Email from Mom: August 14, 2021

From: Mom
To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org
Subject: It's official, 1 week in Africa

It’s official! You have been in Africa for an entire week. How does that feel? How are things going? Are you adjusting a little better? How is your French coming along? And what about your companion? Things getting better with being able to communicate and work together when it comes to the friends you are working with? I have so many thoughts everyday of what life is looking like for you.
Things here at home are moving along.  Brooklyn starts school this week, Tyler is heading back to Wyoming to look for deer, and I have a full week of things literally filling up each day. We have missionaries coming for dinner on Monday, I have a mom pool lunch party on Tuesday, a presidency meeting (with the stake coming as well) on Wednesday, a relief society activity on Thursday here, and a family/friend back to school pool and bbq party on Friday. It’s nuts but I am sure it will be fun and nice to have people over. I do enjoy hosting and entertaining with friends for sure. I am glad we have the space that we do.
I ran into some Elders at the grocery store today when I was out. It was so fun to talk to them and hear their thoughts on being in the mission field. One is pretty fresh out and the other 2 (it was a trio) have less than 6 months for one and the other is on his last transfer before he heads home. It’s funny that you can see the huge difference between each of them. The older ones are much more mature for sure and have their heads right where they need to be. Their focus is 100% on the mission and what they have been called to do where the new kiddo is still wondering about home, his friends, and trying to decide if he will ever amount to what he is seeing and learning from the other 2.  It made me think of you and got my mind going as to what things will look like in 2 years from now. I wonder if you will be like the older 2, will you feel like they do and know without a shadow of a doubt that you gave it literally your all while you served? Or will you be the new Elder who is not sure he is ready to commit and turn it all over to the Lord? My hope as well as what I know you are capable of is that you are further along than the older 2 Elders and that you will have gained a deeper testimony of missionary work than you ever knew was possible. My heart ached for the younger one today. He is the oldest in his family and he is missing them pretty bad. He knows he needs to stay busy and focused but it is hard for him. Again, makes me wonder about you and how you are doing. I imagine you are much busier than missionaries in Utah but I am sure there are still moments for you for sure.
Fires are still raging, we had a new one start tonight up Parleys (the canyon we drive to the cabin) and it evacuated over 3000 people. Weather is warm with no rain in sight anytime soon. I don’t imagine they will have this new fire under control anytime soon.
The Braves are tied for first right now. They have been playing some seriously fun games to watch. I would sure love to see them go on and win their division and then of course to the World Series but we will take it one game at a time right now. They are tied for 1st with the Phillies and the Mets who have been in the #1 spot are now 1.5 games behind. Crazy how fast things can change. The Yankees sure try but they leave so many on base each game. They are 6.5 games behind first place so I don’t know what will happen for them. Part of me would love to go to Atlanta when the Yankees show up in a couple of weeks but it’s just expensive that it is just more of a pipe dream. I’ll watch it on tv in my comfy clothes, no humidity, a/c going, and I might order in some sort of dinner maybe? in reality HD tv is pretty great and makes it hard to beat the view you get.
Well, it’s late here at home (11:20pm) and I need to get a few things tidied up before I can climb into bed. I hope your card is working and that this week has been a good one. I hope you have seen the hand of the Lord in your days and that you are remembering to turn to Him in all things. I pray your testimony continues to be strengthened and that your focus is on right where you are and the calling of being a full time missionary. I know that if you continue to put the Lord first in all things, He will bless you and give you opportunities He has been waiting to share with you for 18 years. He knows your capabilities better than both you and I do and I am excited to watch as He gains the trust in you to receive the good!!
I’m hopeful I will get a chance to have some of your time on Monday. I hope this week has been good and that you are happy and getting into the groove of being where you are. I am hopeful to hear an update on your first full week.
I love you and am proud of your choice to be a missionary.
Mom

This is a new favorite picture of Christ. I came across it this last week and I wanted to be sure to pass it on.

I had to finally turn the water feature off to dry this grossness up!! It smells horrible, the bees are all over it, and it’s been 5 days and it still looks pretty heavy. I wonder how long it will really take for it all to go away??