Phone Call Home: Monday, June 7, 2021

Another Monday, another day full of outings for Sister Garcia and Sister Parrish! I have a love/hate that I don't know what time (or even if) a phone call will come in. I love that she is out doing and I love that she is finally paired up with a companion who isn't stuck on being inside the apartment, but it does sometimes prove to be tricky in planning my Mondays. (I just don't want to be where I can't take a call you know?)

Anyways, Sister Garcia and Sister Parrish went out looking for a new birthday dress for Sister Parrish. She doesn't need one (and I am sure she would rather be buying a cute new Summer outfit) but she at least wanted to go look. So they headed off to the mall to see what they could find. The mall is a 4 level mall and in Sister Garcia's words it is "overrated". SAD! But I get it. 

2nd hour of church was really good this week. Sister Garcia love loved being able to see everyone and spend that extra time with them. She said it was so nice to get rid of the link that people were using. Mostly because it was being used, just like here at home, as an excuse of not being in the church building (or warehouse). She did say that overall they had a really great turnout and she was thrilled to have that kind of normalcy looking right at her in the face! 

June 13 is now the new 'look forward to' date. Why? Well, they get to have dinner in person with members, inside their homes, as long as a non-member or a friend they are working with is in attendance. One of the sweet sisters in the ward/branch invited them in when they stopped by and Sister Garcia longed for it to be the 13th pretty bad. She is missing the social part of life so much. You can only get so much filled in your bucket of social need with your companion and at District Counsel. Hopefully this won't be too long of a week.

Another big change this week was no masks at service were required. Sister Garcia was hilarious when she was telling me this. I don't know why it was so funny but she was saying that it was just weird to see whole faces of people and that she wasn't complaining at all and she is so happy for the change but is was 'just SO weird!'. I get it, sorta. I mean, we have had no masks around here for a bit now and I don't even have one in my purse most days so the weirdness has passed for me. But for her she is just getting into these small opportunities to not have them and is having a moment of transition from always seeing masks on people to now notsomuch. I loved listening to her giggle a little while she was telling me how weird it was. 

She has some good friends she is working with. Clarindo is open and receptive. He attends his lessons, even if they have to be cut short due to time, and he has really great questions. That shows he is doing his homework as well and he is thinking often of the things the missionaries are sharing with him. They are working with a sweet sister named Any as well. Sister Garcia said they were talking about temples and she was attentive but then Sister Garcia said she felt this impression and ended up blurting out that temples 'are a house of learning'! She said that it immediately changed the lesson and ended up working out so well. As an adult I often find that when I get a feeling to say or do things I don't always follow through. I need to be more like Sister Garcia and jump at the opportunity when and/or if those take place. You could hear the excitement in her voice when she was telling me about it. On top of that, Sister Garcia and Sister Parrish are going to line up a  virtual tour for Any to take inside the Sao Paulo Temple. How freaking cool to live in a day in age that technology will allow us to do this!! I absolutely love that these missionaries are taking full advantage of all things available to them to help get these friends learning the Gospel.

I asked Sister Garcia about the picture on the drive where she is wearing some weird sarong skirt thing. Well, turns out that Elder Rose sent it to her. (I should have known!) He is currently serving in a Fijian ward in California and he has been gifted plenty of sarongs from members there. So, he thought it fitting to send one to Sister Garcia. I wondered how their relationship would go while they were both busy on a mission but it seems that life is moving on and they move forward supporting one another. I think it is very sweet actually and I imagine they are a great source of strength for each other. They are both doing hard things and are away from their families. Lots of things in common and sharing that with one another each week has to be a blessing for sure. 

One thing I absolutely loved that Sister Garcia was willing to share with me is that she is really taking time to dive in and learn and study her Patriarchal Blessing. She says she reads it often but she is really diving into it on different parts. How freaking cool is that? The one piece she shared with me (in her email home too) was she wondered why it is that we close our eyes when we pray? In her exact words

"The best things in life are FELT! They aren't seen or heard, it's a feelings that we get in our hearts. That's why sometimes we close out eyes when we laugh or even when we cry (happy tears of course;) The feelings are felt! We close our eyes and we can FEEL the Spirit the second we address our Heavenly Father."

Holy cow this girl...I am going to remember these words for the rest of my life. What an amazing lesson learned and what a simple lesson right? Feelings...just like when we feel the love of our Heavenly Father wrapping His arms around us. When we feel the promptings of the Holy Ghost. When we feel all the feels as things happen around us....I love this. And am so grateful she was willing to trust me with what she is learning. 

This week was a good week. Sister Garcia is happy and she is thriving. She is loving being in Rhode Island and being able to serve those in her area. She is thrilled to have Sister Parrish with her and she is so looking forward to June 13. I am too for her. I cannot wait to see what happens next when she can go out and be herself rather than behind a screen of a computer.

Man do I love you,

Missionary Momma

These two...I wish I had overheard what was happening when this photo was taken

Brooklyn usually comes running if she hears me on a call with Sister Garcia. This week I was out front and when Brooklyn realized I was on the phone, she of course needed to jump on and say hello as well.

The smile on my face is courtesy of the smile on my sweet girls face! Man does she make Mondays great and boy am I grateful for technology and the new rule of calling home each week