Set Apart

 The words "set apart" as a missionary make a lot of sense to me. Missionaries are set apart from everything else to fulfill what they are called to do- preach the gospel.  I've been surprised at how many people here, none of them members of our church,  are so receptive, supportive, and excited about the idea of Victoria serving a mission in Mexico. It's so great to see my friends and neighbors totally support her. 

She was set apart on Sunday, August 24, by President Montierth. My dad and Jason got to be in the circle. I have never heard the prayer for a missionary to be set apart before. It was so beautiful! I can see how they're blessed with the gift of tongues. 

Monday morning, she started her MTC training at home, in our basement. I wanted to be nearby for when she had breaks, so we mostly hung around the house. Since the Provo MTC stays on Mountain Time for all the missionaries there, Victoria and anyone else not in that time zone had to adjust. For us on Eastern Time, she didn't start until 10:30 am and finished at 11pm, with some breaks in between. Luckily, some of the breaks worked for our mealtimes, even if they weren't exactly the "mealtimes" for the schedule in Provo. We could still eat some meals together. 

Ready to start!

Break time! (Games with Austin during this break).

She liked the home MTC better than she thought she would. Most of her friends didn't like it because it reminded them too much of virtual learning. She seemed to enjoy it, especially when her district met with the Spanish tutor. She not only enjoyed starting Spanish, but she also enjoyed the tutor. Let's just say that her being almost 21 and most of the elders in her district have just graduated from high school, and some are barely 18, she's like the "abuela" of the group. But she loves it and is thriving. 

I liked practicing Spanish with her on her breaks. I could even help her put the prayer together in Spanish from my days of class at BYU when we had to pray in Spanish. (The tutor randomly called on the missionaries to pray in Spanish the first 2 days). Of course, he slowed down on that when they learned that most of the missionaries in her district know literally 0 Spanish. I'm not sure what languages they took in high school....

Before Grandpa Dave and Grandm Mary Lou left.

In the middle of her home MTC training, she had to fly to Orlando to visit the consulate for her Visa. She was supposed to get it in SLC on her way home after her semester at BYUI, but it fell through for some reason. They told her she could go in the middle of her home MTC training to get it, and the church paid for the flight, hotel, Uber, and food for her to do that. It was very long, 36-something hours for a short 1-hour or less visit to the consulate for fingerprints. She got exposed to a lot of Spanish on that little trip as everyone there spoke only Spanish, minus one other elder who was awaiting his time to be set apart, and one of the couples who works there and happens to be my stepdad, Jim's brother, and his wife. Small world!

Last temple visit with us and Grandma Pat.

Last Sunday.

Since she received her Visa only a week before she left for the MTC, which we knew just in time, she wasn't able to go to the Mexico City MTC, but had to go to the one in Provo. I think we were all slightly disappointed, but it turned out to be a good thing. It was a little easier to take her to the airport to fly to SLC than to Mexico. Even though we won't see her either way, just knowing she's back where she's been, just about, for the past 2 years, is comforting. Plus, she'll get to see General Authorities more often, who visit the Provo MTC all the time, and she was pretty stoked about the noise of the BYU football game last night. 

Taking her to the airport was hard, but I knew it would be and was prepared. We all got a special pass to walk back to the gate with her. It was a pretty busy morning at the airport, and Austin has a really big meet coming up, so he finally made it through security but had to turn around and go to practice before we made it back to the gate. It was nice to have everyone at the airport, though, even if it was only for a  short time. 

Bags are packed.

The Kish's came over her last night.

We showed them our camper that was set up for all of our company.

That's when we saw the rainbow.

He literally just made it through security and had to turn around. 

These two got to enjoy the last moments. 

Nos vemos, Hermana Mercado! 

Some Final Hurrahs

It's been a whirlwind around here with Victoria arriving home and then fitting everything in before she was set apart as a missionary. We went on a lot of shopping trips to acquire all the final things on the list, and the final, final things. Plus, we completed the rest of the medical appointments needed for her to go. 

I wasn't all work, though, as Victoria loves to have fun too. We were sure to make time for that!

Before we got our family photos taken, we went to Ichiban for dinner. I wouldn't have normally chosen that for our whole family to go to because I know they don't have options Erik would eat, but we had a $100 gift card for there, so we had to use it!

I told Erik he could order ice cream for dinner there. Victoria convinced him to order the fried ice cream. He wasn't sure about it once he got it. The server wasn't sure about serving a child (young teen) ice cream for dinner and kept on checking with me that it was ok. We all thought it was weird because he usually can get fries from a menu. I thought he would at least have them fry him an egg with the rest of the eggs for the rice, but Erik didn't want that either. Check out everyone's faces here- hilarious!

