When your son or daughter, serving as a missionary goes to the SLC airport, do you meet them there?

[nuclearfuels]

I understand the suggestion is to not see family there but I'm interested in what happens in real life.

[Calm]

5 minutes ago, nuclearfuels said:

I understand the suggestion is to not see family there but I'm interested in what happens in real life.

We didn’t though we were in Canada at the time so that might have had something to do with it.

[bluebell]

9 minutes ago, nuclearfuels said:

I understand the suggestion is to not see family there but I'm interested in what happens in real life.

Do you mean after they've already been in the Provo MTC and are flying out to their mission field?  When I served my mother and grandparents met me there, but that was during the time anyone could wait right at the gate so it was nice to kill a few hours with family.

With my son, he flew right from home MTC to the Mexico MTC so of course we took him there and sent him off.

[Rain]

14 minutes ago, nuclearfuels said:

I understand the suggestion is to not see family there but I'm interested in what happens in real life.

I wasn't in Utah for a missionary, but when I lived there some did go and some did not.  I always felt it odd when people would say "we've spent 2 years apart, I'm not waiting a minute long".  I always thought "You've been apart for 2 years. What's another 30 minutes to do what the church and the airport have asked you to do so the airport can run better?" 

Edited June 2, 2024 by Rain

[Rain]

3 minutes ago, bluebell said:

Do you mean after they've already been in the Provo MTC and are flying out to their mission field?  When I served my mother and grandparents met me there, but that was during the time anyone could wait right at the gate so it was nice to kill a few hours with family.

With my son, he flew right from home MTC to the Mexico MTC so of course we took him there and sent him off.

Good question.  I was thinking about when missionaries came home and them asking not to bring more than a person or 2 to meet them, but to meet groups elsewhere.

[JAHS]

For the Provo MTC: "Family and friends should not visit missionaries as they leave the MTC, including on the bus, train or at the airport."

Once we dropped our missionaries at the MTC that was the last we saw them till they came home.

[ksfisher]

16 hours ago, Rain said:

I was thinking about when missionaries came home and them asking not to bring more than a person or 2 to meet them, but to meet groups elsewhere.

We weren't given this instruction when our daughter came home a couple of months ago.  I don't see why you couldn't bring a reasonable amount of people as there's plenty of room. 

[Rain]

1 hour ago, ksfisher said:

We weren't given this instruction when our daughter came home a couple of months ago.  I don't see why you couldn't bring a reasonable amount of people as there's plenty of room. 

If you weren't told it doesn't matter to me. I know people were told when my son was on his mission because it was talked about on Missionary Mommas about how they were told and were very vocal that they weren't going to follow those directions. This was during 2020 and 2021 so it's likely things were different for them than you.

[Stargazer]

18 hours ago, nuclearfuels said:

I understand the suggestion is to not see family there but I'm interested in what happens in real life.

My experience is 50 years in the past, but when I boarded the airplane bound for Germany, not only my nonmember parents, but also the parents of many of my fellow departing missionaries (all headed to the same mission) were there to see us all off.

Back then I am pretty sure there was no suggestion to the contrary -- nothing was said to us that I recall.

 

[Calm]

1 hour ago, Rain said:

This was during 2020 and 2021 so it's likely things were different for them than you.

It makes sense during Covid.  Before restrictions on gatherings were imposed and after restrictions were lifted, it makes less sense. 

But I imagine the Airport administration gets frustrated with parking issues at the very least when large groups show up for a number of missionaries arriving or departing all at once. 
 

For meeting them in between, after drop off at MTC but before lift off on the in the field segment of the mission, they may have found that it is best on the missionary not to have the chance for homesickness to pop up again.

We actually saw our son (23 years ago before calling lightened up, he wasn’t even allowed to do emails) while he was on a mission as he went to the Utah Ogden mission where several of his cousins lived and he got permission to spend Christmas Eve with them. We showed up at the party too. His face went white. He was a good kid who was relaxed, but not a rule breaker and my guess is he knew how the MP was going to react. I felt bad because our impression from the letter the mission president sent out before his mission to us the parents was that a one time meet was okay (it sounded like he knew it was going to happen whether he wanted it to or not and by giving limited permission, he maintain control over the situation so it wouldn’t get out of hand with parents and family showing up throughout the mission).  

