I would have to say that there are three happiest moments in my life: (1) marrying my husband; (2) having my children; (3) serving a mission. Tomorrow it will be 7 years since I came home from Germany. It’s hard to believe that it’s been that long, and I can honestly say that I’ve thought about my mission almost every day since.

There are two distinct memories I have about my mission - not about specific events, but memories about the way I felt:

(1) I had been in Germany for about a week, and it was grueling. I couldn’t understand a word anyone was saying, and my only contribution to the discussions was the memorized Joseph Smith vision I would spout when my companion gave me the signal. I was sitting at my desk one morning during study time and wondering what in the world I had gotten myself into, and wishing with all my heart that I had been sent to an English speaking mission. My companion was going home at the next transfer cycle, and she told me she couldn’t believe how fast time had gone and that she would love to trade me places. The week I had been there seemed like an eternity, and I couldn’t imagine the next 16 months of torture ever going by quickly.

(2) It was the last P-day of my mission and I was sitting out on the balcony of our apartment pondering what was about to happen. I could not imagine leaving this place and these people that I had grown to love so much. My chest felt tight and heavy as I thought about all the work we were doing and I couldn’t believe that it would go on without me. I thought about the changes I had gone through and I took the chance to write myself a letter, giving myself advice from the perspective of a missionary and not knowing if I would ever be this close to the spirit again. My companion mailed it home for me the next day. I thought about my family and how supportive they had been. I don’t think my parents missed a single week in writing me. Even when I wasn’t getting their letters, they kept on writing. I remember thinking that I was physically worn out. My shoe strap was being held together by a giant safety pin, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t own one item of clothing that didn’t have a stain on it or a hole in it. Yet, when I thought about it being over, it was hard to breathe. I couldn’t believe how fast the time had gone.

Some things never change…I still get that same tight feeling in my chest whenever I am pondering my mission. Although I can’t remember all the faces, and although some of the language has slipped, that feeling has never left me.

This is Martin, one of my favorite people that we taught. The look on my face shows the complete SHOCK I had that he just put his arm around me for the picture!

Crazy turtle guy…He had this basement FULL of giant turtles.

This is one of my favorite pictures from my mission. Not because I look good - I actually look terrible - but because it is the epitome of mission life. Tired. Exhausted. Cold. Wet. The last four months I was in Germany, I traveled around the mission a few days a week and did splits with other sisters in their areas. On this particular night, we were coming home from a long day in Frankfurt. We had spent the entire day outside in the rain doing doors.

This is how we did doors if serving in a city. You’d push a button to about 100 different apartments and try and convince someone to let you in. I’ve actually given a few 1st discussions through the speaker box. Notice the coat. It was given to me by my first companion, and I passed it on after I left. It was a huge, down, quilted Eddie Bauer coat. I quickly realized that it was not about fashion, but about preserving body heat. It actually doubled as a sleeping bag when I went on splits.

My first area.

The call center at the MTC. Oh, how I hated EVERY second of my time in the call center. Hated it. However, these are the Elders from my district, and I loved them.

Who can forget the blue planners? Did anyone else keep their blue planners? This one is from my last week on the mission.

We finally got Sam’s “by order of the management” prints hung.  It took longer than I thought.  They were odd measurements, so instead of paying for custom matting, Nate and I became amateur framers for an evening.  We took existing mats and carved them out with an exacto knife and sandpaper.  Nate did most of the mat work, and I did the framing.  They turned out well and look great in his room!

This Sunday marked our last Sunday as members of the University Ward…we are now officially kicked out.  I’m still not 100% sure which ward we will be in, but we have a little bit of time to figure it out since next Sunday is graduation.

Magei getting ready for church:

Our last time going to the Dublin building…

The boys went out with a bang: Sam was a little stinker and spent all of sacrament meeting out in the hall, and Nate taught Sunday School and after spending three hours preparing his lesson that morning, forgot it at home.

The weather was beautiful the entire weekend, so we took advantage and got the cruisers out for a long ride.  We went down to the library to get some new books, stopped by a restaurant for some take-out, and then had a picnic dinner in the park.

Nate took Magei on a date last Saturday to a football game.  The Columbus Destroyers were playing the New York Dragons.  Those two had a blast together, sharing ice cream and stadium hot dogs!  Magei was in full cheerleader mode and was so happy that our team won!

We went with the Beazers to the Asian Festival downtown this weekend.  Nate had fun thinking about the Philippines and telling Magei about the country.  We spent most of the time eating, of course.

I peeked in to check on the kids tonight, and I found them to be sleeping just as they do on any other night.  Sam is with his best friend, “bear.”  It’s one of the few words he says.  He has to hug bear to sleep every night.  Sam loves to take him for car rides or push him around in the front seat of his shopping cart.  Sam is also insistent that I greet bear each morning with the same hugs and enthusiastic hellos that he gets.

Magei’s best friends are “Lambie” and Alex.  Lambie was given to her on her first birthday by our good friends, the Scoresbys.  She’s been thrown up on several times, but seems to emerge unscathed after each trip to the washing machine.  Alex was given to Magei by Aunt Niki for Christmas right before she turned two.  She’s a well-seasoned traveler, having been drug across the United States, France, England, and Mexico.  Alex isn’t quite as pretty as she used to be, but she’s had a wild ride.

My friend Amy recently posted about her love of photo booths…it reminded me of a lunch date I had with Magei a few months ago. We ate at Aladdin’s and then went to the mall to pick out earings; stick-ons for her and dangles for me.

We said goodbye to the crib last night. I realize we probably transition earlier than most people, but I just can’t seem to wait to get rid of that crib. We switched Magei when she was 14 months. Sam is 16 months, so I lasted a little longer with him. Sam was somewhat confused as to why we were taking his bed out of his room, but he did get pretty excited when he saw what we were replacing it with. Magei has had bunk beds since she was a year old, and we bought them with the intention of taking them apart when #2 got old enough for a real bed. It was a sad day for Mags. I was having the conversation with Nate on the phone while driving home from work yesterday - Magei overheard and was yelling at us from the backseat not to touch her bed. When we actually did it, tears were shed. It was sad…I was trying to justify buying Sam his own bed and letting Magei keep her bunk beds - they just look so darn cute in her room! But if you look at the top bunk, there is no denying that it is perfect for Sam right now since it has the railing attached…and when he gets a little older, we can take it off. Here’s the bed:

Sam did very well his first night in his new bed! When I woke him up this morning, he was still in it. The other great part about the bed, is that when you take them apart, it allows you to raise the mattress up so that it sits higher off the floor like a regular bed. So right now, we have Sam’s lower to the ground, and we raised Magei’s up. That seemed to appease her, and I think she has forgiven us for stealing her top bunk. However, she is still extremely worried about her babies. They all lived on her top bunk, and now they are homeless. We’ll try to figure that one out later.

Although everything seemed to go smoothly for Nate during his board exams, he has been not-so-patiently waiting for the official results.  They finally came…

So, did he pass?

 What do you think?!

 With a 90.28%!

And here’s the proof:

Congratulations, Nate!  We are so proud of you and all that you have accomplished!