Three Years Ago

I finished my mission and came home. I was a wreck. I honestly cried every day for the first two weeks I was home. Leaving your mission is SO bittersweet. I LOVED my mission and if I could re-do my life over again I would definitely include serving a mission, but I would omit the high school boyfriend and sluffing seminary. Ha,ha

So, to commemorate this milestone, I wanted to record some of my funny memories from my mission. These are actual snippets from my mission journal:

"Note to self: when I'm senior companion I will be more time efficient and not make everything take SO long and I will walk fast and always be doing something so I don't drag everything out. Just a few things I've noticed lately." (Apparently I had some hard feelings about my trainer and the way she did things. I did start walking faster though ... so fast that my companions complained. Ha,ha. I always told them that our job is too important to be walking slow.)

"I had a really memorable day a few days ago. One night, Sis. Strait told me that you can't say "members" alone in Russian, you have to say, "members of the church." If you say only "members" then it means penis. Well, the very next day after she told me that, I made the mistake! We were in a meeting with a young Chinese girl, Chan, and I asked her if she had thought anymore about baptism. (The Spirit was really strong at this point, mind you.) She said yes and asked what happens after she's baptized. I told her she will help the "members." Before I could finish my sentence, I realized the error and quickly added, "of the church!" Only it was too late and we all started laughing hysterically. So much for the Spirit! It was really funny though."

"Well, lately Elder Smith has been driving me insane. He is such a little punk to me ... So, Sis. Strait and I found an air gun in our apartment that some elders left along with some plastic b.b.s. We wrote names and things that make us mad on plastic cups. Then we stack the cups in a pyramid and shoot them down with the gun. It is a great stress reliever and it's hilarious! Our cups include: Elder Smith, mean old women, Vilnius transportation, drunk men, mean Lithuanians, slipping on ice, etc." "We got to Riga and made it to our new apartment. It is just beautiful! I love it here. I forgot that a place this nice exists. There is one problem though that the Elders so kindly informed us of. This apartment has fleas! I about died when they told us! So now we are washing everything, we sprayed Plametherin, and we put flea collars in our beds." (I still have scars from those nasty flea bites!)

"Sis. Strait and I were on a trambvy (bus type thing). We were sitting towards the back (where you shouldn't sit cuz drunk people are always in the back). We were sitting side by side. An old drunk man climbed on and stood in front of us. He had 2 plastic bags full of bottles. He leaned down to search through his bottles of alcohol and I noticed that on his left hand he was missing his 3 middle fingers so all he had was a thumb and a pinky.I thought to myself, "I wonder if that's from communism." Well, before I could think more about it, the bus jerked to a stop. Because the man was already bending over, he toppled forward and face planted his whole upper body straight into Sis. Strait's crotch! I just burst out laughing so hard! Before he could steady himself he wrapped his arms around her legs and Sis. Strait just dyed. Awkward! He stood back up and laughed and apologized. The whole thing only lasted about 5 seconds but I laughed all night. We think it happened because he only had a thumb and a pinky, so he couldn't grip on the bar to catch himself. I know it's mean to laugh, but it was so funny."

"I think I will be cold for the rest of my mission. I'm cold from the inside out. And I have Seasonal Affective Disorder. I have every single symptom that Sis. Watterson told us about."

"Last Tuesday our whole district did a service project and we cleaned a member's house. This member, Lena, has 7 kids and her husband is a bum. He sits around all day and does nothing while she goes to work. So their house is DISGUSTING! They let their little kids pee on the floor and there was a rotten fish in the fridge. Fleas were everywhere and there was human fesces in and around the toilet (which had no lid and no seat). It took 14 of us over 6 hours and we still didn't finish. It's so sad that people actually live like that. I just hope they'll keep it nice. Afterwards I got in the shower and watched the fleas jump off of me. It was so gross."

"This last week was SO cold. There were 2 days when it was actually -20 degrees F. It was ridiculous. I was in pain from the cold and I was miserable. I never want to be that cold again! It is warmer now so I am happy (warmer being -10 F.) This is the coldest winter in Riga since 1956. One elder forgot to wear his ear muffs and his ear literally cracked from the cold. He said it was really painful. I'm glad I have a really warm hat, even if it is ugly."

"So much has happened since I've been home. Coming home was the hardest thing I have ever done. I cried like a baby when our plane left Latvia. The plane ride home was WAY too long. Our plane was an hour late getting into Salt Lake. My family, grandparents, Natalie, Brandi, and Jill were at the airport. I cried when I hugged them all. It was awkward at first to be around them, but it got normal fast. The first few days home I went shopping and stuff with my mom. It was depressing. It's summer, so everything is immodest and I felt so fat. (see picture below with chubby face.) The first few days I was really, literally depressed. I had jet lag so bad, I was so sad, and I just wanted to go back to the mission. The night I was released I sat in President Boyce's office, just he and I, and I cried like a baby (again). Plus, I had this wierd allergic reaction where my upper lip swells up all huge and it was swollen that night. I've felt that way the first few weeks: depressed, lost, useless, lazy, sad, etc. It was horrible, but it has definitely gotten better!" (it got better because I started spending time with Mitch. Awwww.)

I better stop now. I could go on and on. I know most of these are sad, angry, or gross, but I really did love my mission. I had a lot of very spiritual experiences. I had a lot of funny experiences, I learned to love the people, and I had a lot of fun. But it's funny how the memories that seemed awful at the time are the ones that make me laugh now. :) I'm so glad my parents supported me with my decision to serve. I wouldn't change it for the world, even with the fleas, the freezing temperatures, and Seasonal Affective Disorder. I can't wait to greet Nelli (one of my favorite people from the Baltics) in heaven and hear her say, "It's a miracle!" (Nelli thinks everything is a miracle. It's awesome.) Knowing her made the whole 18 months and every single flea bite well worth it. Here I am with Nelli, her grandkids (Yulia and Anton) and Sis. Strait. We're outside the LDS church in Vilnius, Lithuania. Wow, I miss these guys.