Phone Call Home: Monday, February 28, 2022

Another week with both missionaries!
Phone Call with Mom a little later on in the day

This week started with both missionaries on a call and once again, I just sit back and listen. :) These two talk a lot about their respective missions and friends, companions, etc. It is fun to listen to and I don't mind. I just take care of other things along the way. :) 

Sister Garcia ended up calling back this afternoon because 1. she had a surprise for me and 2. just needed to chat a little one on one. The surprise? I wish I could upload and print a video! Ahhh...her and Sister Scioli called and sang the Lava Lava song to me! It was awesome. Sister Scioli played her ukulele while they sang too. I loved it so much. After I was serenaded I was able to just visit and listen as Sister Garcia talks herself through moments she is having right now.

Sister Garcia is learning quickly that being an STL is nothing short of a glorified babysitter and on top of that, the Sisters who she is in charge of, don't like her even before getting to know her simply because she is an STL. Yikes. :/ Sister Garcia is dealing with a set of Sisters who just cannot comply to the rules of a mission. They are out on Instagram and the Facebook doing things they know are wrong but keep pushing to do them anyways. Sister Garcia and Sister Scioli had a discussion with the AP's who suggested they be the ones to talk with President Nordfelt. This was something she was apprehensive to do but they did it and when they were done sharing this news President Nordfelt said something about his friend who used to be a Mission President, President Hart. Immediately Sister Garcia knew it was her friend (Taylor Hart's) Dad! They got to talking some about that and it was just a reminder of how small this world really is. 

Sister Garcia and Sister Scioli are patiently, well sort of patiently, waiting to hear anything on transfers as well. Today is transfer day and they literally have heard NOTHING. Sister Garcia would sure love to stay with Sister Scioli but they just don't know what to expect or anticipate at the moment. I won't lie, you can totally tell the suspense is killing her. Sister Garcia has only 18 Pdays left until she is home. 18! That is a short 18 weeks is all! Holy cow this thing is flying by! After this transfer I believe she will be down to her final 2. So much happening in the tail end of her mission that I am certain the days, weeks, and months will just fly by. This is good for Sister Garcia's heart as well in that Elder Rose now has his Pdays on Tuesdays so the two of them are no longer able to email back and forth on Mondays. This has been hard on Sister Garcia but she also is acutely aware that it was an agreement they made that they would 100% commit and serve their missions honestly, regardless of what this looked like in terms of conversations.

Sister Garcia shared a snippet of a dream she had that I want to be sure to document just for funsies to be able to look back on one day. It started out something with Christmas at a hotel and then to her coming home. She said that we (me, Tyler, Brooklyn, and a cardboard cut out of Christian) were all there to greet her. I had also surprised her with Sister Parrish, Brynlee, and Bryson at the airport too. (Now I am unsure on if I need to plan this ???... my Mom brain is on active pay attention mode from here on out) Anyways, she said her welcome home was great and then all of a sudden we were at Rodizio Grill for lunch but she was very aware that the cardboard cutout of Christian along with Sister Parrish, Brynlee, and Bryson were not with us. That part she said she could not get out of her head. Why is this something she is dreaming of? I don't have a single thought or clue as to why! I was laughing pretty hard as she was telling it and then like I said, panicking in that maybe I need to actually have those people there at the airport for when she does arrive? 

By the time it was late into my afternoon and early into her evening, it was time to call it a day on our call. Her and Sister Scioli have not heard anything regarding transfers so they are thrilled they will be staying put and staying together. This week was hard for me to say goodbye and to hang up the call with Sister Garcia. It was almost a rip your heart out like it was in the first few weeks of calls. I don't know why. I know this is our new normal and it has been for well over a year now. I know she is happy and that she is thriving and capitalizing in every moment she has in Brazil. I know that she loves being there and that she is being taken care of. I can see the good that has come from her being there and the growth of who she is as she has served. But today my heart is heavy and missing this girl pretty bad. Maybe it is because 18 weeks seems SO close and I worry it will take forever to get here. Maybe I just need to have the ability to text or call her whenever I want. To have her for dinner and to go get a freaking pedicure with her when I want? I don't know. What I do know is that my heart misses her pretty heavy and I long for the day that we can try to make up some of this time that we have missed together while she has been away. 

I sure love you Sister Garcia. Keep up the good work. Know my thoughts and prayers are with you always. Love you to the moon and back!

Mom
 

Popular posts from this blog

Mom's Talk: Sunday, July 10, 2022

Good morning Brothers and Sisters. I am excited to be here with you this morning. Not because I up here speaking but because we are here to listen to Kaitlyn report on her mission which means she is actually home! Thank you all for being here and for the support you have shown her throughout her time away. I also want to say hello to Elder Garcia who is hopefully able to have good enough wi-fi to join us today in Africa.  When I posed the question to Kaitlyn who she wanted to have speak with her I knew deep down she wanted Brooklyn but I also knew that Brooklyn had told both missionaries that if either of them asked her to talk she would simply not come to church that day at all and she was fine to miss their homecomings. To be able to pull off a small surprise for Kaitlyn today with having B speak just makes my heart smile Tyler conveniently doesn't do the social media thing so she wasn't an option to ask and Christian is in Africa so that wouldn't be an option either. I s...
Read more

Week 1 Email: I have a new Mom

Image
From: Kaitlyn.Garcia@missionary.org Date: Saturday, January 16, 2021 Subject: I have a new mom Oi todos!It's just little old me, Kaitlyn. Well now it's Sister Garcia ;) I'm officially a missionary, which is so crazy to think about! During the online MTC my Pdays are Saturdays so you can expect an update from me every Saturday for the next 6 weeks. The CTM has been amazing so far! :) If I'm being honest I was super nervous to start and I didn't really know what to expect from it, but I'm so glad I've been able to do my training at home. My schedule that I was sent was all in Brazil time and it said that most of my classes were to start at 8:30am. I don't know if any of you know this, but Brazil is 4 hours ahead of Utah, you can do that math, it was supposed to be early! Luckily it's been changed and now my classes don't start until 9:30am Utah time. They like to keep us busy that's for sure! I already have to memorize and learn cer...
Read more