Phone Call Home: Monday, September 20, 2021

Mondays are my favorite...I am going to start with that. :) Elder Garcia called today and was all smiles. I loved that part of the start of today more than ever. Things are going well for Elder Garcia. He had some baptisms yesterday which was new and exciting for him to be a part of. When I asked him what he loved the most he said that it made him think back to his own baptism and the feelings that he had that day. He said that he was so happy that others were going to be able to have the opportunity now to have the Gospel and Holy Ghost in their lives as they start this new journey in the Church.

Other things that Elder Garcia shared with me today:

- Covid is still tricky. They are not doing in person church and have even been asked to leave some appointments because the other family members not taking the discussions don't want them there. I imagine this would be an easy 'out' if you will

- Elder Obeya is still tricky. He loves to be on the Facebook and it sounds like he spends an ample amount of time scrolling.

- The language part of the mission is really start to come along for Elder Garcia. He says he is starting to understand a lot more and he is enjoying that

- Elder Garcia still loves to shop and is still always looking for some kind of souvenir (I wonder as a Mom if the focus will ever change to less shopping more missionary'ing) and loves all the Africa fabric! He has had hoodies made, he has purchased a lot more over this last week but he isn't sure what he wants to use it for

- He was giving himself his first haircut today. He asked the barber who comes to the apartment if he would purchase a set of clippers for Elder Garcia. He showed up today with them and Elder Garcia was excited to give it a whirl. His exact words were "if I screw it up it's not a big deal. I am in freaking Africa and it will always grow back". :) I am glad that he has a good attitude about this for sure since I know how particular he is about his hair

- Elder Garcia is not eating as much spaghetti as he used to. He has moved past that and is cooking a lot of stir fry. He is also giving it a go and trying to make fried rice. He scored himself a huge pineapple and was going to incorporate that into dinner too.

- The malaria dreams are no longer weird or concerning. The most he has to say about that is that he is remembering dreams now more than he ever can recall. He says all of them are of him on his mission and then play out. I am so glad the weird part is over for him.

- Elder Garcia is working a lot with the new members of the Church down in Kpalime. They want to really focus on being there for them as a support to help them understand the commitment and promises made with entering the waters of baptism. I would imagine this will be a huge testimony builder for Elder Garcia as he helps these new members to understand the simplicity of Gospel Principles. This will be fun to sit back and watch

- It was raining so hard when we chatted today. The thunder was booming and cracking and I just kept shaking my head. Elder Garcia loves the rain and was loving listening to it as it came down. Towards the end of our call his power went out as well. I wonder how long that lasted. I will have to remember to ask next week.

- Elder Garcia and I talked a little bit about Sister Garcia leaving for Brazil this week. He says he feels like a protective brother side kicking in and just wants her to be safe. He had a few words of advice if I had a chance to talk to her. Things like "she can do hard things, which is why she gets to go to Brazil during Covid", "The Lord trusts her", and "a foreign country are hard but she will be great". I asked if he had a chance to talk to her and he said they had been messaging already today. I encouraged him to maybe give her a call and have a face to face call so he was going to try that when we ended our call today.

In all, Elder Garcia presents well and happy. He seems to be doing what he can to embrace this culture he is living in and learning what he can as he continues through his days. He has until October 25th until transfers come into play and I hope that over the course of the next month he will be able to find some love and appreciation for his companion, even if he is tricky. I will continue to keep them both in my prayers as a hope that they can individually and then collectively remember their 'why' for being on a mission.

It is crazy that Elder Garcia is going to hit a 3 month mark on Thursday this week. Mission time is something kinda crazy but I love being a part of it. Let's make this week one of the best.

I love you for forever,
Mom