Ricky has finally left the MTC in Guatemala to begin his mission in El Salvador. He left yesterday, October 10, 2011, and arrived safely at the mission home. Today we received an email from his mission president along with a picture of him. Unfortunately I was not able to post the picture due to the format that was used in sending it. But hopefully we can get one up here soon. Here is the letter from the mission president...

Dear Nope Family,

     We are happy to announce that your son, Elder Nope, has safely arrived to our mission. The night of his arrival, we enjoyed getting to know him in a dinner at the mission home, and we can tell that he is a great missionary. We are grateful for his sacrifices and your sacrifices to allow him to be here. We pray that our Lord Jesus Christ will pour out his blessings upon your family. We are very happy to have your son with us and we know he will bless the lives of many people here in the great country of El Salvador. He has been assigned to the Las Arada area in the Modelo Stake. His companion is Elder Yzaguirre from Texas. Elder Yzaguirre has 15 months in the mission, and has proved to be an excellent missionary. He is a determined, hard-working Elder who is diligent in the Lord's work. Before training your son, he has served as a District Leader and senior companion. We expect to see many miracle from this companionship.