Back in July, when we’d been serving a mission for just a few weeks, we took a pair of young missionaries out to lunch. We’ve since made that a tradition– every transfer, we enjoy a lunch with every set of missionaries in the Valley. It’s a great way to get to know the new ones as they move into the area, and of course I just enjoy dining out.
Anyway, that particular day, we chose to sample a new restaurant: Brickhouse Deli, a little family-owned sandwich shop in town. We walked inside and stood in line to order, and a woman immediately came up to us and asked if we were missionaries. Yep. She introduced herself as Heather and insisted on buying lunch for us. Now, that’s something that happens to young missionaries in Utah quite often (in fact there’s the story of Zack’s friend Kyer and his “faith lunches”, but that’s for another day). But I’m guessing it’s not that common in other areas, and especially with senior missionaries.
So we gratefully accepted her invitation, and the four of us had lunch. Heather left because she’d just been picking up some sandwiches for her office. Before she went back to work, though, we snapped a picture.
We’ve been back to Brickhouse on many occasions, because it’s quite good. And at least half of the time we go, Heather is there. She loves it as well, and evidently eats there as often as she can. We chat with her each time, and the last time Pepper and I were there, we met her two daughters who were visiting for Christmas.
Today, a few days later, I was at Brickhouse with my friend Woody and– surprise!— Heather walked in. It’s almost comical. Her daughters are still visiting, so I insisted we take a picture together.
At this point, I almost expect to see Heather when I have lunch at Brickhouse. Next time, I should buy her a sandwich.