Missionary Mom

Earlier this year I joined the elite membership of a special group of women. I'm proud to be a missionary mom! Our son, Elder Shawn Christopher Cudworth, is part of a recent wave of missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to leave on their missions. More than a dozen young men and women from our ward in South Jordan, Utah, alone are serving as missionaries.

 

 

LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson announced today that there are now 80,333 LDS missionaries serving in more than 400 missions throughout the world, up from 58,500 a year ago. An announcement was made a year ago to lower the missionary age for men from 19 to 18 and the women can now serve at 19 instead of 21. This created a "bubble" of missionaries who are flooding the Missionary Training Centers (MTC) in Provo, Utah, and other locations. It's an exciting time for the Church as the Lord is hastening his work and all members are being encouraged to participate in the work.

Many sacrifices are being made not only by the missionaries, but also their families to allow them to serve in the United States and overseas. Our sons and daughters are putting their educations and jobs on hold to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to serve others. But, with the sacrifices also come many blessings.

What a great support group and network of missionary mothers I have in my own ward and stake. A bag of Bliss chocolates showed up in my mailbox the morning Shawn went in the MTC from a mother who was preparing to send her daughter on a mission. I savored every piece of that candy that wasn't on my diet, but I ate it all anyway when I missed Shawn. I returned the favor when her daughter left for her mission to Australia. The missionary mothers in our ward have hugged and cried together as we share stories with each other. I was so excited to share a picture of a sister missionary from our ward who just arrived in South Dakota this week. It was sent to me by my nephew who is serving in South Dakota. It's a small world!

It was harder to say goodbye to our son than I thought it was going to be. This was different than sending him off to college.  I couldn't turn off the tears. They were tears of joy, but also it was hard to let him leave knowing that we wouldn't get to see him for two years! Women serve for 18 months. I never had brothers and it was not as common for women to go on missions when I was young. At the age of 20, I married my husband while I was still a student at Brigham Young University and I didn’t have brothers. My husband, Gregg, is a convert and he didn't serve a mission, so neither one of us had much experience to know what it was like to send off and support a missionary.

 

 

 

Shawn received his call in the mail signed by President Monson in November 2012. "You are assigned to labor in the Oregon Eugene Mission," said the letter. There was shopping to do as we outfitted our missionary with shirts, ties, suits, shoes, and a bike. We dropped him off at the MTC in February after a wonderful farewell. He gave a powerful talk on his conversion in the Highland 1st Ward in South Jordan and we held an open house in our home that was attended by many wonderful family members and friends. Shawn had a joyous sendoff only to be sent home six weeks later after he came down with mononucleosis and strep throat. He was home for six weeks to recuperate and then went back out again in May, so we had to say goodbye twice! I think it was harder the second time. Elder Cudworth is now part of the Oregon Salem Mission, which is one of the 58 new missions opened in July.

 

 

 

We have watched our son's testimony grow as we read his weekly letters and e-mails that I keep in a red binder. Our testimonies have also grown as our family learns from the experience of supporting a missionary. It takes time, but it's important for us to send our weekly e-mails, letters, and care packages, which he anxiously awaits. Today I will ship him a box containing his favorite pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. He is finally hitting the six month mark, so we have only 18 months to go. We were able to Skype on Mother's Day and will get to call again on Christmas. The key is to keep busy and the time will fly by until he comes home on April 14, 2015!