He is legal (almost)

Dax turned 18.  What a great day, actually pretty uneventful.   We gave him some money, went to Olive Garden for dinner, then as a family we went to Improv Mania in downtown Chandler.  It was a fun night.


Dax had planned to go on a mission soon after he graduated and turned 18 (which would be about now).   It turns out our Bishop is very slow at this process.  When Dax started meeting with him in April he said it would be about 5 months before he could submit his papers. Initially the bishop told him the church allows you to submit your papers 3 months before you are ready to report.  What the heck, now he is saying 5 months before he will even be ready to submit the papers??? We all thought it would be a few weeks, submit the call, wait a few weeks to get the call, then wait a few months getting everything ready and then report.  We thought he would be leaving about August instead of just turning in the paperwork.  This is just how our bishop rolls.  I heard similar stories from other parents.

As we started the process, Dax had doctor appointments etc. and he was diligently filling out paperwork and regularly meeting with the bishop.  Because Dax has been diagnosed as being on the Autism spectrum the church is now requiring a psychological evaluation. I wish this had been brought up in his first meeting with the Bishop back in April, instead of June.  After a few appointments, we had a final meeting with the counselor the other day.  She said Dax scored 7/9 of the indicators for early release.  Anything over five is a red flag.  Some of the indicators for Dax were he is too rigid (difficulty going with the flow), changing environments regularly, other people not following the rules,  difficulty staying engaged in an activity (ADD), not making good eye contact and connecting with others.  This was not a surprise to us.  We have come up with a new plan. We have decided that Dax will wait a year for the mission and give him some time to grow up and mature in the areas he is struggling with.  His plan now is  to start ASU in January, study Astrophysics, and live in the dorms.  This will hopefully give him an opportunity for independence and maturity before he submits his papers again.  Dax was a little disappointed initially, but I think he is excited about this new plan.