May I be as candid & open as a social media page allows....This week has truly been a struggle for me. I've been so excited & caught up in our preparation phase that I was ill prepared & did not realize the array of emotions that I would go through. We've had parents serve, brothers, sisters, several nieces & nephews leave & return home from missions, but your child leaving is a whole new ball game!! Ethan is our oldest & our first "missionary parent" experience...18 years quickly flash through my mind of awaiting the birth of our new baby boy...they weren't very patient years of waiting mind you... Flash forward to him 8..is he really ready to be baptized? 4 years later..is he really ready to receive this sacred power of the priesthood? Another 4...he's 16 years old, & I, a troubled mother who is trying to figure her teenage son out...watch & listen in awe as Ethan quietly, humbly kneels to say the Sacrament prayer & the spirit whispers to me...Be patient with him. I will allow myself one more good cry thinking of our separation this past Wednesday... the handsome young man in a new suit & bags filled to the brim, allows a tear to escape & slip down his cheek as he encircles his weeping mother & assures her that it's ok... it's going to be okay. 

May I plead with you to hug your babies tight. Even if those babies need to look down to peer into your face or if you must kneel to peer into theirs. Whether we as parents think they are ready or not, God qualifies these amazing spirits we are blessed to call our sons & daughters. He is with them always & will not leave their side. May we teach them to hold fast to their faith...to hold tight to their Father in Heaven & never let go. I love my children! I love my missionary! I love the gospel of Jesus Christ & I am so very blessed! I look forward to the beautiful journey that we'll all experience over these next 2 years:)  7/18/15