Mom's Talk: Sunday, July 10, 2022
Good morning Brothers and Sisters. I am excited to be here with you this morning. Not because I up here speaking but because we are here to listen to Kaitlyn report on her mission which means she is actually home! Thank you all for being here and for the support you have shown her throughout her time away. I also want to say hello to Elder Garcia who is hopefully able to have good enough wi-fi to join us today in Africa.
When I posed the question to Kaitlyn who she wanted to have speak with her I knew deep down she wanted Brooklyn but I also knew that Brooklyn had told both missionaries that if either of them asked her to talk she would simply not come to church that day at all and she was fine to miss their homecomings. To be able to pull off a small surprise for Kaitlyn today with having B speak just makes my heart smile Tyler conveniently doesn't do the social media thing so she wasn't an option to ask and Christian is in Africa so that wouldn't be an option either. I suggested that her bonus sister Kynlee Miller would be a good choice but ultimately in the end she asked if I would join her today so here I am. I want to share just a few short thoughts since Kaitlyn is the one we are all here and excited to hear from today.
I don't know that there was ever a defining moment of when Kaitlyn 'knew' she wanted to serve a mission. I think it was always just in the back of her mind and on her heart that she wanted to serve so when she told Tyler and me that she was working on papers to submit, it didn't catch me too off guard. When her papers were submitted, still nothing too 'rock my world' took place and we kept on living life. The day her mission call showed up? My world was flipped upside down and my eyes were opened and I was able to see the kind of missionary Kaitlyn was already committed to being.
Kaitlyn chose to open her mission call alone at the temple. She came home and shared with me and Tyler where it was that she was called to serve. Recife North Brazil Mission, Portuguese speaking. Tyler immediately sat down on the computer, got on the Google Maps, and before we knew it we were walking the streets of this mission! I got caught up in the colors of the buildings, the cobble stone streets, and this central square location that just looked like a great place to go visit. Kaitlyn however was already planning on the inside of how she could best prepare herself to actually go to this place and then do whatever it was that the Lord needed her to do. Fast forward to that evening, Kaitlyn opened her call with family and friends, sent them on their way, and began working.
When I say 'began working' I mean, I have NEVER purchased more index cards in my life than I did in those weeks leading up to and during her home CTM stay! This girl studied the Portuguese language starting the night she opened that call up. Before long she was offering meal and family prayers in this new language. As far as we knew, since none of us had a clue what she was saying, she was crushing it! As her time in the CTM progressed, her language skills became stronger and stronger and we loved listening to her talk while she was getting more and more comfortable and excited with being in Brazil.
This is where a trial of trust in the Lord and His timing and Faith in Him came into play for Kaitlyn. See, she started her mission in the thick of the Covid madness. That meant Brazil had borders closed and a reassignment was issued. This had Kaitlyn wondering if maybe the Lord thought she wasn't prepared enough. Maybe He didn't trust her to go to Brazil. Maybe she wasn't doing all she could in His eyes. Even as we dropped her at the airport to send her to the Massachusetts Boston Mission and I watched as she walked herself through the security line, I knew she was struggling inside knowing she wasn't traveling to Brazil.
Once Kaitlyn arrived in the MBM it was immediately clear what the Lord had in store for her. For those of us at home anyways. :) While Kaitlyn served in the MBM she spoke very little English. She had been sent to an area in the United States where it houses one of the largest Portuguese speaking groups. This meant she immediately jumped 100% into the language she had been fervently studying over the last couple of months! Her hard work and her dedication to learning this was paying off right in front of her. While she was in the MBM Kaitlyn had the blessing of having amazing companions as well as some that reminded her to be more patient. Kaitlyn had an opportunity to be a trainer in the MBM and thrived in this role. She still often speaks of her 'daughter' there regularly. Throughout her time in this reassignment, I watched as Kaitlyn grew more comfortable in speaking and teaching in Portuguese but even more so, in herself. So much of this was evident as she would call home on Mondays and I would have to remind her that I only speak English because she would just start going in Portuguese and not even realize it.
