The Mission Never Really Ends

Whenever one of our missionaries from the Belgium Netherlands Mission (BNZ) comes to visit, it’s always a special day.

Yesterday was one of those days as Monic and I picked up Drew Tadje at Edinburgh Airport.

Drew is interning this semester at the European Union and International Affairs Office of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brussels and came over to visit us this weekend.

During our time together in the BNZ, friendships were formed and memories were made that have lasted well beyond the mission field.

Our conversations yesterday flowed easily as mission stories resurfaced throughout the day. Little moments that once seemed quite ordinary now feel like treasured memories.

Later, back at home, we pulled out the old mission photo albums and spent time looking back. There was something very special about revisiting those moments, including the places, the people, and the quiet miracles that shaped us all.

What struck me again is how the mission continues long after our name badges come off.

Friendships endure and, in many ways, grow even stronger. Those shared experiences bind our hearts together across countries and across the years.

The Book of Mormon describes this beautifully when it speaks of people “having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.” (Mosiah 18:21)

A friend is someone who cares.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “The only way to have a friend is to be one.”

And sometimes those friendships simply show up at your door for a weekend in Scotland.

It was a joyful day.

Friendship is truly a sacred possession.

During our time serving together in the BNZ, we discovered that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is our truest friend.

Moments like this weekend quietly remind me how the Lord continues to weave lasting connections through the people we serve alongside.

Which friendships from earlier seasons of your life still bring joy when you meet again?