Take a good look at this picture. Then look at your mom. Now back at the picture. Now look at your mom. Sadly, she isn’t your mom (unless you’re one of my siblings, I guess). But your mom could almost be as cool as my mom if she went on a mission.

Yes. My mom is going into the MTC tomorrow. HOW FREAKING AWESOME IS THAT?! She will be serving in the Rochester, NY mission. I know this is something she wanted to do with my dad so badly, but I’m SO grateful that she went anyways. She’s going with a good friend that is almost as awesome as she is, and they’re going to tear it up and have so much fun.

I called her yesterday in an absolute panic. I thought for a minute I wouldn’t be able to call her while she was on her mission. It was a deal breaker for me. I HAVE to be able to call my mom. She’s always been my biggest cheerleader. She always gets SO excited over the good news and is so supportive when the news is sucky. She makes me feel like I’m awesome, even though she knows me better.

Any time anyone says I’m just like my mom, I take it as a high compliment. My mom is as good as it gets. She never takes credit for how we all turned out (keep in mind, my siblings turned out good)…but the truth of the matter is that she should. My brothers and I were still home when Dad died, and she raised us by herself. She was an excellent example to us. She never judged. She never gave up.

Especially on me.

I went through a rough couple of years. I treated her and everyone else around me badly. I made poor choices. The whole time my mom did everything that she could for me, and when I was ready, she helped me to turn my life around. She never EVER held what I had done against me. She never even brought it up. She truly forgave me and forgot about it.

She’s always made me want to be better. She loves everyone. And everyone loves her. Just ask anyone. If they know my mom, they love her.

You’re lucky, Rochester…you’re getting one of the finest people this world has to offer.