Europe

Before I started traveling to Europe many years ago, I remember thinking that is would be a waste to spend so much money to go to Europe. After all trees, grass, mountains are the same wherever they are. Well needless to say, one trip to Europe quickly changed that thought and I was hooked. I love the architecture, the history, the customs. The more I travel, the differences in scenery don’t awe me quite so much, and I am more and more convinced that the very best part of traveling is the people – meeting new people, renewing old friendships, learning something new about or from someone, having a discussion with the person on the train or plane, meeting up with people from Kent’s work.
As you all know we just returned from driving through Andrew’s part of Germany, visiting Kent and Kae Servoss in Rotterdam Holland, and returning to London. It was an impressive trip as far as the places we visited – Bremen Germany, Keukenhof Park in Holland, Stonehenge and Salisbury and London, but the really impressive part to me was the people we visited and the connections we made. It was so fun to drive into Osnabrück and then Leer where Andrew served on his mission and have him direct us around town by telephone. He directed us to a family in Leer that he became good friends with, even though they were not baptized. We went to their door and were very disappointed when they were not home. In Osnabrück he made sure we saw the “Joseph and Brigham” statues in the church courtyard. Andrew’s mission became more real to us for sure.
Going to Rotterdam Holland, Kent and Kae Servos were so excited to see us they drove over an hour to meet us. We stopped to have dinner in a town square outdoor restaurant before we continued the last hour to their apartment. We enjoyed part of general conference with them over the weekend. They took us to the beautiful city of Delft where we not only did a little pottery shopping, but saw the canals and architecture. We saw the tulips at Keukenhof and in the fields. Before we left on Sunday afternoon they took us to peaceful Kinderdijk to see the windmills. We learned firsthand about being couple missionaries, we came to understand things about Kent and Kae and their children that we had not known before and we gave them some much needed home-friends- family love and connection.
In England it was like going home. The double-decker bus 15 still went the same route through the city past most of the landmarks. It was still just as much fun sitting on the top deck right in the front, watching all the awesome sights. We rode to Windsor and through the Buckinghamshire countryside with our friends the Ayles. We thrilled with the miracle of Sue and Terry Ayles finally getting pregnant after 12 or more years. They shared all the miracles that they have seen in their lives since we saw them last and how that has made them determined and bold in sharing the gospel. We had a party at their house and invited friends from High Wycombe Ward. Friends we had not seen or heard from for 10 years were just as dear and just as fun to catch up with as if it had been yesterday that we saw them last.
We returned with great pictures (see the Blog) of tulips and buildings, and also with friendships and lessons learned, great memories and our testimonies strengthened.
I love Western Europe, but I don’t have much desire to travel to Asia, it is SO different there, I would probably feel uncomfortable. But if I went there ….