A Visit to Jare's Mission

About a month ago we took a trip down to Jared's old stomping grounds. He served in the San Antonio mission from August 2002-August 2004. This was his first time back to visit. He had a great time reminiscing and showing me around. It was so fun picturing Jared walking the dusty country roads with a backpack full of Book of Mormons. I dug up a few pictures from his mission below. He looks like he is 14 years old in the first picture!!

The picture above is with his mom and grandpa when he returned home.
Jared mostly served outside of the city of San Antonio but we did do quite a bit of sightseeing in the city. We went to the Alamo of course and where I learned a lot and have a new respect for the men that gave their lives there. The picture below is a plaque that talks about Lt. Col. William Barret Travis drawing a line in the dirt with his sword and stated to his men, "Those prepared to give their lives in freedom's cause, come over to me!" Jared's first day in the mission his mission president took him to the Alamo and said something like this: "Whoever is willing to commit to serving the Lord for 24 months, cross the line." Jared crossed that line and I am so grateful that he worked with all his might to share the gospel with the people of San Antonio, and that he continues to be a missionary today.



After visiting the Alamo, we went to the Riverwalk. The river runs through the downtown area and there are shops and restaurants lining the water's edge. We also took the boat tour.


You might recognize the stage below from Miss Congeniality :)
We also went to the Schlitterbaun for some water fun. It is the largest water park in the world. I didn't take any pictures but we had a blast. They have water slides there that actually go uphill like a roller coaster because of water jets. It was really fun but we didn't realize how powerful they were until the end of the ride when we came up short a credit card and driver's license. Jared had kept them in a zip up pocket on his shorts. Whoops! Thankfully they were found in the filters and returned to us a week later.
We ate a ton of great food while we were there. We recommend Bill Miller's BBQ, the Longhorn Cafe, and Chuy's. I had the best mushroom swiss burger I've ever ate at the Longhorn Cafe (I've been craving mushrooms ever since) and Chuy's is Jared's favorite Tex Mex joint. All of my insides were on fire after eating there.
This is the Compeano's family Jared baptized on his mission. It was so fun meeting them, they simply adore Jared. It is so wonderful how much the gospel can change lives for the better.