Getting our Girl Ready for a Mission

The weather here in Colorado Springs
has returned to our normally-scheduled-Summer-weather:
a thunderstorm in the afternoon
to cool things down in the evening.
I love Colorado summers--
the reward for our snowy winters.


Diana came home from her week-and-a-half long vacation
with the family she nannies for--
they went to Texas and Oklahoma.
I sat at the dinner table and listened to her
talk about her adventures in babysitting
for at least an hour
until she wound herself down.
"It's good for you." I tell her.
Because it is.
Travelling with children is good for the soul
in the most unpleasant ways.

Diana is 99.9% packed for her mission.
She bought all of her own clothes at JCPenneys.
She even gave us a fashion show
and Dara took pictures of all the different combinations
that she's gonna put on a disc for Nana to take with her.
Clever, hunh?
So we totalled over 40 outfit combinations.
Fifteen shirts, 8 skirts, 3 scarves, 5 belts, 3 jackets, 3 sweaters,
3 pair of shoes, and I don't know what else.
So dang cute and so dang fun!
She received her temple recommend yesterday
and has set the date to go to the Denver temple
to receive her own endowments the 21st.

She is working like a crazy woman these days
to earm more money for her mission--

she has her regular nanny job during the day
and has taken another night nanny job
for over a week to earn yet more money.
It costs $8000 for an 18 month mission.
That's not including the wardrobe or
the $400 bike she may need,
the 18 month supply of contacts ($500),
her own bedding,
the complete medical and dental check-ups before going,
or anything extra.
And a missionary can not have any debt before leaving home either.
So she has paid her own debts as well.

When I look at it like this,
I realize how expensive it really is to send a missionary out.
It ain't cheap, ya know?
But it is SO worth it--
emotionally,
physically,
spiritually,
it is the best investment a young person could make
for them selves.

At the time in most young people's lives
when they can do anything they want--
travel, school, explore their own needs and wants, etc.,
choosing to give everything up,
often putting their educational/career goals on hold,
and work to earn the money upfront
to go serve others and share the Gospel
is incredibly consecrating.

People may wonder why the Church is as strong as it is--
perhaps it is because our youth have learned to
sacrifice for the faith they have been raised in?

When you see those young men in white shirts and ties
knocking on doors
riding bicycles in city streets
walking down dirt roads with just one house on it--
please be kind to them.
They are there to be good and do good.

Diana will leave home and go into
the Missionary Training Center (MTC)
in Provo, Utah on August 8th.
She will be in there for nearly 3 weeks,
before flying to New York.
Other than communicating via email once a week,
usually on her "Preparation Day" (P-Day),
the next time we get to actually speak to her will be
Christmas and next Mother's Day and Christmas 2013.
She'll be home by February 2013.
She will not have her phone, or her Ipod.
She will not date or go to movies.
She will not travel outside of her mission boundaries
unless she has specific permission
and travels with her designated companion,
who will also be another sister missionary.
Diana's days will be planned--
from 6:30am until 9:30pm.
She will have half of one day a week (Pday)
to do her laundry,
buy groceries,
take care of her personal needs,
write letters home,
and do something recreational with her companion
if there's time in the day.

The rest of her days are spent
teaching others the gospel,
serving others in any way she can,
studying, tracting, attending meetings,
and living life as a full-time missionary.

And when she comes home,
she will be worn-out and sad to have left
the best place she has ever lived
and the best people she has ever known.

Where is she going?
The New York Rochester Mission.
It has been called,
"the cradle of the Church"
as that is where it all began.
Joseph Smith's first vision
in the Sacred Grove is right there.
Diana will also serve in the
Hill Cumorah Visitors Center.

Last night, as I was hanging out
with her and Dara in her room,
listening to church cd's and talking about
her mission,
she pointed to this picture on her wall:

 

And she said, "I get to go there, Mom. 

It's like I have been personally invited to go right there."

The Savior's invitation to everyone has always been,
"Come and See."

I got a little choked up,
realizing my days are numbered
with this girl of mine,
laying on one end of her bed,
with her legs draped over mine,
listening to music that we both love singing along with--
just being together,
and the privilege she has been given
to serve a mission.
I wouldn't let her go so far away
on such restrictive terms
for any other reason.

"Remember to do this while you're gone. " I say.
"What? This? Oh yeah.", she answers.
She knows what I mean.
I know what she needs.
It's a "mom thing".

We count down the number of weeks she has left,
revise yet another "TO DO" list--
so much to do,
and the weeks are going to fly
n'before we know it
we'll be embracing each other in tender good-byes
and then,
that's when part of my heart will get on a plane
and live in New York for 18 months,
so my daughter can share what she knows
about this Book.

So if you, or someone you know,
lives in Upstate New York and
happens to come across
a tall, brunette wearing a black name tag,
that says, Sister Johnson, on it
would you do me a favor,
would you be as kind as you know how to be
to her?
Thanks.