I love missionaries! I don't really know how I became the mission mom in my area, but I did and I am so glad. I think it started when my oldest left on his mission. I kept thinking that if I took care of the Elders in my area then a nice woman in Samoa would take care of my son there. It started with feeding them once a month. They somehow weasel their way into your heart. For a while I fed them every Sunday, but realized that other people wanted to feed them on Sunday. Now I sign up a couple Sunday's a month and feed them on days when no one has signed up or they were cancelled on. I have served them in many ways, but have found that more often than not, they just need someone to listen to them and give them motherly advice.
Well...My beautiful daughter told me a month ago that she is going to serve a mission. She completely blew me out of the water. I can't believe it! She has NEVER shown an interest in serving a mission. I have asked her repeatedly over the years and the answer was always no. However, I knew my daughter and I knew that if the Lord wanted her to serve, then she would. Apparently in February she had a dream the she opened her mission call and was sent to Guam. She said that as she woke she contemplated the dream and decided she needed to pray again and ask the Lord if she should serve a mission. She received the answer Yes! I have never served, so I don't know the emotions you must go through when you receive revelation like that but she must have mulled it over for some time since she didn't tell me until June. I was shocked. She is in college and planning on attending medical school. She has a LOT of schooling ahead of her.
The one thing I know is that my daughter loves the Lord. She will be an amazing missionary! Her life will be changed forever because of her decision to serve. I know this is true! I know it will be one of the best decisions she will ever make. I am not going to lie...My heart is broken just a little bit. I am being completely selfish right now. Savannah is my best friend! Even though she attends college on the complete opposite side of the country and she is gone 9 months out of the year, we talk, text, or face time almost every day. She is my biggest supporter. She knows exactly what to say to me to make my day. I know its selfish, but I am going to miss her desperately! Recently she told me "Mom, we are relationship goals" I wasn't exactly sure what she meant, but she told me that other people want what we have in a relationship. They want the kind of relationship we have.
Giving up seeing your child is tough, but even tougher is not being able to hear her voice and seeing her face. We are able to email once a week and we get to talk/skype them on Christmas and on Mothers Day. I have spent many an hour pondering why a church who love families and who's doctrine revolves around the importance of families would ask their young men at the young age of 18 to leave their families and really have very little contact with their families for 2 years for men and 18 months for women. This is what I have come up with. The Lord loves all of this children so much and wants all of them to have the opportunity to have His gospel. He also knows how incredible the mission will be for the child serving. They learn and grow so much personally that the Lord knew how valuable it would be for them to serve. I love a saying that describes a missionary like this:
Missionary: a person who leaves their family for a short time so that others can be with theirs for eternity.
In my opinion, this is why the Lord asks us to give up or children to go serve Him. This is why he asks us to sacrifice and literally consecrate our children to Him. He loves everyone on this earth and wants them to know of Him and come to Him. The gospel changes lives. It has made all the difference in mine! This is why it is possible to let your child fly off to a foreign country for 18-24 months with little contact. It is all worth it! When you begin getting emails and letters from them sharing their stories of changing others lives, then it is all worth it. So, even though it is hard to let them go, all I have to say is Bring it on baby!
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