Over the past several months before leaving Salt Lake, Gary and I would comment on things that we knew we would miss when we were released and also things we would not miss. Before starting off on our second mission, I decided to create that post. Sorry it is out of order, but life is like that sometime---(although I am doing them in the famous 10-1 format, the order is probably not that significant)
TEN "WORSE" THINGS (THAT WE WON'T MISS ABOUT LIVING IN SALT LAKE AND SERVING IN THE HEADQUARTERS MISSION)
#10: Not having a bath that I could lay in comfortably especially when I was sick! (the unspoken sacrifice of mission life.)
#9: Related to #10 but a daily annoyance--short shower heads. Since we are tall and had our showers in our house placed higher than typical, it was an adjustment to use the shorter showers.
#8: The "8-4ish" Monday through Friday work schedule--I really hadn't ever done that in my life except for the years I worked at the The Children's Center and I am not a fan.
#7: Although Salt Lake and the surrounding areas have so many great trails and hikes, I missed having easy access to open trails where I could walk for an hour and not worry about traffic or people or pollution. I missed my Jenson Pond trails in Syracuse and never found a replacement and really didn't walk except to get places while we served.
#6: Wearing nice clothes on most days--missionary dress does include pants but I only had one pair of dress pants and couldn't find others long enough or appropriate during the 2 1/2 years. So, I wore dresses on most days. Gary was stuck in the suit-white shirt and tie look every day we served except Saturdays.
#5: Noisy neighbors--Most of our time in Salt Lake, we loved our apartment living. The last year, we had a group of young adults living next door---or at least hanging out late at night--laughing, talking, and making bumps in the night. Livable at 10:30 but not fun at 1:30 am. Fortunately, it wasn't every night....
#4: Steep ramp out of our parking lot--fortunately it was heated so the snow melted quickly off of it--but during the actual storms, it was dangerous. And even if you made it up the hill--the snow plows often left big chunks and piles of snow which required a running start to clear with our car. (See related issue #2.)
#3: The hill up 1st Avenue to our apartment--It was steep. If you walked with Jena, she frequently chose the longer way to State street and then through the building rather than climb the hill.
#2: Exiting our apartment parking lot into the street on 1st Ave. There was no good sight lines if there were cars parked along the street which was the case 90% of the time. It was scary every time.
#1: The west elevator in our apartment building--the whole time we lived there despite a variety of repairs on the elevator--if Gary, Jena and I were in the elevator together going up from P1 where we parked, it would stop with a bump at the 4th floor, indicated that it was experiencing technical details, open and shut the doors and then go to the 6th floor--every time. The work around was to have an extra person or two in the elevator or to stop the elevator on another floor before the 4th floor--either way, we could go all the way up after the stop. One repairman said it was a balance issue. We tried standing in so many different ways with the three of us, but nothing worked. Annoying!!! And it is the top thing we will not miss!
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| The "offending" elevator |
TEN BEST THINGS THAT I MISS ABOUT SERVING AS A MISSIONARY IN THE HEADQUARTERS MISSION AND LIVING IN SALT LAKE
#11: (Thought of one more after creating the list) View out of our balcony apartment on the 6th floor of the Capital Building and the mountains. LOVED THAT!
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| an evening view |
#10: Being and serving on Temple Square and the surrounding campus--Before, Temple Square was a tourist place where we took friends and family when they came to visit. Now it is a "hometown" for us. To walk those grounds even during reconstruction is a holy thing for me! How I love it there!
#9: Walking under Temple Square in the famous tunnels--I am geeky like that!
#8: "Lunch and Learns" where the staff shared about their research in areas of Church history worldwide--we have learned so many cool things! Church History is AWESOME!
#7: Lunches at the COB which often provided leftovers for dinner--a win-win!
#6: I will miss frequently seeing President M. Russell Ballard on Sundays on the way into our Church. He attended the ward right before us and we often passed in the hallway or elevator. Over time, he would greet us--once pointing out that we were "later than normal" when we were behind our usual schedule. A couple of times, he shook our hands and shared a few words. These were tiny little moments but they were sweet and meaningful to me. I miss them but know I will think about them each time he speaks or is quoted by others. What a loving, humble servant of God! (Highly recommend reading his recent biography.)
#6 Working with our two mission presidents and their counselors and wives. How lucky we are because we know and have served with President Steve and Sister Kathy Randall, President and Sister Unger, President and Sister Sherrill, President and Sister Parker, and President and Sister Larsen--our first mission presidency and the different counselors and then President Doug and Sister Erin Holmes, President and Sister Jackson and President and Sister Faerber--our second mission presidency,
#5: I will miss doing oral histories of mission leaders and my life has been changed because of those experiences.
#4: Serving as zone leaders together. While it was the hardest part of our service--oral histories are a picnic compared to that--it was a very choice and rewarding thing to do together. I don't need to do it again, but so glad for those 28 months of service in that assignment.
#3: Being surrounded by the awesome missionaries and staff in the mission and in the Church History Library--especially those of the Collections Zone, the other zone leaders in the Church History Library and the staff in the Archives and Area Support part of the library
#2: Being a missionary and wearing the tag representing our Savior Jesus Christ.
#1: I will miss knowing that I am where I should be, doing what I should be doing--and that it was part of His plan from before the worlds were created. Actually, I have felt that feeling many many times in my life--in fact, it has often been the focus of my life--to be found doing what He wants me to do. But serving as a called and set apart missionary in the place where you know you should be--is incredible! And frequently during the past 2 1/2 years, the Holy Ghost has reconfirmed that truth. For the past 2 1/2 years, we were serving the Lord right where He wanted us to be. I miss that!
And to wrap it up--I will say that the Best Things far outweighed the Worse Things! We were so blessed.
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