One year home!

Today, exactly one year ago, I stepped off the plane from Minneapolis to Seattle to greet my family after being gone for two years on my mission! It feels like it was just yesterday, but at the same time feels like it was much more than a year ago.

As I think back on it, it is amazing how emotions and feelings of a momentous occasion in my life come flooding back. Like the excitement to see my Mom and Dad, siblings, and other family again and to hold my nephews and nieces, as well as the nervousness for going back to college, entering the young single adult social scene as an RM, and not being immersed in the Lord's work 24/7. It was the one of the happiest moments of my life!

After 12 months I can say I truly love my life now, but a piece of my heart is still attached to Minnesota. I miss the people who took me in and treated me like family, the people who I saw learn how to pray and gain a personal testimony of the reality of Jesus Christ, and the special people who took their families to the temple for first time to be sealed for time and all eternity. One of the choicest experiences I had in the last month of my mission came from a 16 year old young man who had developed a testimony of the gospel, but was encouraged to wait to be baptized by his parents because they didn't think he was ready. He called me one day and said "Elder Spencer, I know I'm not getting baptized, and I don't know when I will, but I want you to know I am still going to live like I am. I'm going to keep all of the commandments and keep praying and be the best Christian I can be." He then thanked my companion and I for teaching him so much and said he viewed us as his big brothers he never had. That kind of experience was what made everything worth it.

That is the kind of blessing that comes from being a missionary and this is the kind of experience I miss so much. But, I will say I have felt some incredible blessings over this past year that I am very grateful for. When I first got off my mission it was amazing to see how things fell into place. I was able to get into all of the classes I needed even when they filled up quickly, my housing situation for school fell into place, and I made some new, incredible friendships. Since then, I've been able to have a great internship with the UW Department of Surgery, have a fantastic summer job, make some more meaningful and lasting friendships, and welcome in two handsome, manly nephews!

I'm also grateful for my incredible family. After being away from them for two years I realized just how much they meant to me. I realized that so many things in life are temporary. The places we live, the jobs we have, and even the friends we spend time with can be very temporary and change quite often. But, the one thing that never changes is my family. They are always there and a part of me. It was this new and exciting perspective that has helped me to love them even more. I think that is one reason serving a mission is such a blessing. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for these wonderful blessings and I'm grateful for the experience of serving a mission and who it has helped me become. Here is to hopefully another great year!

Angels Without Wings
By Rachel Henderson

I see my family differently,
now that things have changed.
It seems that our priorities
are somewhat rearranged.
My parents are my teachers
and help me see the light.
My siblings are my closest friends,
there for me day and night.
Each one is peculiar
in their own amazing way.
They are my positive influences
each and every day.
I'd be lost without them
and what comfort to me each brings.
For my parents and my siblings alike
are simply angels without wings.