I left on my mission to Geneva, Switzerland MANY years ago... 19 years to be exact! I had some great experiences and met some great people along the way as I'm sure most people who've served a mission can attest to. This past weekend in Utah I got to catch up with one of my most favoritist comps ( yes.. I know that's not a word).
In one of my areas, I was in a district that had 6 sisters and 2 elders. It was very unusual, most of the time there are about 6 elders and 2 sisters. We called ourselves the "Relief Society" district, much to the chagrin of the elders! We also had a notorious "sister hater" for a district leader and boy, did we put him through the ringer.
Anyway, Lisa was in our district but not as my comp. About halfway through the transfer period, her comp went home and she was put with us in a three-some. We all had a great time together.
Anyway... the 3 of us were teaching a great group of refugees from Lebanon and things were going really well. A few of them had been baptized the month before when I was with another comp and we were on to teaching their friends. Most of them were Muslim, and were really taking to the missionary lessons and wanted to get baptized. To make a long story short- one of the refugees got wind of all this religious activity and threatened a few of them that he would send their names back to Lebanon and their families would be killed if they were baptized.
Well, we shared this with our district leader, who shared it with the zone leaders who passed it along to the AP's who then told the president and within an hour or two we were getting a late night called from our President to hear the whole scoop. He was worried enough from our story that he told us in no uncertain terms that we were to pack our things and be on the first train out of the city and come to the mission home. The three of us were in shock because we had really grown to love these investigators, but we had a fun, fun time pretending we were in the ultimate danger from "snipers" as we packed our bags and got on the train the next day. Such excitement! We were in Geneva for 3 days until the next transfer when we all got moved to new areas. Of course we wasted no time in checking things out- like the United Nation building.
In one of my areas, I was in a district that had 6 sisters and 2 elders. It was very unusual, most of the time there are about 6 elders and 2 sisters. We called ourselves the "Relief Society" district, much to the chagrin of the elders! We also had a notorious "sister hater" for a district leader and boy, did we put him through the ringer.
Anyway, Lisa was in our district but not as my comp. About halfway through the transfer period, her comp went home and she was put with us in a three-some. We all had a great time together.
Anyway... the 3 of us were teaching a great group of refugees from Lebanon and things were going really well. A few of them had been baptized the month before when I was with another comp and we were on to teaching their friends. Most of them were Muslim, and were really taking to the missionary lessons and wanted to get baptized. To make a long story short- one of the refugees got wind of all this religious activity and threatened a few of them that he would send their names back to Lebanon and their families would be killed if they were baptized.
Well, we shared this with our district leader, who shared it with the zone leaders who passed it along to the AP's who then told the president and within an hour or two we were getting a late night called from our President to hear the whole scoop. He was worried enough from our story that he told us in no uncertain terms that we were to pack our things and be on the first train out of the city and come to the mission home. The three of us were in shock because we had really grown to love these investigators, but we had a fun, fun time pretending we were in the ultimate danger from "snipers" as we packed our bags and got on the train the next day. Such excitement! We were in Geneva for 3 days until the next transfer when we all got moved to new areas. Of course we wasted no time in checking things out- like the United Nation building.
And by the way... the Gulf War started about a month after we left Bienne... so the President just might have been a LITTLE inspired! :)
So-I was with Lisa for about 10 days and then when we lived in Germany after I was married, she came to visit on one of her trips backpacking through Europe. She stayed with us overnight and then took off for more traveling.
I haven't seen Lisa again since then and that was almost 14 years ago. She lives in Utah now about 10 minutes from my Dad, so she came over with her cute family on Sunday night to visit. It's amazing to me that she is still such a great friend and so easy to talk to. We really do just get along so well and it's not a struggle to try and keep our friendship going.
I know she'll read this, so Lisa- thanks for being a super companion and friend. You really are such a great friend, mom and wife and also a GREAT photographer! Thanks for the mission days- I'll never forget them!
So-I was with Lisa for about 10 days and then when we lived in Germany after I was married, she came to visit on one of her trips backpacking through Europe. She stayed with us overnight and then took off for more traveling.
I haven't seen Lisa again since then and that was almost 14 years ago. She lives in Utah now about 10 minutes from my Dad, so she came over with her cute family on Sunday night to visit. It's amazing to me that she is still such a great friend and so easy to talk to. We really do just get along so well and it's not a struggle to try and keep our friendship going.
I know she'll read this, so Lisa- thanks for being a super companion and friend. You really are such a great friend, mom and wife and also a GREAT photographer! Thanks for the mission days- I'll never forget them!
Getting rid of investigator cigarettes. Don't you LOVE the bathroom- YUCK!
Kate and Lisa... or Soeur Ryan and Soeur Warnick back then!
And Kate and Lisa today...
3 comments:
I forgot that you went to Switzerland. Thats awesome! Its so beautiful there, I love the pics!
You should have been on Lisa's shoulders for the 2008 picture!
It was great for us to see you for a few hours too.
I agree with Karen's comment that you should have been on my shoulders. That little post brought a tear to my eye and a smile to my face. I love the pics. I still need to go through mine and see what goodies I can come up with. Poor Bonnie. I hope she knows we love her too. I had a fantastic time in Suisse avec toi et je suis si heureuse que nous nous avons vu encore. Je peux pas attendre jusque la prochaine fois. Merci d'etre ma bonne amie. Je t'aime.
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