Attitude of Gratitude - Day 11: Military.

When I was on my LDS mission in New Jersey, I had the wonderful opportunity of living in Bordentown, which placed me in the North Hanover LDS Ward.  There were four missionaries in the ward and the two Elders who were also assigned to the ward, lived in Wrightstown.  At one time, the ward used to be called the Fort Dix/McGuire Ward, for the Army & Air Force base.
There were a lot of military members, both active and retired, in the ward.  Having grown up in San Diego, I was used to having Navy & Marine servicemen and women around the city. Many of my friends' Dads were in the Navy.
I remember when the war first broke out in 2003.  The following Sunday there were so many men gone from the N. Hanover Ward.  It was a very surreal realty of the war and how close to home it had hit.  It must have been a 15:1 ratio of women to men for the first few weeks after deployment.  Luckily our Bishop, who was also in the military, wasn't called away to war.  Knowing and loving these ward members made me have a greater appreciation for military members and their families.  I remember earnest prayers on behalf of the military and the sacrifices of their families. I had and still have a great appreciation for the military and their families.
A few years back, I became good friends with two YSA military members.

It became real again, as to knowing and caring for those in the military.  I remember more earnest prayers offered up on their behalf and their fellow servicemen and women.  They were my friends, not just strangers in a uniform. It's funny how quickly your perspective can change when it becomes personal.  

I am so truly grateful for all those who sacrifice on my behalf so that I can enjoy the freedoms of this great country.  God bless America and all those brave souls who uphold Freedom and Liberty!

Tear jerker.

With my period coming up, why oh WHY would I watch a video like this?!?!
I can't even see straight now and my face is wet!
Ugh....I felt like I was crying as if I had a soldier coming home or something!!

This makes me ever so grateful for the service that these men and women give for our country and for the freedoms we enjoy.  I'm also grateful to those families who go without their loved ones for the sake of our freedoms.  To those families, my heart goes out to them.

Phone calls.

In my first [mission] area of Medford, New Jersey, I met a woman who just got married and moved to NJ with her husband.  It was my first Sunday {August 18, 2002} in the Medford ward when I met Sister A.  I'm pretty sure we were about the same age and it was so nice not being the only new face in the ward that day.  Over the next several weeks, I got to know her and her husband.  He was in the Air Force and they were waiting for a spot in military housing to open up.  It finally did, and they moved down to McGuire AFB in the North Hanover Ward.  After serving for 3 months in the Medford area, I was reassigned to Bordentown, NJ, which landed me in her ward.  I was overjoyed! I was stoked to see my friend again and pleased to know a familiar face in my new ward. Over the next several weeks, she announced that she was pregnant and that her husband would be going to off to war.  
I remember one Sunday morning, she walked into the chapel and looked terribly exhausted.  Her hair wasn't perfectly coiffed, as it always was and her eyes were puffy and swollen.  I greeted her and asked how she was feeling.  She tried her best to smile, and told us how she had been looking forward to her one and only phone call from her husband.  She had her phone readily available 24/7 and even slept with both the house phone & cell phone, just in case he should call.  As she was getting ready, that Sunday morning, she took the phone into the bathroom while she showered - still no call.  She continued to get ready for church.  It was while she was blow drying her hair, that he called and she had completely missed his phone call.  As she retold her experience, tears welled up in her eyes.  She didn't know when his next phone call would be....a few days, weeks or even months.  She was heartsick.  I remember feeling so sad for her.  I just wanted to give her a hug because here she was, pregnant, disheveled and alone....longing and missing her husband.  
As Levi's been out of town these last 2.5 weeks, I've felt a very tiny portion of what she was going through that Sunday.   Since I've started going out with Levi, there's only been two days that I haven't talked to him--both of which occurred this past week.  I've tried to be a very patient & understanding girlfriend, but sometimes my impatience gets the best of me.  I just miss him so much.  I just want to see him, touch him, feel him next to me and hear his voice in person.  This right here, is exactly why I could never date someone in the military.  I don't know how military spouses do it.  My heart goes out to them.  

T-minus 6 days. . . .