Guest blogger Briant here. One of the best things about being in the foreign service is having my kids close to full-time Elders and Sisters. Growing up in Oregon, my family was very close to the missionaries, and had them over and interacted with them frequently. In a very real sense, these elders were like big brothers to me and my siblings – practical and palpable exemplars of the kinds of quality young adults we could become, and their example of love, service, and righteousness infused a lot of our childhood. Mick had similar experiences growing up in Southern California. When we lived in Alpine, there was one set of elders assigned to the three stakes (appx 30 congregations) in Alpine, and I think we physically saw the elders three times in seven years – there simply was no opportunity in Utah to have that intimate and sententious relationship with the elders that both Mick and I had growing up, and I knew that was a lost opportunity for my kids.
Fast forward to Angola and now Latvia, and we have had our missionaries around us in spades. In Angola, I was the ward mission leader, and every week I had at least four elders and a couple of branch members over for dinner to talk about the missionaries' efforts and what we as a branch could do to support their efforts to teach about what our church believes and to support them personally. I think since joining the foreign service we have cooked for close to 50 missionaries and local members, and my kids have had close and meaningful relationships with these good elders and sisters.
As we have got to know these elders and sisters, they have all loved and supported my little family and its unique needs with love and genuine feeling, and they have given back to us as much or more as we have given them. I know they love the little piece of America and family and home that we represent for them – a chance to occasionally "come home" for a meal and some family time – but I truly believe we get more out of it than they do, and I am grateful beyond words for the love and support, and above all the example, that they give to me and my family.
While all of the elders and sisters are special to us, a few of them have really stood out as particularly impactful in the lives of our family. One of these elders – Elder Krommenhoek – was one of the mission president's APs and made a close association with the kids, particularly with Thomas.
Every time they see Elder Krommenhoek, the kids play games with him, tell him riddles, and otherwise connect with him because Elder Krommenhoek is genuinely interested in their lives and loves them and they can feel it. For Christmas, Elder Krommenhoek gave Thomas a miniature Christus statue, and Thomas made a paper quilling flower for Elder Krommenhoek. Every time we had Elder Krommenhoek and his companions over for Sunday dinner they gave us meaningful, thoughtful lessons, and our admiration for Elder Krommenhoek grew.
As happens with all of our missionaries, the time has come for Elder Krommenhoek to leave us. The Baltic mission takes in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Belarus, and Elder Krommenhoek is an Estonian-speaking missionary and has headed back to Estonia for the last couple of months of his mission before going home. On his last Sunday with us, we enjoyed his friendship and his warmth one last time, and the kids listened with fixed attention to his words on Jesus and the Christian life that he taught them one last time. He also left a CTR necktie for Thomas. Maybe he can save it for his own mission? ;)
We wish Elder Krommenhoek luck and hope to see him again someday. But his influence – and that of the other missionaries that surround us – permeates our home and our lives. As a father trying to teach my kids to grow up and meet their spiritual potential, what more could I ask for? I am grateful that Thomas and Savvy and Rhea are growing up with Elder Krommenhoek's example – and that of Elder Yost, and Elder Mitchell, and Elder Siquafenge, Elder Cook, Elder Alfredo, Sister Burton, Sister Taylor, and dozens of others – firmly before them. They have a pattern and an ideal for what they can become, and I see them filling that mold slowly but surely. If that were all we got out of joining the foreign service, that would be enough and more.
We wish Elder Krommenhoek luck and hope to see him again someday. But his influence – and that of the other missionaries that surround us – permeates our home and our lives. As a father trying to teach my kids to grow up and meet their spiritual potential, what more could I ask for? I am grateful that Thomas and Savvy and Rhea are growing up with Elder Krommenhoek's example – and that of Elder Yost, and Elder Mitchell, and Elder Siquafenge, Elder Cook, Elder Alfredo, Sister Burton, Sister Taylor, and dozens of others – firmly before them. They have a pattern and an ideal for what they can become, and I see them filling that mold slowly but surely. If that were all we got out of joining the foreign service, that would be enough and more. 
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