Another goodbye...

Today I said goodbye to my best friend of nineteen and a half years.
I know for every missionary post I've done so far, I've said that the person was my best friend. That is mostly true--I only write these for my really close friends. But Camille has always been my best friend.
This girl.
Is amazing.
I can't even imagine my life without her. We've had our fights and we've had our bad times, but overall I'd say we have a really awesome and happy relationship. For as long as I can remember, Camille has been who I went to for advice, who I've looked up to for an example, and who I just have fun with. We have been like twins since day one (well, her day one I guess) and she is the closest thing to a twin I'll ever have. I admire her for her strength because she is one of the strongest people I know. She is responsible, but still crazy and fun. She is adorable and incredibly intelligent. She is so spiritual and full of light, which is one of the many reasons she will make such an amazing missionary. She is strong-willed and determined and when she wants to achieve something--she does it. I admire her for her self-discipline and her kindness. I want to be like her in so many ways. Really, I hope to be able to catch up to her in wisdom and maturity someday before I die.
I can't explain to you how much I love this girl. Sometimes I may forget to show it, I can be kind of bad at that. But I know I worry about her more than I do anyone else, and I think she is just about the most amazing person ever.

We are so similar, and yet so different. We kind of balance each other out I guess. She is really responsible and mature and sometimes gets kind of stressed out over things and I'm more relaxed generally and pretty irresponsible at times. We like a lot of the same things, I probably have more in common with her tastes than with anyone else. We like about the same types of music we love a lot of the same movies. We share many of the same friends. We drive each other crazy sometimes, but we work through it.
I'm so thankful that I get to have her as my sister because I know for sure we'll be life-long friends and she is a friend I really want to have forever. I've learned that people come and go in life. Boyfriends don't last and even best friends don't always end up being friends forever. But family is always there for you, so it is convenient that my very best friend happens to be my sister.
As we dropped her off at the MTC today, I couldn't help but notice how incredibly nervous she was (it was pretty dang obvious, and who wouldn't be?). She looked like maybe she was about to throw up. But she bravely took her luggage and followed the new-missionary-hosts who kindly led her through the crowd of people. I imagined how terrifying that must be, to say goodbye to the people you've known your entire life, knowing you won't see them for a year and a half. How scary it must have been to walk into that sea of missionaries and not entirely knowing what to expect. Leaving everything familiar and comfortable behind and walking into the unknown to serve the Lord. I felt so incredibly proud of her and I don't think I've ever admired her so much as I did in that moment.
Her courage makes me want to be more brave. Her love for the gospel makes me want to grow more spiritually. She is such an amazing example and I am so happy to have people like that in my life who I can learn from.


Imagining a year and a half without my sister is hard. I can't entirely comprehend it actually--which is good, if I could, I'd probably never recover haha. I know sometimes it will be rough. I know that sometimes seeing her empty room might make me cry. But I also know that she is going to have adventures beyond my comprehension, and she is going to grow even more wise, she is going to meet amazing people and she is going to change lives for the better much like she's been doing here. The people in Sweden are so lucky.
I hope she knows that she really has been such a strong influence in my life and that I know what kind of person I want to become because of her.
She's kind of my hero and always has been.
And by "kind of," I mean that she is.
Camille I love you. You are wonderful and you are going to be such an amazing missionary. I truly believe that.
Thank you for everything.

****All photo credit goes to Daniel Driskill Photography. Like his page on Facebook. :)****