The snapshot above shows a scene from a birthday party that was thrown on June 13 at my brother Chris' house. The little happy girl back in the kitchen is my niece Arianna. Starting from Arianna and moving right, the picture shows Chris, my brother Ryan, my sister Lisa with her son Gordon, my yellow-jacketed mother Beverly, me, my brother Loren, and Chris' roommate Chad. Daddy Ray, whose birthday we celebrated, operated the camera.
Note that the food present includes homemade pizza, root beer, and german chocolate cake. Now that's a bona fide Smemoe-hosted birthday party!
Last Wednesday, I accompanied Ryan to the MTC. The MTC, or Missionary Training Center, is a facility that prepares people to perform full-time volunteer church service for a term of years. Ryan is serving a 2-year church mission, and his training includes learning the Spanish language, which he will use during his assignment in the Phoenix, Arizona area. At any given time, a couple thousand volunteers are instructed in over 40 language at the MTC. The duration of the training at the MTC is between 3 and 12 weeks.
About 7 years ago, I began learning the Finnish language in the MTC in preparation for my service in Finland. It was one of the most memorable parts of my mission experience. I am excited for Ryan and am very proud of him!
Currently, I'm staying at Chris' house and preparing to take the California bar exam during the week of July 24. Today, we finished our review of criminal law and procedure. Now I have only one more subject to review before I take a practice bar exam this Friday. Let's hope all goes well.
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