"...because thou hast not murmured...I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them...and it came to pass that when my father heard these words he was exceedingly glad..."
I Nephi 3:6-8

2 months to go!

2 months to go!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Reflections on Being Home


It has been a whole month since we returned home from New Zealand.  It has been a whirlwind of activity.  We arrived on our anniversary, Monday the 25th of November which is also when we left.  I wrote about the little family we baptized and we were able to stop on the way to the airport to see them one last time.  Our good friends Michael and Pat who are our New Zealand family took us to the airport and they were so patient about it.  We had lots of luggage and a couple of stops which they helped with wholeheartedly.  We also got a call from our last convert to contact us.  He sobbed and sobbed and said he hadn't called before because he couldn't bear to say good bye to the only people who had treated him so kindly.  That is a little exaggeration but we really do care for him and his son.
We feel really blessed to have been able to see all of our converts before we left.  It was very hard to say good bye to Michael and Pat at the airport and pretty tearful when we read the letter Pres. Paea left on our doorstep.  Ken loves him so much as do I.

On arriving home, we were met at the airport by our four children, Heather, Jason, Jenny and Micah.  They are the ones who saw us off because we couldn't stand to say good bye to the whole family there.  We were a wee bit disappointed to see only four of the family there but that changed as soon as we saw "The Plan"!  We got to the house and the lawn was covered with yellow balloons all staked down with golf tees.  There were posters everywhere and the Christmas lights were up.  We were quided through the house to the back yard where all the rest of the family was standing in a fully lighted Pergola which had been constructed for our anniversary.  Those smiling faces lit and set aglow by tiny Christmas lights will always be in my memory.

Next we were taken into the house which had been cleaned and made spic and span and fully stocked with any kind of food we could think of.  We were shown the new bathroom floor the kids had installed as well as the complete master bath redo that they had done as well.  Everything was beautiful and they all worked so hard to make it that way.  They had prepared a complete Mexican dinner for us too.  How did they know how much we had missed Mexican food. LOL!  We also received Harts drinks and Daylight donuts at the airport.  We ate dinner and hugged and cried and laughed and loved.

I couldn't believe how much the kids had grown.  Almost every one of them was much bigger than I remembered.  We didn't get a full sense of the growth from Skype.  Some are approaching me in height and a couple have their sights set on beating grandpa.  My little baby Lexie was walking and talking and looking very old.  She is a funny little thing who while a baby still sometimes makes you forget how old she is by the grownup things she says and does.  Our kids were becoming young men and young ladies quickly.  The only thing I regret a bit is missing this part of their growing up but they do it no matter where we are don't they.

Our ward seems much different with so many of our beloved brothers and sisters passed on or changed.  We lost Anna Carter, Von Bennett, Walden Johnson, David Phelon and Phil Marquis in the few months before our return.  We also lost Jack Batchler, Pres. Clyde Hill and Bishop Hyatt .  We will miss them.  We were happy to see so many also doing well in spite of many problems.  Our ward had changed much.  There were lots of move ins and outs.  We have many new folks to get to know and hope we can do it quickly.  Our old friends are still friends and now we have so many new ones to count.  We are grateful for the support that the ward has shown us mostly through their prayers and letting us know about important events.

Returning home has seemed to be very difficult for me.  Ken says that is a sign that my mission was successful.  I miss our friends and family in New Zealand.  Often I don't know what to do with myself but then the kids come round and help me figure it out.  My daughter says I need to give myself time but I have never been very good at that.  Two days after we got back, I stood in the middle of Walmart crying and asked Ken if we could go back.  He just looked at me like he didn't know what to do with me and smiled.  He then took my hand led me through the checkout and took me home to listen to my rant.

I did love this mission and I am torn.  I love to be back with my friends and family here but I miss those loved ones there.  I felt useful and helpful there and I loved sharing the gospel.  I guess I will just have to find my place here and reinvent myself once again.  I have done it before so it is not like I don't know how but I haven't felt this lost in a very long time.  Fortunately, I have Heavenly Father to help me figure it out along with all the sweet loved ones here!

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