There's no place like home...[Jan. 18, 2016]

I just can't believe it. Last P-day!? Never thought I would make it here, especially near the beginning of my mission. It just seemed so far away and I couldn't fathom doing it for 18 months. Surely something crazy would happen where I couldn't finish, but nope. Here I am. It just took a lot of sitting down after being utterly overwhelmed and thinking....all I have to do right now is....

Yesterday was my last day at church in Lamar and my last time seeing a lot of people, but instead of leaving in tears, I left blushing...this is why:
After the lesson in Relief Society, the lady conducting stood up and announced transfers were this week and I would be going home. Well, another lady who was sitting in the back (she goes to the ward about half the time, because they just bought a giant property in Coolidge and her single son (Kent) and married daughter moved here, but she still lives in Arizona) looks over and was like it's your last week! Can I give you Kent's number? I was like oh my gosh and all the ladies giggled. Then we said the closing prayer.

Well, she came up to me afterwards and I thought she was going to apologize about embarrassing me in front of everyone...nope...she handed me a paper with Kent's number on it and was like I kept telling him to give it to you, but he kept saying no we had to wait till it was closer to the end for you.
For the record Kent is a guy my parents would probably term 'a nice boy'. This whole situation now explains some things in the past such as why Kent drove an hour each way just to be in our nerf war at the church. And at the nerf war he asked me questions such as do you like it in Oregon or here better and are you coming back to Lamar to visit. The real reason I went on a mission? So I won't have to talk to boys. It didn't work. I knew I should just been a nun!!

 We did have a less active that we have been working with since I got here come to church for the first time since April! It was good. Nothing much else exciting happened. The elders let us borrow the car AND it had a full tank of gas! I almost died of shock- nothing short of a miracle.

I keep getting less and less sleep, no idea why because I feel like I should be getting less stressed, but I guess not so. Last night I couldn't go to sleep till about 11:30 and I woke up at 5 and gave up trying to go back to sleep at 5:45.

 So probs what'll happen the rest of this week is I will leave Tuesday evening to either Garden or Dodge. Then weds we will drive to Wichita, watch a world wide mission broadcast that is coincidentally happening that morning, then transfer devotional where I'll say my departing testimony, then at some point my departing interview with president, then Thursday I high tail it home.

 Well it's been fun! I can't even begin to describe everything I have learned out here. The importance of charity. What it means to have a prayer in your heart. How to repent. How to develop Christlike attributes. How to read the Book of Mormon. How to not punch your district leader when he keeps distracting you while writing your blog.

 Guys, the church is true! This is Christ's church on the earth. We will finding lasting happiness as we draw near to Him and honestly seek out His will for us. I know, with everything I am, that He loves each one of us. He truly is our Heavenly Father and Christ is our Savior.
See y'all on the flip side!
Pics:
 Melanie and me!
Volunteering at healthy places, fixing up bikes with kids.
Getting an iPad set up to take a video of the second nerf war...elder
style and my last pancake. :(