Arriving at the MTC

Welcome to Sister Emily Potts' mission blog!  She received her mission call 5 months ago (Nov 20, 2018) to serve in the New York Rochester Mission with her primary assignment to serve at the Hill Cumorah Visitors Center and surrounding church history sites.   

She surprised her mom & dad by coming home for Thanksgiving Break from her second year at BYU with a wrapped gift for each of them.  She presented her mom with a small box that contained a necklace that said "Missionary Mom," and her dad with a tie tack that said "Missionary Dad." Her parents, wondering if this meant she was ready to begin the application process, responded enthusiastically, and were then blown away to be presented with an envelope that contained a copy of an email she had received that day from church headquarters saying that her call was ready to view in the online missionary portal.  Wow!  She had spent the previous 6+ months attending to all the details of the missionary application all by herself--doctors/dentist appointments, health evaluations, ecclesiastical interviews, attending missionary prep classes, technical glitches with the missionary application portal, etc.  She had wanted to surprise us, and that she did!  And doubly so, since she had previously made all indications that she felt she wasn't supposed to go on a mission but instead pursue her education (she is a Microbiology Major and hopes to attend medical school eventually).  It turns out that she wrestled with the decision to serve a mission her entire freshman year at BYU.  She did NOT want to go just because most of her friends were!  She says she had to overcome a lot of pride and fear in order to make this decision--and to have a lot of faith that this decision wouldn't hinder her ability to pursue her educational dreams as well.  

She had hoped to leave quickly and was surprised to see that her date to report to the Missionary Training Center wasn't until April 10, 2019.  Then, a few weeks later, she received another notice that her date had been moved a week later to April 17, 2019 instead (just one week shy of completing another semester at BYU).  However, she set aside her studies, and we have enjoyed having her at home for the past few months again.  Her dad talked her into going to work for him in his optometry office since they were short-staffed, and she has been able to serve in the Mount Timpanogos Temple as an ordinance worker (on the same shift as her dad) since January.  The time has flown!  

Emily officially began her missionary service last night as she was set apart by our Stake President, Blair Kent, as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  She reported to the MTC this afternoon at 12:45 pm.  We were able to get a few pictures at the temple before going to the MTC and then had a delicious lunch at one of her favorite places, Cravings Bistro in Pleasant Grove.  We weren't quite prepared for the emotional roller coaster of dropping off our first-born and only daughter, but we are so proud of her.  She has so much light and love to share!  It was a gorgeous sunny day with beautiful spring flowers and trees blossoming!

We'll post her emails and updates here each week (which should be much shorter).  Thanks everyone for your support!