Reactions, reactions, reactions!

I am often asked this question,

"are you going to meet him at the airport when he comes home?"

It amazes to me, because everyone says it in those exact words.

I always giggle at those people.

I know what their reaction will be when I answer them.

"No."

They gasp!

They question!

"Why not?!"

Truth is I don't think I should.

I think that time is for his family.

Think about it, you little missionary stalkers,

these are the people who

saw him as a baby,

 grew up with him,

raised him to be the man you love.

They missed him as much

if not a little more

than you.

Deal with it.

They had to not only deal with him leaving,

but deal with him not being around the house.

My time will come to be with him, but this is for his family.

I'm not about to rush in and take over after they've been so long without him,

because if someone did that to me it'd kill me.

I trust him,

he'll call me.

What's a little more time waiting?

Christmas two years ago

I'm going to take you back,

two years ago.

I was eighteen and getting ready to wait for a missionary.

Jeff was still around.

He got me a very special Christmas present.

He came to my door, just as he was leaving to go up north with his family.

It came in this little white box, tied with a green ribbon.

This was my Christmas present from Elder Gibson before he left.

Don't think I left it in it's little box,

I wear it almost everywhere.

I love it as it is right now,

nice and clean,

because it reminds me how it was when I first got it

2 years ago.

My pretty aquamarine necklace.

Written November 28, 2011; Sent November 29, 2011; Recieved December 22, 2011

Lunes 28 de Novembre 2011
¡Nikki!
You ran the MARATHON! That's amazing, ya know. . . . We'll have to see about the whole "me joining in" next year. . . I might die. . . and maybe literally. . . ;) No, probably not, we'll see. ;) I think my parents might be stalking you. . . ;) jk, lol! No, it's just that they told me that they saw a picture of you right after ending the marathon, and then later that you had replaced Oreo with a cute new puppy, but that's all. I know you'd do great in the marathon, and that you'd be able to finish! You've got awesome running skills, like that. ;) (but serious, eh.) Can you even read this!? I just noticed that my handwriting has gotten horrid. . .  ,':/ oh well, I hope you can. ;) So, I'm doing pretty good out here. I got changed again, now I'm in Moroleón, Guanajuato. (Everyon works in some phase of making clothes here! Whether it's stamping the image on the fabric or ebroidering, or cutting the pieces or sewing them together, or selling the fabric to begin with, EVERYONE works in clothes here!. . . ok not EVERYONE, but the VAST majority ;) Oh, and everyone and their dog has a motorcycle/mo-ped/scooter, but that's NOT an exaggeration (spelling) There are more of those than cars here! they have their own little parking spaces too! Ha ha! It makes me kind of want to have mine again. . . my little yellow scooter. . . that died. . . :( Ha ha ;) oh well, we can't be on vehicles like that as missionaries anyway. . . :P . . . saftey rules. Oh well, it's there for a reason and I MUST obey! ;) I really like it here. :) ) Ok, I'm not quite sure I put that whole think in parenthasis. . . oh well. ;) But, yeah, if you want to buy clothes in México, this would be the place! It's super cheap. (as in well made with a low price) The members here are a little. . . different, let's say. But they're good people, they just need to stop talking bad about each other. That would help them a TON! But they're good people. Our investigators are awesome! Two of them are teenage brothers (15 and 13). The 15 year old (Jony) went to EFY and loved it and then he came to church for a few months, but then his mom said he couldn't get baptized. . . and  now she doesn't even let him come to church anymore, just to the activities. But he knows that the church is true and wants to be baptized. The 13 year old (Ivan - [ee-vahn]) Is I'm pretty sure the best investigator that I've ever had. He learns SO fast! And he's always saying to his dad, "¡Andale! Dejame ir a la capilla!" (Come on! Let me go to the chapel!) But he doesn't really pay much attention to him. . . sadly. They are some of the better youth that's here. Jony always has his "For the Strength of Youth" and his "Book of Mormon" with him, and Ivan carries his "Book of Mormon" and the pamphlets and some Liahonas. They're awesome. Their parents are good people with good intentions, but they're just a little confused when it comes to religion. . . we're trying to open their minds. . . ;) They just need to feel the Spirit super strong, that's all. ;) One day when we walked out of our apartment, there was a little green parrot. He was there for the whole day, and so the next morning we chased him into our apartment because it was cold out there. We put up signs on the doors of the other apartments, but no one came to claim the bird. So we gave it to one of the young men in the ward, but first we named him "chicken" but in Spanish: "Pollo" [poy-yo] He's really pretty, bright green with several shades of blue in the wings,

Pluma del Pollo

his only downside is that his previous owners cut the feathers of his tail, and it doesn't really look very good. . . but they fell out and new ones come in with time. ;) Anyway. . . Oh! We have a part-member family that we're working with. The ones who are members are kind of inactive (a mom w/3 kids 17, 15, 13) The mom and 17 year old are members . All the kids are kind of punkish. . . Ha ha! but they just make me laugh. Actually, Daniel (17) is going to make us pizza on Wednesday. But yeah, they're going to be a lot of work. . . I'm pretty sure that they all smoke, (maybe not the 13 year old), some of them drink, their language can be rather. . . course? (is that how you say it?) But they're good people, and they have really good questions. We were able to have a good first "lesson" with the mom yesterday. (and her kids too :) ) But yeah, the work's good out here! :D How're you doing? Where'd you go for Thanksgiving? How's school going? How're Lu and Louie? ;) I hope that you're doing well, and that you're happy. Hope to hear from you soon!

