On Saturday, Jan. 10th, 2009 my only brother C.J. returned home from his mission to Curitiba, Brazil for the LDS church! The kids and I stayed in Utah and missed a week of school so we could be there. My 4 sisters and I all got married at age 20 or 21, so none of us served missions. It's been fun to see the kids so excited about C.J.'s mission. I'm grateful for such a powerful example of service and dedication to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We all met at the Salt Lake International airport at Noon and the anticipation was off the charts! C.J. was 6'5" when he left on Jan. 28th, 2007 and we knew from his weekly e-mails and pictures that he'd stayed about the same height. We waited anxiously for him to come down the escalator...
What a great day! It's been 2 years of worry about him living in Brazil, sometimes in less than ideal living conditions, eating "interesting" new foods, speaking Portuguese, and dealing with very large spiders! He looked amazing. I thought his shoulders were broader, his face more angular and manly. I was almost 13 when he was born, so I remember rocking him to sleep! This man who came home is so mature, handsome and smart. Ashlyn worried that she wouldn't be able to understand him after hearing that he was having a hard time speaking English when talking with my family on the phone on Christmas Day. The kids just about mauled him after he hugged my parents. In the 2 years since he's been gone, our family has added 4 new grandkids to the mix (Lisa's Noah, my Claire, Monica's Michael & Andrea's Meg) that he met for the first time! Welcome home, C.J.!!! We missed you so much!
Upon walking into my parents' home, C.J. immediately took off his shoes and made a "carpet angel" on the carpet. He hasn't walked on carpet except briefly in the mission home in 2 years! We laughed when he marveled over the new front loading washer & dryer in the laundry room, when he's been washing his clothes by hand. It was fun to hear all the things he's been living without that he's grateful for, yet we could tell he was having mixed emotions about being away from the Brazilians he's come to love.
His mission release later that afternoon was an experience I'll never forget. It was just our Stake President and our immediate family there. C.J. got a little emotional when asked to remove his mission badge. President Boyer talked about how many return missionaries refer to their missions as the "peak" of their spiritual experience. He told C.J. that when you climb to the top of a high peak, you can see for the first time the other peaks and valleys out there which are not visible from the ground. He encouraged him to continually seek for those experiences throughout his life. He then gave C.J. a very special priesthood blessing. I was so glad to be there with my whole family!
He spoke in sacrament meeting the next day, Sunday, Jan. 11th and began school at the University of Utah (GO UTES!) Monday, Jan. 12th......so he's jumping right back into his life here. He's pre-med, so it's great that he's in the habit to study and work hard:-)
Ashlyn and my nieces Jane & Anna sang "Holding Hands Around the World" in sacrament meeting and sounded like little angels! The kids and I unfortunately left to come home to Arizona shortly after C.J. spoke in church on Sunday, so we only had a day with him. Ashlyn & I cried while going through security at the airport (she started it). Then it was home to unpack, take down Christmas decorations and get the kids ready for school the next day...
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