We're coming up on the 1 year mark when Brian started flying for Classic Helicopters. Before that we lived in Houma, Louisiana and he flew for PHI. We attended a small ward in Houma and made some amazing friends. Tonight I was able to see our former bishop and his family at their son's wedding reception in Logan. It's amazing how small the world is in the church. It was so wonderful to walk into the reception and see my friends, who I wondered if I would ever see again in this life. My eyes fill up with tears just remembering it. I was so happy to see these people who are so important to me and made such a difference in my life. I worked with the bishop in many church callings. His wife, Monica, is such an amazing woman and so loving. She is a dear friend and was a ray of sunshine in my dark days in Louisiana. I was blessed to work with their youngest daughter, Katherine, in Young Women and learned from her strong spirit. I think of the joyous reunion tonight and can't help but think how it will be like that, and then some, when we meet our friends and family on the other side. I imagine this is what it's like for return missionaries to meet up with people from their mission. On my way to the reception I realized that I hadn't brought my camera. I would have loved to have pictures! Instead, I pulled up some pictures I have of them from Louisiana.
These kinds of friendships are one of the things that I love about living outside of Utah, and that I miss when living in Utah. I only spent a year in Louisiana, yet my heart was overjoyed to embrace these dear friends and to also feel their joy in our reunion. Living in Louisiana was really hard at times. But friends like the Stocks made it a wonderful experience. Looking back I can hardly believe that I was only there for a year. The ward members became my family and we supported and strengthened each other. It's such a beautiful thing. The same thing happened in Virginia. I remember looking around during Sacrament Meeting in Virginia, knowing that I would be moving soon, and just sobbing because I knew I'd miss them so much. Tonight I'm sobbing again, thinking of and missing my dear friends in Louisiana. I'm so grateful for what they were able to teach me and what they meant to me in such a short time. I'm so grateful for the gospel and the ward institution. I know that no matter where I go in the world, I have a family waiting there for me at church. It's been really hard to not have that this year, having moved back into the ward I grew up in. It makes me that much more grateful for those dear friends that blessed my life around the country. My heart is full of joy.
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