1. And where did he serve his mission?
2. A warm October day down by the Provo River
3. Orem's not so bad when you give it a chance
4. I can rely on myself
5. Jared gets drunk and gets laid
6. Forget about her, Jared
7. A story I never tell anyone

• (character chart)
• Warning/Disclaimer

1. Young Women's
2. Youth Conference
3. Saturday's Warrior
4. Brigham Young University
• Gratuitous Love Scene
5. Polygamist
6. Temple Wedding
7. Orem High
8. Bordeaux Mission
9. Exmo Conference

"It was a blessing that my Matt had saved up so much money for his mission before he went, and my Spencer and my twins Laura and Linda did too, but there's only so much they can save up in advance. Supporting three missionaries in the field at once is hard."

"I imagine it would be," said Mom with a nervous smile.

"You're saving for your mission, aren't you Sam?" asked Brother Hobbs.

"Yes, sir," said Sam.

"Me too," I said. Actually I still wasn't sure I really wanted to go on a mission, but I had to stick up for my mom.

"So how are your twin girls doing?" asked Mom. "I think I remember my son Rex mentioning that he knew them from school."

"Oh, they're doing wonderfully," said Sister Hobbs. "They're both such spiritual girls. Laura is serving a mission in Chile and Linda is serving a mission in Australia. Of course they haven't baptized anyone -- being girls and all -- but they've been instrumental in bringing so many people to the true gospel. They'll be coming home soon, and I'll be so happy to see them both again!"

Then she switched gears and turned to my mom. "And your boy Rex? What does he do?" Never mind that I had already told her that Rex was in grad school, but whatever.

"Oh he's in graduate school studying Mathematics," said Mom. "In fact he graduated from college with honors, and now he's in the Ph.D. program in one of the top-rated Mathematics departments in the country." I was really glad to hear Mom finally sticking up for Rex for once instead of always saying how disappointed she was about him leaving the church and all.

"Grad school already?" asked Sister Hobbs. "And he's the same age as my girls? He must have finished college pretty fast." In other words, he couldn't possibly have taken time off to serve a mission and be that far along in school. I was starting to get really annoyed with Sister Hobbs here.

"Yes, well, he's always been a very good student," said Mom.

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"And where did he serve his mission?" asked Sister Hobbs. Now I was really mad at Sister Hobbs! Her earlier question had already made it perfectly clear that Rex had never gone on a mission! She didn't have to rub it in like that!

Mom seemed not to know what to say. "Um, you know, as I was saying, he's always been a good student. He graduated from seminary at the top of his class!"

"That's nice," said Sister Hobbs. She had such a smug smile on her face that I couldn't help but hate her.

"Well, thanks for the cake, but I guess we'd better be going," said Mom.

I thanked the family as well and said goodbye to Sam and Joe, and we got in the car.

All the way home in the car Mom was quiet. She was probably thinking some more about how sad she was that Rex didn't believe in the church anymore. She was probably blaming herself for it too after that little conversation with Sister Hobbs.

I was so mad at that Sister Hobbs! She was supposed to be so righteous! She didn't have to make my mom feel bad like that. And now I'd for sure be the one to suffer the consequences at home. Probably Rex would too on the phone. The way things were going Rex would probably never come back and visit us again.

By the time we arrived at home, Mom seemed like she was almost about to cry. I had to do something.

"Wait, Mom," I said as soon as we were out of the car. "I know you think I'm just a dumb kid, but I see what's going on here."

"What?" she asked softly.

"Look, so you don't have the same interests as Sister Hobbs. So you don't have the same kids either. So what? Heavenly Father knows you're doing your best."

"Thanks Jared, you're a good kid," she said giving me a hug. "You know I love you."

"And Rex too?" I asked.

She sighed as she thought about it a bit. "And Rex too."

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