Many years ago Sean and I enjoyed watching various Star Trek series. Occasionally the shows would wrap up some bizarre occurrence by saying there had been “a warp in the space/time continuum.” We used to joke about that - especially with things that didn’t really have a good answer. This past week for us has definitely felt like a warp in the space/time continuum!
On Saturday the 20th we were asked to accompany a missionary to Salt Lake City as he transfered to a service mission. We had been planning to spend the week in East Malaysia, first at a Zone Conference and then a senior missionary conference. Instead we accepted this new assignment, despite feeling a little disappointed to miss out on some fun outings to get to know the senior missionaries.
Monday we flew to Kuala Lumpur and then on to Salt Lake City …in what became our longest Tuesday ever! That day we awoke at 3:30 a.m. and touched down in Salt Lake City at 4:30 p.m., but a 4:30 p.m. that came 28 hours later including stops in Japan and San Francisco.
Fortunately, despite the exhausting trip, everything went very smoothly and we were really grateful for the tender experience of accompanying this missionary and seeing him reunited with his family in Salt Lake City!
Sean and I were then able to spend a couple of days in Salt Lake City, deciding to embrace the jet lag instead of fighting it. We did some work in the middle of the night while we couldn’t sleep, and also spent some of our awake time during the day with Sean’s parents and sister. The first thing I purchased was a package of gum, and our first restaurant was a delicious Mexican one near our hotel. I also got some chocolate chips for half the Singapore cost! While in Utah we were able to see a lovely giant snowflake snow storm and had the blessing of attending the Oquirrh Mountain temple. Then Friday morning we did it in reverse, hopping on a flight on at 8am and arriving in Malaysia at 12:15 am Sunday morning.
In spite of having the longest Tuesday ever, and then losing Friday and Saturday all together, we are doing well now and experiencing very little jet lag back here. Apparently we left our bodies in Southeast Asia while we were gone!
The church’s service missionary program has been growing and changing tremendously over the past few years. It has created a wonderful path for the many missionaries who can’t serve or complete a teaching mission. Instead of living away from home with a companion, these missionaries live at home and serve in very meaningful ways on a schedule that meets their needs and still allows them to address physical and and/or mental needs. Their assignments include community service, serving in temples, teaching with missionaries for part of the day and numerous other things. Some are able to return to a teaching mission after working on mental or physical issues that can’t be effectively treated in an intense proselyting mission setting. All are able to accomplish great good and complete an honorable mission. We are so grateful for the blessings of service missions and the wonderful opportunity we have to be part of this work.
And so wrapped up our week in a sleepy warp in the space/time continuum. We are grateful to feel rested once again and now for the chance to spend some time in Kuala Lumpur. More on that next week!
The journey of 20,000 miles begins with an airport waiting area
Flight from Singapore to Malaysia
Got that passport stamp!
Farewell dinner for our Elder - delicious!
And the placemats were amazing...
A tradition of our hosts - fortunately senior missionaries are excused.
Hours of watching the miles go by
Center seats all the way to the US. Uncomfortable but I dare say that Addison Pratt wouldn't feel sorry for me.
Beautiful view of San Francisco coming in
Well that was a lot shorter separation than we thought!
Picking up a few things at WinCo for when we get back
LOVED getting to worship in the temple
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