Email from Mom: Saturday, August 20, 2022

From: Mom
To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org
Date: Saturday, August 20, 2022
Subject: Rainy days

Hey kiddo

How are you? How has your week been? How are things going with your new companion? Does he get along well in the apartment and is the flow still going well?

This week has been fine here at home. Nice to get back into the routine of things with school. Brooklyn was so not excited about starting but the Fathers Blessing that Tyler gave her on Wednesday night was so sweet and tender and just what she needed. By the time she got up on Thursday she was ready and looking forward to going. We don't really love the later start of the days and she really hates that there are only 2 lunches because it makes it jam packed with people, but we survived and she is excited I think for this year. :)

Tyler got up on Thursday and loaded up to head to Beaver. The archery hunt opened today so he went down and set up camp and spent two days glassing the mountain to ready for this morning. When I talked to him on Thursday he said it was freezing on the top of the mountain. That means it is time to flip my mind switch and gear up for the weather change that is bound to take place. I am not excited about it at all.

Kaitlyn has spent her week filling in any gaps where she had stuff undone. She had to go get a new battery for her laptop, register for classes, and get a few things together for work that she starts Monday morning. She has been very busy but I think she is so looking forward to getting a schedule and routine in her life too. I have learned a lesson that when missionaries come home, they need to stay busy and have routines ready to jump into. I am excited for Kaitlyn to have some sort of normal back in her life. She will find her groove and I think she will be so much happier.

I have been tending to Teeter this week again. Her incision has given us a run but we have been giving her some medication that has mellowed her out for the most part and she is finally sealed up and I cannot wait until Tuesday when I can give her a bath again! I also can't wait for her to be done with her medicine because she gets sleepy and spends most of her day with her eyes closed. I miss the spunky and fun of what she normally is. I know it is just a small window of time but I still miss the spunk. :)

Our weather has changed over these last few days. I had a great day in the pool and actually got a little burnt on my face but the last two days have been cold. And RAINY! The thunder and lightning that was happening this morning was downright scary! It was so loud it shook the house and you could hear the spark of the lightning through the windows. I know we need it and all but it is just one more thing that reminds me that we are heading into the Fall time of the year.

We have Stake Conference tomorrow. As hopeful as I am that we will have changes in our ward but I know that I am just wishful. The Stake has been in our meeting since Kaitlyn got home and we have had plenty of homecomings and farewells so it doesn't look like we are struggling with numbers. It is super frustrating. Tyler and I still talk often about moving records to Oakley. We could still have your homecoming here since it is your home ward but I so often wonder if a ward change would be beneficial all around. Would we be excited about going to church again? Would we finally feel like we were part of a ward family? I don't know. For now, we continue to go through motions.

Time continues to fly by and I cannot believe we will be closing out August here in 10 days. I know that we will just watch as months keep going by with school now back in session and the holidays knocking on our doors. Crazy right?!

I am hopeful you have had a good and successful week. I hope things with your companion are good and that you look daily for ways to serve him and to learn from him too. I pray you have felt the hand of the Lord in your dealings and that you have had moments to humble yourself to Him this week as well. I love you and am proud of you for being where you are and doing what you can to make each day count. Have a great weekend and a fantastic Sunday!

Mom