My Missionary

Each January, I try to make some special effort to acknowledge and celebrate the day that David returned home from his mission to Nashville, Tennessee. Obviously I will take any excuse to celebrate this wonderful man that I found, but I especially want him to know how grateful I am for his faithful service to our Heavenly Father. Some years I am able to manage a bigger celebration than others, but I always try to make it a priority to celebrate in at least a small way. 

January 18, 2014, was the 8 year mark of David returning home from his mission. It's amazing how much the two years he spent on his mission have influenced the past eight years. There are some things that I believe that David really internalized on his mission and he draws on them to bless our lives each day. 

David has a solid testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He knows the importance of the atonement of Jesus Christ and strives to live his life worthy of that testimony. This blesses my life through his example, and true Christlike love. 

On his mission David learned to serve others and work as a team. I've never heard him say anything bad about any of his companions and I think that attitude is what makes him the perfect companion for me. He is constantly thinking of my needs before his own, and everything we do - we do as a team. 

David learned how to organize himself and others. He fulfilled many leadership roles, and took on much of the responsibility for making sure the mission was functioning well. He used a small missionary planner for the first couple of years that we were married (while we were still in school), and still makes sure that everything is organized and planned out to get the maximum results from his day. Sometimes I see him organizing something, or working out a plan in his head, and I can see how the skills he learned on his mission are benefiting him and our family. 

David was an Assistant to the President right during the time that the Mission President switched over. I'm grateful for the influence that these wonderful couples had in his life. Both President and Sister Lords, and President and Sister Sorber taught David what it means to live a Christ-centered life, and what it takes to make that happen. They were great examples to him, and I know that they helped him be a better missionary and helped turn him into the amazing man he is today. I think that our relationship is founded on the principles that made their relationships so successful and so full of Christ.

 I am so grateful for him, for his testimony, and for his missionary service. But more than that, I'm grateful that the things he learned on his mission didn't leave him when he came home. He kept those things close to his heart and has continued to develop them over the past eight years. He's strengthened his testimony, stretched himself to share the gospel, improved his understanding of what it means to be a companion and partner with someone, and continued to develop his character. 

Welcome home Elder David Peaden. The past eight years have flown by, and I'm more proud of the man you are today than I am of the one who walked off that airplane.