Hello friend! This is actually Ivy writing to you, and not her family posting one of her emails! Can you believe that?! Two whole months have passed since I officially got released from being a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. ("Released" meaning I no longer have that iconic black name tag and cannot come knocking at your door saying that I am a representative of Jesus Christ and would you like to hear a message about His restored church.)
It is good to be home. :) I missed my family very much. Now I miss all my friends and family in Quetzaltenango.
One of my best friends from the mission told me that she thinks of the mission experience as a mini lifetime within our real lifetimes. We are "born" into the mission and have "parents", or a missionary trainer who helps us learn how to be a missionary. We have experiences that help us learn to grow, and we either allow them to draw us closer to or further away from Christ our Savior. We package away all our own wants and interests, love the people, and give our all to the service of the Lord. And at the end of the 18 or 24 months, just when we seem to get the hang of things, we "die". We are released as missionaries and expected to reintegrate into society. And our awkwardness makes for many funny jokes (such as almost giving the haircut lady a Guatemalan kiss greeting before realizing that she is not, in fact, Guatemalan....)
Seeing my family at the airport was awesome. No one made the mistake of getting between me and my mom. ;)
It was a teary, sobby, squeaky-voiced reunion with tight long hugs and red eyes.
I love my siblings. :)
Molly remembered me. :)
It is good to be home. :) I missed my family very much. Now I miss all my friends and family in Quetzaltenango.
One of my best friends from the mission told me that she thinks of the mission experience as a mini lifetime within our real lifetimes. We are "born" into the mission and have "parents", or a missionary trainer who helps us learn how to be a missionary. We have experiences that help us learn to grow, and we either allow them to draw us closer to or further away from Christ our Savior. We package away all our own wants and interests, love the people, and give our all to the service of the Lord. And at the end of the 18 or 24 months, just when we seem to get the hang of things, we "die". We are released as missionaries and expected to reintegrate into society. And our awkwardness makes for many funny jokes (such as almost giving the haircut lady a Guatemalan kiss greeting before realizing that she is not, in fact, Guatemalan....)
It has been somewhat rough. I was grateful to chat with a cousin who served as a Marine. He understands how after giving 100% to ourselves to some sort of service for an extended time, our entire perspectives change and life as we had before is not the same as we live it now.
So I'm still trying to unpack my boxes of life that have been getting fairly dusty. I'm throwing out what I dont want anymore, and trying to dust off and polish up what I do want to keep in my life. This also means rediscovering old interests like gardening... And Im also trying to find what new things I'd like to bring in... like learning how to ride a bicycle. And blowing up my first balloon. And going to Moab for the first time. :) We found this there:
Iain and Hannah have made sure I'm up-to-date on old TV series... :)
And now I'm moving forward. There are other missions ahead. :)
Cute!
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