watermelon in winter

I'm sure people get sick of me talking about the mission, the people from the mission, etc.  But it was the most life-changing 18 months of my life that have ever been, and because of it, I am who I am today.    It is something you can't take out of or away from me....  I have days where I miss it more than others, I have days where I see people from the mission, so it's like I'm in a different world on those days. This week, I pulled out my last mission journal (I was looking for something in it), and as soon as I opened it and began reading the simple words on the pages, memories came flooding back into my mind, and I went back in my mind to those last few weeks, those last few days....and then I shut the journal just as suddenly as I'd opened it.  I couldn't stand it.  I miss it, so much.  Even though I am moving forward with life, with school and new goals, I miss that part of my life, and sometimes I honestly want to go back.  It's just too...

For all of you who may have read about Elder Schenk, his family is keeping a blog about him: elderbrittenschenk.blogspot.com Prayers are so powerful.  I know Elder Schenk has people all over the world (especially all over North and South America) praying for him, even thousands of people who don't even know him. I don't have much to say today, except that I am SO GRATEFUL for the Lord's hand not only in my own life, but in the lives of ALL people.  Miracles are real, miracles happen multiple times a day.  Elder Schenk is making an amazing recovery, and this is FULL of miracles. I don't know how, especially at times like these, anyone can NOT believe in God.  He is real.  He is here.  He is by our and on our side.  He is rooting for each one of us.  My heart is so full of gratitude for that, and for ALL He does.

I am often reminded of how fragile life is, and in these moments, I become very pensive.  Like right now.  My last district leader on the mission was Elder Schenk...he is one of the best missionaries I know, and it was an honor to be able to serve with him, and he became a very good friend of mine!  He was scheduled to finish his mission this June, going home with the same group as President and Sister Moreira. And in an instant, plans changed, lives changed. Yesterday afternoon, he was going to cross a busy São Paulo street, as is not uncommon among missionaries!  He was on the corner, waiting to cross, and all of a sudden, a bus came...neither he nor the bus driver saw each other, and the bus hit him.  He went immediately to a hospital, but it was a hassle, and to make a really long story short, he was in critical condition, and it took about 4 hours of surgery for the doctors to figure out where to start.  He suffered severe head/brain trauma, and they...

As I stepped off the plane, I realized that I was literally stepping into the unknown.  All around me, I heard a language totally foreign to me, saw places unfamiliar, and faces I'd never seen before.  I saw the mountains outside, as well as the neighborhoods so different than what I was used to.  I didn't know it then, but I would end up spending 5 of the best months of my life in that very place I was looking at in that moment.  It was all so different...the air even seemed different!  One would think that in a situation like that, I'd be scared.  And yet there was a smile plastered on my face, one I wouldn't get rid of until the day I returned to that same airport to make the return trip back home...but that is another story for another time. On that day, March 5, 2010, I didn't realize just how much my life was about to change.  That was the beginning of the best 18 months for my life.  That was the beginning of discovering countless things ...