LET THE JOURNEY BEGIN!

Here is our little family- we went to Blue Lemon near our home for "The Last Supper" before Ally got set apart as a full time missionary.

Stake President Anderson, papa, SISTER ALLYSON SMOOT, and Bishop Robinson after words. They gave some great advice that i recorded and will type up for Allyson.

Mom and dad complimenting the stake president about some of the advice for Ally. Mom really loved it.

Grandma and Grandpa Smoot gave wonderful advice too!

One last blury photo. Lilly was across the street with our good friends the Footes.

These sisters are really close! They both love Ally so much.

After Ally was set apart and around 8pm-9:30, we finally got everything packed and her suitcases properly weighted, sort of (SIGH), it was about 12:30 am. We had to wake up at about 3:15 am to get to the airport for her 6 am flight. EWWW

On our way, we stopped at the bank to grab her some travel money and she started to feel queazy. We went to trade seats so she could be up front and YUP...She threw up on the grass for a bit then slept the 40 minutes to the airport. Poor thing!

Standing in line. It's about 4:30 am. We saw so many missionary families!

A big hug from Dad. I am pretty sure he will miss her the most!

We all cried. McKenna and Lilly stayed home to get their sleep.

Megan posted this yesterday!!

WHERE'S WALDO?
See the green water bottle? All the missionary families were watching from the balcony to see their missionary go through security for the last time in 18 months and 2 years!

THIS next part WAS VERY COOL...
Yesterday we received this letter via email and photos from a dad who was able to go to the terminal and take some photos and talk with all of the missionaries headed off at the same time. Read on.

Dear Family of a New Missionary,

Hello you tired people! Your missionary gave us this email address so we could share a few extra glimpses of your awesome missionary with you on this important day.

What an amazing and beautiful group of young servants of the Lord who are going out to bless the lives of the people of Chile and Ecuador. The group had missionaries headed to Chile Rancagua, Chile Osorno, and Ecuador Guayakil missions.

These missionaries have such beautiful hometowns as: Monticello, Ogden, Lehi, Kaysville, South Jordan, Lehi, Highland, Alpine, Cedar Hills, Salt Lake City and Murray. (Sorry if I forgot any).

We shared a little love, some laughs, some nutrition (Pop Tarts!), shook their hands, wished them well and we watched the plane pull away.

Today we're sending out our first missionary too. Elder Zachary Kirkman will be serving in the Chile Osorno Mission.

The photos aren't in any particular order, and we haven't cleaned them up yet, but we figured speed is most important right now. And I think the album lets you add comments, so tag your missionary. If there's a photo you want a higher resolution version of, just let us know.

http://rogmo.com/gallery1/My-Mission---The-Journey-Begins

May God bless your family and your missionary as they dedicate this time to serve the Lord.

Roger & Julie Kirkman