The question becomes, "How could I not?"

So how is it having your missionary home?

It's an obvious question, and I get asked it a lot. Almost every day. And the expected answer is 100% correct: It's amazing! Really. Eli has been home five weeks, and I find myself more grateful each day that he had the opportunity to serve. My non-LDS friends frequently ask me how a mother can stand to part with her child for two whole years with such limited contact. "I really don't know how you do it," they say. But here's the thing: When you witness the incredible growth, the maturity, the increased faith the testimony that a mission brings, it is so clear. The question becomes not "How could I send him?" but "How could I not?"

Many of my ALRM mom friends will welcome their missionaries home soon; a whole slew of them return July 29th. It's gonna be a rockin' party at the Salt Lake City International Airport that day. So today, I thought I'd tell you a little about our experience this first month with our returned missionary. Not that yours will be exactly the same; it won't. But parts of it could be. Especially if you have elders. And even if it isn't the same at all, missionary moms just love to read about other missionaries. We eat this stuff up. And lastly, my anxiety is dang high today, so I need to write. Writing, for me, is the absolute best stress reducer. I know...I'm weird. We've already established that.

For starters, our returned missionary brought home the most perfect combination of humility and spirituality. He has learned so much, yet he is not boastful or proud. Instead, his desire is to lift us and make us better than we thought we could be, and he does. I am astonished by his knowledge of scripture. He has so much committed to memory, and what he doesn't know, he can find in only seconds. I wanna go on a mission, so I can be this good at it. Last week I was preparing my Relief Society lesson, and he asked what Conference talk I was using. "It's called 'The Moral Force of Women,'" I replied. "Oh, D. Todd Christofferson, October 2013. Great talk!" What?? How does he know all this stuff?

The other thing the mission has developed in Eli is an attitude of altruism, the honest desire to put others' needs before his own. Not that he wasn't a helpful kid before; he was. But not like this. He constantly seeks opportunities to serve, and if he can't find any, he asks. "What can I do to help you today, Dad?" For real. The other day he helped his baby brother shave the peach fuzz from his upper lip for the first time. I stood in the next room, eyes filled with tears. It was a "moment."

At the same time, I want you to know that he is still our Eli. In every way. He is still so funny and adorable. He makes us laugh. He jokingly calls people "piles." This is apparently mission lingo, and I don't think the term is complimentary. But now our 13-year-old is also calling people "piles," for better or worse.

Our house has changed a bit now that he's back. Did I mention in an earlier post that he has lots of stuff? Yep! And that stuff is, well, sort of everywhere. Yesterday we had this conversation: "So Mom, do you like having my stuff all over the place?" My answer: "I like having you home."  :-) At this moment, on the kitchen counter, are his watch, two pairs of sunglasses, a Nintendo DS, Chap Stick, keys, iPod, institute pamphlet, server apron and book, Garmin GPS, cell phone, a pack of 20 pens, and his scriptures. Ha!

Also, our TV habits have changed. Shulamith and I are WAY behind on our favorite shows. This is mostly because we'd rather talk to Eli than watch TV, but also Eli has a bunch of faves to catch up on, so the TV is often unavailable.

Now I almost hate to mention this... almost. But you are all my friends, right? I don't usually talk about such things, so don't judge me. The most annoying thing about living with only boys for two years is that apparently one forgets one very basic rule of etiquette: Bathroom seats go DOWN. Ahhh! I know I trained my son about this concept; I know I did. Let's just say we are going to have to do some re-training.

Lastly, I will tell you a little about determination. About discipline. About goal-setting and follow-through. Eli developed many of these character traits before his mission, and the mission only strengthened them. This is evidenced by his commitment to losing the weight he gained. According to our friend and former senior ALRM missionary, Tom Boatman, the average weight gain in the Arkansas Little Rock Mission is 40 lbs over the course of two years, the result of gracious Southern hospitality, which often includes fried "everything." Eli was pretty close to average, gaining 45 pounds in the two years. I knew he would want to lose that weight, but I thought he might wait a little while before beginning a weight loss plan. I was wrong. Literally the day after he came home, he started. That was five weeks ago, and I'm proud to report that he has already lost 25 lbs. He's over halfway there.

How is it having my missionary home? It's crazy wonderful. If I could go back two years, would I send him all over again? In a heartbeat.

How could I not?