On Sunday....

I ended this post This past week...one word...BUSY with to be continued sort of.  Sunday started out busy, like the past week had.  You see, we finally had 1am church, which I have a love/hate relationship with.  I love that I get to sleep in but I hate that the morning feels wasted because we are being lazy in getting ready for church.  I hate that, during school time, we get home, eat dinner, and then it is basically time for bed.  Okay, not quite because some say we are vampires...I especially feel that way lately....but still, it is just not my favorite time.  But I guess it is better than 3, right?
Sunday started at 7am.  Actually even earlier than that, I was up at 5:40am!  Yes you read that horrible hour correctly.  It was made even worse because we went to be close to 2am!  We were having family over for dinner on Sunday, but that will come later in this post.  Why were we up at such an insane hour when, in fact, we could have slept in?  Garrett had to report to the Stake President and the High Council prior to his mission.  He had to bear his testimony and tell them where he was going and answer a few questions they had.  Parents were invited to listen to their missionaries report, hence the reason we were up at such a crazy hour.
Garrett was the first of five elders to report; three were leaving on missions and two returning.  Actually the funny thing, there are two boys with the name Garrett, from our stake, leaving this week!  Anyway, Garrett stood up, said the basic stuff:  name, where he was going, who is mission president is and then bore his testimony.  It was a simple, yet incredibly powerful testimony.  One that brought tears to my eyes to listen to my son bear his testimony of the gospel and the power of what is motivating him to share the gospel with others.  I loved it when he said, "I know the Book of Mormon to be true, I have read it.  How could I not share the gospel and share this knowledge with others when I know it is true?"  
After he said those words I thought, "How could I as a mom hold my son back (not that I was going to) when he has a testimony of the gospel and of the Book of Mormon?  How could I not let him share what he knows?"  How could I deny him the opportunity to be a missionary (I seriously was not ever considering denying him that chance - although my heart screams out to him to stop, I know I cannot do that to him).
We came home, I put four roasts in the roaster and proceeded to make mash potatoes.  I turned on Music and the Spoken Word.  The spoken word this day hit home.  I think it was the message I needed to hear right then.

We then headed to church.  We were five minutes early and the chapel was packed!  We sat on the cushioned cheap seats in the overflow.  All morning I had been a blubbering mess, on and off.  Some days I wonder why I even put makeup on when all I am going to do is cry it all off?  But I had this feeling to get up and bear my testimony.  I tried to squash that feeling because I knew if I was to get up I would be a sobbing fool.  The testimony part of the meeting started.  I could feel that feeling to get up, but all it did was make me cry.  I was doing a decent job of holding the tears in.
I observed the Bishop and his counselors look towards us, I thought I would pretend that they were looking behind us, or that I didn't really see them try to make eye contact with me....because after all, we were at the back of the room.  I then notice the Bishop get the deacon on the stand to deliver a paper to someone.  At this time, Garrett is walking up to the stand to bear his testimony.  I notice that the deacon passes all the pews and is heading my direction!!!!  We have been summoned, okay not a good word, but asked to bear our testimony....THE WHOLE FAMILY!!!
Now we find all five of us sitting on the stand waiting our turn to bear our testimonies.  Garrett actually had no idea that the bishop asked us to come up to the stand as a family and do this.  All he knows is that all four of us are heading his direction as he is bearing his testimony.  Parker goes first, then Madi, Me, and then Brent.  All of my kids did well.  Then it is my turn.  I think I did pretty well!  I didn't have tears streaming down my face, but my voice was definitely fighting them hard; it was very crackly!
My eyes did swell with tears when my friends daughter stood up and said how she was going to miss Garrett.  It broke my heart.  But other than that, it felt good to tell him how proud I was of him.
The rest of the day remained busy with family coming over for dinner.  It is definitely fun to have so many people around.  Do you think I can convince my family to ALL move in together, just for my sanity and sake for the next two years at least...or at least while I have missionaries out in the field?
So what does today hold in store, now that Tuesday is here?  packing.  That is how filled with joy I am...it is all lowercase and no exclamation mark.  I am dreading it; it means we are that much closer to tomorrow.