Phone Call Home: Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Still no white circle to take a pic with on the Facebook so...screen shot a blurry all around. :/

Tuesday was our missionary call from Sister Garcia this week because she was lucky enough to be able to attend the temple today! She was literally flying on the clouds with a spiritual high when we talked. :) She just kept saying how much she loves the temple and how good the day was. 

Our call this week focused a lot on life here at home, what Elder Rose wanted to talk to her about (they had the same Pday this week since hers got moved), her experience this past week with MLC,, and just overall some of her feelings that she is trying to process as she rears towards the end of her mission. 

Sister Garcia LOVED being able to attend MLC this past week. She looks forward to any advice and direction she can get from President Nordfelt and this week he was able to come through yet again. Sister Garcia lights up when she talks about lessons learned from him and how she can apply things to not just life as a missionary but also when she gets home too. She also shared that during this meeting, all of the missionaries who will go home with this next transfer had an opportunity to bear their testimonies. Sister Scioli was one of them and was able to bear some of it in English! Sister Garcia said she was so so proud and her heart nearly burst out of her chest while she listened.   

The biggest part of our call today was that she was so happy to finally have a chance to email back and forth a little with Elder Rose and talk to him and see if she could figure out why he seemed 'off' these past weeks. She said she was apprehensive to approach him on it but figured she may as well just ask. So, Elder Rose told Sister Garcia that he has decided to extend his mission a month. He will now be coming home December 15 instead of in November. At first I thought 'wow, it seems awful early to be wondering this since he still has 6 months left' but I guess if he is ready to consider that now that is his choice. I guess I mostly just know that in previous experiences with missionaries and friends who have missionaries, they don't even think about extensions until they are like right there getting ready to end the mission. Anyways, Elder Rose says that he isn't sure why the Lord wants him to stay or what is in store for him but he truly believes that this is what the Lord wants. Sister Garcia seems fine with it? I am sure there are some feelings and questions but she is doing a good job at masking it and I think she will really dig in and try to focus on what she has left on her own timeline as a missionary. 

This week with actual missionary work with friends was slow for Sister Garcia and Sister Scioli. That was super frustrating for Sister Garcia. As an STL she isn't doing a whole lot of 'friend work' as her main focus. She has mission companionship's she is in charge of, she has responsibilities to District and Zone Leaders as well as the Mission President and his wife. Her focus is still a missionary but not like it started so when slow weeks hit with progression on friends it really eats at her. She was able to talk to President Nordfelt a little about it and he was, again, so great and basically told Sister Garcia that from the beginning of her time in Brazil he could sense that she was a bit of a perfectionist. He reminded her that none of us are perfect and that as long as she is doing her all, the Lord will make up the difference if she will just have the faith and trust in Him. I think it seemed to have helped her a lot because she said her focus this week was to work harder than she has to date. She wants to do everything within her person to make sure that she leaves nothing on the table at the end of each day. I absolutely admire that through the end she is committed 100% to being 'all in'. 

One of the more funny moments this week was that when she attended MLC she received our final package from home. That's not the funny part. The funny is that the ranch in the package was a hit with Sister Scioli. To the point that one morning she made breakfast for Sister Garcia and on her eggs added a couple of small drops of ranch on them. Hilarious! Sauces are a big thing in Brazil and I guess ranch dressing is a new one that belongs on eggs for breakfast. Not really good sounding to me but I loved that it was such a hit for Sister Scioli that she incorporated it nonetheless. :) 

Sister Garcia has one exchange this week and then it will be time to reset and start a new week already again. Time continues to fly by here at home and I know that she is feeling that in Brazil now too. She continues to keep her head high and that smile on her face. She is looking forward to each new day and to her time when she will be home. She is balancing a heavy between the two right now and I pray that she will be able to find her happy medium and keep pushing forward. I am so proud of all that she has accomplished in this short period of time. 

I love and miss you for forever and for always,
Mom