Called to Serve

Last Wednesday, Matt got a letter in a very official-looking envelope.  I have his permission to quote from the even more important letter that envelope held:

"Dear Elder Young,

"You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You are assigned to labor in the Honduras San Pedro Sula Mission. . . "

Yup.  The rumors are true!  We'll soon have TWO missionaries out at the SAME time.  How cool is that?  He enters the Missionary Training Center on May 9th.  Does that date sound familiar?  It may to those of you are patient enough to listen to my grandma-to-be squeals and exultations.  It's Karen's due date.  Hmmm. . . that should make for an interesting spring. 

Actually, when Matt read the date he was to enter the MTC, he looked up and said, "Don't worry, Mom.  Karen takes precedence."  My biggest hope is that Peanut arrives about May 6th, and Matt has the opportunity to meet and hold his niece because I think she'll look a little different when he returns in May 2014.  We shall see.

I can't articulate how great a blessing it will be to have two children serving full-time missions simultaneously.  Will I miss them?  Are you kidding me?!  The first week Rachel was in the MTC seemed to last about four months.  However, I am overwhelmingly grateful for their worthiness and willingness to serve.  They're going to grow like crazy, and I think they will support each other from afar.  It seems a small sacrifice to let them go for a season.

I took this picture after Rachel had her farewell.  It's hard
to think that they won't see each other for two and a half years.

Of course, I had to include this picture of my goofy children.  I'm sure
they act serious sometimes.  I'm just not around that often when they do.

Another exciting piece of news is that Rachel leaves for Georgia in the morning.  She has been authorized to call home briefly from the airport before she boards her flight, if she has time.  Can you guess what the biggest request in my prayers has been recently?  Please let her have an efficient ticket agent to get her checked in.  Oh, how excited I am!  It feels like Christmas eve.

P.S.  I read on Wikipedia that San Pedro Sula, Honduras had the highest per capita homicide rate in the world in 2011.  Be still, my soul!!  On the positive side, violent crime has fallen dramatically in Atlanta, Georgia over the past ten years.  Yes!  I suspect my faith will grow a lot over the next couple of years as well.

Watch Out, Atlanta!

We finally got our first letter from Rachel, so my mother heart can probably handle writing a blog post about her departure.  I still miss her, but I feel a little comforted now that I have heard from her and know that she is alive and well.  I suspect a part of me will ache the whole time she is gone, but I am grateful for the opportunity she has to serve in the Georgia Atlanta North Mission.  She's going to have an awesome experience.

One interesting note about her departure is that she got to enter the MTC the very same day as her cousin, Jake Hansen.  He is my twin sister's oldest son, and he will be serving in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Going on a mission is a little scary, and in some odd way, I think it helped Rachel (and Jake) to know they had a cousin going through the same process they were.

Rachel and Jake just before they entered the MTC. 
Jake went in 30 minutes before Rachel did.

Per Jake's request and prior to the dropoff, we had a family gathering at J Dawg's, a newly-opened, popular Provo hot dog joint.  The hot dogs were pretty good, but I'll have to admit that I enjoyed the Mexican street dogs we had with Mike's parents in Hermosillo even more.  It was really fun to be with Jake and his parents and all of our immediate family except for Andrew.
  

The kids rightly claim that I never get my picture taken, so I'm trying
to embrace the idea and not shy away from the camera so much.  Here I
am with my mouth stuffed full of hot dog.  Charming, no?

Aunt Brenda interrupted her busy work day to come and say another
"goodbye" to Rachel.  She is such a joy to all of my kids.  They LOVE her!

After a yummy lunch, it was time to wend our way to the MTC.  They've torn down the old Missionary Training Center sign, so we had to take some pictures across the street instead.  It was a bit cold and windy, but the blustery weather kind of distracted me from the coming departure.  I was grateful for that.

Elder Hansen and his parents, Karen and Brian.

Sister Young and her parents, me and Mike.

Sisters!  Karen and Rachel even like each other now.  Who would've guessed?!

Matt and Rachel won't see each other for about two and a
half years.  Matt has his papers in and is awaiting a mission call.
We hope he leaves as soon as the semester is over.

Adam and Rachel are just about the same height right now.
I suspect they won't be when Rachel returns in a year and a half.



My goofball children wanted to recreate a picture they took a few years ago.
 Fortunately, Rachel's back was still intact when it was time for her to go.



