Called to serve

Talk about a whirlwind of emotions. This day was hard.

For some reason Merritt leaving on his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been a larger indicator of life changing and time passing than my own marriage. Ryan and I just fell so naturally into married life that it seemed like I'd been married forever. But man, this? This is tough.

Our feelings have been a mixture of two things. Elated, because what he is doing is amazing - Giving two years of his life to the Lord and serving the people of Argentina. Teaching them the restored gospel of Jesus Christ so that they can be with their families forever in the presence of God. But also so sad, because to maximize his time for the main purpose of being out and teaching people, he can only email us once a week, write us letters via snail mail, and talk to us on Skype on Mother's Day and Christmas each year.

The Missionary Training Center (MTC) that Merr was assigned to live at, study Spanish at, and prepare to teach people about the gospel at for the next 6 weeks, is the main complex (there are several worldwide) located in Provo, UT. This was awesome because it meant that I got to pick him up from the airport, spend those last few hours with him and then drop him off, since Ryan and I are currently living in Provo. We went to Chipotle for one last time (don't think they have those in rural Argentina), then stopped by the Provo Temple to get some pictures and call our family. 

I held it together until the last hug on the MTC sidewalk. As he walked away with his attendant, I shouted "I love you!" and totally choked. After that it was a lost cause. As I drove out of the MTC with tears streaming down my face, the attendants who directed the drivers could see me and shouted all sorts of nice things at me like "He's gonna do so great!" and "He'll be just fine!" I'm sure they deal with that sort of thing a whole lot. [: It made me laugh through my tears, which I appreciated.

Not being able to talk to my brother has been real hard. I've been having thoughts like "Oh we should have Merr over for dinner tonight," or "I wonder how school's going for Merritt," and I get out my phone to text him. Then I remember that he's studying to become a missionary and as amazing as that is, you can't help but worry and hope that he's happy and doing okay.

Merritt is the third Krop to ever go on a mission, as my dad and his immediate family are converts. I know Merr will be an incredible representative of Jesus Christ. He is humble and kind and strong. I know he'll be directed by the Spirit to work with his companion and find those who have been prepared to receive the gospel. I know what he'll teach them is 100% true because it is the doctrine of Christ and because it makes me happy when I myself live by it. But shoot, I'm going to miss my brother a whole stinking lot. 

See you in two years, Elder Krop.