Nine years ago today I returned from serving a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I served for 18 months in the England London South Mission and it truly was the best mission in the world!
I was recently talking to some of my mission friends and we were reminiscing on our last nights in the mission. I think at the end of something as intense and trying as a mission you can't help but reflect and wonder if you did a good enough job, if you worked hard enough or if God was pleased with you. We all came to the same conclusion- that not matter how much we had seen ourselves fail and struggle we had ultimately worked every single day and completed our time as missionaries with honor. We felt peace that we had done enough, that our work and sacrifice was acceptable to the Lord and that He loved us for how we'd served.
I was eventually companions with all three sisters in this picture of my very first district.
I have often looked back and wondered what more I could have done for those that I taught and served with. While serving I always felt that I was working my hardest but it is so easy to look back and let your failures get the best of you. I am grateful for the members I am still friends with who help me to see that I made a small impact in their wards. I am grateful for the people I taught who continue to live according to the Gospel. I am grateful for those I taught who never accepted the gospel but whose experiences in learning about it changed me forever. And I am especially grateful for my companions who pushed me, loved me, taught me and sometimes annoyed me. I learned so much from them and will always treasure our time together!
Since returning from the best 18 months of my life I have had the best 9 years of my life. It's been filled with struggles and hardships but I can say that it's been wonderful overall. I am not a big goal setting person (don't tell President Swinton) but when I returned from my mission I made it a point to visit the temple as often as I could. In Utah that was easy, I never lived more than 15 minutes from a temple, but when I moved to California it took a little more work to travel the 100 miles to Los Angeles. I decided that I could reasonably go at least once a month and set it as a goal. I often took carloads of friends to LA on Fridays and made a day of it. Other times I went alone or sat in traffic for hours but it was always a good time anyway.
That seemingly simple plan to attend the temple every month has made all the difference in my life. I have been thinking about it's significance lately and it really is the thing that has kept my testimony of the Gospel strong no matter what else seemed to be going wrong. I have gone every single month for the last nine years no matter what- if we were traveling, had a tiny baby, or were so busy our calendars were about to explode. Since the passing of my brother it has meant even more to me and I feel such peace when I am there. I will forever be grateful for my decision to serve a mission and how it set a strong foundation of service in the Church that continues to make my life wonderful today.
This year I have added to my goal and plan to take Topher there once a month to see the temple and walk around the grounds. I am hoping it will help him love it there as much as I do!
The rest of our time in Rome was not as ideal as we would have liked. It poured rain nearly all day Sunday but we decided to try venturing out anyway. We donned our rain ponchos and headed to a nearby museum. Unfortunately, they were closed due to the rain so we waited under an archway for a while and then just headed back to the hotel. After some lunch in the hotel bar and a nap we headed out again as the sun was breaking through the clouds.
We took a cab across town to the Spanish Steps and Topher loved it! One of the annoying things about traveling with a child who sits in a car seat is that you have to haul those heavy things around wherever you go. We knew that nearly all of our travel would be on public transport or walking so we didn't bring his seat with us. We rented a car seat with our rental car and that worked really well for our trip between Tuscany and Rome. Pro tip: call the car rental agency when you book your car and double check the week before you travel to verify that they really do have one for you to use.We returned our rental car the day we got to Rome and knew we were taking a cab to the airport so we we made a calculated risk to leave the car seat at home for this trip and just let the little one wear a regular seat belt for a few minutes.
I really loved this area of Rome, it was still very touristy but I think the rain had cleared a lot of the people out so it didn't seem so hectic. We stopped by a bunch of fountains this day and Christopher threw in lots of coins. This is a skill he honed in Italy- making fountain wishes!
Here we are at the Trevi Fountain throwing in what was left of our Euro coins.
And here is Christopher eating more gelato to keep him happy.
Me: Wow, look at this amazing tower and beautiful architecture!
Topher: Look at this hole on the ground filled with a tiny bit of dirty water! Also, I bet I could lick this metal plate if I tried real hard!
From the Trevi neighborhood we wandered over to the Pantheon. We hadn't originally had this on our list of things to see but a friend of mine recommended it and I am so glad we made it over there. Christopher did so much walking in general on this trip but especially this day he just wanted to be out of the stroller and free!
Trying to reach the ceiling!
That night we had dinner at a little cafe where we met the cutest Roman family with a whole crew of young boys. They made quick friends with Christopher and we talked with the parents for a while. It was fun to meet a real local family and pick their brains about living in such a famous city.
Early the next morning - our last full day in Rome - we struck out for Vatican City. Maybe it was the rain or the fact that we took the wrong bus on which Topher screamed the entire time, but when we arrived I was sort of over it already.
We had to hurry to the entrance to make our ticket time but I wasn't sad about that- it was about to start raining again! Christopher doesn't have a very long attention span for museums but he was always very good to walk with his hands behind his back and not touch too many things. Keeping off the grass however, was a different story ha!
We also discovered that he loved the recorded tour headset. He thought it was his own little telephone and was amazed that he could push the buttons and someone would talk to him on it. That thing kept us sane in here!
We had to take the stroller route to get to the Sistine Chapel which took us winding all the way around the building. When we finally did get to the chapel it was packed like sardines! We could hardly push the stroller through the tour groups milling around. It was breathtaking though! I was so surprised at how vibrant and colorful it was. I expected it to be much more faded but I was wrong
One of my favorite things at the Vatican Museum was the Hall of Maps which has Di Vinci paintings covering every inch of the ceiling- it was incredible! I could have spent all day looking at that ceiling!
Christopher could have spent all day sitting on the floor pouting!
On the way back to the hotel we stopped for sandwiches at some little hole in the wall and it was a very good idea! The meat, the cheese, the bread! Italy does it all right!
That evening was our last in Rome and I was torn between never wanting to leave and being so ready to be home. We stopped at a couple more fountains and chased Topher across the cobblestones. He found a closed toy store and threw a mega tantrum because he couldn't get in there and play with the dump truck in the window. We ended up just catching the nearest cab, throwing him in screaming and yelling and headed to the hotel.
Very early the next morning we packed up our things and headed to the airport. The hotel bellhop was so confused that we only two backpacks and a diaper bag. After a very speedy taxi ride to the airport we were on our way home again!
Thomas is doing a post soon about how we scored our business class airline tickets on points so look out for that! I was so glad we flew this way. On the way there and back Christopher ended up having his own seat since that cabin wasn't at capacity. He loved having the space to move around and I loved having a lay-flat seat for him to sleep in! The cozy socks and delicious food were nice too.
This vacation was definitely a great one! It was a long time to be away from home but I have to say we all did a pretty good job dealing with that. Christopher was such a champion and he learned so many new things. I was happy to fulfill a lifelong dream of seeing and eating my way through Italy. And Thomas got to learn more about travel hacking and points collecting. If you ever get a chance to go to Italy- take it!
