When we dropped Collin off at the MTC it was the most awesomely, wonderfully, happy and sad thing I have ever done. I did cry a bit but was so excited that something that boy had prepared for for nineteen years had finally come. He was so nervous and yet walked away with such bravery. As he wheeled that luggage up the sidewalk I kept wanting him to stop and run back but he didn't. He didn't look back because he was going into his future. It is a future full of new adventures and people and sights and feelings that none of the rest of us standing on the sidewalk that day would ever experience. So much of our lives are meshed together as we raise our children. Now was the time to let him go and do all on his own. That was the hardest thing for me but I knew he would be okay. Missionaries are so blessed. And their families are blessed, too.
One of the sweetest blessings is the arrival of the weekly email. His first week at the MTC, when we didn't know his P-day, I checked my email EVERY day and EVERY hour hoping it would come. It didn't. Finally, about ten days later we got one. That was possibly the longest ten days of my life. After a few mix-ups we finally have the emailing down to a science. Then just when we were getting the hang of things, he was sent to Guatemala to begin again. The MOST SWEETEST blessing of all was talking to him on the telephone. I began to cry the moment I heard his voice and he cried too. He was able to talk to all of us and was able to call his Dad at work. But, hanging up the phone was so hard. I didn't want to let him go. If I had been there with him, someone would have had to pry him out of my arms. Heart wrenching! That's what that was but it was good. And, now I know just how sweet that call at Christmas will be - in 4 VERY long months.
Until then it is the weekly emails that I anticipate. While Collin has been at the CCM his emails have come on Saturday morning. I read it and then read it again and then again and then again. Then I edit it and post it on his mission blog. Then I re-read the blog over and over again. It is my connection to him. I love his experiences. I search for blogs of other Elders he encounters. I've Googled the CCM and the Taco Bell across the street that he longs for. I get just a little hint of his experiences and love that!!!
I love being the mom of a missionary. I love that missionary of mine!
You can check out Collin's experiences, too at www.eldercollingrant.blogspot.com.
Life is Good - and missionaries are FANTASTIC!!!
