700 Days

Today marks 700 days.  What a wonderful journey it has been. I remember when Nic first left looking at the calendar on my phone scrolling through the months and thinking, I will never make it, this is sooooo long. And it has been, so long. But I have made it, and I am so grateful for the past two years.  It has been an honor to be a Missionary mom and to share my son with the wonderful saints in Argentina. I know that he has made a difference to so many.

You know it is an interesting thing that we do as members of the church when it comes to sending our children on missions.  Who else does this?  Who else even thinks about sending their kids to a foreign country for two years, not being able to see them and only talk to them about four times.  We do it because we know what we know, because we love the gospel and know the blessings it brings to families and because we know that there is growth and experiences that cannot be found in any other way.  

There are so many challenges that come with being a parent. You spend your WHOLE life being one. It never stops.  You look back and wonder what, if anything, you have done that was right in teaching your kids. What will they remember about me as a parent. What can I leave them to tuck away for days when I am not here to listen to them or hug them.  I love being a mother. It is all I have ever wanted to do.  The mission experience is a place where you reap your rewards somewhat. Where you find out that maybe you really have done some things right.  My children are perfect to me. I am so proud of each one of them. I can’t wait to have them all together again and be able to sit off to the side and watch them be together. It is my favorite thing to do.  

Two years has been a really long time to have Nic gone. He fills our home when he is here and we have missed that. We are so proud of him and we will be glad to see him in a couple of weeks!  Countdown is the best part!!!

50 Days!

Today we reach the 50 day mark. It is so amazing that we are here. I am beginning to get nervous about everything and my stomach is feeling the stress. There is so much to do and I am feeling a little overwhelmed. These past couple of months have slipped by almost unnoticed. It seems that the mission is speeding up and that my time as a Missionary mom is about to end. I feel a lot of sadness about that. There is something so precious about being the mother of a Missionary. It is an experience I have treasured twice. There are blessings that come to you specifically. You know that Heavenly Father is aware of you and how much you miss your child. The letting go of your Missionary as they leave home is difficult but coming home also has it challenges. Having already experienced this once I am well aware of the changes that I am about to be faced with. This has made it twice as difficult to let go of my son this time. I knew that he would never be the same young man that I sent to the MTC almost two years ago. It is truly bittersweet. We are excited to have our family together again and to be able to spend some time with Nic before there are other demands on his time.  WE love you Nic!

100 days left

Today Elder Hall has 100 days left in the mission.  I still remember when I posted that he had been gone for 100 days. I wrote, 

Elder Hall has been gone for 100 days.  I would like to say it has flown by but it really hasn't, for me anyway.  When I think about how long the one hundred days that have passed compared to the 630 ahead of me it seems almost like he has hardly been gone at all.  Things are seeming a little easier these day though. I suppose that is mostly because of the joy that he is finding in his service.  It is hard to feel to sad when he is so upbeat and happy.  He continues to do amazing and is charming the Argentines with that smile and sweet spirit.  He is loving the mission,  so what more can I ask for.  Still missing that boy more than I can express and every minute of my day has him on my mind, but grateful, so very grateful to be his mommy:)

We are beginning to feel the excitement and feel like we can finally talk about him coming home and not have it seem like it is forever away.  We are however, sad for him and know that he will be torn when it comes time to leave the people and country he loves so much.  Tomorrow we will finally be back into the double digits again. We love you Elder Hall and can't wait to have you home again.

600 Days

Today is Nic’s 600^th day in the mission. He is happy and content and loving his time there. He is busy and again training a new missionary. His time is growing short and we are getting excited to have him back home. There is some sadness involved in that however. I am looking forward to having my family together again, but I will never get to enjoy having a missionary and being a missionary mom again. It has been a great experience to see what Nic has done with his time there and the blessing that he has been to others. He has been a wonderful missionary. Today we have 114 days until he comes home! We love you Elder Hall :)

200 days left

Well we reached another mission milestone!  Today marks 200 more days left in the mission for Elder Hall. It is starting to go by quickly and yet it feels like he has been gone from us for such a long time. We are getting excited to think about the things that we will be doing and having him here with us!  He is soooooo happy right now and enjoying every minute of the next 200 days.  I am so proud of him and so glad that he is loving his time there. He is an awesome missionary! Love you Elder Hall!

Elder Hall's Mission Dad

   

About six weeks ago Nic's trainer, Elder Forbes came home from Argentina. I had the pleasure of going to the homecoming and enjoyed listening to an amazing young man. Friday night we were able to find time for schedules to work out and have him over for some Cafe' Rio. It was soooo fun getting to know him and hearing stories about my sweet son. He just barely saw him the day he left!!!!!!  What a great missionary and we are so lucky to have had him train Nic. They had a blast together and he taught Nic how to be a missionary. Daniel and Alan had a great time talking about the crazy things about Argentina. We hope he will come back again often!  I know that he and Nic will be buds forever!

500 Days

                                       

Today Nicolas has been gone for 500 days. What a long time that is! I have truely felt every day of it! He is doing amazing, just like we all knew he would. He is happy and loving every minute of being a missionary. He is aware that his time is growing shorter and he is sad about that for sure. I think coming home is a distant reality that he is trying not to focus on. He loves the work and every email lets us know how happy he is to be part of the Missionary force. As of today we have 214 days left. I never thought we would make it this far, but it truely has been a blessing for all of us. We love him sooooo much and we are so proud of him every minute of the day.

Sister Monroe

This beautiful young lady is now a Missionary!  She has captured a piece of all our hearts and we are so excited for her and grateful to have been able in a small way to watch her through this process.  She will be an amazing Missionary and that smile that lights up a room will touch the hearts of so many!  We love you Sister Monroe! ENGLAND LEEDS MISSION!

400 Days

As of today Nicolas has been gone 400 days. In my mind it feels like 4000. We have almost 10 months left in the mission. It has been a wonderful experience for all of us especially him. I have had a chance as a mom to observe the changes in my son these past 400 days. One of the biggest things I have noticed is the change in email content. It has been interesting to watch the focus change from home to nothing but the mission and the people. In the beginning the emails were more about what was happening at home. Then somewhere along the line the focus of the emails changed. Now I notice that the beginning of the emails when he comments on what I have written him about home is more like, ok I will pacify mom and sound interested but home doesn't even seem real. Then it is on to the meat of the email where he tells us about the things and the people that are very close to his heart, the here and now. It is all part of the process. He loves his mission and the work. He is the model missionary and he is soooo sad that his time is flying by. I am finding myself a little sad sometimes that it will be over as well. What a blessing it has been to have a Missionary.

One Year Left

About a month ago in Nic's weekly email he told us that his mission was being cut by three weeks and that he would be home on Jan. 14, 2014.  It has been surprising to me what a difference that 3 weeks has made to all of us. To me it has opened up a light at the end of a tunnel and gave me something to look to. To him it has been a major bummer!  As the time has passed a little since he gave us that news, I have come to think alot more about him instead of me and my joy and having my son home just a little bit earlier.  I  am feeling a little bit sad that his time is winding down.  I will never have a chance to enjoy this experience with my son again. Right now he is happy, in a great place and doing something that he loves.  Real life is thousands of miles away.  I will be somewhat sad to see him finish this amazing journey and I know he will be sad too. We are super proud of him and the Missionary that he is. He loves the work with all his heart and is so proud to be serving his Heavenly Father. We love him so much!  January 14, 2014 :)