Mission FAQs

These past few months have been so interesting.  I feel so stupid for having never blogged about the fun events and things we did.  I have been even more awful with my journal.  I highly praise anyone who is a steady journal keeper, and I invite everyone who is NOT to join me in a pact to always do better.

I just realized that I haven't even talked a little about the mission.  There is NO way I can share many great details, but I would like to share how I feel about the experience.  People always ask the same questions.  Its not annoying, but it does get kinda old.  So here are the mission FAQs and my answers:
1. How was your mission?
It was amazing and incredible.  It was the best 18 months of my life.
2. How are you adjusting to being home/ what is it like to be home?
It was sometimes still is weird to be home. I still expect people to speak french in public.  I am very used to speaking english with the american and english missionaries, but I still do a double take when my cashier or waitress don't speak french.
So, even though being home is weird, it is really good.
I tried to explain it in many ways, but it was actually a Harry Potter quote that helped me find a simple way to describe how it feels. I came to the conclusion that even though you feel pain of ending, pain of loss, pain of change, you feel like a large weight has been lifted off your shoulders.  Despite the hardship of change, you feel lighter.
But I certainly learned that the transition is easier when you have lots of stuff to do.
3. What was France/Switzerland like?
I LOVED the countries.  I loved getting to know the people.  I very much miss the cultures.  And I can never get the sights out of my mind.  Both countries were BEAUTIFUL!  I would go back as soon as I have money for a ticket.  The big cities don't always look much different from home, but there was still a beauty that you don't find in San Diego.  I would have given anything to serve in a small village, but sisters rarely do. But even in the big cities I had enough beautiful things to see to make me wonder at the foreignness of Europe.  I want to see so much more!
4. So you speak french now. (this is rarely inflected, so it often sounds like a statement)
yeah
5. What are your plans now?
I am not planning on going back to school this year, but hopefully next year, at SDSU.  But I still might sign up for yoga and dance at Grossmont this fall- those are my favorite forms of exercise.
I have never been employed, and I want to take this year to get work experience and make money for school and for having fun.  I mean, how am I ever going to get back to Europe if I don't have money?
3 months home and I now have a small job as a nanny for a 2 year old. Its only about 3 days a week, but it is something!
I also am volunteering at the aquarium, as soon as their computer lets me log in.
This Saturday I will start taking a midday shift at the Temple.  I will be there every week, but I hope it doesn't make me miss any important events, since it IS a saturday.
6. Was it a hard mission?
It certainly had its difficulties.  It was very rare to find true French/Swiss people willing to accept the gospel, but we still had much success because there are a LOT of foreigners in the country.  Half of the population are people from very humble backgrounds, from places where religion is so much more important.  In switzerland there were so many people from south america, which is a place we know that accepts the gospel very well.  In france, you find an incredible number of people from africa, which we know are the most humble, loving people on earth.
Every mission is different, and each has unique difficulties, but there are always more blessings, more positive things to see.  Its not a balance, it is more GOOD than hard.
My mission president said in his homecoming talk that people always say that their mission was a big sacrifice, but he never associated the word sacrifice with his mission.  He was living in the garden of Eden- surrounded by the best scenery, the best people, and the best cheese and chocolate in the world.
I say ditto.

I can't think of any more common questions right now.  If there is something you want to know, post a comment with a question, and I will answer it!

Someday I hope to share all my photos and experiences with everyone who wants to know about my mission.  I am so passionate about it and I think about it all the time.

Ko-KO-nut

Well, as it turns out, I found a post I never finished from before I left on my mission. This is part of our experience at Hawaii.  I am not going to try to finish it.  That would be too hard to remember details.
Here's what I had already written:

Hey everyone!
Um, I find myself with a very impossible task of trying to talk about our trip to Hawaii. For one thing, it was two months ago, so I don't remember everything as clearly, but also, how do you tell people about such an amazing place? How do you describe the color of the water, or the sunset, when its like nothing you've ever seen before? You can't really. True, cameras can capture images, but they can't capture what the other senses experience- those things that fill you with wonder.Wow- poetic, aren't I?Let me show you what I mean.See this sunset? Gorgeous right? But you can't even feel the perfect sand between your toes, smell the salt air, or hear Hawaii's soundtrack: the waves.
You can see what we saw- because we took pictures- but you've got to go and experience these things for yourself.So- to give you some ideas, I'll tell you what we did- and you can decide if you want to go and do them, too. Thank goodness I wrote in my journal everyday. I guess I can just pull some excerpts from it.

