I woke up early in the morning and showered. I was mostly dressed for church when Jeremie asked me to move the car so he could get his scooter out to go to church. After I moved the car I walked out of the drive way and ran into a very tall, blond man standing there. I was shocked...because I recognized him. It was one of the Assistants to the President from my mission. Mikael Mayer.
"Sister Read? What are you doing here?"
"I'm visiting with my parents, what are YOU doing here?"
"I live upstairs."
No way.
I had been staying with the Jaquet family for the past 3 days and I had no clue that he was living in the apartment up stairs. We was off to church and I still had to get ready. My parents and I were going to miss the first hour of church.
I was SO excited for today. I still remember my first Sunday when I bore my testimony and I barely understood what was being said in church. It felt like coming home to be there again among so many familiar faces. As we were looking for parking we passed some very familiar faces in a car and followed them to find where we could park. I was so excited as soon as I saw them. It was Fabio and Elodie Vigliotti. Fabio was my ward mission leader and Elodie was one of the first members I met on my first Sunday. I left Renens while they were expecting their first child. Then at the end of my mission there was a stake Relief Society conference where I was surprised to see them all, Elodie and their baby boy and even Fabio. But this time, there was one more member of their family. In August they had a baby girl. I could hardly keep myself from jumping out of my car to go greet them. It was weird to 'bise' Fabio. It is custom to kiss cheeks (3 times in Switzerland) as a greeting, but of course, as a missionary I wasn't allowed to bise the men. I'm not a missionary anymore. Elodie laughed at Fabio and said "did you just bise a sister missionary?"
My excitement levels didn't really drop for the next 2 hours as I got to participate and enjoy church. And then to make things AWESOME, it was the 3rd Sunday of the month, so it was the ward potluck after church. I couldn't have asked for a greater blessing. The food was delicious and the company was fantastic. I met the sister missionaries working in the ward now, and as it turns out- one of them was taught by Sister Scott (my MTC companion) when she was in the MTC, and the other one's second companion was my trainee, Sister Layton. Had to get a picture with them and post it on Facebook right away. I wish we could have stayed forever, but we needed to get to Geneva. I was anxious to do so because I was also going to get to go to my ward in Geneva. It was not a long drive and soon enough we were pulling into the driveway of that very familiar building. Home again. I have so many homes.
Mom and Dad didn't need to sit through another church block that they wouldn't understand so they went into the city to go see some things I've already seen. Namely the United Nations, the Red Cross museum and a very well known Russian Orthodox Church. They were sight seeing the city until they came back to ge time at the end of church.
I got there right in the middle of the first hour, which is Relief Society, so no one was in the hall ways. I wanted to poke my head around to see where people were and if I could tell which was the other ward meeting at the same time. I was hoping it was the Spanish ward, but I think it was actually the English ward at the same time as my French ward. This is a good thing, but I didn't see any of the Mongolians I wanted to see again. Still- as I was in the hallway, popping my head in the windows, suddenly someone said from behind, "hey Soeur Read!"
Olav is the son of a woman that I visited often as a missionary. He saw me pass by the window and came to get me. It was very sweet.
So I stepped into Relief Society and got to participate and surprise a few people. It was wonderful. When RS was over and some of the brethren came in for Sunday school I was immensely pleased to see that Brother Junod was still the teacher. He was the bishop when I first came to the area, but in the middle of my time there he was released and became the Gospel Doctrine teacher- the best one I've ever heard. As you can imagine, it was incredible to see people again. As I sat down in sacrament meeting, which was actually the sunday of the Primary Program, I saw a woman sitting up in the choir seats with her primary class. It was Rachel, a woman that I taught here in Geneva. She was baptized in the lake. Honestly I worried about her conviction and if she would be a strong member of the church. But I knew that she was doing the right thing by being baptized and it would bless her and her family. Her sister also lives in the ward and was up on the stand sitting in front of Rachel. When I saw them I almost started crying. I didn't expect to see her actively fulfilling her calling- I should have had more faith in her. When the meeting was over I had to rush to see Sister Spirig, Olav's mom, who also rushed to see me (and that just makes my heart swell with joy). My parents arrived right as the meeting was ending so they got to meet these people too. Rachel was happy to see me, as was her sister Tabitha. I made sure to take pictures with most of those wonderful people before we left Geneva.
We needed to get back to Lausanne because the Jaquet family invited us to dinner with the missionaries- like I used to do every Sunday that I was in Renens- only this time I wasn't a missionary. Dinner was wonderful- and the dessert was amazing- I don't know how to describe it other than it being a thick custard-like cake with plumbs. Or were they prunes. Dang, I don't remember. It was so good it was hard to stop eating it. Even my mom just wanted to keep eating it.
The evening couldn't have been more perfect. Laughing together and making new memories while all my old memories that I hold so dear were resurfacing. It warmed my heart.
Today was one of my favorite days, of course. I hope every missionary gets a chance to revisit their mission- to see the people they served and loved so much. I am jealous of those who can drive to their missions and I encourage them to do so often- you don't know how lucky you are.
I know someday I will be back again. I just can't stay away.
No comments:
Post a Comment