Guatemala Day 7

March 9, 2013 (Saturday)

            Well today was the big day that we had to head back to the real world.  I got up with Gary, Amy, and Michelle at 0700 and went for a little walk.  I split off after a while and headed back for some breakfast.  Then went to the Galeria market to make my final purchases.  I got the purchases made just in time to head back to the hotel, finish packing a few things up, and get ready to head out.  It was so kind, Sabina wasn’t going to be driving us back, but she came to the hotel anyway on her day off to say goodbye to us.  So we got the truck all loaded up, packed in and headed off to Guatemala city to hit the airport.  Gary and I rode with Clay and Jonathon in the truck and Omar took everyone else in the Van.  It was a real nice drive.  We discussed a little bit about the week, and also how the process of having other groups come down goes, and just some of the different dynamics.  After about one hour we arrived at the airport, said our goodbyes and boarded the plane.  We did a reverse flight as on our way out, hit San Salvador, then caught a 4 ½ hour flight to JFK.  And here I am now on the bus ride back to Fairfield finishing up this weeks Journal.
     I’ve had a fair bit of time to reflect on this week, and I’m sure that a lot of it will continue to hit me over the next days and weeks.  I restarted writing in this journal about a month ago to take time every day and reflect on the hand of my Heavenly Father in my life, this week has helped show me just how much he is in my life and how much I have to be grateful for.  This trip was in a lot of ways similar to my full-time mission yet in a whole lot of ways different.  As I am sitting here I’m just realizing that I am only about a month away to the ten year anniversary of leaving for that incredible experience.  That mission definitely shaped and polished me to be a better person and prepared me for what life is really about; this mission I believe helped me truly see how much our Father in Heaven truly loves and cares about all his children, and that it is important for us to have clear eyes and full hearts to be an instrument in his hands to bless and love others.  I saw and did things that I did not expect and often had to remind myself that it is not all about me but that there is a grand scheme that is much bigger than I am.  I remember thinking on the plane ride home from Atlanta eight years ago, about all the incredible experiences both good and bad and also thinking about the amazing people I was able to both serve and serve with.  As I was caught up reflecting a line from a song we often sang at our meetings kept coming to my head and now I can’t help but think of it again “building friendships that will be eternal.”  I know that I will never see the vast majority of the people I interacted with in Guatemala, and I presume that many of the folks I worked with will over the years no longer be in contact, but just like with my first mission the friendships that were forged in the furnace of adversity will always be locked deep in mi Corazon.

Sabina, our translator

The LDS Church house, we past it on the way to Guatemala City

Clay, Jonathon, and Omar