First, my oldest daughter, Sian, finished her nine weeks of intensive scriptural and Russian language training in the LDS Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah. Early Monday morning, she began her long airplane journey to Ukraine, where she will spend the rest of her 18-month mission helping Ukrainians develop a relationship with Jesus Christ. She's safely there now, and I've had pictures to prove it. (Sian, who is third from the left, is obviously dead tired and hasn't had much time to do her hair, but here she is with her mission president and his wife and her new companion, who is at the far right.)
I don't cry often, but sometimes I really miss her enough to cry. Like right now, when she's thousands of miles away on the other side of the world. The good thing is that I'm so proud of her, and I feel strongly that angels are guarding her with each step she takes. She'll be an excellent missionary, and I know she'll love her mission and grow so much from it.
The other distraction I have is my new, awesome job. Long story short: just as I was preparing my resume for job hunting, one of my former editors emailed me out of the blue and offered me a contract position with her current company, where she is the senior content manager. It has been an excellent fit for me and for them, and to make things even sweeter, I get paid four times what I was paid before. I still get to work at home and make my own hours (as long as I meet the deadlines, of course), so I feel very, very blessed. In fact, I know this very needed job is a direct blessing of Sian choosing to go on a mission.
Another great thing is that I have learned to make magnesium oil, and using it seems to be having a remarkable effect on my ability to sleep soundly and well and have energy during the day. More on that in another post.
That is all for now.
