture speaks volumes. Elder Barry's mission has no cars or bikes. They walk up to 12 miles a day. This pair of shoes was the last of 4 pair that he walked through! Also look at his luggage. He went with 2, came home with one. It is literally held together with duct tape. There is not a pull out handle anymore. It broke so he pulls the suitcase with a rope. Also, he was determined to get everything in one case. It WAS very heavy! |
IT'S THE BARRY BUNCH!
 |
| There are 37 of us! We have not been together for 2 years. We live all over the United States. Everyone wanted to be here to welcome the youngest brother home from his mission - and to see what their parents are doing in Florida. There were 5 of these babies born in the past 2 years. It was the first time we had seen them. It really was an incredible week! FAMILIES ARE FOREVER! |
2 comments:
Dear Sister Barry,
Thank you for your wonderful, generous missionary service! I see that you have five new grandbabies you had not seen since you left, and my heart is full. We have had three (maybe four, since one more is due in a few weejs) grandbabies born since our son Matthias left on his mission. This is a great sacrifice for a mother/grandma. Ours are all over the country as well. We will visit three of them with Elder Neville when we leave your mission. And he is not our baby: we will be bringing his 13 year old brother. You will not get to meet this young man, since he and his dad are flying in the next day. I look forward to greeting you when I pick up our son the evening of October 10th. I know he does NOT want that day to come! Thank you for your love and care of these, our beloved offspring. I am grateful to you and President Barry for your wonderful influence.
Thank you, Sister Neville. Your son has been amazing. We will see you soon.
Post a Comment