One Word.

On this day two years ago, I was a different person. I was angry and bitter and miserable. Less than a month earlier, my son's mission was delayed so that he could resolve something. When he first told us that he thought it would be delayed, we speculated on the length of time. Three months? That would be hard, but we could do it. Six months? That would be SO hard. We were sure we could do it if we stayed focused and motivated. But wow, would that be hard. So, when the bishop told us that the missionary department in Salt Lake City had decided that Dylan would have to wait at least a year before he could serve, we were devastated. I don't even know if devastated is the right word. It felt impossible. How could we keep an 18-year old boy in "mission mode" for twelve months? So, I was angry. I was most angry at the mission department. In my mind, there was some guy in a suit whose job it was to take file after file filled with teenage boys and girls who had made mistakes and decide on their "sentence." When he got to Dyl's, he barely glanced at it before he stamped it with this big, red "ONE YEAR" stamp, and moved on to the next. Of course that's not how it happened - the guy in the suit was a figment of my imagination. But oh, how I hated him. How could they do this to my son?

And so it was for weeks. And then months. So much anger. I am not an angry person by nature, so this was a really foreign feeling. I didn't like it. I knew that I had to change, so I turned to the scriptures. I scoured them. I listened to conference talks, especially talks about missionaries, trying to glean any bit of advice from modern day leaders. I prayed. And still nothing. There was no peace.

And then during an early morning scripture study with my kids two months later, something happened. We were reading in Mosiah, chapter 27. This is the chapter in which Alma the younger is struck dumb by an angel who had called him to repentance. "He became weak, even that he could not move his hands; therefore he was taken by those that were with him, and carried helpless, even until he was laid before his father." Usually, we take turns reading two verses each until we get through the chapter. It came around to me again, and I started verse 21:

"And he caused that a multitude should be gathered together that they might witness what the Lord had done for his son, and also for those that were with him."

I couldn't read the next verse, because I was overcome with emotion. I began to cry. Alma's son had just been laid at his feet, seemingly lifeless. And what did Alma do? He gathered people together and he said, not "look what the Lord has done TO my son", but "look what the Lord has done FOR my son." For. One word - out of 273,725 words in the book that I had read several times previously - changed me. For. I knew at that moment that the Lord was in charge and that He would do anything for Dylan, His son, "and also for those that were with him" - me. Suddenly, it didn't seem so impossible.

Today is Dylan's "hump day." One year since he left to serve the people of Osorno, Chile. He is happy and thriving, and he has grown more than I ever could have imagined. He calls that one year delay his "personal conversion story" and he has shared it when teaching other missionaries. I am so proud of him.

Hey, everyone...look what the Lord has done for my son.