Mom's Mission Prep

Moms are definitely suited to the tasks of preparing a missionary for a mission...especially physically.  It's very similar to the daily tasks I have performed for years.  Mundane tasks that now take on more significance as I consider who will and won't be doing them.  It's almost like the culmative exam of motherhood.  I think that it's been more of an offering then a test. 

Since Kylie's call in February my thoughts have been focused on this week's events.   But this end and this beginning has been a far off mirage in time.  My mind has wandered around this future event, examining all the details of a sister missionary's days and nights of service.  I imagined routines through my sweet and capable daughter's eyes.  While Kylie continued finishing out the semester at UVU we talked of humidity, baggage weight, and biking in a skirt.  We discovered problems and considered solutions as we searched separately and then together when she moved back home.   Through purchases we discovered that some of the typical looking sister missionary outfits just didn't suit her tiny frame at all.  We kept trying and finally discovered her style.  I think Kylie began to imagine more clearly the kind of sister missionary she wanted to be, and could see the reality of it moving towards her.  She had moments of worry and panic and others of joy and excitement.  She meticulously counted down the days.  I mentally checked off the lists.

Through this whole process we've tried to anticipate details and contingences of her future life, yet there has been a simple peace in the unknown.  She began her packing Monday night.  I've thought often of the apostles of Jesus and the apostles of the restoration going out with little preparation and being simply provided for.   There in the piles on the couch and the floor and the suitcase were evidence that she too, was provided for.  It was a rewarding experience to see everything coming together; the list of items to sew, alter, or purchase were checked off.  All our careful finds placed neatly into two bags.  Each piece representing days and hours of effort, sacrifice, love.  There they were- my husband's and my offerings to her.  And there she was- her offering to Him.  We couldn't be happier.