“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”
But what about what happens in Reno?
I’ll tell you.
In Reno it’s 70 degrees
In
Reno there are stores that would blow your mind
In
Reno you will meet the nicest people
In
Reno the highway system is confusing
In
Reno it’s 70 degrees
In
Reno there are quite a few dead animals
In
Reno everyone loves the Wolf Pack
In
Reno people are still cowboys
Oh,
and did I mention that in Reno it’s 70 degrees?
Chris
served part of his mission in the Reno area two years ago. We decided to visit, mostly because some
members whom he was very close with invited him to their baby’s blessing. We were a week late for the baby blessing,
but we still had adventures, and saw the Lord’s love for His children. Two of my favorite adventures were:
1)
Downtown:
Chris
told me that Reno was the biggest little city in the world. I didn’t understand what he meant until we
drove through downtown Reno. It felt
like we were on a movie set. The big
buildings and flashing lights that lined the streets of downtown didn’t last
very long. In Chicago you could drive
around for miles and not run out of skyscrapers and traffic. In Reno you ran out of these things
fast. The streets weren’t as crowded as
I thought they’d be, and oddly enough a lazy peace lay over the city. No one was cutting us off, and there were no
horns or screeching tires. Chris explained to me that people ran on “Cowboy Time”
in northern Nevada, meaning no one was in a rush to get anywhere. My favorite part about walking in Reno was
the 70-degree weather.
Instead
of directing me to downtown Reno, Chris wanted to walk along the river that ran
though the city. We hadn’t walked ten
minutes until we were out of downtown and by a quiet neighborhood. Chicago is still my favorite city, but I fell
in love with the lazy peace that I felt in Reno. The rest of our vacation mirrored the
slow-moving city of Reno.
 |
| Chris and I at the "river" by that flows through Reno |
“There’s a big airplane in there hanging from
the ceiling, and a Ferris wheel inside the store, and every possible outdoor
thing you can imagine!” he told me as we drove along the twisty highway. I went to Scheels purely for Chris’s
sake. I would much rather have stayed
outside in the 70 degree weather than be stuck in a store full of guns, tents,
basketballs, and cameo gear. What Chris
forgot to mention was that Scheels had animals in it, granted most of them were
dead, but it was still more exciting than the warm weather. When we walked in the first thing I noticed
was a gigantic arched fish tank separating the checkout stands and the main
part of the store. There were fresh-water
fish two feet long swimming in the tank.
In the gun section of Scheels there were about 100 taxidermy animals hanging
on the walls
 |
| Chris feeding a "deer". |
My
favorite part of the vacation was meeting people Chris knew on his mission.
The man who gave us 75 cents
so we could park in downtown:
The
machine used for paying to park in downtown Reno wasn’t reading our card. After fifteen minutes of swiping and
reswiping our card, my temper was hotter than the 70-degree weather. I was getting fed up with downtown Reno, and
Heavenly Father wasn’t answering my silent prayers of “Can you please get this
machine to work!” On our way to another
machine we passed a man who had the same problem. As he passed us he handed us 75 cents. We scrounged around in our pockets and car eventually
finding 75 more cents. We could now stay
in downtown for 1 ½ hrs instead of just 45 minutes. Though the Lord didn’t answer my hotheaded
prayer immediately, He did answer it, and not in the way I had expected.
The Fogelbergs:
We
arrived in Reno at 11p.m. Thursday night.
The Fogelbergs stayed up and waited for us to come. They gave us their little boy’s room to sleep
in, and opened up their home to us while we were in Reno. Their home was not spacious, yet because of
the love they have for my husband they let us stay with them. While getting to know the Fogelbergs I saw
how the love and trust Chris developed with this family two years ago continued
to pulse blood through thier friendship.
“Brother Fogelburg is like my brother . . . or my cousin! I feel like he’s someone I’ve known for a
long time,” Chris said. I was amazed at
how the love of Christ can carry a friendship over distance and time. When those two talked it was as if they
hadn’t seen each other in a couple days, not two years.
The Fowlers:
Chris
had the privilege of baptizing one of the Fowler’s friends while serving in Reno. She is now attending BYU-Idaho. When we went over to visit the Fowlers,
Sister Fowler made us chocolate ice-cream bowls, and the whole family shared
memories they had while Chris was serving there. (There were airsoft gun stories included in
these memories). Appreciation oozed from
the Fowlers as they and Chris shared spiritual and funny experiences. It reminded me of my mission, and people I
met in the Chicago area. I wondered if
any of them would have as much appreciation for me as the Fowlers did for
Chris. They trusted Chris and his
companions with their friend, who is now a strong and faithful member.
 |
| The Fowlers |
Sister Angle:
In
church on Sunday Chris introduced me to an older couple in the ward, the Angles. Chris informed me that they had served two
missions and the missionaries had taught one of their friends. “They were like our grandma and grandpa,”
Chris said. We stayed for the full three
hours of church, and to tell you the truth I was out of my element for most of
it. I knew no one. I followed Chris around like a puppy
dog. When Chris left me alone in Relief
Society I was nervous. I hated feeling
like no one knew me, and I was just the visitor. “Go sit with Sister Angle,” Chris
told me before he left for Priesthood. I
slowly made my way to the back of the room where only person I knew in that
whole room was sitting. And even then I
had only met her for about ten seconds; I mean we were practically best friends
at this point! When Sister Angle saw me
making my way toward her she smiled and patted the seat next to her, then
talked with me as if we were best
friends. I felt Christ’s love through
her kindness that warm Sunday morning.
 |
| Chris and I at the Reno Temple |
Taukiuvea Family:
“Did
you hear that the Taukiuveas got sealed?” Sister Fogelburg asked Chris.
“No! They did!
That’s so awesome!” was how a late night conversation started about a
part-member family Chris had taught.
They were now all members and an eternal family. We tried to stop by their house twice, but
they weren’t home. At church we saw them
right before we left. We only talked for
about ten minutes, but in those ten minutes I felt the love that this family
had for Chris. The two little girls
couldn’t stop smiling at him, and when Brother Taukiuvea saw him a smile spread
across is Tongan face. I can only
imagine the love and appreciation this man had for Chris. Chris had to wait two years to see the fruits
of his labor. Chris helped them in a
small step, baptism, which led to a bigger step, sealing in the temple, which
will bring the ultimate blessings in the eternities. This is the true purpose of a
missionary.
The
Lord showed me the love He has for each of His children, and more especially
how He will constantly show His love for us through the people around us, whether
it be a random man on the street, or a family that achieved a temple marriage
through our help. The Lord is forever
watching out for each of us, and will usually send an earthly angel to help us
on our way.
Next
time I go to Reno I’ll be sure to share with you the adventures we have J
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