Man, it's hard to let my kids go. . . even when I
know they're headed where they're supposed to go.

So, Sister Young is happily settled into the MTC.  She'll be there for another two weeks, and then it's on to Georgia.  I'm excited to hear of her adventures and feel so grateful that she is worthy and willing to serve.  And now I'm going to go hug her pillow or something. . .  A year and a half is going to fly by, right? 

Coming Up for Air

Ever since my parents got home from their mission, I feel like we've been on a flat-out run.  I'm sure it's not the case, but it seems like we've been traveling, getting ready to travel, recovering from traveling, hosting guests, prepping for the holidays, cleaning up from the holidays, enjoying the holidays, helping missionaries get ready, or working.  It has been a delightful whirlwind of activity, but I'm not going to lie.  It feels kind of good to land for at least a few weeks.  I seriously wouldn't have it any other way.  That said, I have no idea where to begin in terms of blogging.

Rachel has left for her service in the Atlanta Georgia North mission, but since we haven't heard from her yet and my mother heart is still a little tender, I'll wait to blog about that.  Getting hyper-emotional too frequently can't be good for my health.  We hope to get a letter or e-mail VERY soon.  I'll update her status once I hear something.

Great Grandma Young Goes Home (capital "H")

In the midst of our many activities, Mike's Grandma Young passed away on December 30, 2011.  While death is always hard, I was happy that she got to go Home.  She was 93 years young and endured decades of pain with deteriorating joints and a bad back.  She had several joints replaced, but still, she struggled to get around.  Thankfully, her decline was very rapid at the end, and she had only about ten days of being very incapacitated.  I counted that as a great blessing.

Mike's cousin, Mandy, took this picture of Grandma and Grandpa
on Christmas Eve.  Grandpa just sat with her for about an hour that night.
Seeing this picture made me want to weep and rejoice all at the same time.

Grandma was an awesome, spunky lady.  My first memory of her is when Mike took me to Burley to meet her and Grandpa about 25 years ago.  We talked some, and then Grandma challenged me to a game of ping pong.  I'm thinking, "Okay, I'll be nice and play her, but I'm not really going to try that hard.  What would it say about me if I was trying to beat up on a 70-year old?"  Well, we started to play, and I quickly realized I was going to have to give it my best effort to win.  I can't remember who won, but I do remember coming away very impressed.  Grandma was my kind of gal!

Her funeral was a lovely affair.  She requested that it last an hour, and I think we only went over by about five or ten minutes.  It was a powerful feeling to walk in with so many of her family members.  She had 4 children, 25 grandchildren, 95 great-grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren (with two more on the way).  Add all the rest of us in-laws, and we filled up almost the entire middle section of the chapel by ourselves.  I looked around at these amazing people I call extended family and hoped that Grandma was looking down with lots of love and just a bit of pride.

My heart broke a little for Grandpa.  These two would have marked 75 years of marriage this June.  Wow!!  Who stays married that long these days?!  When my sister-in-law, Barbie, met up with Grandpa, she said, "Grandma looks beautiful, Grandpa."  He responded, "I wish I could see her!"   He lost his vision several years ago, but he is still plugging along.  He always wanted to make it to 100, but I wonder if his motivation will be as strong now that Grandma is gone.  He looks amazingly spry for almost 99!  I hope Mike inherited his longevity.

I was pleased that so many of us were able to gather to honor her.  Aunt Susan got some pictures of the whole lot of us, but my camera wasn't in the mix to get that shot.  My daughter did get a photo of the Farrell Young family.  All but six of us were there, and it was a sweet reunion.


I married well!  (And so did Mike!)

Sneak Peek at Sister Young

I was very pleased that Rachel got to attend the funeral.  It was held just four days before she entered the MTC.  It gave her a chance to say "goodbye" to many of her extended family members, and she even got to see Mike's parents.  (Mom and Dad Young were allowed to come home from their service in the Hermosillo Mexico Temple for the funeral.)  We were smart and at least got a picture of her with her Grandma Young.  Unfortunately, I think Grandpa Young was off helping Great Grandpa Young.


So, there's your sneak peek of the missionary.  I'll pound out a few paragraphs later in the week.  To be honest, I'm getting kind of choked up just looking at the above photograph.  Has she really only been gone for five days?!  Life is good, and I wouldn't have her any place else.  But I miss my girl!!