Saying Goodbye...MTC June 19, 2019

Well all I can say is that this day came way too fast! I have dreaded and looked forward to it for 19 years. We had our last breakfast at Granny Annies...can't believe we didn't take a picture. We played our last game of badminton, then got ready and headed for provo. The whole way down I kept asking Gabi if it had hit her yet that she was really doing this. She had a big smile on her face..."Nope." "even though you won't see Mason for 3 years?"..."Nope." We went to the Provo temple grounds to take pictures and say our goodbyes. There were families everywhere doing the same thing. Gabi pulled out a bag of stuff and passed out gifts for each of us. What?! She gave each of us a book of Mormon that she had written a special message in and she told us that she had underlined all the same passages in each of them that she had in her own. Oh my goodness that must have taken FOREVER. She also made a book mark for each of us that she had written a quote about the book of Mormon that applied to each of us individually. She also gave each of us a necklace or a key ring. Mine said missionary mom. Kylies was a necklace with the temple because she would be going to the temple next year. Mason and Diegos' said Armor of God and Esteban's said "with faith nothing will be impossible to you." Who is this girl? She is going to do amazing things. We gave hugs, took pictures and loaded back into the car. Ok, my heart felt like it was going to rip right out of my chest. This is not OK!!! We pulled in and they put a pink paper on our windshield so they knew we had a sister missionary. As we pulled into the parking garage there was a darling sister missionary waiting for us and helped us unload our bags. She told us not to worry and that she would be taking care of Gabi. I couldn't even answer her because if I opened my mouth some awful noise would come out. I was trying so hard to keep it together for Gabi and I did. We took a last family picture and gave our last hug and off she went with a big smile on her face. I couldn't hold back anymore and the tears just flowed. It's going to be a long 18 months without my little sidekick. Seriously, how to people do this. OUCH!