More Kindness

 Some dear friends sent me a beautiful "Missionary Mom" necklace that came with a note that said, "A piece of my heart is serving a mission." I am wearing it everyday!

And one of my sweet primary kids who shares a love of Disney with me sent me this to help cheer me up with Audra gone:

It really did make my day- such a sweet gesture! 

Ben said, "nobody got me anything for Audra leaving!" I told him he needed to get up and bare his testimony and cry all the way through it like I did and then people will feel sorry for him.

I did bare my testimony on fast Sunday before Audra left. This is the gist of what I said:

"You won't believe me, but Audra was a terrible baby. She had colic for 12 months and she would just cry and cry literally all day, every day. There were a couple of times when I couldn't handle it anymore, and I would take her upstairs and put her in her crib, and I would go to the basement, and I would pray that Heavenly Father would send His angels to watch over her, because I couldn't in that moment.

Now, as she heads off to Brazil, I am saying that same prayer- that Heavenly Father will send His angels to watch over her.

I have thought about all the moms who have sent their babies on missions, and how many broken hearts have sent their babies to a world unknown. And I have thought that there is only one reason we do this: Because we love our Savior. And I do love my Savior, with all my heart. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw. I know Christ lives, and I am so thankful for missionaries who go out into the world to bring the joy of Christ to others, even while their mothers are at home silently weeping."

Camille Comes Home From JAPAN!

 Camille had an absolutely incredible time in Japan- making friends and lifelong memories!!!! Here are some of the pictures she took:

Proof Camille loves me and was thinking of me: She got Disney pictures! Do you see the castle??

She came home tired and so excited to share all of her adventures! She LOVES Japan and this is definitely a trip for her to remember forever!

Domo

 In honor of Camille being in Japan, Ben and I went to a traditional Japanese restaurant in downtown Denver, Domo. It was delicious- we are planning to go again with Camille so she can enjoy it!

Zoom Call

 I got to talk to talk to Audra! Ben is at work and the girls are gone, so it was just me. We talked for quite a bit. Here are the highlights:

-There were two other missionaries on her flight to Atlanta, but she didn't sit next to them. They did, however, meet up after the flight and walk to their next flight to Sao  Paulo together

-There were 24 missionaries on the flight to Sao Paulo

-She didn't get any sleep on the plane (I was tracking the flight on  my phone- that was cool!)

-She is still really sad. At first when we started talking she began crying, but then she was able to settle down. 

-There's not much space in her room, so she can't really unpack

-It took a little bit to get her Facebook Messenger to work, but Ben was able to get it working

-She said the food in the MTC is OK. She really likes the juice.

-She is still scared and nervous, and the first few days are pretty boring and empty, but hopefully she will adjust soon

Some friends brought me really sweet gifts to help me get through today. It was very thoughtful.

I continued work on Audra's high school quilt, which she did a ton of work on, and that helped

Trek!

 Now it's Claire's turn! She is headed to Trek- I am so excited for her! I have so many wonderful memories from my trek experience, and I am certain she will, too!

Saying Good-Bye

 And then it was time to say good-bye.

We shed a lot of tears. It was very hard to watch Audra sobbing as she went through security.

We had a couple of problems with her ticket. We should have brought her phone- two step verification was our downfall, so she had to go through normal security rather than TSA pre-check. But it all worked out, thank goodness.

There is really nothing to say about this. It was hard. My mother heart is breaking. All of our hearts are breaking. But we- all the mothers and fathers who have said good-bye to their children for 18 months or two year while weeping inside- do this because we love our Savior Jesus Christ. We know that Audra is going out into the world to bring people to Him. What a blessing. We know that she will be amazing.

But, wow. It is so much harder than I ever expected.