Two Years

Well I was planning on getting this posted yesterday, but I ended up having a much busier day than planned, so it is going to be a day late. :)  Yesterday, July 15th 2012 marked two years since I returned home from my service in Uruguay as a full-time missionary.  It was an emotional day, with lots of wonderful memories.  I dug out my old journals and read through some notes, and found some pictures I want to share with everyone. 

This is one of the first families that I ever taught on my mission.  I never understood a word that they said to me, but they loved me all the same.

One thing about Uruguay that really surprised me was how COLD it got during the winter!  I just looked up the average lows, and they're only in the low 40's with an occasional drop to the 30's, but when there are no heating systems and its really humid, it makes it FREEZING!!!!  This is my morning study.

Another thing to love about serving a mission is that no matter what the weather, you preach the gospel!  It also rained a lot!

Doing laundry was always a highlight on P-day......

One thing I learned though was that Uruguay is a truly BEAUTIFUL place.  This a beach we got permission to visit on one of our P-days.

This is a Carpinchu!  They are everywhere in Uruguay, I always found them really cute

This one is a classic.  We couldn't find the ping pong net, so we naturally used toilet paper. :)

and we can't forget the best part of serving a mission, helping people come to Christ!

True to my character, I spent two weeks once in an area very sick, this is the sister that stayed with me while my companion went out and proselyted with another sister, we called her Mama Maria.

Even though the look disgusts me now, this was one of my favorite meals, it's called a chivito, it's basically a hamburger with a fried egg and bacon on it, I always added avacado if possible

I had a lot of interesting companions.  I often got asked if this one was my daughter

baptizing this man made every hard day of my mission worth it.  His name is Carlos, he is my best friend!

safety pins and duct tape became my best friends for quick fix-its

This is one of my companions that changed my life, and taught me a lot about what true friendship is

This was my last lunch appointment before I came home.  This man, Hermano Carlini, taught me more about myself than anyone else ever could.  I miss him dearly

And this is me and the Elders I went home with on our way to the airport.  It was an awesome ride!

I'm so grateful for the experience that i had in Uruguay, and I will never forget it.

If you are tired of reading, you can end now, but to close I'm going to share the last email that I prepared to write home but never did.  I've typed it up below.  It sums up my thoughts and feelings rather well.

Well here it is the final email from the mission.  I guess it’s supposed to be inspiring, so I’ll try and do my best!

It’s hard to believe that all my life I’ve always heard, “when I was on my mission,” and “ the mission is the best two years of your life,” “you’ll never forget your mission,” and “ I don’t go a day without remembering something from my mission,” and I never, ever even imagined that I would be able to join in with the conversations, but here I sit, two days away from putting an eternal seal on my personal missionary service, and I’m so deeply grateful for it.

But even though the mission has been the best experience in my life, it has also been the hardest and most challenging.  For the past year and a half I have personally witnessed my loving Heavenly Father put me through my refiner’s fire, and slowly, he has put all of the pieces back together. I left the USA as on person, but am coming home a completely different one.  I’ve changed so much, but the change hasn’t just been a physical one.

I remember in the CCM (MTC) one day we watched a devotional giving by Elder Holland.  In the talk he quoted something that went like this.

He said, “Come to the edge”

 I said, “No, I shall surely fall.”

He said, “Come to the edge.”

I said, “No, I shall surely fall.” 

He said, “COME TO THE EDGE.”

So I went, and he pushed me off. 

And it was then that I flew.

I remember that seventeen months ago when I heard this quote, I liked it, but now, seventeen months after I understand it, and I’ve experienced it.  And it all goes back to my farewell talk when I said that we can’t be comfortable, and when we are, God invites us to come the edge.  He doesn’t make us go, but invites us, and when we decide to go, he pushes us a little farther, so that we can find out that we have hidden wings and that we can fly, even when everything else around us tells us that we can’t.

Through the past eighteen months I have personally witnessed so many miracles I can’t even number them.  I’ve witnessed people completely change their life to find what true happiness is, and I’ve also witnessed people openly reject this happiness even when they have received the testimony that it is true.  I’ve entered into houses where a family of six sleeps every night on two twin sized beds in the middle of winter with only a mere sheet blocking the glassless windows from the biting cold air.  The floor in their house is made of gravel, but in spite of all, they are in the church on Sunday, to partake of the sacrament and renew their baptismal covenants.  I’ve met other people who barely have enough food to feed their family, but yet every week invite the missionaries to eat with them, because they know that by serving the missionaries they are showing their faith, and when we show our faith, we receive blessings.  I’ve also seen other marvelous things, but could never write them all.

But what I’ve learned from the past eighteen months is that Heavenly Father loves us, and that will never, ever change.  It doesn’t matter how poor, humble, rich, or prideful we are, he love us, and wants to help us.

Thanks for reading!

Lacey