it's been a year

(fresh off the 14 hour plane ride from Brazil. My eyes are red from crying, and my skin is burnt from the hot Brazilian sun, but it was still a very special day)

While I was talking to my friend on Saturday I realized that, as of today, I have been home from Brazil for a year. That is just plain crazy. Part of me feels like I came home last month, and other times it feels like it never even happened. Yesterday I sat and looked through all of my mission pictures and became super homesick for Brazil, missing so many aspects of my time there.

I miss the people. Seriously the most warm and loving people I have ever met. So welcoming and generous. We were always welcomed into homes with smiles and hugs, even if we hadn't met them before.

I miss my companions. Every single one was Brazilian, and every single one was incredible. The taught me so much, helped me become "Almost Brazilian", and made me laugh. Very much some of my best friends and my sisters.

I miss the culture, which is incredibly rich where I was. There were constantly holidays or events where the people would dress in costumes (the women in dresses like these) and dance and sing. It was so much fun to see. I felt like Anne of Green Gables in this dress!

While I don't miss the cobblestone streets (ouch!) I do miss the beauty of the land there. The green fields and the fireflies. So pretty.

And most of all, I miss teaching people about Christ. I miss watching their lives change. It was an experience that changed my life and who I am. I will forever be grateful for the Brazilian people, and will always be proud that I am considered "almost Brazilian".

Mission Reunion

Yesterday night I got to go to my mission reunion. I had a hard time talking myself into going. It's not that I didn't absolutely love my time in Brazil, and all the missionaries that I met, however ALL of my companions were Brazilian, and most of the Elders that I worked with were Brazilians as well. So I didn't think I was going to know many people at the reunion. Plus, being in a big group of people without knowing many people scares me to death. But out of love for my mission president and his wife, (who I hadn't seen since July 2007) I went.

It actually turned out to be more fun than I expected. No, I didn't know a bunch of people, but I got to give my mission president and his wife both great big hugs, which I haven't got to do in a long time! There were also several sisters (and a few Elders) there whom I had met during my time in Brazil, so it was fun to sit and speak Portuguese with them. It was fun, but it sure made me miss Brazil! SAUDADES!

My Fun Phone Call

You know those days when you just want to crawl in a dark hole and go to sleep? Yesterday was one of them. I think the exhaustion from moving, plus my inability to remember how to do an APA style paper mixed with a crazy busy day at work just left me flat out irritated. When I finally got off work I was not super happy. I was walking to my car (it’s about a 15 minute walk, and something I actually really enjoy) when my phone rang. It was a number I didn’t recognize, with an area code I didn’t recognize. I answered it, and it turned out to me my MTC companion!

I was so excited! We got along really well from the first day in the MTC. We wrote each other while we were in Brazil, and then have been e-mailing since we got home, but this was the first time I had talked to her. We talked for over an hour, reminisced about Brazil and the good old days, and when I hung up, I felt SO MUCH BETTER! It seriously just made my day. Isn’t it great how the Lord knows exactly what we need, even when its small things like a call from an old friend?

In the MTC I was in a Trio. My compy that called me is the one in the middle. As you can tell, we took everything very seriously.

Tan Lines

For those of you who know me, you know I DO NOT tan. My skin just does not do it! I am white all year long, even in the summertime. I do, however, tend to burn. During my year and a half in Brazil I was exposed to intense sun on a daily basis. Even with tons of sunscreen I burned a lot, but strange as it may be, as the weeks passed I began to tan. Now most other people in my situation become far darker than I ever was, but for someone who never tans I was SUPER excited with this! My tan lines were the greatest. I had a HUGE line on my ankle (from my socks), at mid-calf (from my skirts) and of course, on my arms and neck from my shirts. Life was good.

Then I returned to the cold, snow covered, Utah. And slowly, bit by bit, my tan began to disappear. Today I saw a picture that was taken my last weekend in Brazil, and realized that my tan is official gone. It made me kind of sad. It was short lived, but it was sure fun to be tan for a while!

(As missionaries, this is what we would do at the end of the day; relax on the cold tile floor! Notice the pretty lines on my legs and feet!)

"Mission Weird"

(With my family at the airport)

So I always thought it was funny when people were “mission-weird” after returning home from missions. I laughed at my sisters funny quirks that continued to follow her for several months after she got back. I always said that I would never be one of those mission weird people. How could I have ever guessed I would be the most mission weird person ever!

This realization came to me last week when I was in Wal-Mart. I had been home about two weeks at that point, and needed to get something from there. So I worked until late, and then went to get it, arriving at about 10:30 pm. As I was walking in I had the strangest, most guilty feeling. I was in a store, at night, alone. Everything in me said “RUN HOME! QUICK!” However I reminded myself this was not the Holy Ghost warning me of danger, but the missionary manual still ringing in my head, saying that you must be home by 9:30, and never be alone. I quickly made my purchase before running back to my car and returing home, where I immediately felt better and really had a good laugh at myself.

So this experience led me to write my list of the . . .

Top 10 Signs that you are a Newly Returned Missionary

(some of these only work if you went to Brazil, but oh well!)

10. You feel guilty if you are out of your house after 9:30.

9. Your friends and family laughs at how you now say ‘win’ ‘window’ and ‘winter’.

8. You constantly have to stop yourself from running after people in the street to give them a pass-along-card.

7. You often try to tell your companion (who should be walking next to you) somthing, only to find no one there, and that you are all alone. (The worst is when you start talking BEFORE this realization hits)

6. You constantly have to remind yourself to flush used toilet paper, and not throw it away.

5. Each time you go to introduce yourself to someone new you say “Hi! I’m Sister . . . errr, I mean, Katie . . .”

4. You dream about beans and rice (black beans. . .YUM!)

3. Words like ‘oi!’ ‘entao’, ‘e aì’ and ‘Obrigada’ have joined your English vocabulary which you suddenly can’t speak very well.

2. You avoid cute boys at all costs.

1. You freak out at least 5 times a day when you realize that you aren’t wearing your name tag! (This realization is usually preceded by making a grabbing motion at the left side of your chest)

So there it is. I have done each of these things, and several more I am sure! I had an awesome time in Brazil, and met so many wonderful people. I miss it like crazy, but it is good to be home.