As Nicky prepared to leave on his mission, I (or we) experienced a lot of tender mercies. I wish I would have written them down more thoroughly as they've happened, but they had to pile up for a bit before I was able to recognize their frequency. I debated whether I should write them down in my private journal or put them here on my blog, and I decided to write some things on the blog so family and friends can share in our experience.
First, let me tell you about what it was like to have Nicky open his mission call to San Juan Puerto Rico
It's unnerving wondering where your child will be assigned to serve a mission. I've always felt that Nicky would be in Latin America speaking Spanish. My personal guess was Lima, Peru - I just looked at a map and picked a South American location, and it sounded good (flunky enough, one of Nicky’s good friends just got his call to Lima, Peru last week).
When Nicky opened his call and read "Puerto Rico San Juan Mission" it felt right immediately. My reaction was, "Well, duh! Of course he's going to Puerto Rico! Why did I even consider anywhere else?"
The tender mercy here was that two of my cousins (Jess and Tyler) served in Puerto Rico, so it felt familiar and safe. I haven't felt a single worry about the location. My mama heart has been at ease.
So there’s that.
But the guess what else happened!
At the airport when we were dropping off Nicky for his departure to the Mexico City MTC, I looked over and saw none other than my cousin, Tyler!
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When Nicky went through the temple, a few things happened that made me really upset. When I went to the locker room to change into my temple dress, I was fighting back tears.
I went up to the chapel, and there to greet me was a long-time temple worker - my high school French teacher. We’ve been in touch over social media for several years but haven’t seen each other in person in a really long time. Seeing her and giving her a big hug calmed my soul, and I felt like it wasn’t a coincidence that she was the one to greet me there.
She was also standing at the bottom of the stairs after the session, where I stopped and gave her one more hug and told her how good it was to see her.
I have to admit, when I was in the locker room, I had the thought, “I am never coming to the temple again.” I was done. But when I saw this woman in the chapel, I felt like she was there specifically for me. Sent from God to say, “I know you’re hurting, but I love you and I’m aware of you. Don’t give up on me.”
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We were shocked several weeks ago by my sister-in-law passing away unexpectedly. When we told our kids, Zoe was very concerned that she would never be able to go geocaching again (Amber took her geocaching several times in the last few years). We were leaving that day for our trip to Strawberry Reservoir, and I reassured Zoe that Amber would want her to keep geocaching. I also suggested that we could try and find a geocache in Amber’s honor. Zoe was thrilled by that idea, so we checked on the geocaching app, and there was a geocache right where we were staying!
Zoe made an ‘A’ in remembrance of Amber to leave in the geocache.
There’s not really any “good” time for a person to pass, but I’m grateful that if Amber was meant to go, she was able to go before Nicky left so he could be there for her memorial service. I was also so grateful that there was a geocaching he right where my kids needed it to be so they could begin their mourning process in a way that worked well for them.
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While we were staying at Strawberry, I got a text message from Nicky’s friend Cameron that said, “Cameron is talking on Sunday.” I’d said many times that I wished we could request Cameron speak with Nicky before his mission. That assignment is made by the bishopric, and without any mention from me, they chose to ask Cameron to speak. I was so excited (and so was Cameron!)
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On the day of Nicky’s sacrament meeting talk, his friend Jack got to bless the sacrament with him. Jack and Nicky grew up together, and until a year and a half ago, we were in the same ward, and they always did the sacrament together. It was really cool that they got to perform that ordinance together one more time before their missions.
(Jack, Lexi, and Nicky, who grew up together) were all called to Caribbean missions).
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Also on the day of Nicky’s sacrament meeting talk, Nicky’s friend (who was not planning on going on a mission) told Nicky (and only Nicky) that he was going to fill out mission papers. This friend hasn’t told many people, but he has since turned in his papers and will have his call any day now.
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This week, Nicky’s best friend will fly to Mexico City, and they will overlap in the MTC for a few days. We are so excited for them to get to see each other and consider it a blessing that they will be there together even for a short time.
There is so much more to each of these stories than I am actually saying, but for the sake of keeping this post short enough to read, I’m giving you the condensed versions. The common theme I’ve noticed through most of these tender mercies is that the right people have been in the right places at the right times, which shows how we truly are instruments in the Lord’s hands. I’m sure there are so many more experiences from the last several months that I’m not even remembering where the Lord has orchestrated a meeting a blessed our lives through other people.
Through people, the Lord has blessed us with comfort, help, and support.
I’ve always heard from those who have sent children out on missions that they have experienced innumerable blessings while their missionaries have been gone. So far, that is true for us too! And it began before he even left.
"The Lord's tender mercies do not occur randomly or merely by coincedence. Faithfulness, obedience, and humility invite tender mercies into our lives, and it is often the Lord's timing that enables us to recognize and treasure these important blessings. "
-David A. Bednar
