Has It Really Been That Long?

At the end of this month is will be eight years since I returned from my mission in Bolivia. Crazy how time flies. We're having a big mission reunion next month. Apparently even some of the missionaries from South America are making the trip- Yay! Anyway, we had to send in a few photos for the reunion, so I took the opportunity to scan in some of my mission photos. This first one is with President and Sister Shumway, who are currently serving in the Seventy. What an amazing couple they are!

Here are my companions, not counting the MTC. I absolutely LOVED the MTC! I had the coolest district.

I was such a lucky missionary to serve with so many incredible missionaries throughtout my mission. Nearly all of my companions were from South America. I wish that I was still in contact with more of them, because they all mean so much to me. This is a picture from the CCM in Lima, Peru. Herman Escanta was from Ecuador and wore these cute tribal clothes. She was kind enough to let me try some on.

It rained and rained and rained during the rainy season. Sometimes we would walk around in water to our knees. The two pictures below were taken immediately after this one. Yes, we walked around in gross water with cockroach floaties. Somehow I survived anyway.

You got to love the special effects that light can give, especially before digital cameras. I am grinding some corn into meal in the photo, but I look kind of angelic.

On P-Days we would do really fun things. On this day we went to a zoo of sorts in the middle of the jungle. There were leopards kept in small chain link cages, monkeys and large birds roaming free and snakes and lizards that you can hold.

That leopard knocked the volleyball out of my hands. It seems so not safe, but really sad. Those poor animals trapped in such tiny cages. :( In this lower picture the tall Elder is holding a baby caiman on my head.

I couldn't possibly do my mission any justice, even if I showed you all the pictures of the wonderful people I served. A while ago I wrote a post about one of the happiest moments in my life. I can't resist sharing just one quick example. One of my sweet companions, Hermana Perez, was from Cochabamba, Bolivia. She met the missionaries at 13 and knew the church was true. Her father wasn't very excited about the idea of her getting baptized, so he told her she could only if she did a long list of things every Sunday before going to her 8:30 a.m. church. She promised and was baptized. From that week until the week she left on her mission, she got up at 3:30 a.m. every Sunday morning, so that she could finish all of her chores before church. What dedication! As you might imagine, she was an amazing missionary! And I got to be her companion!
My mission brought me so much joy. Knowing that you are doing exactly what the Lord wants you to do every day for eighteen months is a pretty good feeling. The spirit is so strong when you are doing missionary work. I learned so much from my companions, the other missionaries, the members and investigators. To anyone who is contemplating serving a mission, I highly recommend it.