MTC Drop Off

We thought it would be great if we were all able to drive down to Provo to drop Brayden off at the MTC in person instead of saying our goodbyes in the Calgary airport. We left Sunday after church, loading the back with all Brayden's luggage and some snacks. The drive was a little different then usual without the option of movies and killer road trip playlists. Instead we listed to a bunch of church  music until deciding we needed a change and hit up some classic Disney music. We decided to stop and  take a break for Elder Beattie's Sunday evening devotional with the MTC Branch President and his wife (The Porter's). We watched it in a Walmart Subway using the free wifi before heading back on the road for a few more hours. 

We got back at it Monday morning after his companion study with Elder Mechem and made it to Salt Lake City with the afternoon ahead of us. We spent it exploring around temple square. This summer we did a church history tour so it was interesting to go into the Church History Museum and get a refresher of all things we saw this summer. We also went into the Family Search building and found out about the famous people we were related to, who we looked like and where in the world our ancestors were from. We finished up by touring the conference center before heading up towards The Porter's house, where we were staying. It was fun to see all the missionaries excited for Brayden to get dropped off at the MTC and head to Australia for his mission and hear where they were from and how their missions were going.

We had a great evening visiting with family before calling it a day and heading off to bed. Tuesday was Brayden's travel day which meant his schedul was completely cleared. We took advantage of it and went to the Ogden Temple in the morning to do baptisms together as a family and Brayden was able to do confirmations for the first time now that he is a Melchizedek Priesthood holder. The rest of the day was spent with the Porter's. Alyson had her baby, Dax, and Nathan brought chicken burgers from Pretty Bird in SLC for Brayden's last meal. It was a really great day, almost relaxing, knowing tomorrow would be a pretty big change for our family. Wednesday morning came and we were up and ready to leave early. Knowing Brayden wouldn't be dropped off at the MTC until 1:30pm we booked baptisms for our family at the Provo City Center Temple in the morning so we needed the early start. After a Father's blessing from Ryan, we said our goodbye's to the Porters and headed on our way. The Provo City Center Temple was beautiful and I think I remember Brayden saying that it might be his new favorite temple. It was the perfect way to spend our morning. We also went to BYU and looked around the campus a bit, checking out the store (which is 3 levels) and watched some cultural dance presentation in what looked like the main eating hall. It was crazy to see so many young church members in one area and we only checked out 1 building on the campus. With some time left before we had to drop Brayden off we went to the Prove temple grounds which seemed to be where all the families doing drop off were lingering, lots of pictures being taken.

The time had finally come to say goodbye to our Elder for the next 2 years. It's hard to explain the feelings, all the anticipation, excitement, anxiety, fear, pride, and peace that all bleed into eachother. After doing the best we could over the last 18 years to teach him all we knew how we were sending him off into the world to survive it. He was so pumped to hang out with his MTC district in person and be with his companion in person he hardly seemed nervous at all. We were put in a line of cars in the underground parkade where an Elder was there ready to help collect Brayden and his luggage. We were warned it would be quick, and thankfully it was. No time for an emotional display. The Elder, heading to Taiwan, took a family picture for us, we had our final hug and watched him walk away. Maddy and I (mom) teared up, Ryan fought the lump earlier in the day while giving Brayden his blessing and Syd was stoic. Off he went onto his next adventure, such a proud parent moment.