The Adventure Begins

It's been a crazy ride since Arrie opened her mission call in July. Back then it seemed like it would be forever before she would be on her way and now the time has finally come. Last night she was set apart as a missionary in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to teach the people of Natal Brazil about their savior Jesus Christ and His restored gospel.

The Airport became an adventure. Robert was thinking that Arrie was flying out on United Airlines. He also thought that terminal 2 was for United Airlines. When we walked into the terminal we saw that terminal 2 is Delta Airlines. We all rushed over to terminal 1 and walked up to the counter to check Arrie in. Then she looked at her paperwork and realized she's flying out on Delta so we all rushed back to terminal 2.  I guess that's what we get for not double checking before we left the house. 

As we lifted her first suitcase on the scale at Delta it was 52 lbs. Oh well, I guess we were going to be paying out to get all her stuff there with her. Then the attendant informed us that Brazil allows 2 checked bags, each 70 lbs, not 50 lbs. Dang, she could have brought so much more crap. We then opened her carry on that weighed a ton and a half and moved all her books and everything else she wouldn't need to see again until she got to Brazil to her big bags.  Her carry on was suddenly much easier to maneuver.

As we finished checking her in we overheard 2 elders speaking to a man near us saying they were going to the San Paulo MTC. Yeah, my baby girl was not alone. We walked over and talked to them. They both had been at the Provo MTC for 3 weeks and finally got their visa's to go to Brazil.

Now all checked in it was time for the hard part, good-byes. We all walked up to security and gave quick hugs. Like pulling off a Band-Aid it's always easier if it's quick.

And off she went. We watched as she made her way through security and meet back up with the elders who we had just meet. It's a strange emotion of happiness, concern and pride to see her off on her adventure to serve the Lord. The emotion is so strong that it seems to leak out of your eyes a little bit but no huge break down for this momma, I promised my baby girl I would cry and I will keep my promise. From now on we will be sharing Arrie's letters and experience on this blog. We thank everyone for the love and support you have shared with our family and our sweet missionary.