Sister Emily is my Bonus Baby. She has been gone on her mission for 7 months. I haven’t spoken to her for 7 months. We email every week, and you can read her email on Mondays if you’d like. The posts are called “Out on a WIM”. I write a letter to her once a week, but I don’t call her or visit her. She is focusing on serving the Lord. She is spending all of her days and weeks and months sharing her love and testimony of God. We only talk to her two times a year, Christmas and Mother’s Day. I won’t talk to Emily again till May. She’ll be home around the beginning of December of 2014.

Why am I able to let my baby leave home for 18 months and not talk to her everyday? Because I love the Lord. Because I know that there is not one other thing that Emily could be doing with her time right now that would be more beneficial to her, to our family, and to those whom she will meet and serve than what she is doing now.

After a wonderful Christmas morning, after presents and a yummy breakfast, after relaxing and movie watching, we had the highlight of the day! We were able to Skype with our Em. We had a blast talking to her. We laughed and cried, and it was the best Christmas Bonus we could have asked for!