I'm Pretty Lame at Writing Right Now

So I was looking at these note posts I put up on facebook a couple years ago and it made me really excited to write again, which is probably a good thing, since technically if you have a blog you should write in it/ I'm going back to school and I need to practice because writing is a big part of college life. (I don't know if it's just me but I feel like after having learned spanish, my english grammar has gone downhill... should there be more commas, are there any run-on sentences? I'm not sure anymore; if anyone cares to comment, feel free to take a virtual red pen and make all necesary corrections. I won't be mad.)
So my mom just sauntered in and is now sitting on the couch close to where I am writing.... I hope she doesn't see that I am writing about her/ isn't offended by the word "saunter". My mom is very glad that I am home from the mission, it seems and therefore doesnt want me out of her sight until the last possible second; which, in a way, I can understand. I'm one of her younger children, in a few tears, she may just be an empty-nester and I heard that that can be a rough adjustment. So, she comes to my room alot to ask me stuff, wants to play yahtzee; and now is seated not too far away, listening to the sound of the keys typing, or thinking about what to make for dinner, maybe wondering when and to whom I will be married....or something to that effect.
I hope I dont sound ungrateful, I love my mom and I'm extremely grateful for everything she has done for me. Shes done more than I can imagine, I'm sure... which erminds me of a time when I was in the MTC (Missionary Training Center) and my zone president got my district together and told us to describe our mothers to him. As we reflected on thier quirks and stories about how they met our dads, I believe that a realization of the sacrifices they make for us began to dawn on us collectively. It became very emotional very fast. Halfway through my turn I was a blubbering mess and president decided to move on to the next missionary.
Have you ever thought about what your mother has done for you? Have you ever tried to imagine the sacrifices shes made so thet you can be happy and never want? In the past, my mom has gone without buying clothes for herself (for years sometimes) so we could get new ones at the beginning of every schoolyear. I actually remember seeing her in pants that had big holes in them and battered old shoes, but never put two and two together until later. Just think about all she had to go through: the terrible twos, helping with homework, dealing with the melodrama of surly teenagers. Shes had it rough. Why dont you go thank her? Tell her shes wonderful, shes beautiful, that you love her?
Thats an excellent suggestion, I think I will.

The last days of the mission

well im back finally from my year-and-a-half long mission among the chilean people. It was an experiance that words cannot even begin to describe, something that changed my life for good and helped me to progress as a person like i had never been able to before.

On his occasion i wanted to describe a little about the last few days of my mission, and my coming to grips with the fact that it actually was over.

First of all, going to the mission office the last time with my hija (greenie) was fun, as going to the office usually is, the only pain was draggin my two large suitcases with us. I told Hna. Monge that the best way to ttravel with luggage is on the micro (small bus) because its funer. We got to the office, i dropped off my luggage and me and my comp made our way over to president's house. I had my interview with President Gillespie in the which he asked me about my plansfor the future, gave me some advice and dating tips, and then asked me how the mission had changed me, or rather, how i had become a better person because of the mission. Really, I would ask myself how it had not helped me.

the mission has helped me in so many ways, apart from having become more responsable and organized, and learning to work with a schelule and to plan and set goals- apart from meetong and seeing the points of view of so many diverse and wonderful people and really beginning to see the complexity and,at the same time,simplicity of nations-apart from all thast, it has helped me to find nourish and strengthen my convictions and faith in my Savior Jesus Christ; and Im talking real faith- the thing that makes you walk the walk instead of just talking the talk. The patterns i have established during my mission are a foundation on whcih i can keep edifying myself until I reach heaven. For that, I am eternally and deeply grateful to my Heavenly Father for the chance He gave me to serve him for this year and a half. It may not have been a long time (though for some it would seem that way) but it has truly been a formative and quintasential period in my life up to this point.

i wish i had been able to sum it up as well for my mission President, but I think he got the gist of it.

Afterward, I had to wait for Hna. Rivas (the other sister missionary returning home with me) to have her interview with President, during the which time i had some breakfast with Hermana Gillespie. Then Hna. Rivas and I went to read and answer our last emails of the mission... that was a heartwrenching experience for me... i felt like there was a hole opening up in me. Then we went to weigh our luggage, moved some things around, and Hna. Rivas had to take and english test. I suppose it went well for her... i wasnt too sure because i took a nap on Presidents deep and incredibly comfy couches.

When all the returning missionaries got to the house, we began the "closing ceremonies", if you will. It consisted of a dinner, then a testimony meeting. Each and every missionary had the opportuniy to stand and say something about how they felt/what they had learned from the mission. Personally i couldnt stop bawling, to see so much change in people's live, its awe-inspiring. Somehting that Hna. Rivas said taught me a lot about the influence a missionary has without knowing it:

In Belloto 2, the Hna.s had an old man named Jorge Luis as an investgator. They shared with him and he lied what they taught but never really kept his commitments. One day we went to his house (we were in a trio at that time) and we found him watering outside. He told us that he wasnt very interested in listening anymore. (heres the interesting part... but also the part i dont remember) Hna Rivas was about to accept that he didnt want to listen anymore, but turns out that I piped up and insisted that he let us talk to him for a few minutes, saying that the message we had was of utmost importance. Well, he let us in and we talked to him about prayer, i think. He had never prayed. That was the only time I had the opportunity to teach Jorge Luis, but I heard that he got baptized and is currently active in the church, and that he has a beautiful testimony.

You never know what kind of infulence you will have on the people around you.