Monday, March 29, 2021 Email to Mom

From: Kaitlyn.garcia@missionary.org
To: Mom
Date: Monday, March 29, 2021
Subject: Absorption...

Hello hello! Did it feel like just yesterday you were reading one of these emails? ;) I hope you had a great week! You had a lot on the schedule so hopefully it all worked out :) I have yet to turn into some weird monster or creature after my COVID vaccine so I'm gonna take that as a good sign :) Okay I'm gonna address your email first and then you can read about my week haha! And don't worry, I explain what's happening to my area on Thursday ;) 

- Arizona! That's so fun! Was it just a total surprise or did you kinda know a little bit? 

- Honestly, I feel like the work picked up but that it also slowed down. Kinda weird to explain but we had a lot of success but I didn't feel like I worked very hard. I've loved getting to meet new people though, even if it is just over technology ;) I do feel like I have a lot of work to become a missionary. Just because I have a badge doesn't mean that I am a real missionary. That's one of my goals for this next transfer honestly. 

- Oh I bet she's excited! That girl has pretty much lived in braces! Haha! That's gotta be nice to be almost done with the ortho right? 

- Stinker!! I saw in your pictures what oats they are! She can have those ones, but that's where I draw the line haha! 

- No way!! That's lame they canceled the game too! But I think he'll be happy with just about anything;) mom of the year for sure! 

- I saw your lips! How do they feel now? Do you feel a little better about them? 

- I think everything is easier than Brazil haha! It was hard to get into before COVID. I have been seeing people get their emails, but I still don't have anything. I am getting a little nervous about it though, not gonna lie

- I've always enjoyed Conference but, the older I've gotten the more I've fallen in love with it! I'm excited to experience it on my mission though! I am a little nervous I won't be able to take notes like I normally do, but maybe they'll make those books at Deseret Book like they did the past Conferences 

- The weather crappy yesterday, but the rest of the week was actually pretty nice :) 

- Stephane and Matheus are doing really good! I'm actually super sad to be leaving them 

Okay that's all I have for your email, now onto the rest of the week!  

MONDAY 

Nothing to crazy today haha! I'll tell you about my district pday though so maybe it makes a little more sense;) Our district is actually on the smaller side so it makes it easy to plan activities like this. We went to Sister Tuttle and Sister Potter's apartment complex to grill because they have a little grill set up. It was actually so nice to not have chicken for once! After we ate we played 3 pretty intense games of volleyball. I seriously haven't played volleyball for years so I started out a little rough, but everyone is super nice and just encouraging and just made it fun. We seriously spent like the whole day together. They're awesome and I'm super lucky to be in a district with them. We had a solid lesson with Matheus tonight too. We asked him to make a member post for us and he's really excited about that and so are we :) Overall it was a pretty good day if you ask me! The sun felt so nice too! It was such a nice day and my cheeks were even a little freckled when we came back so that made me happy. How's the weather there this week? I loved getting to talk to you today too! Always such a highlight of my week :) I love you forever and always!

TUESDAY

Today was the big day! I have officially had my first dose of the COVID 19 vaccine. I was feeling a little sleepy, but I was ready to just get the shot haha! But first let me back this train up a little bit! This morning we had another mission wide workout. This one was kinda all over the place but my right butt cheek is sore haha! I like that we do it, but it is kinda hard to follow when it's over Zoom. It was like a circut workout too so it was all over the place. We did it twice and by the end of it I was sweating! I don't know if I'm out of shape or if it was just hot but I was toasty! We all had to hurry and shower so we could leave by 9am to get our shots. It was a wild setup! Sister Wo didn't end up getting one, but the rest of us did. It honestly wasn't bad at all. My arm is a little sore but I can move it and I feel totally fine. I was a tad nervous because we move at of heavy stuff at service and I didn't want it to hurt. Luckly when we got to service and all during service I felt really good. Also people must look at me and think I'm not much because these people did not belive I could carry a 50 pound bag of carrots. Not only did I do that, but I also unloaded a huge truck full of produce with Sister Wo. It was a really good service day though and I always enjoy wearing pants;) We had a really good lessons with Elisangela tonight too, she was really receptive to what we were saying so that helped out a ton. We also had a meeting with the mission coordinator for our ward about our Português group. He made a link for us so we don't have to send our friends to the Spanish one anymore, and I could also be teaching Sunday School in Português sooooo we'll see how that goes if it ends up happening haha! Also! Matheus sent us his video that we asked for but of course it was all in Português so guess who translated it?? Me! I was actually kinda nervous because I didn't want to mess it up or anything but yeah I did that haha! Kinda crazy that just a few months ago I didn't even have a clue on how to soeak Português. Something I just wanted to share with you really quickly too. Today I just felt the overwhelming feeling of love from the Savior. I know I don't really share my testimony all too often about stuff but today was unlike anything I've felt so far. Since being out here I've just been going through the motions a little bit and trying to figure it all out. Today was different though, I was reading the scriptures and I knew that the Savior is MY Savior. He's yours too obviously;) but it was one of those experiences that felt like I was just getting the biggest hug from heaven. The spirit on a mission is something else! It was a really crazy busy productive day but I know that the Savior knows me, He knows you, He knows everyone by name. Not only does He know us, but He made the ultimate sacrifice so that we never have to feel alone. How incredible is that? I love you so so much, and I know that the only person who loves you more is the Savior :) well, I might be pretty close but still ;) Anyways, sorry for the long recap today and my all over thoughts! Also update: my arm is a little sore but nothing too terrible :) 

