MAKING FOREVER FRIENDS

Last Sunday we stayed up late to listen to President and Sister Sommerfeldt give their mission homecoming talks.  The Sommerfeldts were our mission leaders on our last mission in Independence, MO and they became good friends.  During our mission, I (Eileen) talked with them multiple times each week about the medical issues various missionaries in the mission were experiencing. Both Russell and I have a great deal of respect for each of them.  They truly loved each missionary, and they were united as a couple. Listening to their homecoming talks brought back a lot of fond memories of time spent with them.  There were about 100 missionaries who came up to the stand to sing “Called to Serve.”   Apparently, there were more in the audience who didn’t go to the stand. It was a well-attended event.

Normally it is Russell who writes the blog and I post photos. But this week God reminded me of one of His many blessings in my life. This has not been an easy mission for me. While living in Europe is delightful, some of the challenges we face with our current calling have been very difficult for me.  This week I have been reminded that one of the best blessings of serving a mission is that of the eternal friendships which can be made while serving.

While serving in Independence, I became close friends not only with the Sommerfeldts, but with a fellow single sister missionary name Sister Kathy Creer.  During her first mission, her husband tragically passed away.  We both said that we were sent to serve in Independence so that we could meet and become friends.  Sister Creer and I played racquetball together multiple times each week, she drove me to see sick missionaries when Russell was involved with his calling with vehicles, or in the temple.  We shared many private feelings regarding both challenges in our lives and the many miracles which we have witnessed.  In our staff meetings in Independence when it had been a particularly challenging week, the Sommerfeldts would say to us something like, “It’s time for that vacation in Germany!”   President Sommerfeldt had served in Germany as a young man, and a member of the Europe Central Area Presidency whose son was serving in our mission, had invited me to come over and visit at any time. Going to Germany for a break became a joke in the office. 

So, this past week I have enjoyed both the Sommerfeldt’s homecoming, and a visit from Kathy and her sister Lisa.  It was a much-needed break for me. As I contemplated the blessing of having met both Kathy and the Sommerfeldts, I reflected on the “forever friends” I have made in the mission field.  On each mission we have made some close friends, ones that no matter how many years it has been since we last visited with each other, we can pick up just as if it was yesterday. Through those sometimes difficult, shared experiences while serving as missionaries, we seem to build bonds with others more quickly than when we are home going through everyday life.  I cherish these friends and am so grateful for them.

Likewise, I am grateful for the wonderful companion I have had for six missions. I am grateful for a Heavenly Father and my Savior who have helped me when times are tough.  It has been a good week - I even gave out a business card to someone at a gas station who wanted to talk to a fellow believer in Christ.  This young man from the UK was traveling throughout Europe visiting churches. He told me he hoped to become a priest with the Church of England someday. Hopefully he enjoyed our little visit together as much as I did. 

                             

                         The Sommerfeldts with us on one of the last days of our mission. 

Sister Sommerfeldt talking at her homecoming. I took this screenshot off of my computer. 

                                                 

Sadly, Elder and Sister Platt had to return home. He is our In-field representative. She fell and cracked her pelvis about 6 weeks ago at a mission president's seminar. 

                                               

Russell teaching Come Follow Me.  It is taught every Wednesday for the senior missionaries.

Lisa, Kathy and Eileen at Burgelz castle. A family still lives in this castle. 

                                 

                              Switzerland is honestly the most beautiful place on earth.

I have a crazy friend. That is glass over a steep cliff.  

Kathy, Lisa and Eileen in Lauterbrunnen

Russell walking the thrill walk. I didn't go. No way am I walking over a cliff with glass over it.    

                    Jungfrau is the highest mountain in Switzerland at 13,642 feet above sea level. 

                                                 View of JungFrau from the helicopter. 

                             

             Schilthorn.  A James Bond movie was filmed at this amazing place on the side of a cliff. 

I walked on this suspended walkway over a cliff at Grindewald First. I went only because I was goaded into it, and I could hang on to a rail on both sides.  

                                                   The town of Murren is a car free town. 

                              Trummelbach Falls have a number of waterfalls inside a mountain. 

                               At the top of Schilthorn where a James Bond film was done in 1968.

         Russell and Eileen on the glacier midway through the helicopter flight. Russell suggested that we go on a helicopter ride since we didn't go parasailing. It was pretty amazing. 

                                

Cathy parasailing over Lauterbrunnen Vally.