Down to the Wire

So I got a bit of traumatic news on Thursday in my latest letter from my Honey. Background story on our communication over the past 21 months: before TJ left on his mission, we talked about if I was going to wait and how we wanted letters to be done. The trend is usually to write once a week. I always told him that I would write him if he wrote me back {he has proven to be such a faithful letter writer! I love it!}. One night while laying in my bed talking to my mom on the phone, I had mentioned how I was going to miss talking to TJ everyday and it was going to be hard for me to write just once a week when we honestly talked all day, every day. I'm not even exaggerating. Then my mom, in her sage wisdom, told me about her letter writing experience while my dad was in the navy. She wrote him everyday and sent the letter off once a week, so he always had a nice big letter to get him through until her next one. She suggested that and I was baffled by "how could I possibly find that much to say... everyday... everyweek... for 2 years?!" I ran that idea by TJ that same night and he said that he LOVED the idea.

I've written him every single day since December 2, 2009. That was until yesterday. Here's the thing. My letters have never been distracting for him and they haven't inhibited me at all in going off and living my life whatsoever, I just tell him everything that goes on with me because he wants to know. In this latest letter though, at a conference that he went to, all of the missionaries were counseled to not handle mail on any other day except p-day. Sooo that means... shorter letters. For both of us.... Not exactly the hugest fan of this right now. Which means that I have to figure out how to do letters for him for the next 3 months. Whether to stick with what I was doing or go with the conventional, once a week letter. However, as I've taken the time to examine this and try to see the blessings of this new restriction, I've come to realize that by having shorter letters... we're really putting in what matters most. What really needs to be said. The kinds of experiences that need to be shared with one another to keep us uplifted and progressing spiritually. We can still say cute things but with the amount that he can read in a short period of time before he can reply to me, I need to put in the important things first. In Primary today, we learned about missionaries and writing them. It's as if someone knew I needed this lesson to figure out what I want to do. The kids colored pictures and asked questions and had a blast. That's when it hit me: we both need to get back to the basics. We need to make our letters about the heart of it all, the sole reason why he's out on his mission and why I'm supporting a missionary. These next 3 months will be so amazing in that we'll both be so focused on just finishing up with a strong ending. This past Friday, he had to sign a "contract" saying that he will do everything he can to finish stronger than he started. This past Thursday, I had it layed out to me just exactly what that meant for him to finish stronger than he started. The first 6 months of his mission was an intense period of spiritual growth for me and it's looking like the last 3 will be the same as well. I am so grateful to have an amazingly obedient missionary, he has been such an amazing example to me of obedience and faith. I have come to believe, over the past 21 months, that he is the only missionary I could've ever waited for. I am so grateful for his example, his love, his dedication, and his spirit. I know exactly what kind of man is coming home to me in just over 3 months. And he is, my wonderful readers, exactly the kind of man I want to be with forever {and ever}