Updates

This is Katie, Tori's sister. She hasn't left yet and will be going into the MTC tomorrow, Wednesday January 27th. I have hesitated to write anything about her mission, not because I am not proud of her and know that she will be a shining "beacon" to the people of the Phillipines, but because I am at a loss for words. Me? Yep, you read it right. With all of the words I am writing, I am still processing everything. I think the real turning point was this past weekend.

We had a great time coming together as a family. It has been years since all of the siblings had been together. (2005 for Kiera's wedding and about 14 years since we had been in Illinois) It was wonderful.

On Sunday, Tori was set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was an amazing blessing and several things stuck out. What a great moment we had, going around the family circle picking out the things that had touched us during the blessing.

Afterwards each one of us had the opportunity to receive a Father's Blessing from my dad. Again, what a wonderful experience.

So without further ado:

Sister ToTo,
I am so thankful for you. You have always been such a great example to me of what a daughter of God should be. You have always stood up for what you believe, always took the higher road and because of your righteousness, you have been called to do this wonderful work. The Phillipines are so lucky to have you, even for a short time. I know that you will be blessed and watched over. Heavenly Father is so mindful of you. As Luke said, "you are the capstone of our family." You are so special to us. We love you so much!
I love you!
Katie