All good things....
.....must come to an end. In a little over 24 hours our missionary will be home. It is difficult to find words to express our feelings right now. Masked in the tedium and panic of preparing every needfull thing, we do find a moment here and there to reflect on the meaning of it all. We are fixing and cleaning and making the physical preparations for his homecoming. Finishing some home improvement projects we could have done a year ago, but waited 'till the last moment. Bordering on hysteria, but as we grow nearer the time of his return. things are falling into place and it looks like we made it.
As we look back to the day we left Richard at the MTC, you can't help feel some trepidation at "abandoning" your child like that. It takes a great leap of faith. But over the two years' you see the experiences, life lessons that cannot be taught, but only lived. That kind of growth can only come by living through the promptings of the spirit and by the tender mercies of the Lord.
With the exception of having a family, going on a mission is still the most noble thing I have ever done. I continually think about it, refer to it, talk about it, and remember those days. I have a great love for all things Italian and especially the Italian people. It's funny how a brief, two years out of ones life can not only set the template for future experience but be the defining moment as well.
I don't like the phrase "the best two years" because all the years since then have been the best two years, but they were certainly the most seminal two years, the greatest period of growth, the the most selfless two years, the most caring two years, the most spiritual two years, the most rewarding two years, and the briefest two years.
The beauty is that now Richard has had these same and similar experiences. Although he has a lot of living to do and will have many great, hard, rewarding, and incredible adventures on this crazy road of life, he will be firmly grounded and can remember these two years as an anchor during times of tumolt, he will look back on these two years as maybe not the best two years, but the period when he experienced the most growth, learned the most and came to the realization that by serving others, you find yourself.
As we look back to the day we left Richard at the MTC, you can't help feel some trepidation at "abandoning" your child like that. It takes a great leap of faith. But over the two years' you see the experiences, life lessons that cannot be taught, but only lived. That kind of growth can only come by living through the promptings of the spirit and by the tender mercies of the Lord.
With the exception of having a family, going on a mission is still the most noble thing I have ever done. I continually think about it, refer to it, talk about it, and remember those days. I have a great love for all things Italian and especially the Italian people. It's funny how a brief, two years out of ones life can not only set the template for future experience but be the defining moment as well.
I don't like the phrase "the best two years" because all the years since then have been the best two years, but they were certainly the most seminal two years, the greatest period of growth, the the most selfless two years, the most caring two years, the most spiritual two years, the most rewarding two years, and the briefest two years.
The beauty is that now Richard has had these same and similar experiences. Although he has a lot of living to do and will have many great, hard, rewarding, and incredible adventures on this crazy road of life, he will be firmly grounded and can remember these two years as an anchor during times of tumolt, he will look back on these two years as maybe not the best two years, but the period when he experienced the most growth, learned the most and came to the realization that by serving others, you find yourself.
posted by Richards dad at 7:25 AM
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