The Past 48 Hours.

Wow. The past 48 hours have been a whirlwind of ups and downs, highs and lows. This morning I am exhausted, but feel peace. I'm still a little anxious about the next 24 hours, but feel certain that everything will work out fine.

Let me start at the beginning. 

The whole family assisted in Shi's missionary packing process, which was great because there was a ton to do. From my experience, it was definitely a lot harder to pack Lolo than it was to pack Tay. There's just so much more involved. I am grateful that she's serving where she'll have access to what she needs, but we wanted to keep fund conservation in mind, since we've been told by seasoned travelers that things simply cost more in England. Another sister missionary serving from our ward is in Peru, and needed to literally pack an 18-month supply of many items because she flat out wouldn't have access to them. As we packed Lolo up, I thought about what a huge challenge that would be!

In the middle of all that packing, Mar had swim prelims.

 She qualified for the championship round in the three events she swam: 200 Free, 50 Free, and 100 Free. {She's been a FREE girl this season.} She has an All-Star time in the 100, and is trying for All-Star times in the other two. Championships are this Saturday, so our fingers are crossed!

After the meet, we finished packing up Shi, 

then went out to dinner at Red Robin (Shi's choice).

Afterwards we headed over the Stake Center for her setting apart as a missionary for 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Sister Syddall received a beautiful blessing from our stake president, President Lyman, then a father's blessing from her dad when we got home.

Later that evening, we sat in the office working on some last minute items (a few recipes, a few family history stories, and a few motivational thoughts). Bill read to us from his missionary journals.
It was the sweetest thing ever.

We all hit the hay around midnight.

We got up around 2am (okay, maybe 2:15 for Bill and me, 2:30 for Mar), and got ready to drop Sister Syddall off at DIA. Lolo had some anxiety about her 2 layovers (one in Chicago, one in Newark), but had made plans to meet up with a friend from Nevada {her RA at BYU} who was entering the England MTC the same day. They would be at the Newark airport within a few minutes of each other and would both be on the same flight to England. We weren't sure if there would be other missionaries at the layover locations, but Lolo was hoping to meet up with some somewhere.

 No probs finding a parking spot at 3:30am.

We were told that only one of us could go to the gate with Shi (and even that was pushing it because she IS an adult), so it was determined I would go.

Bill and Mar said their good-byes in the security line,

then stood by as we made our way through the line (which got exponentially longer within minutes of our arrival - thank goodness we got in it when we did).

Then they headed up to the 2nd floor for a final wave before we were off to the terminal.

Lolo and I had about 30 minutes once we arrived at her gate to visit.

I told her that I loved her and that I was so, so proud of her.

Once her section was called, I gave her a big hug and kiss, then snapped a few pics until she disappeared.

I may have shed a tear or two after she was gone.

I hustled back to the waiting area in the airport to meet up with Bill and Mar, then we headed home. We chatted about how Shi was taking off {now}, in the air {now}, on her way {now}. Bill cried tears because he's a tender-hearted dad who is going to miss his beloved daughter. I felt happy. Shi was in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing. My comment: "I just hope her travel goes smoothly today." There had been no other missionaries at DIA, and I hated the thought that she was alone. I was so happy she would meet up with at least one other missionary in Newark.

Once we were home, we all went back to bed for a couple hours. 

When I woke up, I turned on the news.

Literally the first thing I saw was BREAKING NEWS.

United Airlines had been grounded due to a system glitch. My heart sank.

I told Bill and we looked up her flight online.

The flight we had so confidently put her on at 5am that morning, chatted about it's take-off, and assumed it's flight, had not even left the airport until after 8.

Because she had some fairly lengthy layover times, we assumed the rest of her day would still go okay. We were wrong. All her flights were delayed with the exception of that final flight from Newark to Manchester. It was on time. Bill and I spent much of our day on the phone with the airline and Missionary Travel Services. We had no way to communicate with Shi and I worried myself sick about how she was handling the situation. We knew she was on a flight from Chicago to Newark that was diverted to Cleveland. We knew that the estimated arrival time of that flight into Newark was 7:30. We knew that the departure time of the flight to Manchester was 7:30. We asked if they could hold the flight. We were told to pray she would make it, then call back in 30 minutes to see if she was on the flight. When we called back, we were informed that she had NOT made the flight.

I cried tears of worry and stress on and off all day. Bill was calm.

(I find it funny that our emotional triggers differ so.)

Shi is not a seasoned traveler (I said that so many times to those airline people).

I wasn't sure she would know what to do.

I figured she was alone (if only she could have had a companion to travel with).

She didn't have a phone.

I was angry at the airline company (although every rep I talked to was courteous and patient... even when I was saying things like, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME???")

Finally, at around 6pm, my phone rang. It was Shi.

"Mom, I missed my flight to England." She started to cry.

"Are you alone?" I asked

"Yes. I borrowed someone's cell phone, but it's about to die. I'm waiting in line and I don't know what to do."

I told her to call me once she was at the service desk and we would help her figure it out.

Bill called her briefly on the number she had called me on (he was still at work) to give her a few more brief instructions.

Then we waited. That was all we could do.

I was working last night, but kept my phone handy. I worried that we hadn't heard back from her. Surely she had made it to the service desk by now.

Finally Bill called to let me know he had talked to Shi.

She had met up with 5 other missionaries (YAY!).

They would be staying together in a hotel for the evening, then all be on the same flight the following day. She sounded good. I was so relieved that she had found other missionaries. We think the only one that made the flight to Manchester was her friend from Nevada, since Missionary Travel Services had told Bill earlier in the day that there were supposed to be a total of 7 missionaries on that flight. She had a non-stop flight from Las Vegas to Newark, so even with the delay, she most likely made it on time. I feel sad that maybe SHE is alone. Being alone is the worst.

So Lolo is still in the process of traveling. But she is not alone.

They will have lots of time today to get to know each other, since their flight doesn't leave until 7:30pm (5:30 our time). They should be arriving in Manchester around midnight (our time - 7am there). It's been crazy. Anything but smooth. But it's going to be fine.

And after this crazy travel chaos, she WILL be a seasoned traveler.

I am exhausted. Worrying for a child is exhausting.

Packing them up for 18 months is exhausting.

Saying goodbye to a beloved daughter is emotionally exhausting.

But I am so, so excited for Shi and the wonderful experiences and growth that lie ahead of her.

Give 'em heaven, sista!