Elder Mattiaccio left on his mission today. He is serving the Lord in Guatemala Guatemala South mission. All our family near and far support him as he takes on this endeavour. On Sunday he gave his farewell talk and he did great.
After we had a little lunch gathering. Poor Brandon was desperate to get a cupcake so we finally gave in and let him have one.
Today we took all day to spend time together as a family. We headed to Salt Lake City to have dinner. We chose Olive Garden mainly for convenience. We unknowingly ended up in a homeless saturated area. The meal itself was good but what made it even better was what happened after. We stepped out of the restaurant and noticed that a homeless woman who had been sitting at the corner when we arrived was still there. Grant said to us, maybe we should give her our leftovers. We all immediately agreed and Elder Mattiaccio and Drew headed over to her and handed her the still warm leftovers. She immediately thank them and began to eat it. When Elder Mattiaccio turned around all I noticed were the tears running down his face and the joy in Drew's smile. They had just experienced that great feeling that charity and service bring. The feeling that you are doing what Heavenly Father wants you to do and He is pleased. Heavenly Father places people in our path and the opportunity to serve them and love them as He does. It is up to us to take advantage of those opportunities and make the best of them.
Then we headed to the Salk Lake City Temple, Temple Square and we headed directly to the North Visitor Center, the missionary display. We sat as a family and watched the videos of missionaries and their stories. They have a counter of how many missionaries are on the field. It was changing as we were there. It also shows all the different countries where missionaries are serving. Again, we felt comforted. We were so comfortable being there, listening to these stories, we didn't realize the time. We suddenly had to go.
We headed to the airport and arrived early. Immediately, we ran into a young woman (Sister Store) and her parents and we started to talk. She too, was headed to the Guatemala MTC but serving in El Salvador. As time went by other missionaries (can't remember their names) and their parents started showing up. They all seemed excited and scared all at the same time. It was a comfort to all that our missionaries were not going alone and there were other families who were experiencing the exactly same thing.
The time came and we began saying our goodbyes. Many emotions were flowing. Some probably from fatigue.
There was a time when I thought the 6 week wait was so far away and it was too long. But as fast as quickly began it ended. Elder Mattiaccio walked through security, turned around and gave one last wave and he was gone. We are extremely proud of our Elder. We will miss him incredibly but we know that he is where he is meant to be...bringing the gospel to the Guatemalan people. Until we meet again son!
We headed to the airport and arrived early. Immediately, we ran into a young woman (Sister Store) and her parents and we started to talk. She too, was headed to the Guatemala MTC but serving in El Salvador. As time went by other missionaries (can't remember their names) and their parents started showing up. They all seemed excited and scared all at the same time. It was a comfort to all that our missionaries were not going alone and there were other families who were experiencing the exactly same thing.
The time came and we began saying our goodbyes. Many emotions were flowing. Some probably from fatigue.
There was a time when I thought the 6 week wait was so far away and it was too long. But as fast as quickly began it ended. Elder Mattiaccio walked through security, turned around and gave one last wave and he was gone. We are extremely proud of our Elder. We will miss him incredibly but we know that he is where he is meant to be...bringing the gospel to the Guatemalan people. Until we meet again son!
No comments:
Post a Comment
We Love Hearing From You!