Mother worry . . . . irrational or not?

So, last week when Brandon emailed from his mission in Ukraine he said he would be transferring to a different area of the Ukraine in a few days.  He forgot to tell us where his new area would be, so we were left wondering for a week.  In that letter he also talked about how bitterly cold it suddenly had become:

"Well, this week suddenly it got WAY cold, way fast!  For most of the winter it's been hovering right around freezing, but this last week it shot down to -13 degrees  all of a sudden!  I stopped looking at the thermometers after that, for fear that it would get lower.  It's pretty hard to get out the door, motivation-wise, when you lose feeling in your face and knuckles after a few minutes outdoors!"

I started looking up the weather in Ukraine, and it was, indeed, crazy cold.  Like -10 to -15 during the day, with wind chill putting it down to -24 or so.  Ok, so then I started to worry about my boy.  I really have worried very little about him on his mission.  He is doing great, I know he is where he needs to be right now, and I know he has the Lord's protection.  But, my understanding about transfers is that he would need to take all his worldly possessions down to a train station, wait for a train, and then ride to somewhere else in the Ukraine by himself, where he would need to walk to his new apartment.  All in the bitter, bitter cold. My mother worries started to escalate.  I said many prayers over several days prior to the transfer (so did the rest of the family) and the day he was transferring I pretty much had a day-long conversation with Heavenly Father as I went about the business of my day. I asked that Brandon be safe and not be adversely affected by the cold, that he would find his new home without trouble, and would quickly settle into his new area.

So, it was with great anticipation that I waited for his next email to arrive - early Monday morning. I actually woke up during the night to check the email to make sure all was well.

And he, in typical teenage boy fashion, he pretty much blew off my concerns and answered none of my questions.  How did he get from Lugansk to Donetsk - public transportation, car, etc?  He didn't say.  He did say, "you should know that transportation is really well organized for transfers and you don't have to worry about that."  Okay - I get it.  I'll try not to worry about it anymore, because someone over there in Ukraine is figuring it all out for the missionaries.

As for the cold, this is what he said, "Yes, it's cold!  I need to buy a scarf today.  First time in my life!  It's been good, though.  Bundled up right, you don't really feel much of it.  A good coat does wonders."  And, we did find out that his transfer was to the mission office in Donetsk, where he and his companion work every Tues, Wed., and Thurs. doing projects for the mission president in the office. So, instead of being outside on the streets from 7 a.m. to evening every day like he was in his last area, his outside time is more limited.  I did feel better. I even felt kind of silly for worrying about it.

Then this morning Dan was on the computer and he saw a news article on MSN.  "Uh oh," he said.  "I'm not sure you want to read this."  The title of the news article is "Dozens freeze to death as extreme cold grips Eastern Europe."  And the story is mostly about Ukraine, where people have been found dead on the streets from the cold.  This is the link to the story.

So, yeah.  Maybe I'm not so crazy to worry after all. And yes, Brandon, perhaps buying a scarf would be a good idea!  But I will trust that you will be safe and will continue to solve your challenges yourself.  But that doesn't mean I will stop praying with all the energy of my heart for your protection.