It's been a while

I can't believe it has been nearly a year since this blog has had any love. The other day I needed something to write on and I grabbed the book that I had created out of old blog posts. As I was flipping through the book, I realized that there were a lot of little things that had been captured in the blog; stories of my niece and nephews, miracles, daily items. I want to continue to capture these memories so I am going to start blogging again. If for no other purpose than to capture some memories that don't make it into my journal.

The past week has been a whirlwind of activity and each day will probably need to be it's own blog post.

Friday - June 19th, 2015:

The 20 year TSAM reunion. I was hesitant about attending this reunion because compared to others in my mission, not much has changed. You know what they say about comparing your life to another person's - it's something I need to stop because my life is pretty amazing. I don't know what I was so hesitant about. These are people that I worked with, prayed with, sweat in the hot Texas sun with, got chased by dogs with, cried with, laughed with. There will always be an eternal bond with the TSAM missionaries I served with.

It was an incredible experience to see these missionaries again. It was really as though no time had passed, we picked up where we had left off. There was a lot of laughter, tons of hugs and a few tears. President West shared the top 13 reasons why TSAMers had gone on a mission. When he got to the mission, he interviewed all 200 of us and compiled a list of why we had all chosen to serve a mission. He shared the list because many of us have kids that will soon be serving missions so he wanted to remind us what we said.

Here is the list:

There is a lot of wisdom in sharing this list. The power of those who influence us is incredible. I also loved the "hearing stories" reason. Stories are important as they shape cultures, and families. We need to remember our stories, we need to be better at sharing those stories.

I didn't take a lot of photos, but I grabbed a few selfies. Here is Brenda Wilkinson Segobia, me, Michelle Smith Benson and her husband Craig. Brenda and I were companions in my last area. Michelle and I were in the MTC together. I freaked out the first or second day in the MTC because it was so overwhelming and honestly I didn't think that I would really have to go on a mission (I was sure that Heavenly Father was just testing my willingness to go and that he would step in and save me from being a sister missionary - I was so stupid). I love these two ladies and am so grateful for their continued influence in my life.
 

Me, Ben Clark and his wife Logan, Stacey MacArthur. Ben and Stacey were two of my best mission friends. We have been in touch many times over the years. Ben and Logan are incredible. One of my favorite memories is being at their wedding in the Logan Temple. I love, love, love these people.

As I was thinking about everything on Friday, it was just one of those nights where your prayer is just one filled with gratitude: "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" We don't spend a lot of time reminiscing about the mission instead we talk about our families, our jobs, our joys and struggles.

Saturday they had a family event for the reunion. I wasn't planning on going. I don't have a family and was worried about having to explain why I am still single. Stacey wanted me to go up to Heber but I couldn't do it. I told her to call me if Darin Hall was up there. Darin was an my district leader in Eagle Pass and is one of my favorite mission friends.

Stacey called and told me that Darin wouldn't talk to me unless I was at the reunion. I'm not joking when I say I immediately changed my clothes, ran a brush through my hair, put a little bit of make up on and rushed to Heber. I'm so grateful Hall was there. We laughed, and laughed. I snuggled his two month old baby, Grace and met his wife, Amber and his son, Mason. It was so worth the drive up to see Hall.

My favorite part of the reunion was meeting the wives of all the missionaries. Some of these ladies I met while they were still dating. I love these women. They are the threads that keep us intertwined. Many vacations were planned to go visit the Hunters in California, the Jensens in Boise, the Fischers in Heber. We need to get together more often. 

TSAMers and their wives are some of "my people". The people that you are "real" with, the people who know you better than yourself. The people who will love and support you through the valleys of grief, and the triumphs of life. I am so grateful for these people, these eternal friends. We may not see each other much (hardly ever) but we pick right up where we left off.