THE DROP OFF - SO MUCH JOY!

This is Sister Lloyd's Mum posting. Wednesday, June 5, 2013 was one of the happiest days in the Lloyd Family! After being set apart as a full-time missionary and representative of Jesus Christ the night before, Sister Lloyd was incredibly peaceful, calm and happy. So many warned of the inevitable tears and aching hearts that would come to her family, but ... Sister Lloyd was so happy and ready to serve that it made tears impossible. We had a great day together before the dreaded "Drop Off."  She chose to eat at one of her faves in SLC (she did NOT want to eat in Provo!) - Pizzeria Limone where she had three refills of Diet DP as she thought it would be her last bubbly caffeine for 18 months. We laughed, danced in the car, sang (a little hip hop, country, show tunes), learned from Trevor how to make plasma from microwaved grapes (true),  teased and just smiled; a lot! After the obligatory stop at the Provo Temple grounds for pics (which Lynn did NOT want to do as he can't stand crowds) we sat through two lights turning left to the MTC due to massive traffic. We later learned a record number -- 940 missionaries, would arrive that day; the most ever to date. And then, the most incredible thing happened. Smiles; hundreds of smiles beaming from the most beautiful and bright faces of the Elders and Sisters "literally" outlining the MTC. Even sitting in the car, you could feel their joyful spirits. We saw an open curb spot and a few missionaries stepped forward asking, "Sister or Elder"? When I said Sister, a beautiful Sister opened the car door, gently reached in and pulled Sister Lloyd toward her with a hug and said "welcome"! She firmly yet lovingly told us to hurry and give our hugs. As she slung Ali's purse over her shoulder she smiled and said, "Oh Sister, you can only have three bags, we'll have to do something about this extra one"! (Ali had a purse and a satchel of which she'll have to omit one). Ali's joyful spirit had permeated the entire day and she left her brothers with smiles and NO TEARS! She only teared up when she hugged her Dad and when she hugged me, I looked in her eyes and said, here you go baby, you can do this and you're going to be amazing! She said, "yes." And then she walked away, stopping for a second to blow us a kiss and flash one last smile.