The Problem of Returned Missionaries

As a little girl, my parents always told me the importance of dating and marrying a man that was a returned missionary. They talked as though this would be the absolute greatest thing that could ever happen and how it would change my life. What they failed to mention in all of this was that this gem of a returned missionary would be insistent from the very first day that we began dating that he return to the place in which he served his mission. "Lucky" for me, my returned missionary only served across the country, as opposed to some foreign land. After three years of marriage and a great incentive of having Neal's brother Devin and his wife just a few hours away from Neal's mission, I finally caved and agreed to make the trip back to Neal's mission. 

The first great feat of this all -- besides abandoning my 20 clients and 14 staff for a week (which was slightly disastrous)  -- was having to get on a commercial airline. This might seem silly to you regular flying folk, but with a dad as a pilot, I had never had to deal with airport security, bag checks, finding the right gate, etc. etc. I was nervous! Fortunately, my brother-in-law, Ryan, who flies all the time for running was gracious enough to answer all 25 questions we sent him from the time we arrived at the airport to the time we boarded the plane. 

After surviving two panic attacks and an Olympic worthy sprint from one plane to the next, we finally arrived in North Carolina! Devin picked us up from the airport and we were able to spend the night at their house. The next day we picked up a rental car and began a day of driving and reminiscing (for Neal at least) through Virginia. 

The first town we stopped in was Hopewell, which ironically was also Neal's first area from the mission. This town was  phenomenal! It had more churches than any other city I had ever seen -- all with the very best names -- like God's Church of Living Water and Brother David's Church of Greatness. 

We stopped by Neal's Hopewell apartment. I thought Neal was going to explode with joy this entire day. He was SO excited to back in Virginia.  He then took us to find some of his investigators houses. I thought for sure he would make me get out and go knock a few doors with him, but I lucked out, when he remembered this was an area that had all the shootings. We locked the doors and got ourselves out of there!

We then arrived in the Clover Hill area of Neal's mission. This was a beautiful area with some very fantastic houses...which I am regretting now not taking pictures of. We stopped and visited one of the "recent converts" -- Brother Hayward. It was so fun to stop to visit and hear how Neal really was as a missionary. :)   We were even invited to stop at the ward Pinewood Derby, but unfortunately did not have the time. 

This is Neal at his Clover Hill apartments. We were pretty certain this was still a missionary apartment, because you could see a faded picture of Jesus in the window. 

We then ventured on to the Midlothian area. This area was even more beautiful -- and more expensive looking -- than the one before. Unfortunately it was starting to get dark, so we did not get to see any of the great big houses, that Neal swears are there. While in Midlothian we stopped at a sandwich shop that Neal ate at frequently as a missionary. If I was thinking, we could have gotten picture of that sandwich shop as well.

This is Neal just outside his Midlothian apartment.

Once the sun wouldn't shine light on us anymore, we headed to our hotel in Richmond. Devin and Joslyn had arranged for us to stay in a Suite with them. This was fun for us to have the ultimate slumber party in this hotel...even though we got the "Special Accommodations" room. (Reminders of work are never far away.)

We got up SUPER early the next morning to run some races. I was doing the 8K, Joslyn was doing the Marathon and Neal, Devin, Cambry and Vienna were doing the watch-a-thon. This was all quite exhausting -- but also one of the funnest races I had ever done. My favorite part was that almost every person was wearing a shirt that promoted their church. It is really almost spiritual to do a race when everything in sight that you can read says something like "I run for the Lord" or "It is through the happiness of the Lord that I get all my strength." I loved it! 

Once Josie came in from the Marathon (I don't know how she did that! She's amazing.) We hopped back in the car for another full day of driving. This day Neal was excited about, because in order to get to his next area, we had to go on an underwater bridge. I was pretty certain that I was going to die on the plane ride over and was feeling pretty lucky that I had also made it through the 8k  -- so I was certain I had used up all my guardian angel magic for a while -- but somehow I also survived a 3 mile underwater tunnel and ended up in Portsmouth. 

For any of you who have ever heard Neal talk about his mission for at least a five minute period will know that he was hit by a car on his mission. This was quite a life changing experience for Neal -- so naturally we had to stop by the scene of the accident. 

This is the original picture taken after the accident. (Obviously, as you can see from the next picture, Neal almost losing his life motivated them to do some clean-up work on this street!)

Neal re-enacted the entire thing for me. Meanwhile, some of the good religious people of Virginia pulled over to ask us if we needed a ride to church. It was 2PM on a Saturday. I was still a sweaty mess from my run -- in my running clothes.  I almost accepted that ride to church, just to see what everyone else must be wearing at that church! 

We also stopped by Neal's apartment there!

Along with his apartment in the Great Bridge area!

We then traveled to Elizabeth City to eat at restaurant that Neal has been craving ever since he got home of the mission. Mamasitas!!!! I always thought Neal was crazy and over-dramatic about his love for this restaurant, but I have been craving it and it's cheese sauce since we left. 

Neal then took me to the Outer Banks for the night. I am not quite sure what he was thinking, but Neal thought it would be a great idea to take me out to see the Atlantic ocean in the middle (6pm) of the night. It was pitch black and all dead silent except for the crash of the waves. Neal and I had recently watched Titanic, so that of course was all I could think about at that moment. I am pretty certain, if things would have been better lit, that we could have seen at least one dead body and/or flotsam from the Titanic wreckage. After a few minutes of my panicked screaming, Neal agreed to go to the hotel. 

The next morning we went to the Ocean for real. It was so beautiful and majestic and calming and terrifying all at once. This time I could have stayed there all day just letting the waves come in on my feet. 

We also attended church here and stopped by Neal's apartment. 

Neal then took me driving that day around to see some of the hugest beach houses ever. And then we headed back to Raleigh to be with Devin and Joslyn and the girls. We were just the slightest bit deprived from getting to visit with these guys and accidentally stayed up until 2am! 

The next day we went to the park with their girls and then they let us lazy around their house to recover from our driving, racing, chatting days before. It was so great to just BE there!!!! We did have a Connect 4 tournament - where I beat Neal. (I took a picture as proof. I'm red.)

The next day we were able to go to the school where Devin is working on his Masters. It was fun to see where he is all the time and the campus there. It seemed so historical...everything there seemed historical really. We also attempted a morning walk, but wimped out after about one block, because it was cold and rainy.

We didn't really think about taking pictures once we were with Devin and Joslyn, which would have probably been a great idea, but you can check out Devin and Josie's blog if you want to see the picture version of our trip with them. 

Unfortunately, this greatest trip ever had to end and Devin took us back to the airport to make our returning flight home. We were both beat, but it was well worth it. We are very grateful for the time that we were able to spend with Devin, Joslyn and the girls and their great hospitality. Neal is already planning our return visit.