A Special Weekend

This picture has nothing to do with our special weekend. I just love it. And I am ready for swimming weather. 

I love the first weekend in April.

One, because for us as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it is General Conference. During General Conference weekend we get to listen to our church leaders give council and encouragement.

But there is another reason.

It is also this same weekend every year that my husband and I attend his mission reunion. Over 11 years ago my husband came home from serving a mission for the LDS Church. He went to Munich, Germany for two years and taught the people in Germany the gospel. A few months after he came home, we met.

After knowing each other for only two weeks, he invited me to his mission reunion.

Just so we are on the same page. Taking a girl to your mission reunion is a big deal. It is a get together reserved for wives and fiances. It is not for the light hearted. Knowing each other for only 14 days in no way qualified our relationship for this type of public outing.

I didn't know how to tell him no when he invited me, so I went. I also figured that one awkward night could also tell me a lot about him. The night did not disappoint.

You see, missionaries develop a brotherhood (and sisterhood) that cannot be described. This was no different for my husband. On top of that, he had developed a relationship with his Mission President that has reached far beyond those two years in Germany. He was a father figure and a mentor to him. My husbands first real example of how he wanted his future marriage to be. A marriage that would one day be ours.

We went to his reunion that night. I met countless men and women who told me what an amazing man he was. They told me story after story of his work ethic, faith, and dedication. They talked about his sense of humor and love for others. They went on and on. I met his Mission President, the man who taught him to be a man. This is the same man who taught him what he should look for in his future wife.

And then we went home.
Although I wasn't ready for him to propose, that night taught me very quickly who he was.

We have attended his reunion every year since. The next year I went as his finance. The year after that, his wife. Now I attend not only as his wife, but the mother of our children and his helpmate.

We talk to the same people. I stand a little off to the side as they tell the same stories and reminisce about the same memories. Even though I hear the same stories every year, I always learn something new. I never tire of them.

For the few hours we are there, I am overwhelmed. I am filled with humility and gratitude. These men have had a huge influence on my husband.

They shared stories with me 11 years ago that opened my heart and mind to who he really was. We come from very different backgrounds and that night quickly taught me that regardless, we believed in the same things and had the same vision for a future marriage and family.

There is no way that I can ever thank these men. They will always be a part of our family. How grateful we can all be for the men and women who have influenced us and our spouses for good.

I am already looking forward to next year.

HOW DID YOU SPEND YOUR WEEKEND?
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO A MISSION REUNION?