(Some photo shoot previews)

Some family pics were a flop when the wind picked up, and we had to take a break for the rainstorm that came through.

Our photographer hasn't edited the group pics yet, but she did get Victoria's edited mission pics to us quickly.  

Victoria went to Cedar Point with two of her good friends, Susie and Gracie. Erik got to go along too because it was supposed to be Austin and Kade with the group as well, but it worked better for those two to go later with their friends. I think Erik had a blast with two college girls and a senior in high school!

Victoria made a trip to the temple with Jason.

And with Grandpa Dave and Grandma Mary Lou.

Payton and Susie came over for dinner.

We watched these 3 get ready for the multi-stake dance, which was fun to observe!

We went back to the temple to take more pics since she didn't have time to get ready for a photo shoot the other two times she went. We also got one of Grandma and Grandpa Anderson.

We were constantly entertained by this squirrel and the cats.

The open house spread: Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies, Churro Bars, Banana muffins, chips, salsa, nacho cheese, grapes, water, and lemonade. (and fresh cherry tomatoes from our garden)

Victoria's first best friend, Bethany, from next door, came to wish her well.

A couple of hours before she was set apart!

Fun Times

 Victoria is back! She'll only be here for another "regular" week, then she will be participating in the home MTC before she heads off to Mexico for the live MTC. We've had a fun 6 days with her so far, though a lot of that for me was attending doctor's appointments with her. We have had some relaxation as well, which is what she really needed. She sprained her ankle at the end of the dance tour and ended up catching a cold, probably because she was so busy and her body finally told her "enough!"

We spent time with our family friends, the Farnsworths, who came over for dinner and games. Max and Victoria have been friends since they were 3. He just returned home from his mission. Before they left for their vacation out west, in connection with taking Max to Utah State, we snuck in some time with them. Kade's girlfriend, AJ, joined us as well. It was a fun evening!

The Gang!

Victoria got to go up to the Kish's lakehouse for a longer part of the weekend, and we joined in for the end since all of my other kids had something going on that prevented us from attending the entire weekend there, so we went after church yesterday. Unfortunately, Kade had to work, so he really was busy the entire weekend. 

Luckily, the weekend before, Jason, Kade, AJ, Erik, and I went to the Dearborn Homecoming Festival and saw Third Eye Blind live for free! That gave us some Kade time.

Back at the lake, Erik, Austin, and Victoria really enjoyed their time tubing, kneeboarding, and wakeboarding. After their practice at Bear Lake, Austin and Erik really have the wakeboarding down now. And the smile on Victoria's face was priceless! She really does love the water sports and soaked up every minute of her last time wakeboarding for the next 18 months. 

Joe, our friend and boat driver!

Last hurrah!

Vicky and Susie

Austin

Erik

26 Years!

 Jason and I celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary on the 31st. Well, the 31st was our anniversary, but we had to celebrate around that date as I had a colonoscopy on August 1 and had to consume a liquid diet on the 31st, plus start that awful medication meant to clean out your colon at 6pm, continuing on in the middle of the night. Even though that was not fun, it had to be done because I had polyps last year. This year I didn't, so I get to go 3 years until my next one!

Jason worked hard to make sure I felt celebrated. He made me locs and bagels for breakfast the day before our anniversary, and he made a new rice recipe that includes rice, quinoa, and lentils for me to eat as my first meal when I was back from my procedure on the 1st. It was so delicious and full of nutrients! We also went to the temple to do sealings the evening before our anniversary and went out for ice cream afterwards. Our sealer had served his mission in Central America, back before it was separated by countries, and he spoke Spanish and really enjoyed pronouncing our last name with a proper Spanish accent.

My locs and bagels included tomatoes and cucumbers from our garden!

We went out for a dinner date on Saturday to an Italian restaurant in Downtown Plymouth. Jason got chicken parmigiana and I got shrimp spaghetti. The best thing was that it was paid for by one of my gift cards from the end of the school year. It was a lovely restaurant where we ate outside. The humidity finally cleared out, and we could enjoy the evening as we walked a bit from where we parked and back. We read about one of the historic homes in DTP as we walked by. For some reason, though, I didn't take any pictures of our evening in DTP, so enjoy this special one outside the temple!

Here's the pic I posted on social media. This was our first appearance to all of our wedding guests. I was a little nervous!

Cheers to many more years!!