Setting Apart Sunday

Today started hard.  And by hard, I mean it started with a meltdown.  I woke everyone up for church and went back upstairs to check on the girls- and there I found 6 people in the girls bathroom.  It's become a gathering place- which is sweet to me.  Emma was doing Avery's hair, and Sadie was waiting to get hers done next.  I walked out quickly because I felt the dam breaking and the tears fell- and over and over I kept thinking about Sadie leaving and our dynamic changing and it's so hard.  It's so hard.  In the same minute I was comforted by the spirit and my thoughts turned to a Savior who understands all hard things and to a Father in Heaven who had to give up so much more than I am to let His son go-- I don't compare this to that-- I just found strength in knowing that in sacrifice there are blessings... and there's power to draw on and I am very grateful.

In our stake the Stake Presidency likes to come to the missionary's home, rather than have the missionary come to the Stake Center for their setting apart.  Roarke explained it to me as the Stake Presidency just likes to feel and leave the spirit that floods in when you do a missionary setting apart in the home rather than at the Stake offices.  I like that.  They also like to set the missionary apart the Sunday before they enter the MTC, which I am not loving so much because with Sadie flying out on Wednesday morning, that gives us Monday and Tuesday where she is actually a missionary, but not on her mission.  Trying to live mission rules with no music, movies, early bedtime, early wake up, no phone, no email, etc-- is tricky.  Sadie is worried about it because it's important to her to be completely obedient and that's not as easy when you are still at home and you don't feel the change of that call yet.  It also means, as the Stake President explained, that she needs a companion all the time between now and Wednesday-- so I'll happily be that-- and Emma at night-- they've been companions all their life-- and these next three nights-- those late night talks (that will need to end early for missionary rules sake) are bittersweet.

We aren't supposed to record the setting apart blessing- but I was prayerful (and fasted today) that it'd be meaningful to her and sustaining to us.   I am counting on the strength that will come from her official calling as a missionary- and the blessings that we will all feel from it as we begin this journey.  I know the Lord will sanctify her efforts and our support. President Woolstenhume and Roarke set Sadie apart. It was beautiful and in a lot of ways I felt the passing of the baton back to Heavenly Father- she is on His errand- this is His work... and we are all grateful for the privilege of sharing in it.

After the blessing, President Woohlstenhume invited us to each write down some impressions we had during the blessing so that Sadie could read later the things that stood out to us.  That was a sweet experience and as we shared them, and then our testimonies, I know we were all buoyed up in the very unique and personal ways that we each needed.