For all of the songs and years and conversations that we've had about preparing to go on a mission, there is still so much that is new and surprising about this whole experience.
First off, we LOVE having a missionary. We pray for Leah in every prayer, we connect with her every day (via one-sided conversations on FB, email, pictures, and voice memos that she can only react to with emojis), and we love Tuesday P-Days! There are many things about her mission that are just as we expected, and many things that are coming as a surprise!
THE EXPECTED-
*We miss her! All the time, every day, no way around it. She is doing the most amazing things in Arizona, and we miss her so much. Just as we expected we would.
*She has good moments and bad moments as a missionary, just like she does in real life. As expected.
* The sunset and scenery pics, the smiling missionary selfies, and the beautiful focus on the gospel in her every day life is apparent in her pictures.
* Some weeks she would want to spend a lot of her P day time talking to to us, and some days she wouldn't. I love when her days are filled with other fun things to do, and I love when her day is filled with time to chat like we love to do. I love it all!
* She is driving the nicest car and living in the crappiest places of her life so far. Typical missionary life.
*She is thriving as she works, learns, and serves!
THE UNEXPECTED-
*The bugs! Wow, Leah is basically an entymologist by this point. For every picture of missionary work that we see, there is a creepy crawly discovery there too!
*The infamous sister missionary Dr. Martins have not been Leah's favorite shoes, and not for lack of trying- she has given that stiff leather her all and all it gives her in return is blisters!
*Grocery shopping makes me sad. I don't need to buy pretzels because no one here likes them as much as she does. I experienced this while she was at college last year, but at least then we got to go out occasionally and buy her some food!
*Four comps in four transfers! This is a HUGE blessing, because one of the greatest perks of serving a mission is expanding your social network as wide as possible. Leah is off to a great start!
*The feelings about her mission president- who is a lovely and kind person that she respects, I'm sure. Leah, like the rest of us, is no stranger to Church leaders. She has lived with one for most of her life! We've had many, many in our home in recent years- the Iowa Iowa City mission presidents, Area 70s, the presiding bishop and lots of general authorities have all come into our house, taken off their shoes, and dealt with the sniff down from Laney just as the missionaries and the members and the friends we invite into our house do. That is awesome, and it possibly makes it just a bit harder to see these wonderful and regular men as MEN WHO MUST BE OBEYED. I'm sure that that is in no way the vibe that her mission president or any other man she has met on the mission has demanded to be treated at all, but Leah has the somewhat unique and sensible position of knowing that even chuch leaders are just people. She commented recently that she is excited to see how her mission leader, who started a week before she did, will grow on his mission. Fair point!
* Decisions about packages- more than ever before, we have reached the "just because we can't doesn't mean we should" phase of parenting. Just because we can send Leah a package every week to ease her annoyances (loud box fan, I'm looking at you), does that mean we should? If she was serving outside of the US we proboably wouldn't even consider utilitizing Amazon Prime to the extent that we are now.... but she's not and so we do and most of the time I don't think twice about it but once in a while I wonder if we should. Her grandma sent her a package of chocolate on ice recently, so I know I'm not the only one taking full advantage of the trusty US postal system.
* The random moments that I burst into tears. Some weeks more than others, but boy, my mother heart is more tender than ever, and I just miss my peanut. I try to picture her poofing into our dinner table or family prayer and giving us all great big hugs.
* That she is still 100% Leah! I couldn't be happier about that fact, but I think I have spent enough time wondering what she will be like after 18 months of service that when I get to see her tried-and-true personality just as I remember it shining through on the weekly, I love it!
* Navigating two-factor authentication with a missionary who doesn't have access to a phone or the ability to open links. Sheesh, what a nightmare. Leah figured it out though!
*The blessing and annoyance that Facebook video calls can be. We all try to cram in as much time as we can on Tuesdays, but that makes one-on-one and/or in-depth conversations a little tricky. We are still trying to figure out the best way to spend the little time that we do have together, but as long as there are smiles and connections, we call it a win!
*My hesitation to consider ALL good things in our lives a direct blessing that we have received as a result of having a missionary in our family, because that would imply that ALL bad things in life might be a result of making different life choices. It doesn't work that way. Tamara Runia just gave an excellent talk about this in general conference yesterday, but the talks aren't up yet for me to quote it here. Look it up! And trust that God's timing and love are the most important factors of our lives!
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