I can't believe Sister Rodda is already in Washington. She left yesterday (Dec. 2). We had a chance to talk to her before she flew away. She sounded fantastic!! She is truly loving every minute of it so far. The MTC was good to her. Well, I already know that I need to get better at sharing her letters with everyone. Or at least a little faster. I thought I would highlight her stay at the MTC:
- When we first drove up to the curb at the MTC (yes, the dreaded curbside drop-off) - I really felt like I was going to be ok. No frantic hanging on to her ankles or anything. As she got out of the car, the very first thing we heard was "RODDA!!" Seriously?! She already knew people there. Shane and I looked at each other and at that moment - I knew she was going to love every minute. Everywhere she goes she makes friends. I also knew that she was in capable hands and that all of my mom-failures would work out. She'd have to figure it out if she didn't want to wear dirty clothes and eat PBandJs for every meal, right? Sorry, Hayden, no chance for you. You will start doing your own laundry and making meals, like asap. Talk about throwing your baby to a pack of wolves. I really should have prepared her a little better. Ugh. She grabbed her bags and I could tell she was ready to go. How many times can you say good-bye? That was when my emotions surfaced and I really thought I was going to lose my cookies. I looked around and noticed no one else was crying. Anywhere. Just me. Big, fat, ugly tears. My heart was ripped from my chest. How is it that you can feel so heartbroken yet so excited at the same time. Talk about emotions all over the place. She walked off with her escort (a cute sister heading to Tempe, AZ) (eek) and she was gone. Well, thank goodness for an amazing husband who knew ice cream would make me feel better. And it did.
- So... do I really have to wait 6 days to hear from her??? They would let me know if she bailed and never made it inside, right? We heard that they encourage the missionaries to write to their families as soon as possible. So with that knowledge - I stalked the mailbox. Nothing. And finally! On Monday we got our first letter. Actually 2 letters!! Because, oops, she forgot to mail the first one. Forgot? I'm dieing here, dear daughter.
- Sister Rodda joined the choir! She participated in the Thanksgiving Devotional. I would have loved to seen her - but it wasn't broadcast for us at home. Trust me I tried to find it!!
- Her MTC companion was from New Zealand! She and Sister Mather got along beautifully! I have no doubt that having a companion like that is instrumental in those first few days/weeks away from home. I am so grateful!
- She told us that she helped an Elder respond to a Dear John letter (poor guy!) and then promptly put his bragging rights as a fast runner to shame and beat him in a foot race. Haha! That's my girl!!
No comments:
Post a Comment