DAY 1- Friday 7/23
Jason Robbins dropped us off at the commuter terminal. We had a really quick flight to LA, and had a short lay over before getting on a plane to Hawaii. I sat two rows behind my family because my ticket was purchased a day or so after the others.
Karen was waiting for us at the airport when we landed. She had taken a non-stop flight from New Jersey to Hawaii.
It took a long time to get our luggage and two rental cars (a Lincoln town car and an Impala) - so we didn't get to the rental house until late. The rental house was pretty cool- lots of space. Mom and Dad had their own suite in the back of the house. Karen and I shared a queen bed with Kristen on a mat at our feet. Carl got his own queen bed, and Eric and Lora had their own room as well, of course.

DAY 2- Saturday 7/24
We went to see the USS Missouri and the Arizona memorial. We spent a lot of time wandering around the USS Missouri. Mom and Dad loved the tour they gave us, but us kids were not entertained. We explored for ourselves. The ship was like a huge maze- I definitely would have been lost if they hadn't put up arrows to point the way- but even then, I was never sure where I was heading or where I'd already been. We didn't spend much time looking at the history and stuff like mom and dad did, but we quite enjoyed running around.
We found a poker table with chips in the rec room and since we didn't have cards to play with, we invented Rock Paper Poker. It was pretty awesome.
Oh- a really cool moment for me was when we saw a spotted ray right by the ship swimming at the surface. It was only there for a moment before it started sinking deeper- so we didn't get a great picture of it- but it was the first really cool wildlife we'd seen.
When we were done with the USS Missouri we had to get back to the other side of Pearl Harbor to make the boat ride to the Arizona memorial.
I don't know what I was expecting, but I was a little disappointed by the memorial. Maybe it was because it was hard to tell what you were even looking at- all you could really see from the memorial were the parts actually sticking out of the water. But this aerial picture that my dad took is cooler than anything I saw- I don't know how he got it (its probably a picture of a picture, or a model)- but I love that you can actually see the ship.
In the afternoon we went back to the house, changed into swim suits and went in search of a good beach. We found one that was perfect, and beautiful. The sand was courser than any sand in California (which I like, because it rinses off easily) and it was a beautiful color. The water was wonderful! We actually spent the most time in the sand, though. Karen, Eric, and Lora dug two huge holes in which we buried Eric and Carl. Karen also make a cute little sand castle. I was excited to find some beautiful sand crabs- they blended in so well that you couldn't see them until they moved.
There was a really funny moment when Lora got out of her hold because there were a few crabs, and Kristen jumped into it (not knowing about the crabs). I started laughing and said, "she didn't even see the crab!" She screamed and was out of that hole faster than lightning.
Dad and Carl both got stung by a jellyfish. There were little pieces floating around in the water. Carl didn't know what it was, so he picked it out of the water, but dad never say the piece that stung him. Neither of their stings were too bad, though.

DAY 3- Sunday 7/25
I discovered my new favorite way to eat pancakes. Nutella and bananas. No syrup- it no longer appeals to me.
We drove a long scenic route to the Crouching Lion, a restaurant on the North Shore, and we stopped on the way at Pali, the windy cliffs. It was ridiculously strong wind and we were all in skirts, so it was a really interesting day, and I'm sure people saw more than they planned for. It was hilarious.

Day 4- Monday 7/26
Mom, Dad, Eric, and I hiked Diamond Head, the old volcano where the military built bunkers to defend Pearl Harbor. We went in the morning, making me get up earlier than I would have liked, but I was really glad I went, it was awesome. The hike was easy, though the 200 steps really wore everybody out. But the view was amazing (despite the clouds and light drizzle). You could see the beautiful turquoise blue waters of Waikiki that all the classic advertisements feature. (The second panorama at the beginning of this blog was from Diamond Head- but the clouds make the blues a little duller).