WEDNESDAY 

Mom! I just wanted to say how amazing you are! I read your email this morning before I started my studies and you just amaze me! I love your goal too :) I think you're totally gonna crush this and be able to learn so much! I can't wait to hear all about it. I should learn from you and do the same, my studies have just been all over the place honestly. So thank you for being such a great example to me. Anyways, here's my little daily recap:) Whatta busy day! I wonder how your day was today? Anyways, today I felt like I lived on my phone! Remember how I was saying I needed to translate that video that Matheus sent us? Well I did, but that also meant I needed to out subtitles on his video. That was a solid 45 minutes to line that all up. I also had to create posts and just do admin stuff to make sure we have campaign posts for General Conference. We had so many contacts today too! A lot of them were actually successful! We have a lot of lessons lined up for the rest of the week. We even got to meet a new friend! His name is Deneval and he's an English student. He was baptized back in Brazil but he works on Sundays so he doesn't go to church. We're planning on slowly getting him interested in the gospel, but for English friends, the class comes first. We also got a new referral from the Elders. Long story short, they thought he was Spanish speaking, but when they texted him he definitely was not haha! But we got in contact with him and we have a time to call him on Friday woot woot! It was such a good day! And seriously we have so many lessons. I hope you had the best day! Update: my hamstrings hurt so freaking bad haha! But my arm is totally fine, like doesn't even hurt at all. My arms hurt from lifting at service yesterday but not at all from the shot. I don't feel anything from the shot like the sisters do. They feel achey and tired but I'm going strong. Told ya, I'm tough ;) I hope you had the best day! I love you! 

THURSDAY 

Oh my gosh mom, today was probably the saddest day on my mission so far. Okay so let me just start from the beginning. We were doing our personal study when all of a sudden my phone rings and it's the ZL's. Mom, they're closing the Bridgeport Português area and another Português groupis absorbing our area. It's a lot of moving parts, but me and Sister Wo are both leaving on April 6th. I didn't even realize how much I loved these people until today when I knew I have to say goodbye to them. It totally blows too because this week everything was picking up! Like seriously this is the busiest we've been since I got here. We had so many new referrals and messages and lessons, and now we have to say goodbye and pass it off to the other sisters and hope for the best. With that being said we had to make a huge list of things to pass on to the new sisters. Today was still a good day though! Sister Wo officially hit her 99 days left! There's a tradition out here that on your 99 days you go to this restaurant called '99 Restaurant and Pub' to celebrate. So of course we had to go for dinner! Prime pros was so good tonight too! We started teaching a new English class! He's super cool and is actually a referral so he's down to listen to our message at the end too. His name is Diego Do Marcos, which means now we have 2 Diego's we're teaching. After we hung up the call, I was so sad about leaving. I just want to stay and work with all these new people. I honestly don't feel like I should be leaving. President Mav has to shut down 9 areas because of all the missionaries leaving here soon (like Sister Wo) Anyways, we also had a call with Matheus and had to break the news to him. He likes notice for things so we figured we need to tell him, especially because this Sunday will be our last Sunday with him. Oh my gosh, my heart literally broke. Everything was just picking up. We got our link for church, we have new lessons, we have a lot of potentials, we were moving the work forward, and I felt apart of that because I found these people and now we're teaching them. I don't know, it was a good day but I just feel sad. Muito triste na português. I actually felt really good about my language stuff today too in the lessons, but the emotions are weighing heavy. I'm not crying or anything, but this totally blows. This is just a test, I can feel it. I've been focusing a lot on humility lately and asking and relying on the Lord. You know I don't like asking for help or relying on other people, but that's what I need to do in order for me to be the best missionary I can be. I feel like this is just a test of my trust in Him and what He has in mind for me. It blows right now and I don't know why I'm leaving, but I have to trust and have faith that He knows what He's doing. Anyways, that's my little testimonial for tonight haha! I hope you had a great day! You guys ended up at the cabin? How's the snow up there? How's the weather looking for this week?? I love and miss you tons!  

