Why I Don’t Sob at the MTC

This article was originally written for Deseret News by Trish Mercer. The following is an excerpt. 

In the past 25 months, I’ve taken three children to the Missionary Training Center in Provo where they trained to be full-time missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Each time I’ve returned, as I did on a recent Wednesday, friends and neighbors have said, “Did you cry all the way home?” or “Oh, you must be so heavy-hearted” or “What a sad day.”

I’m baffled by these comments. Those three visits to the MTC have been great days. And here’s why:

I knew this day was coming.

In the case of our two sons, my husband Dave and I knew when they were just blips on the ultrasound that we wanted them to serve Mormon missions. Dave also made sure to refer to their future missions not in terms of “If you choose …” but “When you go …” We’ve been anticipating this day for literally our sons’ entire lives, and we have three more boys who we hope will follow their brothers’ examples.

Read Mercer’s full article at DeseretNews.com.