Ten Things I'll Remember

There are a hundred things I will remember with gratitude about this mission, but today I will only share:

Ten Things I’ll Remember

10. The food. This is both a blessing and a curse; so many places to eat, so many occasions to eat, and so much food in the office all the time. Still, I will associate many happy memories with eating here. I’ll remember staff birthday lunches and dinners, orientation and appreciation luncheons, pot lucks at the branch and with our social group, lunch at the C.O.B. cafeteria, and sack lunches in the break room of the mission office. We even ate breakfast once at the Lion House Pantry for prayer meeting. So I’ll leave here with my mission 10 pounds firmly in place, but I’ll have to smile when I remember eating here.
   
9. General Authority sightings. I remember everyone rushing to the east windows in the mission office when someone spotted President Uchtdorf down on the ground between us and the Church Administration building. Elder Holland stopped by our table at the Cheesecake Factory, I passed Elder Perry and his wife as they were going to the temple, and Elder Cook and Elder Perry were waiting for the elevator one day when I was walking on the mezzanine level. It wasn’t important that I see apostles walking around Temple Square, but it was always a thrill when I did, like an unexpected gift.

8. Attending a missionary branch. Being in an all-missionary branch has been a unique experience that I wouldn’t want to have missed. Where else are there nearly 100% home and visiting teaching, attendance, and tithe paying? I’ll remember abundant food at pot-lucks, a chorus line of dancing elders, and 70 young missionaries jockeying for position to share their testimonies on Fast Sunday. I’ll forever remember what congregational singing was like when everybody sings.

7. Wish fulfillment. There are three things I’ve wanted to do for a long time: attend Conference in the Conference Center, attend a live “Music and the Spoken Word” broadcast in the Tabernacle, and attend a session in the Salt Lake Temple. I’ve done all that here. Those were powerful moments for me! I don’t think I will ever forget them.

6. The Temple Square gardens. I think I will always be able to see in my mind’s eye tulips everywhere and trees covered with pink blossoms in the spring. I’ll remember the gardeners pulling the tulips out just weeks later and then watching as thousands of budding plants filled in every inch of hundreds of flower beds until they looked like English cottage gardens with giant Victorian flower baskets hanging from posts and garden walls.

5. Christmas at Temple Square. Temple square is a magical place to be at Christmas time. I remember watching the lights go up day by day starting way back in August and coming around a corner to see the Nativity for the first time between the Tabernacle and the North Visitors Center. I’ll remember the mission office flooded with poinsettias and snow falling outside our windows. I’ll remember walking into the Joseph Smith Memorial building just in time to hear a choir of children singing like angels. I’ll remember the Christmas programs here, in this setting. What a blessing it is to be at Temple Square for Christmas!
 
4. Family History research. I requested this mission because I knew the Lord wanted me to be involved in redeeming the dead, especially my own family. I needed to learn more. This seemed like the best place on earth to learn more. It is. I loved learning in the training zone and our Sunday School Family Tree class taught by Elder Meyers. I want to keep learning when I get home. I’ll remember happy hours finding evidence of my family and the lives they lived.

3. Historic Church sites: the Salt Lake Temple, the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, the Tabernacle, the Beehive House, the Lion House, the Assembly Hall, and the Church Administration Building--- all right here on Temple Square and it is only a short drive to much more. There is something about being here where the pioneers were and seeing their artifacts that is so testimony strengthening. History comes alive when you see the fruits of their labors. These things have become a part of my testimony and I will remember them.

2. Prayer meetings. Tuesday through Friday my day has started on a spiritual high because of prayer meeting. I’ll remember singing, praying, and reciting scriptures with the mission office staff. Their spiritual thoughts will be one of the most valuable things I take with me when I leave here. When I hear the same gospel principles they taught, I’ll remember their stories, ideas, and the strength of their testimonies.

1. The people. Lucy Mack Smith said, “We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another, and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together.” This sounds exactly like what we do in the mission. It would be wonderful to someday sit down with all of them in heaven and have a grand reunion. My leaders and co-workers have helped, taught, and encouraged me. More than anything they teach who they are, so I’ve had some great lessons. I got to learn all day, every day from the examples of Christ-like people. It’s been a joy to be a part of this group. I’ll remember the teasing and joking and all the kindnesses, large and small. I’ll remember them and always be thankful for this time I had with them.