Dec 18th and 19th Set apart and He's Gone

Wow what an emotional two days its been, and I am sure it won't end!  Tuesday night at 8pm we met at the Stake Presidents office for Jess to be set apart as a full time Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Pres. Stevens, Pres. Merrill, Bishop Jones, Brother Brower, Mitch Freed and our family of 5 were there.  So grateful for their love and support.  We went in and sat down and President Stevens had us go around the table and give Jesse advice on how to be a good missionary and what to think about and do while he's gone.  I loved that Pres Merrill told him its like 2 years of camping!!!  Everyone gave such good advice and I just bawled and babbled!!!!  We just love that kid and we want him to be the best missionary he can be, serve the Lord and serve the people of Ecuador...forget missing us and embrace the mission and his purpose for being there!  Be Cheerful and be himself...he was sent there for WHO his is, not because he's a warm body.  Called of God to serve and bring people unto the full gospel of Jesus Christ.  The beauty of the Plan of Salvation...the knowledge of our purpose here, knowing where we came from and what is in store after this life.  Such a beautiful thing!!!  I can't wait to hear his experiences and watching him grow!!!  President Stevens gave Jesse a wonderful blessing...at least what I heard above the sniffling and sobbing!!!
After we went to Men's Wearhouse for a few minutes, funny we saw Pres. Stevens' wife there!!!  Stopped at Walgreens for a few last minute forgotten items and went home and packed the bags!!!  Each are sitting right at 50 lbs.  I hope he makes weight or an angel slips a toe under the scale to lighten the load!!!  He'll have to put the 10lbs of books they give him in the MTC in his backpack.

Wednesday morning up by 6:30, ready by 8...Bill gave Jesse a Fathers Blessing and we were out the door by 8:15 and on our way to Provo.  We stopped in Tremonton for a few minutes to give Gpa and Gma a last minute hug and we were off!  We arrived in Provo around 12:15 and stopped at the Golden Corral for lunch...45 min later we were finished and headed to the MTC.  It was all going so well until we started to get closer and he started to panic...he didn't want to get out of the car any quicker than 1:30 and kept trying to stall.  Bill was going to take him earlier, but we stopped at the temple and took a couple of pictures and drove around a bit, parked and talked for a few more minutes then took him to the MTC.  We drove in, the had us pull up to the curb, they had Elders waiting who opened the door for me and helped Bill get the luggage.  We hugged, snapped a few pictures, I cried...Bill cried...Cierra cried...Abbie and Jesse stayed strong and I didn't see any tears.  We hugged again, I said see you in two years...I love you Jess!  And off they went...we got into the car and drove off!  Sobbing, of course, worrying about who was going to be there to hug him when he gets lonely...I still have Bill and the girls and he's alone...I hope he's okay! I sent him a letter through Dear Elder on our way home just so he could have one.  I really intended to put a letter in his luggage, but again good intentions without follow through!!!  No letter yet today!! I have heard some say that they can send a quick note the day after they get there to say when his Prep day will be and such.
You know I don't worry about his safety...I have never felt so calm in my life and I always thought I would be a basket case...I just worry about him being too overwhelmed, or homesick and missing us too much!  One thing about Jess is that he loves his family and he loves being with us.  He's never been one to say he can't wait to leave!  Please...Pray extra hard for him to have a good attitude and be happy to be there and he'll be fine!!!

 Gonna miss this kid!!!!

Unloading at the MTC

 Not sure whether Jesse was about to cry or just a bad time to take the picture!

 Be Happy and Work hard...that was my last minute advise!

 Me and the Girls getting our last minute squeeze in!!!

So as I am getting out of the car at the MTC I realize that I don't have that many days to get Jesse a package for Christmas and I see all these kids with bags and giant boxes sticking out, realizing I should have probably sent his Christmas gift with him...hard though since I hadn't bought anything yet!!!  So we came home, I found this cute thing on the internet that I had pinned a while back on pinterest and we ran to the store and bought treats and put these cute yellow notes on them ( I had already wrapped 2 before I thought to take a picture!)  And Bill sent it today!!!  He didn't have any more available room in his luggage for anything more permanent than snacks!!!

My sweet kids snuggling in the back of the truck on our way to PROVO!!!

What a crazy day!  Lots of spontaneous tears from me and his dad all the way home!   Even today when I start to think he might be sad I start to cry.   It makes a moms heart hurt when her child might have a sore heart!  I think as soon as I get a few letters from him and just see how he's adjusting I think I'll be better!!  I woke up this morning wishing for my morning hug from him and missing him...this too shall pass.  I think that it was only yesterday when he was an infant in my arms...time goes by so quickly, some days I feel like it is speeding up...so I am sure this time will go by so quickly!!!