Either the mission president had changed shortly before he left or the guy was not a good communicator as he was pissed off (we all felt the need to clear it with the MP when we found out just dropping by once was not acceptable after all).  Anyway, we did lots of please forgive us, we misunderstood, we will leave right now if you want, etc and pulled out the poor just diagnosed diabetic young sister who misses her adored older brother card a lot and we got a pass, so had fun that night and even took him to breakfast the next day (by which time our son has regained his natural equilibrium).

However (and this is the point of the long story) it was much, much harder to say goodbye that time than it had when we first sent him off because the coming long separation was so much more real and we fully understood what it meant in our gut, not just intellectually.  It sent me into a low time where I hadn’t been when he left (of course we were under more stress with the new diabetes as well).  I think it would have been easier all around if there had been no contact. My family isn’t great at shifting emotional modes or focus even if very flexible in other ways. 

Edited June 3, 2024 by Calm

[blackstrap]

Back in my day when we walked uphill both ways to Church ( in a snow storm ) , I got one letter every couple of weeks if lucky. The Central American postal service was iffy at best. ( pitiful violin plays poorly ) 

BTW my parents did see me off at the airport in SLC. 

[Rain]

31 minutes ago, Calm said:

It makes sense during Covid.  Before restrictions on gatherings were imposed and after restrictions were lifted, it makes less sense. 

But I imagine the Airport administration gets frustrated with parking issues at the very least when large groups show up for a number of missionaries arriving or departing all at once. 
 

For meeting them in between, after drop off at MTC but before lift off on the in the field segment of the mission, they may have found that it is best on the missionary not to have the chance for homesickness to pop up again.

We actually saw our son (23 years ago before calling lightened up, he wasn’t even allowed to do emails) while he was on a mission as he went to the Utah Ogden mission where several of his cousins lived and he got permission to spend Christmas Eve with them. We showed up at the party too. His face went white. He was a good kid who was relaxed, but not a rule breaker and my guess is he knew how the MP was going to react. I felt bad because our impression from the letter the mission president sent out before his mission to us the parents was that a one time meet was okay (it sounded like he knew it was going to happen whether he wanted it to or not and by giving limited permission, he maintain control over the situation so it wouldn’t get out of hand with parents and family showing up throughout the mission).  

Either the mission president had changed shortly before he left or the guy was not a good communicator as he was pissed off (we all felt the need to clear it with the MP when we found out just dropping by once was not acceptable after all).  Anyway, we did lots of please forgive us, we misunderstood, we will leave right now if you want, etc and pulled out the poor just diagnosed diabetic young sister who misses her adored older brother card a lot and we got a pass, so had fun that night and even took him to breakfast the next day (by which time our son has regained his natural equilibrium).

However (and this is the point of the long story) it was much, much harder to say goodbye that time than it had when we first sent him off because the coming long separation was so much more real and we fully understood what it meant in our gut, not just intellectually.  It sent me into a low time where I hadn’t been when he left (of course we were under more stress with the new diabetes as well).  I think it would have been easier all around if there had been no contact. My family isn’t great at shifting emotional modes or focus even if very flexible in other ways. 

Yes, the covid restrictions were different, but during that time I did hear that the airport appreciated it in general as well.  It isn't such a big deal in some months, but in June and July at the Salt Lake airport when there is a big influx of missionaries coming home it makes a big difference.  Here in Phoenix in September, we saw about 5 other missionaries leaving at the same time, but no other missionaries came home at the same time. And I know, like @ksfisher says, a reasonable amount is different than groups of over 100 people like I have sometimes seen.

You're right about seeing in between as well.  When I went on my mission in 1990 they did ask parents not to come to the airport after the MTC.  There was a large group of us that came and only one other missionary besides me didn't have someone there.  I felt bad for him because I told my parents not to come, but he was from one of the polynesian islands and being in the center of all those families and him without was hard on him. 

