New Years Day Phone Call Home

Ano Novo!!

Bugs :)

Having another Pday that fell on a Saturday because of the holiday was weird and threw our week off some but I did love that we still got to chat and visit with Sister Garcia and I especially loved that Brooklyn got to get in on the call too.

This weeks call was a week of Sister Garcia thinking of things here at home. She is starting to see the light at the end of this mission tunnel and starting to wonder what is next and what will life look like when she gets home. She is excited about getting back to the Peloton bike (seriously...weirdo!), looking forward to sandals, specifically her white Doc Marten gladiator looking ones, she is ready to ditch the day to day dresses she has had for the last year (no kidding!), wonders if she will ever do makeup the same as she did before, anticipating a job/school/friends/etc. We talked a lot about how her day to day now is full of schedule and routine. She jokes that she is going to come  home and be all weird and we will just say "oh that must be from the mission". She talked about Brynlee and Bryson and wondered if a wedding will come up for them, how Parker will get home and what he will do next, how when she gets home it will be a short window before Brittan gets home. She wonders if sleeping late or even 'in' will be a thing or if the mission has her just programmed to go to bed at a certain time and get up each day first thing in the morning. She laughed and said she wonders if simple things like heading to the Smiths will start out with a prayer in the car before she actually heads out. She told me that she doesn't think she will take her phone out during Sacrament Meeting anymore when she comes home. I told her good luck because our ward is tricky and hard right now and sometimes my phone is the only way to get through that hour. :) 

As much as she is starting to think of 'home' she also says that she wishes she could be a missionary forever. But a missionary like Monday-Friday where she can normalize each weekend and can have contact with us here at home whenever she wants. I hope that she knows that just because she isn't set apart as a missionary she will always have the chance to still do missionary work every single day of her life. Plus, I told her I don't even want her to think of the word "extension".:) I am ready for her to be home.

Sister Garcia gave an update on Sister Bradbeer. She is progressing each day and is really trying her all to get the language and do what she can to fully engage as a missionary. I hope that Sister Bradbeer recognizes just how blessed and lucky she is to have Sister Garcia as her trainer. 

Sister Garcia is hopeful that tomorrow at church they will have a friend or two join them. She speaks so highly of those she is working with and I know just how hard she is working that I too hope some will show up. We were able to talk about her Patriarchal Blessing a little. She has been so diligent in reading it every 3 months on her mission. She said this last time as she read it she allowed herself to get hung up on certain spots rather than taking it all in as a whole. She recognizes that she sold herself short in reading the words from the Lord because of it and so she is excited to read it again here in 12 days when she officially hits her 1 year mark. Crazy that we are already so quickly coming to a whole year! Sister Garcia has such a positive outlook on how her mission is playing out and I am so proud of her. She could be bummed with not having a baptism as of yet, that some of her friends continue to progress without her, how training an American is HARD, and the list could go on. This mission thing is in her words "the hardest thing I have ever done but I am doing it and I am trying my best to do it as good as I can". She is not only doing it good but she is absolutely crushing it! 

A year comes up here real quick and even though the time has absolutely flown by, I am beyond ready to have her back home. I am ready to take her shopping for a couple new dresses, some Summertime clothes, bathing suits so she can sit by the pool with me, and to just have her entire person back in our day to day lives. We ALL long for her smile, her laughter, her influence, and her big bubbly personality to back with us inside of our home. I remember as she was set apart this time last year thinking I had an entire year to get through but if I could just get to New Years...well here it is. I have made it and she is still thriving and happy as can be as a missionary in Brazil! 185 days and this girl will be back home. That alone is one of the very best things that this new 2022 year brings and I can hardly wait! 

Happy New Year Sister Garcia. I love you to the moon and back,

Mom