Thursday, November 7, 2013

It’s Hump Day!

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Our middle son, Tyler, has been serving a mission in Peru for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He left for the Missionary Training Center on November 7, 2012.  Today is the half way point—it’s all downhill from here!

Except.  I don’t think he’s quite as excited about the prospect of coming home in a year.  This is what we said when we congratulated him on a year served:  “So it's not my year mark yet so you can't even say that yet.  Everyone just hold your horses, I'm still in the first half of my mission.”

Um. OK. Whatever. 

I was walking with my friend this morning—we’ve walked together for years—and I told her it was a year today since Tyler left.  I saw her think about it and I immediately cut her off:  “Don’t say, ‘It seems like he just left!’”  I could just see her thinking about it.  She smiled and said, “Ok, I won’t.”

In fact, we miss him more than we can say.  Missionaries can send and receive email once a week.  We live for those Monday emails!  Other than that, we get phonecalls (or Skype!) twice a year on Mother’s Day and Christmas.

When I share with other mothers not of my faith that my son is in Peru for two years and we only get to personally talk twice a year, the response is universally the same:

“I could never do that.”

But they could if they knew what I knew.  There was an interesting article I read this week (you can find it HERE).  I agree, but I think this is only part of it, at least for me, since I’m not quite as fully evolved and pesky practical matters always get into my head to join the party.  Anyway, that’s a post for another day. 

Today  I want to celebrate Tyler’s journey to date (the Bachelor/Bachelorette tv show has totally ruined the word “journey”.   Now it always just seems trite and cheesy.  Don’t ask me how I know that). 

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Missionaries demonstrating their geography skills!

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Peru! (December 11, 2012)

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What it’s all about--this is the moment right here!  Making covenants to follow Christ.

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Iquitos

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Local Cuisine

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Don’t look too closely…

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Making friends. (Watch your hand, monkey! Someone might want to put it into soup)

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Too cute for words.

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Sometimes it rains.

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Thumbs up! (the quintessential missionary pose)

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Nueva Cajamarca

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Old school baptism.

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That your burden might be light.

It’s been a year of discovery, a year of faith, a year of service, a year of love.

Matthew 10:39 

He that findeth his life shall lose it:  and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

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