Email from Mom: January 28, 2022
From: ME! <3
To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org
Date: Friday, January 28, 2022
Subject: It has been a week.
Hey! How are you? How is your week going? How are you and your
companion getting along? How is his French coming along? What has this
week looked like with your ami's? I loved being able to see some new
pictures this week, thanks for sending them. :)
Things
here at home have been a little too much and I won't lie that I am sure
looking forward to getting on a plane to go to Kauai! The weather this
week has been weird..Utah weird. We have been in the low 40's, no snow
or rain so the crappy inversion has set in. The sun tries to come
through but it is such a haze and so gross that it mostly just tries. :/
We are taking Brooklyn along on this trip with us as well. I am not
entirely sure she is thrilled about it but I am hopeful that she will
enjoy her time and I am looking forward to her getting a reset on all
things right now and to take in some sunshine.
Tyler
had a dental appointment on Monday to finish his procedure he has been
having done, B had an ortho appointment to get her bottom retainer made,
and Monday also was when life started to go blah for B. This has been
an incredibly challenging week for her in many ways and if you have it
in you, I am sure she would love some prayers coming her way. I won't go
into any detail as it sure wouldn't be fair to her and I would ask that
you don't bring it up with her so she doesn't know I mentioned anything
to you either. I truly believe in the power of prayer and even more so
in the power of an older brothers prayer. <3
I
went to a Stake Leadership training meeting last night and President
Haynie was trying to instill in each of us that we need to include the
name of Jesus Christ in all things that we do. Day in and day out. He
mentioned that he has been attending various Sacrament meetings
throughout the Stake and he was so surprised at how little His name or
the reference of Him was actually put out. He also referenced a
conference talk by President Nelson "Let God Prevail" ( https://www.
As a
Mom when you were little I can look back and see that I was often times
in that very moment rather than looking forward or planning for future.
It was hard most days to make sure all was taken care of and that you
were happy and thriving in life but I feel like looking back, we always
seemed to make things work. There was plenty of joy, lots of laughter,
oodles of smiles, and I love looking back at memories made. As you got
older I was able to shift my thinking a little to more forward and start
making choices/decisions/etc for more long term. You were growing up
and maturing some and doing the same thing for you in your own life as
well. There was a point where the both of us met in the middle and then
collectively we began to forward think together for you. I believe we
still lived in the moment so as not to miss out on what was right in
front of us, but I also believe we looked long term.
As
a Mom to a now Elder, I find myself worrying about you and your day to
day activities, thoughts, distractions, and where you put your time and
energy. I wonder if you are choosing to live with myopic views or if you
are diligently trying to see more of the view and the life and long
term goals that your Heavenly Father has in store for you. As a new
trainer in the mission field I wonder if you are able to see the effects
of the very myopic approach your trainer, Elder Obeya, had or if you
are trying to better yourself as well as your new companion in opening
up your eyes and focusing 100% on the reason you are both there and
utilizing the Lord in ALL things. You have so much on your shoulders
with training an American. Especially when it comes to a language. He is
going to take whatever it is you give him and go to his next area. Will
he be successful in the French language or will he be out in the
mission frustrated at his first companion/trainer and the approach you
took? Will your companion look to you as his mission progresses and you
are both in different areas because he trusts you and he values you as a
trainer? Will he see and recognize that you truly are all in as a
missionary and have put aside the distractions of the world or will he
pass onto others that he works with along the way that you are a
missionary yes, but a committed one? No. Will he see that you are there
for the people of Africa and that you have embraced the culture and have
come to love and know them and see them like Jesus Christ does or will
he see that you are there as one who has simply checked off a box of 'to
do's' in life? So many things to take on and to take into daily and
hourly consideration.
Life has a horrible way
of life of having distractions come into our lives when we least expect
and/or need them. Satan has a way of bringing them into our lives and
making them appear as though they are not distractions at all but rather
they are good and helpful. This week has been full of Satan doing just
that and in the end we are working through to point out each one and
trying to mend what he has done. Here is where I guess I look at your
week and pose the following question: Where has Satan put distractions
in your life this week that has made for a very myopic approach to your
mission and have you been able to see them in order to address them and
be rid of him having any open door in your life?
I
know Alaina is still a distraction on your mission. I know she emails
and says things that continually drag you along. I also know that she is
being incredibly secretive and going out of her way to ensure that
nobody in this house sees any of what she actually has going on while
she is here. Her social media pages have gone quiet, she doesn't allow
even Brooklyn to see what she is posting, and she is clearly trying her
best to keep out any watchful eyes who have YOUR best interest at hand.
She is a Satan placed distraction for you in your life. Until you can
admit to yourself that you are better than she, that you deserve
substantially more than her, that she is playing you for a bit of a fool
while you are in another country, and that you aren't becoming the
missionary you are so incredibly apt to become, your mission will not be
fully fulfilled as to what the Lord is asking and what you promised you
would become when you accepted your call.
Another
distraction I recognized this past week as I went and re-read your
emails and went over our weekly conversations is that you are incredibly
aware of how many transfers you have left on a mission and what that
means for when you will be home. You are focusing on the end rather than
being committed to being in Africa now and seeing the benefits of
having you there as a servant of the Lord for those who have been
longing to be taught the Gospel and the promises and blessings of having
Him in their lives. As a missionary I am sure there are days that you
long to be home and have the creature comforts of what a blessed life in
the USA offers but I worry that your focus on that is making it so that
you have allowed another door to Satan to be open into your life.
I
want to be as much help and as much of a supporter than I can be for
you while you are in Africa. I want to see as you blossom into the
missionary I KNOW you can be and I know that you are capable of. I want
to see the fruits of all of that come out and for the rest of the world
to see the good that can come from having the example and influence of
Elder Garcia in their lives. I want to be able to hear as you continue
to have experiences that as you lived myopically you can see the domino
effect of lives touched and or brought into the fold for posterities.
This week has been tricky for me as a Mom. This week has been tricky for
me as a wife, Relief Society President, neighbor, friend, daughter,
sister, and as a descendant of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But
through it all, I have this amazing blessing of a Savior who is always
there and ready to listen whenever I am ready. I have the blessing of
the Atonement to help get me back on the path I need to be and to try
again to be a little better with each passing moment. We live a life
with countless blessings. Both of us do. We just need to be able to shut
Satan out and not allow him into any corners of our persons.
You
are doing great things Christian and I am so proud of you and all you
are doing. Keep pushing forward, keep sharing your smile and your fun.
Keep showing who it is you represent day in and day out and I promise
you that as you do that, as you commit 100%, Satan will no longer have
an in to create distractions and you will be able to live in moments
each day that will allow you to see long term. Even if long term is
simply the next day. I love you more than you will ever truly know. I
love being your Mom and I especially love being able to share all the
things you are doing in Africa with anyone who asks. I love watching as
their eyes light up with happy in knowing you are there doing hard
things and excelling in them too.
I have
you in my prayers always and in my thoughts with every breath I take. I
hope you have the best weekend and that Sunday is a day for you to fill
your soul with those things you are missing or need strengthened. Thanks
for including me in on your adventures. I love you for forever.
To the moon and back,
Mom
**Also,
when we are in Hawaii we are a full 12 hours behind you. I giggle at
that just because it is hilarious what time zones do! I still want to be
able to talk with you if we can so I don't know if you can call when
you first get up and get going on Monday or not? It will be Sunday
evening for me (see...hilariously crazy!) but just a thought and a hope I
guess. Love you! **
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