Elder Smartiepants

Elder Smart had his first transfer this last week since arriving in the mission field. He is now in Jacksonville a mere 5 hours from my DC! Intent on learning a little more about Jacksonville, NC; a city Shea claims to be a thriving metropolis compared to the trailer park he was living in before. Here are a few fun facts about Jacksonville:

-As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 66,715 people living in Jacksonville

-The racial makeup of the city was 63.94% White, 23.96% African American, 0.75% Native American, 2.07% Asian, 0.19% Pacific Islander, 5.42% from other races, and 3.67% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.05% of the population.

- The median age was 22 years. Jacksonville has been named the youngest city in the nation (lowest median age) on various lists. For every 100 females there were 156.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 178.6 males [maybe I should move there :)].

-The median income for a household in the city was $32,544, and the median income for a family was $33,763. About 12.5% of families and 14.1% of the population were below the poverty line.

We love getting his weekly letters and hearing about all of his adventures. He is growing and changing and has already had the opportunity to be a senior companion. I know Shea's two sisters pictured below are extremely proud of the example he is setting.





Other family members can expect to find incriminating photos of themselves here if their posts continue to be scarce:)