Katya’s Homecoming Sunday

 This post is dedicated to celebrating Katya being home after serving a mission in Romania. Although she came back from her mission on Jan 12th, we didn't get to hear give a talk till Jan 28th because of the scheduling. Finally, she was able to share her thoughts and mission experiences. 

After church, she received her mission plaque and we got to take a few pictures by the temple. 

Such a beautiful soul she is! 

Nothing matches Katya's joyful smile! 

Another beautiful picture of this beautiful girl. 

Katya preferred not to make a big deal out of her homecoming so she requested not to organize a big get together for friends after church, which was obviously absolutely okay. 

We are excited for all the new beginnings in her life and looking forward to see where her journey takes her. 

And the rest of us minus Alex who is probably (not) thinking about us while enjoying his Sunday at BYU.

We love you, Katya! 

Alex's Mission Call

There is something magical about watching your kids fulfill their dreams and goals. Alex has always wanted to serve a mission for our church. I can't remember him ever questioning whether or not he should do it--the only decision he had to make was whether he should do it before starting BYU or after his freshman year. After much prayer and discussion with us he felt that he should definitely go to college for one year and then turn in his mission papers to be able to leave as early in the summer as possible. 

He was so fortunate to find absolute best friends at BYU during his freshman year. Guys who have been his rock, his biggest fans and basically are like his brothers. They all encouraged each other to stay faithful, be good examples to each other and go on missions. 

Alex opened his mission papers in UT, but finished all the interviews and paperwork here in NC while visiting us for Christmas. As soon as he was able to turn in his papers (120 days exactly before his availability date), he did it. His availability date was Jun 1. So submitted them somewhere in the first week of Jan, and then flew back to BYU.

Mission calls come on Tuesday, usually in the morning. We all were anxiously waiting for him to call us once he got the email. We knew it would be coming around 9 am but...nothing...nothing at noon. Nothing even at 2 and 3 pm! As we figured out later, when Monday is a holiday, it takes longer for mission calls to get sent out on Tuesdays. And it was the MLK's weekend, so they were running behind. 

Finally! Late in the afternoon, Alex called us all and waited while we all got on FaceTime. Robert was still at work, Mark was hanging out with Dani and Katya was with me at home. 

We all held our breath as Alex was outside, reading his mission call. It was one of the most spiritual experiences for all of us as a family again. I am tearing up even as I am writing about it. 

And the big reveal--Alex was called to serve in the Baltic Mission, speaking Latvian! 

Were we surprised? YES! But did it seem very fitting? YES! 

His report date was Jun 17 with one week of Home MTC, leaving for UT on Jun 25th. 

It was such a wonderful experience, a complete disbelief on Alex's part. But at least he knew exactly where Latvia was! Such a unique mission with four different languages being spoken by the missionaries. And SO close to Ukraine! 

As a BYU tradition, all friends gathered together that evening for Alex to announce where he was going. No one guessed the right mission, because it's such a tiny and unusual place. When he announced "Baltic Mission", you could hear and audible hush as no one knew exactly how to react....and then he added "Latvian speaking" and all made more sense. Later he found out that some people thought he said "Baltimore mission, Latvian speaking", so they were pretty confused-hahaha. 

We are so excited and proud of Alex for making this choice to serve the Lord and the people of Latvia. We have great faith that it will bless his life and will enrich his soul to the brim.

We love Alex!

 

Katya is Home from Romania!

Our year started with a great surprise! Katya's travel plans to come home on February 23rd finally arrived--tickets and everything. And then...a day later, she called us and told us that she would like to come home a transfer early. She had to decide very quickly as transfers were happening literally in a week. She had a long talk with Heavenly Father, with her mission president and his wife, and decided to go come home. 

We were absolutely elated, of course, although it was a very short notice!  On Jan 5th she made her decision and she was flying home on Jan 12th! We made everything happen super quick--telling our friends who wanted to come see her, the poster and rearranging our plans around Robert's dental conference. Sadly, I still had to drive to Georgia for Mark's tournament that he couldn't just leave (and his partner), and we had to rebook Alex on a flight asap so he could be here to see her. 

Katya had a bunch of departing activities in Bucharest right before she left. 

This is Katya with Sister Fowler, her mission president’s wife.

And this is the Fowlers--her mission leaders.

As a last meal in Romania, they chose to go to Hard Rock Cafe of all places-hahaha. It was not exactly Katya’s choice but she wasn’t the one picking the activities.

She was flying home with just one sister, sister Greer, who incidentally, decided to extend her mission by one transfer. 

She was so nervous flying on her own, so it was a tender mercy that Katya, the pro, was right beside her. They flew Bucharest to Paris to Raleigh. Easy peasy. 

Katya also had to do the Global Entry interview which made it so that she had to spend longer at the customs in RDU, but it was worth the effort. 

We all were SO excited. Beyond excited. The Romans, the Roylances and Melanie West were able to come to the airport. Alex flew in early in the morning on a red eye flight from UT. 

It was wonderful to hug her and to be together as a family.

I am not crying--you are crying. 

With mama.

With Melanie.

With Melissa.

We drove quickly to the stake center to get her released from being a missionary. It was a very moving experience and quite a fundamental core memory for all. 

Mark and I then drove to Peachtree, GA that night, arriving super late, but safe. In the meantime, Alex got to entertain Katya all weekend as Robert could not miss the dental conference an hour and a half away. They had dinner at Panera that first night. Katya was just so happy to be back in her room! 

Playing games together. 

Katya and Alex hanging went to church in their red minivan:).

Katya, who missed Christmas, is opening her gifts! We left all the decorations up for her once we knew she was coming home. 

 We all experienced quite a whirlwind of emotions! So happy and excited! And Katya felt like she had completed a very difficult thing, but sad at the same time that it's over. Coming home is a big adjustment for missionaries! 

We love Katya and are so happy she was able to serve a mission!