Today....the MTC.....

Oh WOW! What an emotional day for the Schroeder clan. We got up early because we wanted to all go to breakfast with Rob before we took him to the MTC at 1:30pm. He choose Village Inn...(today being free pie day LOL) We had a good breakfast together, then got on our way to Provo. That was a long quiet drive. I'm sure we were all wrestling with our own emotions and feelings about sending Rob out to serve the Lord, but selfishly knowing we were going to miss him terribly for those 2 years. Traffic was ok, the day was actually beautiful in spite of the haze around. We picked Kati up at SLCC since she had to go to school this morning, and she was hungry so we stopped at a Wendy's in Orem so she could get something and the rest of us could do the potty break thing. It was pretty obvious that Rob was a new missionary...there he stood in his suit, the rest of us dressed down...in Provo/Orem area...on a Wednesday...looking somewhat terrified....we got lots of smiles from those around us....Yes, we were there to drop off our Missionary. As we drove towards the MTC, lots of memories sprang up since I lived in the area for several years. We drove through BYU campus...passed the Mariott Center....up towards the Provo Temple... and there we saw it...the MTC with lots of young men standing on the curb dressed in their best suits as older men wearing reflective green vests were directing cars/families towards those young men "Hosts". We were a little early and we wanted to take some pictures and say goodbyes...looking around at the parking lots across the street and up by the temple, there were a lot of families doing the very same thing...pictures, hugs, tears and scared looks on handsomely dressed young men...wow! The Lord is watching all these families dropping off their young sons for Him to watch over for 2 years....I am sure He was shedding a few tears himself knowing these folks and their life stories....everyone has something....feelings...fears...trials and He knows them all....He especially knows the sacrifice it will and is taking for families to let their boys/men go for 2 years as well as these Young Men...they are 19yrs old...they are changing their lives drastically for something they believe in and want to share with the world. Well, we parked...took our pictures....hugs...tears...I loves you's....goodbyes...then Dad and I took our son to the MTC. We turned into the MTC and we were immediately greeted by a gentleman with a reflective green vest...he was so nice, joking a little trying to put us all at ease then directed us to our curb..the curb we were to let our son off and to not see him for the next 2 years. I will never forget that curb or where it was....it will always be in my heart...a curb for heavens sake, but that is where I said goodbye, hugged, Kissed and told my son I loved him before another young missionary took him under his wing to get him to the right place and make this experience as pleasant as can be. Rob was so worried...the unknown...but yes, so was his mom and dad. When that "HOST" missionary came right up to the car, gave a few quick instructions, took some of his bags, let us say our final goodbyes then wisked him off to the world of a missionary I knew Rob was in the right place and he would be taken care of....still scared, but ready to learn and teach. Yes, I cried and have since...I miss him already, but I'm his mom..that's what we do :)