Hello!
We got to go to the airport on Friday. Amazingly, David has completed his mission to Italy! He came in mid-day, but of course had to take his baggage through customs and immigration, etc., so he walked out of the doors about 3 p.m.
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| Welcome Home Banner! |
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| friends from high school Nick (L) and Nikhil |
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| Dunkin tradition |
We wanted someone besides our immediate family, to take some video and still shots for us upon his arrival. We asked amongst his high school friends home from college, if anyone had a couple of hours Friday afternoon to come to the airport with us! Nick and Nikhil stepped up and came to the airport with us to meet him :) :) :) So glad the stars aligned and they could come.
Such an overwhelming time for him, and for us! People ask him "how was your mission?" ...How in the world can you pack 2 whole years of experiences and growth into a few sentences...
We went right from the airport to the home of one of our church leaders in the "stake," which is the group of congregations in the Boston area. He had some very insightful things to say about missions and returning missionaries. He said how each mission is so different and individual for each missionary. He reminded us that the Lord knows each of us individually. David's mission helped him grow in ways that the Lord knows will help him now and in the future. Like filling a "bucket" of experiences and knowledge for yourself, that you can retrieve and remember later. That can help YOU get through future challenges, and help others, too. Maybe experiences he had will give him the wisdom to help someone else down the line, when they come to a challenge or obstacle.
I applied that to those of us who did NOT serve a 2-year mission, too. I think God knows what each of us needs and just what and who we need to get through adversity. Or how we can help somebody ELSE through those things. We each have a different "bucket" of life experiences to draw from when we need it.
This church leader then "released" David from his service in the Italy Milan Mission. It wasn't a blessing or a prayer or anything. He said David would not be serving in that mission anymore. BUT, he was not being released from the TYPE of work that he did: serving people and being a representative of Christ. Those are life-long things.
It was a very emotional day, and for David he ended up being awake for about 24 hours straight.
Here are some pics of the weekend. I also put some on facebook so there is some overlap.
Happy weekend! Love, Kari
