And He's Off!

I should be long ago asleep but I am struggling to shut down. It was another emotional day. But Elder Kodren Hann Egbert is safely delivered to the California Riverside Mission Home and he assured me in an email tonight that there is no need to worry, he knows he will be safe and he is doing the right thing. Yes, he is missing home and the people here terribly, but he is still upbeat. The girls and I got to have a very brief speaker phone conversation with him as he was at the airport before he boarded the plane to California. He was using the cellphone of a good man who was serving these missionaries. He had so much he wanted to share, especially about his recent experiences, with his big sister who is a returned missionary and understands what he is experiencing. And we all had so much that we wanted to tell him but he stopped us short and told us that he really needed to hang up because he was the first to use the phone and he wanted to make certain that others got ample amount of time to speak with their moms or families. I'm not gonna lie, I was not graceful about any of this and I was quite emotional as his voice disappeared. But now, tonight, as I am sitting here meditating through it all I am struck with the fact that this one small thing is a reminder to me of just why he is going to be a great messenger for the Savior. He is such a caregiver. He is going to take such good care of the people who come into his sphere of influence and people will find so much comfort in his presence. I am grateful for this reminder that even as my whole being aches for me to be comforted by one of his enormous hugs, I am not lost and I am not really in need and he has been sent out to find those who are in such need. And so it begins...