When Kaitlyn finally got word that it was her time to go to Brazil there was yet another trial or two that presented itself. One: was she really ready to go and be in Brazil 100%? Two: were her language skills really strong enough? And last...how was she going to leave Boston and the missionaries in the MBM? Solid friendships had been formed and her heart was already mourning the loss of them even if just for a small window of time. For those of us here at home we could see the Lords' hand in all of this and the preparation that He had put Kaitlyn through but for her living in the moment? Not so easy to do.
Kaitlyn's arrival to Brazil is where she was welcomed by her Mission President and his sweet wife. It was not long after she had landed that I received an email from Sister Nordfelt. I'd like to share a few words from that with you "We are thrilled to have your missionary join the Brazil Recife North Mission. She arrived tired, but happy and we are pleased to report she is working in the great area of Carpina, with a great companion, Sister Da Mata. We took her to our home for a Brazilian meal and short testimony meeting. We got a chance to hear more of her, her family, her testimony, her ability to speak the language, and she got to meet her companion. She is speaking amazingly well and her enthusiasm for the work and for life will be a blessing to her and the entire mission!"
Kaitlyn arrived in Brazil speaking amazingly well. Her 'all in' commitment from day one of learning where she was headed had paid off. She hit the ground running, needed very little assistance, if any at all, speaking with those around her and more often than not was treated as a 'local'. Many around her did not believe she was from the US and she regularly found herself proving that. The Lord needed her work in the MBM with the friends there but more importantly, it was clearly the stepping stones for the work He needed done in Brazil.
Kaitlyn continued her the duration of her mission 'all in'. She never waivered. She never wanted to climb into bed feeling as though stones had been left unturned or that there was still something on the table that needed to be addressed but wasn't. She approached each day with her contagious smile and a prayer on her heart. This doesn't mean that every single day was sunshine and roses. Missions are hard and even on those 'hard' days, Kaitlyn still found opportunities to look for what she has called 'lily moments'. Moments where you can see the tender mercies of the Lord play out in front of you in the smallest and simplest ways. Moments that look like a smile as you pass by a stranger, air conditioning when you sure didn't expect it, a simple act of service done for you, or even just being able to take a deep breath and stop to recognize the countless blessings our Heavenly Father has given us day in and day out, no questions asked. Kaitlyn found endless lily moments as a missionary and continues to do so even today.
Our home is better for the choice that Kaitlyn has made to serve a mission. We have all learned from her and her example of what it means to truly put everything on the table, walk away from everything you know, all of your creature comforts, and to go about the Fathers work. Missionaries who choose to serve have a promise from the Lord that if they will do their part and keep Him close and a part of all their dealings, He will never leave them. This applies to us as well. Even though we don't carry a tag on our clothes, we too can have this same promise from our Heavenly Father.
Choosing to serve a mission is tricky and hard but choosing to serve a mission during the wild ride of the Covid has gained a whole new level of respect. Kaitlyn has been blessed to serve essentially 2 missions and each of them have taught and prepared her as she heads into what 'next' look like in life. Lessons she has learned will be life long. Habits she has formed with only benefit her and those around her. Her ability to see others the way Christ has shown her to see them will continue to open opportunities yet unknown. Kaitlyn has served a valiant mission and we could not be more proud of her.
Andrea Vickers sums up a mission Mom life as 'miserable joy'. Today, I still have some miserable on the table with a missionary still in Africa but I can wipe out the Brazil miserable and celebrate the joy of having Kaitlyn back in our home. I am grateful to the many friends and our families who have supported and loved on Kaitlyn as she has been away as well as those of you who went the extra mile for the three of us who have been at home anxiously waiting for the day that she would be here. Your prayers, your emails, your notes and letters, your simple acts of kindness have not gone unnoticed or felt. I am grateful for Kaitlyn and her example and her faith and love of our Savior Jesus Christ. I am grateful she included us on these past 18 months and look forward to learning even more as days go by. I am grateful beyond measure for these young adults who choose to leave home and go out and serve but today I am even more grateful because they really do come home.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
