Return to the Missionland

When I first arrived in Virginia going on 12 years ago, I felt like I was suffocating a little. All the trees made it feel like I was camping all of the time. I got used to it. I loved it. I had amazing experiences there, and when the mission president had me talk to the new missionaries on my last day before leaving, the tears were free-flowing as I told them over and over how much they would love the people and the place. As the plane took off the next day and I watched Virginia fade into a blanket of green, I felt like I was leaving my heart somewhere down below.

For the next couple of years I was afraid that if I went back I would discover it was different, and it would hurt. Since I lacked the funds to make the trip, I never got the chance to see. Then, fast forward to this year. My parents planned a trip to Williamsburg to visit my east-coast sisters. Since it was my mission they offered their frequent flyer miles for me to come along, and to bring Lissy. I didn't want to put anyone out - them, Gary, my sister who watched the boys . . . I really did not want to go, because I was stressed about the inconvenience. But they insisted. So we went!

The weird thing was - it wasn't weird. I didn't have to re-get-used to it. It was Virginia. Gorgeous Virginia, and I still love it. This time I was a tourist, which was fun. I got to see some things I never saw before. I didn't re-connect with people really, because I couldn't hold the family vacation hostage, but it was great to see a few (more on that later).

When we first met up with my family, we saw some of the sights in Richmond. We started out at Tredegar Iron Works, where the Confederacy produced all of their field artillery.

Lily and Lissy (mostly Lily) were fascinated by the field artillery.

My mom has the same birthday as Abraham Lincoln. Pretty much twins.

Lissy and Violet saw Richmond by stroller.

In the midst of historic weapons productions. Or would have been a century and a half ago.

After we left the iron works, we strolled across this quite awesome bridge. It says it depicts "Some of the most dramatic events in Richmond's history occurred during three days in April 1865 when the city fell to the union army after four years of civil war." It says in another spot that the events were for some horrific and full of despair, and for some liberating and thrilling. When we took this picture, my dad and I wanted to show those emotions. Sarah said she's not sure which one we chose. Fair. Each of the metal planks in the bridge is a quote from someone in Richmond during that time. Walking across the bridge brought the history alive. Seriously cool.

Looking west over the James River.

Looking east over the James River. The little stumps all across the river are the remainders of the bridge that the confederacy blew up as they retreated. They left Richmond in flames . . . so terrifying.

Here's a good view of the Tredegar iron works

After we left the civil war sites, we went to Maymont Park, which is a preserved Victorian-era estate with some other fun stuff thrown in. As for me, I only saw the estate part. It was a drizzly, humid day, so we were wilting, but we were exclaiming at every turn, "This is SOOO gorgeous!" It was seriously amazingly pretty. Hannah is getting her wedding photos there.

Me, Dad, and Sarah under the archway in the Italian gardens.

Sarah and me in the Italian gardens.

Look how awesome Dad is - he watched the babies in the Italian gardens while we girlies trekked down to the  Japanese gardens.

Hannah and me in the Japanese gardens

How can I see this and not take a picture?

(Rained on) Sistas in the Japanese gardens

She may have eaten the plants, but I still think Lissy looks cute sitting amongst the flowers.

Violet and Lissy - Violet really wanted in on the action where she saw Lissy sitting here.

What's more fun than Aunt Kayla and Madeline?

As long as we were in Richmond, it was only a short ride across the river to see one of the areas I served in on my mission. My mom wanted to the see the inner-city, so her wish was granted. I served in this inner-city area for over 8 months. It includes some more regular neighborhoods, the projects, and stuff like the projects, all in the shadow of the Phillip Morris factory. I wasn't sure we should stop there, but the church always feels safe to me wherever I've seen it in the world, and awesomely, this was no exception. It just so happened to be visits-night where the missionaries and branch presidency meet to go out and see people. So, we got to see the inside of the church. Crazy how it is still so familiar. Also, we saw the branch president . . . who used to be the ward clerk when I was there! I had no idea. He is such a great guy, and I was excited to see him and see that he is continuing on with the difficult yet much-needed work that is there.

It's me and my momma outside of the church . . . had to have proof it's still there!