1

1. Moroleón
2. The Church
3. Letters
4. Food
5. Investigators
6. The Scriptures
7. Bikes
8. Faithful Members
9. Pens

Merry Christmas from 1,292 miles away. . . About.

This is Elder Gibson's last Christmas in the field.

Also his last package from me.

Weird, right?

No more pictures of packages.

I'm a little freaked out,

because I'm so used to looking forward to what I'm going to send next.

Now I'm just looking forward to him coming home. . .

Ha!

Here it is!

Last, but not least!

 I haven't sent him these in a long time, but these are his favorite and I remember one year we were telling our gifts and he said he asked for a big bag of dried mangoes. . . He got it, of course, but we all gave him strange looks. Who in the world passes an iPod or a phone for dried fruit?! One of the reasons I love him.

 Recently one of our best friends got married. I try to send Elder Gibson the wedding invites.

Of course the Oreos. :) These are new, limited edition Candy Cane Oreos. They are delicious and I had to go through three stores to find them. Merry Christmas, Elder.

 

 

 

 

Elf hats! One for him and one for his companion.

 

  

Musical Ties! Both of them sing Jingle Bells.

 

 

Everything expect the wrapping paper wrapped presents were stuffed into these stockings. One for the companion and one for him. The elf hats had bells on them, so when I set them down on the scale at the post office it jingled just a little bit. . . Hope that didn't catch any attention.

  

Finished project. They probably got smooshed, but that's alright.

Documented my mess. . .

Merry Christmas, Elder. Your last Christmas with that special calling. I hope it's a good one.

2 Months. . .

As Elder Gibson comes

closer and closer

I'm starting to get a feeling of pure and untarnished

panic.

How. . .

When. . .

What. . .

I can't believe he's actually going to come home at some point.

I think some part of me thought this was going to be my life now.

Ha ha!

I have to actively stop myself from imagining how it's all going to go down,

how I will see him again,

because I really don't know what's going to happen.

I'm excited beyond my mind,

but this is it.

The moment I've been waiting for.

Two years in the making.

Life changing.

I waited for him, but I wonder if he is still there too.

He didn't give any indication he's not. . . 

But how am I supposed to judge that from a missionary?

Goodness,

and panic.

2 Months. . .

Never thought I'd say this but. . . Help!

It's in three months. . .

The moment I've been waiting for

for 2 years.

I will see Elder Gibson.

3 months.

Not only are we in the single digits,

but the single syllables too.

What am I going to do?

I've pictured this day a million

billion

kazillion

times

in my head.

I've DREAMED about this moment,

starting the day he left.

But come on, I don't honestly know a thing.

I don't know how I'll react.

I don't know how he'll react.

I don't know what day it will be.

I don't know if I'll sleep the night before.

Will I get off work?

Will I be out of school?

Will it matter?

Will I spend a day with him?

Will it only last an hour?

Will I be allowed to hug him?

What will I say to him?

What will he say to me?

Will he be awkward with me?

Should I have someone else there,

to make him more comfortable?

Will I have to call him first?

I always pictured us meeting at the temple grounds.

I don't know why, that's just where my dreams put us.

But I don't even know if that's the place I'll see him

for the first time in 2 years.

I'm sending off his last package soon.

Last package.

What am I going to do?

I guess I'll fall back on the two things that have kept me going all this way.

I'll pray,

then I'll wing it.

Wish me luck. . .

3 months. . .

A Confirmation

I had spent the day trying to get rid of stuff,

but I'm too nostalgic.

Everything has a memory with Jeff.

A shirt he complimented,

a dried flower he gave me,

the dress I wore when he danced with me,

the shoes I wore on our first date.

I've been trying so hard to hold on to what I could,

and I had a boyfriend.

Life is really confusing for a girl with a missionary

who loves a boy who is there now.

Girls, it's okay.

It's okay to date.

It's okay to have a boyfriend.

Just know how it's going to hurt him,

and you,

when you have to choose.

I chose Jeff.

My boyfriend stayed a little too late at my house watching a movie.

We'd forgotten to look at the time.

My parents kicked him out around 12:30am and they were upset.

It wasn't until my mom looked me in the eye and said,

"who are you?"

Who am I.

I had felt like I was loosing myself all day long.

Thinking of your missionary when you're dating someone else is a guilt trip,

and I couldn't help but think of Jeff always.

It didn't help that his letter was taking four months.

I didn't know if he had moved on,

if he wanted me to move on,

if he had forgotten about me,

if the letters were getting lost,

I didn't know.

I went down to my room and bawled my eyes out,

to the point when hiccups came.

I said a silent prayer to,

"send me someone, please!"

Then walked in my mom.

We talked about everything that was bothering me.

A good talk.

A long talk.

I calmed down.

Then she left.

As I was laying in bed thinking everything over,

how confusing my life had become.

I said another quiet prayer,

"show me what to do."

Then,

it was as if someone whispered in my ear.

"Go and get the mail."

I made me jump!

I looked over at my clock.

Two o'clock in the morning.

I thought to myself,

"It's 2:00 in the morning?! Why should I get it now? Anything that's in there now will be there when I wake up."

But I ignored myself,

wrapped myself in a blanket,

snuck out of my house,

and went to get the mail.

I couldn't see the letters in the dark,

not to mention I was afraid to look to see if one said Elder Gibson on it.

I waited until I was in my kitchen before I sifted through the letters.

It didn't take long to find his.

14 pages long.

A continuous effort since July.

Elder Gibson!

I

gasped,

grabbed the letter,

ran to my room,

read it,

cried,

prayed thanks,

read it,

cried,

prayed thanks,

and went to sleep happy.
A confirmation.
That letter came at just the right moment.