So, I am packed. Totally done. We are just waiting on the Monticello Sisters to be ready to go so we can caravan.
It has been a totally surreal week. We had intended to have a really busy week with lessons, but it was a really busy week with everything else.
Last Monday we helped a family move, and Sister Maynez had an asthma attack. It got really bad by dinner time, so I took her to the ER. We had to deal with all of that....but then it didn't get better the next day, so we had to spend another day at the hospital. We had 2 slightly normal days and then we had packing, and planning, and packing, and packing, and saying good bye, and all sorts of crazy stuff.
I included a photo of me and Sister Maynez, at our final district lunch...she was trying really hard to smile, but it came out more of a grimace. And I put a photo of her in the ER, rather upset at me that I was documenting such an "embarrassing" night.
This morning was the big day that I have been waiting for...for 3 weeks. Not that I got to pack up and leave...but that I got to "spar" against an Elder. Elder Lewis pushes my buttons in a friendly way. He has quick sarcastic jabs that are much more clever than mine, and he always beats me to the conversational punch. I have been asking to duke it out with him for weeks. The kid is tall and lanky, and his arms were so long that he could totally hold my head and I couldn't touch him. We were all wearing gloves and protective leg guard things...so we were supposed to let each other have it. One problem: I am all talk. When it came down to it, I couldn't fathom actually hitting someone. It took all morning, and even then our fight was lame, because I couldn't get anything on him. I only had one good hit to the face...and he got me....too many times. He went really easy on me, but you know that he thoroughly enjoyed beating on an obnoxious sister. At the end of the fight, I convinced him to just hold his arms up and let me have at his stomach. He was kind enough to just let me pound on him....until I finished, and turned my back, and he wiped out my legs and I found myself on the mat staring at him. It was a fun new experience to spar, but I don't think I care to do it again. I will be content to watch Brother Ford, the MMA fighter, fight in Salt Lake in March. (Did I tell you I was going to that? He is getting me free tickets!!!!)
As for the teaching and missionary work, we finally figured out how to teach one of our not all mentally with it investigators. We have struggled with Becca since the beginning, and we finally learned that if you go on a walk with her and help her to get moving, her brain starts to work a lot too. She was really receptive, and answered questions, and even better, she asked her own questions. This was such a big deal to us!!!!
Are any of you old enough to know what a Cottage Meeting is? I didn't know...until I got roped into one. It was slightly awkward, because I didn't know what was going on, but I think that it has potential to be very helpful in exposing neighbors and friends to gospel connected things, in a very nonthreatening way.
It is truly odd to know that this has come to an end, but to not have it register yet. My room is totally empty. My things are smashed into a suitcase (and I was so meticulous with my packing, that I have it down to weight allotments for each bag) (Sister Maynez was shocked that I was able to condense and fit everything together like a game of tetras). I have decided what to keep, what to toss, what I need to come home now, and what others can bring up in 2 weeks. I just feel like I am going on vacation and that I will be back soon. It really helps to know that I am only a 3 1/2 hour drive from here, and that I can talk to ALL of these people via Facebook. It doesn't seem like such a terrible goodbye. If I were in another country, I would be a real mess. (in comparison to know, being only a small mess).
Dad, I did not build a Rameumptum, and I am not scared to have a family ward calling anymore. At the beginning of the week, I was terrified to come back into the real world, but then someone pointed something out to me...This last year and a half was not the battle. It was the boot camp. I am about to enter the battle. This is not me coming home a war hero, this is me proving that I learned my stuff, and that I can be a real soldier in the Lord's Army. Now I have to prove what I learned, and apply it. ...And I can do that. Yesterday we taught in Young Women....and I was nervous at first, and was initially really thankful that I was NOT a YW anymore...but then I started teaching....and I loved it!!! and I was good at it!!! And I could see myself doing it in the near and distant future. I can do this. I can.
I love you all. I hope you have a great couple of days....because you will see me soon!
Love,
Sister Wilkins
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