The MTC Curb Drop Off

Day one. We had Cole fill in one circle on his countdown chart...and we will save the last for him to fill in when he gets home.  Cole and the girls slept in the basement.  They helped him finish memorizing D&C section 4.  They all woke up together at 6:30 and kept working on scripture memorizing.  We went to McDonald's for breakfast at 7:30.  We were back home by 8:00.  We had a couple hours to finish packing, shower, and load up the car.  We took a walk through his room and bathroom to make sure he had everything he needed and everything he was leaving was boxed up.  We zipped up the two suitcases, they weighed in at 42 and 46 pounds. We sat together in the family room and everyone shared their favorite scriptures and we had family prayer.  We left the house about 10:15 to go to Wal-Mart to get luggage tags.  We were in the parking lot of Brick Oven, in South Jordan, by 10:45.  We sat in the car until they opened at 11:00.  It was slow going in the restaurant and we were starting to get nervous.  Our worries were in vain as we arrived to the Missionary Field by 12:30.  We had 45 minutes until we needed to drop him off at the MTC.  We took pictures, talked and walked around a bit.  We decided at 1:05 we would say our goodbyes and head over.  We all handled it pretty well.  Cole seemed so confident and ready that it made it much easier on the rest of us.  There were very few tears shed and it really was a happy moment.  We piled in the van and drove across the street.  They put a blue post it on our windshield, since we had an Elder in our car.  We pulled up to the curb and we were informed we had 2 1/2 minutes.  That seemed like an eternity since we had done all our goodbying for the last 45 minutes.  We were greeted by a chipper Elder Valentine.  He asked Cole what his name was. Cole replied, "Cole Warren". Elder Valentine said, "Elder Colburn" Cole said, "Cole Warren" He said, "OH! Elder Warren"  He's really not Cole anymore, just Elder Warren!  He was a great Host, he kept Cole talking and moving, he took a couple family pictures and off they went.  That was it!  Then he was gone.  We drove off and realized that he wouldn't be texting us if he forgot something or telling us who his companion is.  We stopped at the Outlets by Cabellas and did a little shopping.  As we got off the freeway at 114th South it hit me.  He isn't coming home.  He can't call or text me.  He is gone for two years.  The tears began to flow.  I feel so proud of him and all he accomplished to be able to go.  There is no other place I would rather have him be.  I look forward to hearing his adventures and how he will change.  All those things don't change the fact that I will still miss him and will probably cry a few times over the next two years.