Whoops! Things got a little crazy and so the poor blog took one for the team. I should have written about the amazing end to our "Great Experiment" but I didn't. Which is too bad, it involved miracles, heartbreak and fire! Lots of fire. You'll just have to wait for JJ Abrams to make it into a major motion picture.
In looking back over the whole experiment, a few things stand out.
Every missionary comes to the mission with hopes, dreams and things that terrify them. Sometimes the terror is greater than the hopes, but that's okay. It's part of the plan.
It's always about the people. So many amazing people in The Great California San Fernando Mission.a Great missionaries, great church members, great contacts, friends, school teachers, families, even Costco checkers.
Arriving is hard. Leaving is worse.
My absolutely favorite thing was Zone Conferences.
Least favorite was feeding people.
Stake conferences are much more fun when you can sit on the stand and watch people.
Santa Clarita Stake let me sneak into their stake choir once. It was great.
Los Angeles Temple has my favorite Celestial room. The outside, not my favorite.
The other Mission Presidents/Sisters in North America West/Northwest are the most amazing people on the planet.
I will be forever grateful to Steve Lindberg for his reaching out to Thomas. And a shout out to Tony Rossi who did the seminary run every. single. day.
Ditto to Rebecca's theatre friends and YW leaders.
I think Van Nuys is beautiful.
I never made it to that boulder-y looking park off of Topanga Canyon.
I still tease Elder Jeppsen in absentia. "I'm happy, thanks"
I never quite conquered my pride and always wanted to tell people that the mission home was not my furniture or decorated by me. The ugly green couches were very comfortable to nap on.
Secretly I wonder what it would have been like without the kids. I was trapped between two worlds and never felt like I got either one right. I'm counting on the fact that the Lord knew what He was doing, even though I didn't.
Going out of the house in a nametag takes so much energy.
I really didn't miss Katie much. I was way too excited for her because I knew what her mission was doing for her.
Elder Gregory Schweizer is my absolute favorite general authority. He told us to take our children on adventures.
I met my goal of not killing anyone when I was in charge of medical.
It's cliche, but the missionaries arrived as kids and went home as adults.
I am glad I live in an age of electronic communication so I don't really have to say goodbye.
Well, that's a wrap (as they say in the "industry").
The Church is true. Tell your friends.
Love,
The former Sister Hall
of The Great California San Fernando Mission
I echo so many of your sentiments. I loved your perspectives. Adam was gone from home for about 1/4 of the time we served. It did help me to focus solely on the mission. I thought of you often with three kidos and prayed for you. I loved feeding people, but it was stressful. When we left the mission, I told Jerry I would not be cooking for a year Job superbly done!!! Your children (all 600+) call you blessed!
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