[mfbukowski]

1 hour ago, Calm said:

But I imagine the Airport administration gets frustrated with parking issues at the very least when large groups show up for a number of missionaries arriving or departing all at once.

No, it's clearly a commandment from God.

Break a rule and burn forever.

🧐

 

[ksfisher]

2 hours ago, Calm said:

But I imagine the Airport administration gets frustrated with parking issues at the very least when large groups show up for a number of missionaries arriving or departing all at once. 

For the amount they charge for parking I'd imagine they eagerly await returning missionaries

[bluebell]

5 hours ago, ksfisher said:

We weren't given this instruction when our daughter came home a couple of months ago.  I don't see why you couldn't bring a reasonable amount of people as there's plenty of room. 

We weren't either when my son came home in February.  I'm assuming it must change some over the years.

[bluebell]

3 hours ago, Rain said:

If you weren't told it doesn't matter to me. I know people were told when my son was on his mission because it was talked about on Missionary Mommas about how they were told and were very vocal that they weren't going to follow those directions. This was during 2020 and 2021 so it's likely things were different for them than you.

Covid rules were pretty insane.  I know people that weren't even allowed to get out of their cars in the parking lot.  Their missionary just had to wander around and try to find them.

[bluebell]

2 hours ago, Calm said:

It makes sense during Covid.  Before restrictions on gatherings were imposed and after restrictions were lifted, it makes less sense. 

But I imagine the Airport administration gets frustrated with parking issues at the very least when large groups show up for a number of missionaries arriving or departing all at once. 
 

For meeting them in between, after drop off at MTC but before lift off on the in the field segment of the mission, they may have found that it is best on the missionary not to have the chance for homesickness to pop up again.

We actually saw our son (23 years ago before calling lightened up, he wasn’t even allowed to do emails) while he was on a mission as he went to the Utah Ogden mission where several of his cousins lived and he got permission to spend Christmas Eve with them. We showed up at the party too. His face went white. He was a good kid who was relaxed, but not a rule breaker and my guess is he knew how the MP was going to react. I felt bad because our impression from the letter the mission president sent out before his mission to us the parents was that a one time meet was okay (it sounded like he knew it was going to happen whether he wanted it to or not and by giving limited permission, he maintain control over the situation so it wouldn’t get out of hand with parents and family showing up throughout the mission).  

Either the mission president had changed shortly before he left or the guy was not a good communicator as he was pissed off (we all felt the need to clear it with the MP when we found out just dropping by once was not acceptable after all).  Anyway, we did lots of please forgive us, we misunderstood, we will leave right now if you want, etc and pulled out the poor just diagnosed diabetic young sister who misses her adored older brother card a lot and we got a pass, so had fun that night and even took him to breakfast the next day (by which time our son has regained his natural equilibrium).

However (and this is the point of the long story) it was much, much harder to say goodbye that time than it had when we first sent him off because the coming long separation was so much more real and we fully understood what it meant in our gut, not just intellectually.  It sent me into a low time where I hadn’t been when he left (of course we were under more stress with the new diabetes as well).  I think it would have been easier all around if there had been no contact. My family isn’t great at shifting emotional modes or focus even if very flexible in other ways. 

In my mission parents would occasionally show up and it was fine.  They would take their kid and their companion out to dinner and then be on their way.  I'm with you though, I think it would have been horrible to have my parents leave me in the mission after seeing them again.  I never wanted them to visit.

[Calm]

1 hour ago, ksfisher said:

For the amount they charge for parking I'd imagine they eagerly await returning missionaries

Does the Airport run the parking or get a set amount from a parking company that leases the opportunity?  Anyone know?  I assumed the second.

[ksfisher]

1 minute ago, Calm said:

Does the Airport run the parking or get a set amount from a parking company that leases the opportunity?  Anyone know?  I assumed the second.

I would assume there's an outside vendor that runs it. 

[Rain]

2 hours ago, bluebell said:

Covid rules were pretty insane.  I know people that weren't even allowed to get out of their cars in the parking lot.  Their missionary just had to wander around and try to find them.

Yes, that was crazy!