On Sunday was our youngest son, Conner's, mission farewell. He has been called to serve in the Hawaii, Honolulu Mission. There was a brother in our ward who had just been baptized with his wife about two months ago, who was the first speaker. He gave a talk on the Atonement, and bore his testimony. Then my sister, Erin, and daughters Jessica, and Kaylea, and I sang "Precious Savior". I felt so grateful to be able to sing with my family. Conner then spoke, and the spirit of the meeting was so strong. He truly will be an amazing missionary.
On Monday, Steve got a phone call from President Uchtdorf's secretary, asking us if we could come visit with him on Wednesday. That was the day Conner was supposed to go to the MTC, but we were able to set it up for 9:30am, and Conner didn't need to be at the MTC until 12:30pm.
We had Jessica and her two girls in town for the farewell and to drop him off. We also had Kaylea, Kirby, Steve, and Sarah. It was so good to have our entire family together. The only person missing was Chris, Jessie's husband. But he did write Conner a letter. We took everyone out to dinner for family night on Monday night, and my heart was full. It's been full and overflowing for the past few weeks now... :)
On Wednesday Steve and I met with President Uchtdorf. It was incredible. President Uchtdorf was very kind. He kept expressing his gratitude for our preparedness. He told us to give our son Steve a big German hug, when he found out he had served his mission in Germany. He called Steve as a mission president, starting July 1st, and called me on a 3 year mission as his companion. I think Steve and I were both in awe, and didn't know what to say. One thing that has concerned me since we thought Steve may be called has been my lack of experience. I have prayed a lot about it. I know the Lord will qualify me for the call, but there's just this nagging little voice in my head, wondering if I really can do what is needed for the missionaries. Well, as President Uchtdorf was talking to us, he turned right to me and said, "Don't compare yourself to other sisters in this calling. You are good enough, that is why the Lord has called you to this position. Be yourself, and it will be good enough. Trust your instincts, the Lord trusts you. " I've always believed that, but it helped me to know that the Lord knows what's in my heart. After our meeting, he stood up and gave us each a hug. He was happy to hear that we were on our way to the MTC that day to take Conner.
We weren't all able to drop Conner off, but we did all meet at the Brick Oven for lunch. It was just my kids, because Kirby went home, and Sarah had to work. But it was awesome, because it was all of my kids, and grandkids. We went to the Park below the Provo Temple grounds to take a few more pictures, and then Jessica stayed there while we took Conner. Avery, our granddaughter, went with us to the MTC, and cried as we drove away without Conner... We all cried as we drove away without Conner, but he was so excited to go, and we were all thrilled that he is going to serve a mission.
In the meantime, we have received emails from the church, and have started the paperwork to serve our own mission. We have already done the dental, and most of the medical. We have an appointment scheduled for next Friday, where we will get our "official" picture taken. We are waiting for a letter from the first presidency that will be our "official" mission call. Once we receive that, we are able to tell people about our mission call. Our next stake conference is in February. At that time they will release Steve, and call a new Stake President.
Life is GREAT! I am amazed how blessed we are. I feel like the windows of heaven have been opened and the Lord is pouring out a blessing "that there is not room enough to receive it!" It is amazing to see how he has been guiding our lives to this point, and I can't wait to see how it all turns out.
