Tired

Last night I had the opportunity to go to a testimony meeting for the missionaries going home from the mission... and it just happened to be the exact seven-year anniversary of when I went home from my mission. Wow.

One of the sweet sisters who has served in our ward is returning home today. I am going to miss her sweet example. It was so great to hear the sincere, pure testimonies from those who have spent the last eighteen months to two years in serving the Lord. A common thread shared was that the Lord knows, more than we do, what is best for us. When we are following His Spirit, things will work out better... maybe not always as we planned, but better. One funny for the night. One Elder went up and said, "so it's been two years... I'm kind of tired." :) I remember the feeling. Working hard and being so tired, but feeling so good about it.

Being there made me think of all of the people that I loved and served on my mission. The day I left, sweet Vika was at the airport. She didn't know that I was going home, but had gone with Alyesha to see another Elder off. When she saw me, she just started crying at the thought that she might not have been there to say good-bye to me. Vika was one of the first people that I met and loved in Russia. I remember about a week after I arrived, we met at a branch Halloween party. She and I sat at the side and exchanged one word in Russian and one word in English (which she loved learning), because that was about the extent of my communication at that point. I remember that she taught me the word for butterfly (babochka). I have so many sweet memories of the times we laughed and cried together over the next five months.