Missionary Momma Moment

Isn't technology a wonderful thing!!

We got to hear from our missionary daughter (bottom left) today over Skype.

Then one by one we added our other children so it was like we were 

all sitting in the same room together!

I love it when we're together!!

Matthew and Abby haven't moved out, they just went in the other room cause there wasn't enough space.  It made for a great family pyramid.  Everyone has Skype face.

The only one not present was our oldest Joseph, who had to work.  We managed to put him on speaker phone while he was on break, so it's all good.

Bekah is doing really well and so happy.  It seems like an eternity since she left but it's only been 4 months!!  Of course when we saw her it was like yesterday.  She's still our sweet Bekah, although now she's called Sister Whitaker.

She and her companion were at the home of a young family in the their ward.  At one point in the conversation, the family's young son, 3-4 yrs old, walks up behind Bekah and sees us all on the computer screen.  It takes him a minute, but he realizes that his grandma might be in our Skype session too.  He insisted that he talk with her until his mom escorted him into the other room.  If we weren't so limited on time with Bekah....um...Sister Whitaker, he probably would have fit right in.

I'm so grateful that Skyping on Mother's Day has become a tradition.  

Next gab fest will be December 25!

Last year of being a teenager!

I sure do love this cute Bekah-boo of ours!!

She just makes me smile whenever I talk with her.

Today, was her 19th year on the earth spreading her own brand of happy.

Next year when she enters her twenties, she'll be clear across the country

spreading the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I can only imagine the great things she'll experience between now and then!!

Happy 19th Bekah!!

I love you!!

Bekah's mission call and temple day

Time sure does fly!!

It's been two months since Bekah opened her mission call!

 I've finally got my digital ducks in a row and a few moments to spare to make this post happen.

We've been reeeaaally busy!

Bekah has been really patient through it all.

I can remember the night last Spring that she decided to go on a mission.  I was working on my computer when she came into my office.  I could tell by the tone in her voice that this was an important conversation, so I stopped everything and listened as she poured out her tender experience with the Lord.  From that day on, there was no looking back.

As it turned out, she and Rachel turned in their mission papers at the same time.  We fully expected Rachel to leave before Bekah since she was older and ready to go.  Bekah couldn't leave until her 19th birthday in December.  So it was a surprise to us that Rachel's call to Mongolia had her leaving in January!  That was a long time to wait!  Of course we figured that had to do with passports and visas and such, but now we see that it was time enough for Andrew to come into the picture and sweep her off her feet.

We thought that the girls would get their mission calls in the mail the same week too, since they turned them in at the same time.  But Bekah had to wait another week to get hers.  It actually turned out to be a good thing so that each them had their own 'opening' time.  We continued to tally guesses and put pins on our map.  Yellow are Rachel and blue are Bekah.

(Nobody guessed right)

We invited our friends to come back and we set up Skype for all the family 

who couldn't come (that was an ordeal all its own).

Drum roll . . . . .

I think Dad knew before Bekah

OHIO, CLEVELAND MISSION!!!

January 6!!  Same as Rachel!!

I love this picture of my girls excited to go where the Lord wants them to go.
Of course Rachel is unaware that her mission will be changing from missionary to wife.

Thank you Lindsey and Kim for taking pictures for us!!

After that, everything got really busy!!

We took Rachel and Bekah up to Brigham Young University, Idaho (BYUI), I started homeschooling Esther; a week later I flew back to Utah for the funeral of my uncle; then a week after that Joseph and I flew back to Utah to take Bekah through the temple for the her first time.

She chose the Logan, UT temple which is one of the older temples in Utah.

The temple is not only a refuge from the world, it is a place of learning, service, and inspiration.  It's here that we make sacred covenants with God that will bring us great blessings. 

Those who have been called on a mission are encouraged to go to the temple

before their mission as much as possible so they can build their faith and 

strengthen their relationship with God.

It was great to have Uncle Rob and Aunt Heidi with us as well.

She'll be a great missionary!!
Such a sweetie!!

What you don't see is that Andrew drove Bekah and Rachel down from Idaho to the Logan Temple. It was a our chance to meet him.  Although he didn't come to the temple with us, he spent time with us as we attended General Conference of the Church and went thrift shopping in a cool vintage store.  

It didn't take long for him to get our stamp of approval.

I'm so very proud of my girls and the choices they've made!

Bekah's mission call!!

Deja vu!!

There's another mission call in the Whitaker home!!

I'm just getting the video up because of technical difficulties.

Sorry for the blurry video, technical problems. again.

And the winner is......