¡ que emocionante !

i'm sure all of my fellow human beings out there have once sat and thought to themselves, "wow, i'm getting old!" 

this unwanted yet foreseen phrase can be appropriately said all throughout a person's life. 

examples: 

my feet touch the ground when i sit in a chair. wow, i'm getting old! 

i survived my first unchaperoned dentist appointment. wow, i'm getting old! 

i graduated from high school. wow, i'm getting old! 

i live with a boy. wow, i'm getting old! 

and more recently... 

i just listened to my little brother read his mission call. wow, i'm getting old! 

my heart was pounding tonight as he ripped open that huge envelope! 

i really thought he would go to australia. 

if not australia, i just wanted somewhere foreign. 

... he did too. 

he ended up getting called somewhere closer to home... 

but still out of the country! 

CULIACAN, MEXICO! 

(which is approximately right here...) 

i am so happy! 

i'm happy that he will have one more christmas. 

i'm happy that he's getting out of the USA. 

i'm happy that he'll learn spanish (totally handy in the post-mission life!)

i'm happy that he is choosing to go serve the lord instead of anything else for the next 2 years! 

elder barnes, we are getting old!