The Best Two Years...

Since the announcement changing the eligible age for full-time missionaries in the church, there's been a huge increase in the number of missionaries serving throughout the world. And my oldest son isn't too far away from leaving himself, so I've been thinking a lot about not only my experiences as a missionary but the experience in general.

Which got me thinking about this: How many times have we heard a returned missionary say that his mission was the best two years of his life? I had the opportunity a few years ago of being the ward mission leader. This gave me the privilege of working very closely with the full-time missionaries that were serving in our area. One of the things I would often tell them is that they day they returned home, they had my permission to say that their mission was the best two years of their lives, but if they were still saying that after more than two years had passed, then they were doing something wrong.

So I've been thinking about the 20 years or so that have passed since I was a full-time missionary, and started putting together some of the things that have happened in my life that I feel have made those the best two years of my life to that point. Here's a few:

1992-1994: Full time missionary service
1994-1996: Went back to college. Met/dated/engaged/married to Tabitha. Michael born (first child)
1996-1998: Benjamin born (second child)
1998-2000: Graduated from college. New job. Moved to Kentucky. Emilie born (third child).
2000-2002: Moved again. Birth, death, burial of Joseph (fourth child) (Part of the story here)
2002-2004: Moved again. New job. Nathanael (fifth child) born. Michael baptized.
2004-2006: Samuel (sixth child) born. Benjamin baptized. Purchased first home.
2006-2008: Timothy (seventh child) born. Upgraded to 12 passenger van.
2008-2010: Emilie baptized. Christopher (eight child) born. Liberty (ninth child) born.
2010-2012: Moved to Kansas City with new job. Juliana (tenth child) born. Open house, cultural celebration, dedication of Kansas City Temple. Nathanael baptized
2012-2014: Expecting child #11. Samuel baptized by Michael. Some things yet to be determined...

I guess the point is that life keeps getting better and better. Is everything perfect all the time? Of course not. Are there struggles and challenges and heartache and frustration and doubt? Of course there are. But the whole point of this life is to grow and learn and progress, and if we're doing our best to follow the Lord's plan for us, the blessings keep coming, and every year (or two or three) keeps getting better and better. And hopefully we can look back at the previous two years and honestly say those were the best two years of our lives, and look forward to the next two years and honestly say that those will be the best two years of our lives.

Additional reading suggestions:

When the Best Two Years are Over

Return of the Missionary