FRIDAY 

 Today was my last district counsel! It was actually such a good note to end on too. We talked about our responsibilities we have as missionaries. It was something that I knew I had but now it weighs so much more after our conversations. I also learned just how profound this gospel is, it's amazing, but it definitely is crazy for people who don't know anything about it. Anyways, today we had the dreaded call with the sisters that are absorbing our area to try and get them up to speed. It's a lot and like I said before, our area is really doing good at the moment. We have 11 people we're talking to and teaching. That may not seem like a lot but it's a lot for a language like Português. I actually feel kinda bad for just throwing all that on them. It's so hard because we don't wanna just shotgun them into an area but we also have a lot do to on our part to transition. Tonight was a good night too! We were able to meet with Elisangela and have her English class and we got to meet with Deneval again. Our class with Elisangela was a little tough because her WiFi was super bad and it was lagging a lot. Nonetheless we tried, but it wasn't the best lesson. Right after her English class though we got to meet with our homeboy Deneval. He's a super quick learner and definitely wants to learn English, which I love. It just makes teaching him a lot easier because he genuinely wants to learn. We did get to know him better so that's a huge step. Needless to say, I wish I could stay and really help him, but it's okay. I also am making my peace with leaving. It's still hard, but I'm slowly coming to terms with leaving all these amazing people. How was your day?? I don't have as many pictures this week from you other than the furniture. I actually really like the set up outside your room! Also, I feel totally fine since getting my shot, I know you've been wondering ;) Anyways, I can't wait to talk to you in a few days! I love you

SATURDAY 

 Holy cow! Prepping an area is so much work let me just tell ya. I look at our list we made it seems to just keep getting longer and longer by the minute, but it's okay :) Today was honestly really spiritual, kinda weird to say but let me explain. Okay so lately I've been praying about a lot of things to make me a better missionary and be able to teach the way that I need to. Well, we had a mission wide Facebook training for General Conference and Easter posts. We get a lot of info from downtown so we have these meetings pretty often as a mission and admins. But today was different vibe, President Mavromatis really wants to focus on Easter, as you should. I was planning on going through the Gospel Library little section for Easter anyways, but he challenged the whole mission to study the last week of Christ's life all the way to the Resurrection leading up to Easter. It's crazy the spirit you can feel through zoom as he talks to us and invited us to do this. I'm actually so so excited to do this! I love Easter so much and what it represents, now I think I love it more than ever :) Today was full of contacting the ward as well. Tomorrow is our last Sunday at church because next Sunday is Conference and then it's transfers. Let's just say, people are taking it pretty hard, I'm not thrilled to be going to church tomorrow just for that reason. On a happier note, we had an amazing Walk in the Light with Hank Smith! Mom, his setup is out of this world! It was super professional and by far the best quality we've ever had for our event haha! But he talked alot about the Atonement and Plan of Salvation. He said something that really stuck out with me. He recommended a talk by Elder Bednar that I'm going to read. I don't know why it stuck out so me so much, but it did so that's coming up in my studies haha! He definitely added to the spiritual aspect of my day today:) He's a great speaker and his testimony about the Plan of Salvation is amazing! He's a rough couple weeks but he still has a smile on his face and knows that he's in the Lord's hands. This gospel truly is a gospel of hope:) Our lesson with Stephane fell through tonight too, so hopefully we can call her tomorrow! We're trying to figure out pass off lessons with the new Sisters, so this is probably our last one with her by ourselves. We did get to finally meet that referral the Elders sent us! Not gonna lie, it was a little sketchy. When we called his camera was all foggy and it was just black and gray, I still have no idea what this man looks like. He tried to talk to us but then he started talking to a woman but we couldn't see anything or really hear what was going on. Then he told us that he had to go because his son that's a baby was crying. We were able to reschedule with him, but it was still really weird. I was definitely uncomfortable but I was actually really calm and I knew what I needed to say and I felt good. I think I'm finally getting the hang of this whole teaching thing ;) jk jk! I still have so so much to learn! How was your weekend? How are the kids? Were you able to get all your stuff done from your to-do list? I can't wait to hear about your week and what you're up to! I love you to the moon and back  

SUNDAY 

Okay, so today was not as bad as I had anticipated, but it was still a lot. For one, we woke up and it was so rainy and there was super thick fog. I actually don't mind that weather every now and then, but my hair does not appreciate that haha! I curled it the other day and now it's just super frizzy. We're gonna see what happens when I get to Brazil ;) I absolutely LOVED President Nelsons message today! :) This week I'm studying the final events of Christ's life and that video was just the cherry on top. I actually think that Easter might be my new favorite Holiday ;) Church was a success today! We finally got our link and were able to use it for the Waterbury people. We also had a great turnout! Matheus was giving a talk so Ruth and Bia came :) crazy to get to finally see them in person haha! After church though we tried to premiere our LIVE and it took 5-ever! While we were waiting, a member, Lidieth came up to us and about had a heartattack over the fact that both Sister Womack and I are leaving. She's a Spanish member so it's hard to fully understand, but she continued to talk to us for 45 minutes and take pictures with us. Haha! She's a sweetheart though. We had a killer lesson with Matheus tonight too! He even mentioned my video I posted on my Facebook. I honestly feel so loved here and I'm so sad to be leaving. Matheus and his family have a special place in my heart:) Oh! I was on Facebook today too and Al Fox Carraway has yellow scriptures like your pink ones! I honestly may be investing in them at some point in my life haha! Anyways, I hope you're having the best the best time in Arizona! I love you and I can't wait to talk to you today!