I'm the little one now

Yesterday I had the bitter-sweet experience of saying goodbye to my youngest sibling, Jake, who is 18 years old and just left home for an LDS Mission. He will be serving in the Atlanta, Georgia North mission. It has been a privilege for me to get know him better the past year. Jake was born when I was 16 years old and I moved out of my parents home at 18 when I started college. I haven't lived with my parents since that time. If you do the easy math, I only lived with Jake for two short years of his life. He had a completely different upbringing then I did. Despite this fact, and the fact that we live in different states now, we've actually become good friends this past year, and I am very proud of him for his decision to serve the Lord. He's a very good young man.

When I was 20 years old and getting ready to leave Salt Lake City, Utah, for the first extended period of time ever, and head to Washington, D.C. for a summer internship, I stopped by my parents' home to say goodbye to my family. Jake was 4 years old then. We took this picture together that day. To me, that day seems like yesterday.

May 2000

Well the REAL yesterday, almost 14 years later, I got to drop Jake off at the Provo, MTC for his missionary training and we took this picture together at the curbside where you drop the missionaries off.

March 19, 2014

One of the above pictures is not like the other. Who is the little one now?!?!? And I'm wearing three-inch heels. This is the Jake I remember:

Um, I have NO idea where the time has gone because the little boy in the picture above is all grown up. 

One last stop at Nordstrom Rack and one last picture with two of his sisters:

On the drive to the MTC, I asked him if he was READY and if he really WANTED to do this. He said with no equivocation, YES. I'M READY AND I WANT TO GO. They don't give you much time with your missionaries when you drop them off. They have a host missionary waiting for them at the curb to help them with their things and they only give you a few minutes to say goodbye. His host was this cute Brazilian Elder with lots of joy, smiles and giggles. His warm, light-hearted friendly attitude left me with a feeling of comfort. I was leaving Jake in good hands. This Elder is headed to Japan for his mission on Monday. 

I'm really proud of myself because I didn't cry.

I'm excited for Jake. The High Councilman who spoke at Jake's NOT-farewell said that Jake will be 60 years old when he returns in two years. Ha.  I think he's right that Jake will be 60 years wiser when he gets back, e.g. for his missionary plaque, as his favorite scripture, Jake used one quoted in a Bob Dylan song BECAUSE it is quoted in a Bob Dylan song. In many ways, he is still just a boy. Jake will be a great missionary. Hopefully, two years will go by as fast as the past 14 have.

And that is my report.