so great

Tonight I attended a missionary farewell dinner held for myself and Cami Bingham, another girl in our ward who is also leaving on a mission.  The Young Women president planned the event and it was hosted at Bishop Rhode's home.  We barbecued and had a potluck style dinner and Cami and I were asked to bring one of our favorite desserts.  She brought brownies and ice cream and I made a strawberry trifle. Three decadent layers of angel food cake, cool whip, fresh sliced strawberries, and vanilla puddin'. yummm.

 Both Cami and I's families were invited as well as the Laurel class and Young Women Laurel advisors to gather together and have a small, intimate missionary send-off that you wouldn't normally get to experience with an entire ward family.  Especially now that the church no longer has technical "farewells" this was a great time to really focus on our decisions to serve missions and express and share our testimonies with the younger girls. Both of our parents had the opportunity to bear their testimonies and share their thoughts about us as their daughters as well as express to us their sentiments about our quickly approaching missions.

The Laurels got to say some words of encouragement and share their own testimonies with us. What a truly powerful and memorable experience!  It's amazing how the even the shyest girl can bring such a strong feeling of the Spirit.  Most of the girls had just become part of the Beehive class when I was a Laurel ready to graduate and leave for college.  I was touched as they told me how much of an example I was to them and reminded me that our actions and words have a far greater reach than we often realize.

Such a great night!