Day of Bittersweet Sorrow

In a little less than an hour, my best friend enters the MTC and i won't see her for 18 months. It is a day that will forever be, for me,a day of bittersweet sorrow. Sister Shelby Nicole Bradley has made a life changing decision to do THE most important work known to man. So i guess if i have to lose her, at least its to something that i know is SO important. We spent this last weekend together the way it should always be; Shelby, Deverie and Logan. The 3 best good friends in the world. I dont know what i would do without those 2. We did everything we could to postpone the unavoidable goodbye throughout the entire weekend. There were moments where we broke down but did everything we could to hide it and show no weakness. There was a somber cloud around us as the time drew nearer to our dreaded Au Revoir. Music shattered the silence and drowned out our tears. No one looked at eachother. There were embraces of every kind and countless "I love you's". Promises were made. Titles were passed on. Tears were wiped away. Despite how hard it is to say good-bye to someone you love that much, we all knew it had to be done. We all understood the sacrifice would make us ALL stronger. Shelby is now a part of something bigger than us all and we wouldn't trade that for the world. We delayed it a little longer but couldn't do much more. Finally we tore off the band aid. It really stung. In fact i still feel the sting of it. It's weighing down on my heart as i write this. I will never forget the memories we made and i look forward to 18 months from now when we can once again reunite. Shelby, I love you more than i can express. I'm SOOO proud of you. You are a HUGE example to me. I can't wait to hear all the amazing things you will do. Don't worry about us here, the Lord will protect us as we know he is protecting you. I love this gospel. I know the kinds of experiences Shelby will gain. We only had 3 weeks together this time. But the letters will never stop and our relationship will only be strengthened. I know that to be true. The stinging will go away and we will move forward. Luckily i still have Dev around to help me through the hard times. She has experience with this kind of thing :). I'm so lucky to have the 2 best friends this world has to offer. I'll say this one more time, Shelby you are the best and i love you. Thanks for everything.