Today was not with out its drama. We woke up early, finished packing his bags and hit the road. We stopped by Grandma and Grandpa Minson's to say good bye. Though it was mostly tearless the feelings were so strong as Grandma and Grandpa reminded him the most important thing was to follow the rules and everything would be alright. I know that to be true. They are so strong and they are such great examples I know there were so many things Brock wanted to say but couldn't I think they were really trying to be strong for each other.
Brock's Grandma has Leukemia and only time will tell if the treatments will work. We pray daily for her and Brock is aware of the possibilities and fortunately he and his Grandmother have had the tender conversation about the "What ifs". He loves his grandmother a great deal and in our family prayers he prays for her with great power. He understands the plan of salvation and knows no matter what happens she will always be with him.
After leaving grandmas, we went and picked up some last minute things at Walmart and then headed to Provo, perfectly on schedule. We rolled into Orem around 11:15am and stopped at Golden Corral for lunch. The cashier told us that Missionaries eat for free. Which was a pleasant surprise. We enjoyed all the food we could stuff down, including cotton candy which Brody and Brigham each eat two cones worth.
Walking out to the car I felt around in my pockets for the keys and they were not there. I asked Tonya if she had them and of course..... I locked em in the car. Needless to say I got very quite and Brock had a little outburst of excitement :) but not to worry the Calvary came charging in. Actually, it was the Orem City Police after I called them and told them we had a missionary in distress. They sent over a police officer who arrived with in 15 minutes and had us in the car with in two minutes. Which a good thing or we might have gotten to the MTC too early. (Good thing Brock's genius dad factored in extra time for possible delays. When I woke up thinking schedule, I kind of knew something would happen.)
We parked across the street from the MTC and took a few pictures and walked over to the temple where we ran into Brock's Friend Micheal Miller. They hugged each other like brothers, I am not sure how close of friends they were in school but on this campus they seemed like they were in it together. Amazing how the feelings of Brotherhood are immediate when you are in the service of your Father.
We only had a few minutes to visit and then it was our turn to experience "the curb". It was every bit as painful as we feared but it was so quick we didn't have to suffer long. Like ripping off a band aide he was off. I gotta hand it to the Host who met us at the curb. He was so polite and kind to Tonya and the boys. He greeted Brock with a hand shake and asked where he was going. He then shook Brody's hand and asked where he was going. True to form Brody said, "Home". It was funny and really helped lighten the mood which was pretty heavy at the time.
We could tell the elder was dragging his feet so we could hug and kiss good bye. Even now the tears flood my eye thinking of that embrace. I will miss Brock for the child he has been and I look forward to seeing the man he will become. We love that boy and we will miss him sorely, but I can tell you he is doing the right thing serving our Father in Heaven and will be successful in bringing the gospel into the lives of many of His children. As we pulled away from the curb my heart was breaking but by the time we hit the street my tears had dried up and the empty feeling I had in my heart was soon filled and I was completely calm and confident that everything was the way it was supposed to be.
Any parent getting ready to send a missionary out can be assured this may feel like the toughest thing you will every have to go through but the spirit follows these young men and women and I know, all things will be made up and returned to their perfect order if we just have the faith to see us through the trial.
I am so grateful for all the tender mercies. I am grateful for my sons faith, the cashier at Golden Corral, The police officer, the high school friend and a caring MTC host; but most of all, I am grateful to my Father in Heaven for blessing my life with such a faithful son who is serving a mission... Officially today.
