First Day without Hannah... :(

Calli, Connor, and Hannah

September 18, 2014~

Our first day without Hannah.  Both a sad and a happy day.  How can that be? you ask.  Simple.  I know whose hands I’ve given her over to.  The Lord’s hands.  He has a special place in His heart for His missionaries. 

Well, I’ll be writing on this, Hannah’s Blog, from now on.  She’s on her mission and isn’t allowed to use technology other than that for mission purposes…so, with that said…  Oh!  But--I will be posting Hannah's letters here as well, for those of you who would like to read them and see pictures.  You can also choose to 'follow' this blog, which means, you'll be notified when it is updated.  On one of the sidebars, there should be that option to 'follow' her.  ;)

We’re so proud of Hannah’s desire to serve the Lord by going on a mission.  We know what this sacrifice means.  Right off the top of the list, it means that Hannah has willingly given up 18 months of her life to serve the Lord full time.  She now has a completely new routine: getting up by 6:30 a.m. to shower, eat, and get ready for her day.  Then she will dedicate an hour to her personal study of the scriptures and prayer.  Then she will dedicate another hour to studying with her missionary companion (since they are always in twos for their own protection), and pray some more as they put their day’s agenda together.  This requires faith in the Lord that they will know His will on where to go and who to meet.  The Lord already knows who He wants them to meet for that day, and if they are in tune with His spirit, they will find those whom He has already prepared. 

This is beautiful, I think.  Beautiful that our Father in heaven and our Savior, Jesus Christ, know their children so well and know who has been prepared to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I am so grateful for a daughter who has prepared herself to receive divine inspiration on the part of His children.  As much as I miss her already, Hannah has willingly sacrificed these next 18 months in order to bring the gospel message to God’s children who might want to know His will for them.  For you see, there are certain things that we must do if we want to live with our Father again.  Heaven has many levels; levels for all His children to be happy and complete.  But not all those levels will be where our Heavenly Father dwells.  I, personally, want to be with my family in the highest degree of heaven where we can have eternal life and the full measure of God’s blessings to his children.  He wishes to give us everything He has, and honestly, my goal is to be with Him someday.  Nowhere else would I be as happy and productive as I want to be than there. 

I believe Heaven is a very busy place preparing for the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  A very busy place, might I reemphasize.  I want to be a part of the beautiful thing that is rolling forth, that stone cut without hands, rolling forth to consume the earth—that is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  And I’m grateful to have a daughter that I can support in her endeavors to help bring this to pass during this hastening of God’s work here on earth.  I might not be able to do a lot of things, but I am happy to raise my family unto the Lord.  They are good kids. 

The time is nearing, folks.  Our Savior truly will reign here upon this earth soon.  There will be one kingdom only upon this earth.  How will that happen?  By all nations bowing to Him.  There are difficult times ahead, but through following God’s prophet on the earth today, we can be prepared and be a help to the people of this earth.  Things are happening all around us that have been prophesied in the scriptures.  We are in the last hour.  My daughter is part of the hastening of God’s work upon the earth in these last days.  I’m grateful for her sacrifice.  I miss her terribly already, but I know she’s in good hands.  I know she has a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I know that she will be okay.  I’m grateful for her sweet spirit and testimony.  She’ll be fine.  I know she will.  She has much left to do upon this earth. 

So, Hannah, God speed and God be with you til we meet again!

Love,

Mom

'This is the Place' Monument

Salt Lake Temple

Chuck-a-Rama is one of Hannah's favorite places to eat (all the kids, really...) and they gave her a free lunch because she was a missionary.  Cool! :)

It was very bright and very hot in front of the Provo, Utah Temple.

Enjoying the last of our family time before we have to say good-bye...

Saying good-bye was difficult for all of us...

...especially for the kids.  This was heartbreaking, but sweet.  I'm glad they love each other.

If you don't know what the face of sacrifice looks like, here it is...
I'm missing her already.
But Hannah's doing a very good thing.  We're very proud of her sacrifice.

See you in 18 months!!!