Viva la Europe!

Lucky me got to go back to England to visit my mission! I met up with Rebekka Psota (an old companion) -"P"- in London and we went all over the mission. We "hired" a car in London and drove to Milton Keynes that first night to stay with some friends of hers from Switzerland. Milton Keynes is near Oxford and she and I both served there at different times in our mission.

This was our first view of England in daylight - from the window of the guest room. Ahhh . . . to be back. I felt so at home and comfortable. Everything was so familiar. It's funny because the first time I was there, as a missionary, I didn't really feel at home. I felt more like a visitor who'd come to teach the gospel to people from a different land. I loved it. I thought England and the English people were amazing, but I can't say that I really felt at home. But, as soon as I looked out the window on the morning of September 15th I felt I'd come home.

We stayed in Milton Keynes for a couple of days and got to see a lot of the ward members. P's friend, Dominique Ruetz is now in the Bletchley ward there and she emailed everyone to let them know we were going to be visiting. She hosted an "open house" at their home, and quite a few people came. I was only in this area for 6 weeks, so they knew P better, but after I told them who I was and that I served with Sister Homer, they remembered me. It's been 5 years, and they still remember. Wow. Missionaries rarely forget the people from their missions, but I wasn't sure if they'd remember us. So many missionaries come and go, but there we were reminiscing old times. Sweet!

Next on the ageneda was Leicester. It was in Leicester that P and I were companions. We loved this area and really worked well together. There are so many good memories from this place and I can't explain how it felt to go back and visit with her - the person I taught the gospel with in this area. As we drove and walked through Leicester, memories flooded my mind - some of them I hadn't thought about in years, and suddenly there they were. I could remember certain people we'd only taught once and how I felt one rainy night - how the love of England sank so deep into my heart that night. I had flashback after flashback, and felt that the Lord was pleased with our work here. Sure, we're not perfect, but as we walked around city centre and down our old street I felt it confirmed in my heart that I had indeed worked hard and that my work there was acceptable. It brought peace to my heart and I felt so lucky to be there again, and to be there with this companion, my dear friend, was like icing on the cake! There is a line in Hope Floats (and the scriptures for that matter) that perfectly describes how I felt - "My cup runneth over!"

We met up with Emma Parker that first night and went out for kebabs at our favorite kebab shop (I don't even know the name of it). Then we drove to Evington Park, but it was locked for the night. So ... we trespassed. Yep, we climbed the fence. Good times. We sat and ate and talked forever. She was only about 16 when we were there serving, and her dad was the ward mission leader. She'd sit in on our meetings and take minutes for her dad. I've had contact with her since I've been home. So good to see her. We stayed the night at her family's house that night and went to church with them the next day. Brother Parker is now in the stake presidency there and was sitting on the stand at church. It was after the sacrament that she and I were announced as speakers - a definite surprise to us! We had the chance to bear our testimonies in the Evington ward - the ward we had served in as missionaries 6 years ago. It was great. We spent the day with the Parkers and calling and visiting old investigators.
We got to see John Pope. He's an older man we taught. We went to his flat and he had pictures of us, and many other missionaries we'd known, in frames on his table. It was great. When I left England, I really didn't know if I'd ever get to go back - if I'd ever see these people again. I'm so happy I have had this opportunity.
Here's a picture of John, P, and me









After visiting Leicester, we went to Telford - another area we both served in (P at the beginning of her mission and me at the end of mine). We stayed with the Hoar family - a family in the ward we knew well. It was so great to be with them. They had us over for dinner and invited us to their FHE which is quite a priviledge because no one is usually allowed to attend their family home evenings. We both just felt so blessed to be with this amazing family for our time in Telford. The spirit is so strong in their home.
We walked around Wellington Town Centre which is where we used to street contact and do service. There is also this amazing bakery there that I just loved. It is a little hole in the wall kind of place, but they sell this stuff called frangipan that I just couldn't get enough of! Of course we made a stop in there.












After Telford, it was on to London baby! We only had a day and a half there so we had a whirlwind tour, most of it on the top of a double decker bus. We saw Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Notting Hill, Buckinham Palace, the Thames River, Rococo Chocolates (an amazing chocolate store) & Elton John's flat (from the outside, of course!). We stayed with another of P's friends at a flat in the artists' district of London. It was fun. We went out and ended up in the middle of fashion week!
Then we took the underground tunnel from London to Lille, France. There we saw another of our companions, Katia Ruiter. She is married to one of our zone leaders from the mission so we got to catch up with both of them which was so great. She was soooo pregnant and we thought, as did she, that she might be in the hospital having a baby during our visit. I'm happy to report that the baby held off until the visit was over. She now has a new sweet baby boy named Jonathan. We had a great time catching up. Some friendships are so comfortable that it doesn't matter how much time goes by, you just pick up where you left off the time before. This is one of those. The three of us just laughed and talked about all the funny things we could remember. We had traditional French food for dinner and breakfast. Yum!



From there it was on to Paris. We toured all around in, again, a day and a half. We saw a ton! Here are a couple pics.













Last, it was off to Switzerland where I was able to see where P is from. I saw where she grew up, met her family, toured Bern, had a picnic in the Alps, went to the Swiss temple, and just enjoyed the country. Switzerland is beautiful. Pretty much everything there took my breath away. I kept thinking about where I was when my friend was growing up here in gorgeous Switzerland. I was in small towns in Colorado and Iowa for most of my growing up years. Pretty cool how a mission can land a small town girl from Colorado, and a Swiss chick in the same place and have them become such good friends. I love it. Here are some Switzerland pics.

































So that's it. That's the trip! I'm excited to go back! Hopefully it'll be someday soon.