My Favorite Missionaries

My sister has been serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fort Worth, Texas.  She's been out for 16 months and our only contact has been through email and a few hand-written letters.  Despite, the minimal contact, I've come to know her on a deeper, more spiritual level than I ever would have experienced had she not left.  She's been able to share parts of her mission experience as well as her thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that have allowed me to feel close to her; closer than when we shared our room way back when and she'd leave chocolate candy wrappers in the bed. :)

I had the same thing happen with my brothers when they went on their missions.  When they were away, I wrote them once a month, and even if I didn't receive a personal email from them, I always received the email they sent to my parents to forward to family and friends each week.  I felt close to them that way.  I still remember one brother writing about singing hymns to the people in Chile and another brother always writing about how amped he was to be a missionary in Canada.  Just thinking about reading their emails makes me smile.

What I'm really trying to say is writing my siblings when they were/are on their missions has made me feel so, so close to them; even closer than when we're living in the same country and I get to see them in person every now and then.  My relationship with each of them has been strengthened and become more eternal than ever.  Missions are always a blessing for every party involved -- The missionary (of course), the people they teach/serve (of course), the parents, the siblings, and ESPECIALLY the older sister. :)