Surprise for mom: 'A wonderful morning'
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It was a scene that might have looked familiar to many Latter-day Saint spectators: a mother embracing twin sons after they completed a full-time mission.
But this scene was a little different. Yes, Elder Mark Watts and Elder Michael Watts had just completed service in the Brazil Brasilia Mission and the Brazil Curitiba Mission, respectively. But instead of immediately returning home, they had stopped on Oct. 18 in the Birmingham, Ala., airport to pick up their mother, also being released from full-time missionary service.
"It has been a wonderful morning," said Sister Colleen Watts from the Alabama Birmingham Mission Home. "We went to the Birmingham airport to pick up a couple of missionaries coming in. They were my sons. I haven't seen them in two years. It was a wonderful reunion."
In October 2004 — just four years after the the twins had been fellowshipped and baptized — Sister Watts and her husband, Dwight, sent the boys to Brazil on missions. Brother Watts, who suffered from diabetes, gave each of his sons a message. He told them if something happened to him to take good care of their mother. He died three months later.
"Before I left for my mission, I felt it was the last time I would see my father," said Elder Mark Watts. "Knowing that families are eternal, that we could be together forever, gave me a great peace. I knew the blessing promised in the temple would be completed. For that reason I stayed on my mission to let other people know what I know — that families are forever. I couldn't leave my mission, knowing there were people there who needed to know this truth."
Sister Watts, who had great support from her ward, assured her sons she was doing just fine. Everyone remembered the day that Brother Watts, once a less-active member, had baptized his wife. Brother Watts, his wife and sons were later sealed in the San Diego California Temple. (The Watts' daughter, Tracey, joined the Church later.) Both twins determined to stay in the mission field upon their father's death.
The twins had planned, after their return, to move from Phelan, Calif., to Utah or Idaho, where they would enroll in school. So Sister Watts put their home on the market and went to Utah to look for a place to live.
Returning home, she prayed about what she needed to do with her life. During a Church meeting, a senior couple bore testimony of how badly senior missionaries were needed. Immediately following the meeting, she asked her bishop if she could serve. He quickly replied that she certainly could go on a mission.
Things happened fast after she submitted her application to serve: She escorted her daughter to the temple to receive her endowment. They then did the temple work for both her parents and her husband's parents and all their grandparents. All the required appointments with doctors and dentist were made and completed in two weeks. Her home sold.
Elder Michael Watts was shocked, but impressed, by his mother's decision. "I was very happy, knowing it would be the best thing for her. It was a blessing. It was amazing. It was perfect."
When Sister Watts arrived in the Alabama Birmingham Mission in November 2005, Sister Watts spoke with President Douglas R. Johnson about the possibility of going to Brazil to bring her sons home. Because the boys were serving in two different missions, travel arrangements could not be made.
When Sister Sylvia Webster — wife of Michael's mission president David R. Webster — heard the news, she made arrangements to surprise Sister Watts by having the sons both fly into Birmingham and pick up their mother.
Sister Watts thought her sons were flying to their sister Tracey's home in California, and would meet their mother at the airport there. But on her birthday, she received a letter meant for her daughter. It contained the travel itinerary for one of her sons. "This is strange. Michael is flying from Brazil to Georgia, then to Birmingham," Sister Watts said. "And it looks like he is flying out on the same flight I am."
She read the letter over and over again. Then she realized what had been arranged. "I couldn't believe it that someone would go to all that trouble," she said. Even with the element of surprise lost, the plan "still was the most wonderful gift."
Elder Michael Watts said, "It was a perfect opportunity for us to honor her before we go home — to surprise her in the airport and go home together." — Marlene Hardy contributed to this story.
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