Set apart as a missionary

Jonah was set apart as a missionary on June 8th.  Sawyer came to church with us that day and then spent the day at our house.  Dad came over for dinner before Jonah was set apart.  Jonah took Sawyer home and said goodbye to her and then went straight to the church.  That was rough because it was very hard for him to say goodbye to Sawyer, so he came to the church very upset. 

We met him over there at 5:30 PM.  President Gardner talked to Jonah for a bit first and then called us all in. 

It was really hard to walk in and see Jonah upset.  When President Gardner started the blessing Wyatt started sobbing and it broke my heart.  I knew he was going to miss Jonah, but I didn't realize how much until that moment.  It was emotional for all of us.  

I'm glad grandpa was there.  His advice to Jonah was, "Work as if it all depends on you and pray as if it all depends on the Lord."  He also told Jonah and Sawyer that he used to tell missionaries to drive by the Salt Lake Temple and wave at the angel Moroni and if he waves back then you know your girlfriend will wait for you. Ha! We all thought that was pretty funny.

I wish I would have written this down sooner because now I can't remember what President Gardner said in his blessing.  It was a beautiful blessing that brought us all comfort. 

Elder Loosli. It was fun to watch him put on his missionary tag. 

I can't believe we have two adult children.  They are amazing adults and we are so proud of them.

I don't think these four realized just how much they love each other until that night.  It makes me so happy to see my kids love each other. 

Watching my boys say goodbye has been one of the hardest things. It also makes me so happy that they love each other so much. 

We spent the rest of the evening hanging out.  Jonah got the computer ready and set up for home MTC.  Maddox had all of Jonah's friends send him a video saying goodbye to Jonah and saying what they love about him.  Jonah loved that and it was really hard for him.  He loves his friends so much and saying goodbye to them is so hard.  After that emotional night he said he wished he could just get on a plane and leave.  It was hard to say goodbye to everyone and then know he was going to do it again next week at his farewell.

We went through some of the stuff in Jonah's room.  We had a good laugh while he read us some of his journals from elementary school.  I have been feeling the clock ticking away since Jonah got his call, but now the clock was winding down and it was so hard to realize that we only had a week left with him. I just soaked in every moment of family time!