Funny thing about this visit. Right after we took that picture a guy came walking over from across the street. Corn rows, saggy jeans with boxers hanging out, no shirt on . . . yeah, just a guy from the neighborhood. He said, "Hey, I got a question about your church." (Insert appropriate dialect accent into this conversation, or it won't be like it was.)
Me: Sure, what's up? (I was in chipper missionary mode, for sure.)
Guy: What time does it start?
Me: Looks like 10 o' clock. (pointing to the sign) It starts out with the main worship service, then after that is Sunday school. You should come. You will be more than welcome.
Guy: Yeah, I will. What's your name?
Me: Emily
Guy: So Ima be up in the church wit Emil. You gonna sit by me?
 Me: I actually won't be there. But this guy will. (Point to the branch president.) He'll be happy to show you around.
Guy: You're very pretty.
Me: Thanks. You should come to church.
Guy: I am. I'm gon be up in the church on Sunday. Ima put on clothes . . . I got dress clothes you know.
Me:Yeah, you should definitely do that. (Still smiling . . . but it was a good chance to start talking with the branch president.)

My sisters were amazed by this interchange. They asked me if he was on something. Nope. Well, maybe, but it didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary. When I was in this area, that kind of thing happened every three seconds. I was very happy to see nothing changes. So awesome.

After our little drive through the inner city branch, my dad drove me and Lissy and my sister Hannah over to the mission home. It is also in Richmond, and I served in that area as well. When we go to the mission home the neighborhood was gorgeous as always, and the mission president was outside talking on his cell phone. He saw us and came over to talk. Usually when I think about my mission I think it was awesome, but I'm fine with waiting a few years to go again. But when we talked to the mission president, the Spirit of missionary work was so strong, I wanted to jump out of the car and help him right away. He was calm and kind, and asked us about ourselves, but there was just something that was so amazing . . . everyone in the car felt it, too, and we were excited the whole way back to Williamsburg.

So, we stayed in Williamsburg in a resort that I have no pictures of. It was really pretty, though. I went running in it, and couldn't believe my fortune to view a pond with swans and other such loveliness. For the rest of the trip I was a total tourist, and loved getting to see new things, starting with Colonial Williamsburg. Just a note to those who may go there - it is much, much more involved than you imagine. We did not imagine, but I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon I spent there.

Ah, Thomas Jefferson lived here! When we first got off the bus to Colonial Williamsburg, the Governor's Mansion was the first stop. Many British governors lived here, and then it was still used after the revolution. Thomas Jefferson was the last to live here. I felt a thrill in my soul as I walked here, just thinking of all of the people and history that were there. I asked Hannah, "Don't you feel like Thomas Jefferson right now?" She said, "I actually feel like Felicity." So true.

Miss Madeline got a little colonial-girl hat. Too cute.

It's the oxen, hanging out by the capitol building.

My tour of Virginia's first capitol building. This tour guide was my favorite. He was knowledgeable, well-spoken, and didn't try to impress us with his colonial vernacular. This was the house of commons - well, the equivalent of. I learned so much on this tour, just me n' Lissy. The guy sitting down across from me was awesome. When the guide mentioned that in colonial times most felonies were punishable by hanging, the white shirt guy said, "They should still do that today!" (In seriousness.) Uh . . . hilarious.

I was trying to capture how this place looked, and even though it's not an amazing shot, I post it because . . .

 . . . it was my last shot before I took a picture of this girl, that stray hand swiped the camera and  . . . no more using the camera.

We finished off our day at colonial Williamsburg by seeing a reenactment of George Washington preparing the troops for the British surrender at Yorktown. There were fifes and drums, there were gunshots and cannons, and it was a perfectly beautiful and thought-provoking setting. The greens were so green, the weather just cool enough to be enjoyable, and the reenactment stirring. My favorite part of General Washington's speech was when he said, “The value of liberty was thus enhanced in our estimation by the difficulty of it’s attainment. And the worth of characters appreciated by the trial of adversity."  It made me wonder if the liberty we have known all our lives has made us take it for granted, devaluing it and causing so many to be willing to give pieces of it away. Anyway, enough thoughts, here are the pictures I took on my cell phone. Doesn't come even close to doing it justice as the colors are off and . . . you can't take a picture of the breeze, anyway, so . . .

Lissy was my little friend as I watched this. She was mostly interested in eating the clover,  but having her there made it perfect.