I have so many words and yet none at all sufficient enough to express how happy I am to be back. I have been so blessed, I cannot even begin to give the thanks sufficient...
So much has happened in the last week, and this is only my sixth day being back in the field. I guess I will start with the plane ride here for those (mom) who may have been concerned (mom) :) the flight to Atlanta was good, Nate (from Hillcrest) was on my same flight --along with several other missionaries-- all on their way to the England MTC! We talked for a second after the plane landed then split ways to find our connections. However, I realized after walking for a few minutes towards the train that I didn't know my gate number because I didn't have my second boarding pass. A lady I asked printed it off for me and I headed out. Missed the train, but the terminal ended up being fairly close. Up to this point I had not seen the sister I was supposed to be looking for. While boarding the plane the person in front of me fell back and we all kinda fell backwards a bit, so I apologized to the girl behind me to find out later that was her! She didn't know she was supposed to be looking for anyone and she didn't have a tag (hadn't been set apart yet) so we didn't realize we were both missionaries.
We all got on the plane fine, out of the gate fine, then it starts to rain. Like, really rain. The captain said he estimated an hour and a half wait before they would let the 45 planes ahead of us begin to
take off. And an hour and a half it was. Once the storm cleared it was a steady flight and we arrived around 5:10 in New York. Almost to the baggage claim area, I saw Elder Young first standing with Elder Ko and Elder Voorhees (Elder Voorhees actually goes home this transfer with Elder Young but is an assistant for only this transfer with them). They asked us a million questions about home while we asked a million questions about the mission.
We got to the mission office and there were President and Sister Reynolds. I loved seeing them. They are amazing. The minute we got on the road I felt like I had never left. Everything was so familiar and I really felt like I was home seeing them at the office. They had dinner ordered for us so we all ate together and talked with President and Sister Reynolds for a bit. Elder Young told President how anxious we were to find out our companions so he finally told us after dinner. I am with....Hermana Mejía and Hermana Spencer in Patchogue!! (That's on Long Island). I was so happy it was kind of ridiculous (also, Hermana Mejía trained Hermana Spencer so they're still together).
We live in a cute little house with a washer and nonfunctional dryer in the cellar on a little dead end street ten minutes or so away from the church. Sister Mejía is the driver and the other two of us switch off with who gets to be copilot. The island is a complete one-eighty from Brooklyn, but I love it! We had exchanges Thursday with the sister training leaders (Sister Tarnaskey and Sister Urízar) and I went knocking for the first time! I love it! (You can't knock in Brooklyn...that's just not a thing) It was a huge tender mercy for me that we were in an English area during prime-time find and yet every door we knocked was a Hispanic willing to listen to us with whom we got return appointments for the sisters in that area! I know that was God giving me the opportunity to gain a personal testimony of prime-time find and knocking (which I had never had the opportunity to do previously). I am thankful for that.
Friday was Mega Zone! Hermana Ashford is in my zone so I saw her, and Elder Brown (cafe) was there too! I also saw Hermana Bugingo, but we didn't really get to talk much. Our mega zone meeting went for seven hours. Yep. Seven hours of AWESOME counsel. I was in heaven. It was just missionaries everywhere, missionary work in every conversation... Man I missed this so much.
Saturday morning was the first day since I came that was normal haha. We finished companion study and my sisters asked what I did with my companion before for language study (Sister Mejía is a native, so that is a huge help). These sisters.... They are amazing. When we all woke up together,
exercised together, planned together, studied together.... Man, that first day I seriously wanted to cry during studies. We had a great little heart to heart to heart and I just expressed how grateful I am. We have been as exactly obedient as possible in all we can and I have felt the Spirit so much more in my life serving. I feel God sent me home to allow me to reflect on everything and have the opportunity for Him to bear witness to me that He put me there to gain that experience.
And that is my Tale of Two Missions as I have begun the second with a fresh and amazing start!! I feel as though I never left, yet I feel so far from that self I was before, from the mission I was a part of before. If I ever had "the greenie fire" I've got it tenfold now! I have never had so much desire to serve. It is amazing how many blessings I've seen. The language has progressed so much the last four days, I can't even explain! I feel so confident, We have been talking to everything that moves and have had a lot of success these last few days. I know it won't always be like this and sometimes there are those periods of planting, not reaping, but I'm just happy to be laboring in the field! :)
Entonces. This has been a great couple of days, and I am looking forward to the next four weeks I will have with this amazing trio. #lovethetriolife
I am almost to the church and will send this off and reply to anything else.
Love y'all so much!!
Muchísimo amor,
Hermana Karra Gourley
Enviado desde mi iPad
1- me and Sister Welch before I left
2- hour and a half wait in Atlanta
3- finally up with the storm cleared
4-6- with the sister training leaders! (Hermana Tarnaskey is the
redhead and Hermana Urízar is the other)
7- mega zone reunion - stoker = fun time!
8- food with a investigator
9- Elder Hendrickson in our district
10-11- us with the elders that were still here just now when we took
these pictures haha! (Elder Peters is the one on the right --he's from
the Netherlands-- and Elder Cahan is on the left)
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