Well being in Tennessee, seeing all the people I love so much there, and getting to know them in deeper ways I wasn't able to as a missionary... It was all more then I could have imagined. Saturday night we (when I say we, I am talking about my aunt Karyl and I - she went with me) arrived and spent the evening with a family I love very much, Sunday, we went to church and I was able to talk to several people who mean so much to me. The rest of the day was spent hanging out with the family we stayed with, and some other members of the Spanish Branch. Then we were in Columbia on Monday and Tuesday as well, visiting and having fun, hanging out with my two great friends, Hector & Jesus, a few times and then staying 2 nights with Sara (a very awesome friend of mine & strong member of the church - one of the funniest & funnest people I know). On Monday a member drove us to Nashville to pick up our rental car, and there we visited the Martinez (a wonderful couple in Antioch whom I love very much). On Tuesday I was able to go up to Nashville and go stop in at the end of a meeting with all the Spanish missionaries - that was really incredible, afterwards I went with Nelson & the Abac family (some strong members in the branch) to a river where we swam & had tons of fun - they convinced me to jump off a little cliff, holding on to a rope. It was scary but I did it! Then that night I ate dinner with the Draper family - a VERY incredibly strong, amazing, fun family who I stayed with as a missionary for nearly 6 months in Columbia. Wednesday came and we packed up, and went to Murfreesboro to visit with the Sister missionaries (Hermanas Gasca & Muñoz) - we went to lunch with them, then after that we went to Javier's house (he is a member of 2 years). We talked to him for a while and had some fun there, then we went to Smyrna to Lorena's house, we were planned to stay the nights we had left during the vacation. Lorena is a member of the church of almost one year, and she is SO fun to be with and talk to. I love her SOO much! Her, and her room-mate Anna took such good care of us while we were there. They were so fun to stay with. Anyway so my aunt went to do her own thing Wednesday night - I dropped her off in Nashville with a friend, then went to go each dinner with President and Sister Hutchings (the mission president of the Tennessee Nashville Mission, and his wonderful wife - they are like the mom & dad of the missionaries while they are far away from their parents) - it was so good to be able to talk with them! Afterwards I drove to Murfreesboro to meet up with Javier for a movie. We went to see Terminator, then afterwards hung out listening to music (he showed me his spanish music, and I played random songs from my I-Pod) and talking for hours. :)
The next morning, Thursday, my aunt Karyl, Javier, and I all went to Burgess Falls, in Cookeville, Tennessee. That was a blast! Toward the end, though, it started raining! Haha... it got really dark and we had to run up like a million steps to get out of the area. I happened to have a pair of pajama pants and a random green shirt in the trunk of the car, so lucky me, I was able to change my clothes before we got in the car for the 1 1/2 hour ride home. I was exhausted because I hadn't slept at all the night before. We drove Javier home, then went back to Smyrna. We hung out at Lorena's house that night, I believe, and Javier dropped by a little later and we talked in his truck while the rain was DUMPING down on us and the weather people were talking about possible tornadoes. Crazy.
So Friday came and I visited with a couple people, I think we went up to Antioch (my aunt & I) and visited the "rice family" ... hehe... I call them that because they are 4 single guys who live on a street called "rice road" and its just faster to say the Rice Family then say all their names... and you can't just say one of their names, because then you leave out the other 3, and that's not nice. haha... We hungout with them, and I left Karyl there to hangout with them because Javier & I had planned to do something later at like 9pm. So Javi and I went to El Aroyo to listen to Kareoke while eating some ice cream and trez leches cake. :)
On Saturday... Man I'm forgetting things I did. Well, at 6pm or so, I went to Murfreesboro to help a few members do some cleaning in the church building there. Then Javier and I hungout again. I was planning that night to go dancing at the Ibisa club with Sara & some others from Columbia, and invited Javier, but he didn't know if he'd be able to come. Anyway, I left at 10pm or so, went to Smyrna, got all ready to go to the club, and met up with them there around midnight. Oliver, Dorian, Fausto, Sara, and Gordo were there from Columbia, and Juan Carlos (one of the Rice family guys :) hehe) came. I danced for a while (even though I don't know how... just followed the leader basically) and when we went outside at one point, Javier showed up looking so good. :) So yeah, I was pretty happy to see him, and we went back inside, and Javier & I went to the dance floor. We were there until 3:30am or so, and Karyl had gotten tired, so she took Javi's truck back to Lorena's house. So Javier came with me in the rental car, and we headed back to Lorena's. Javier tried to help me review my notes for a talk I was going to give in Columbia in church (5 or 6 hours later!! eeek) but I was falling asleep on him. haha... So he said goodbye, and I went inside. I got a couple hours of sleep, then Karyl and i woke up early enough to make the 1 1/2 drive to Columbia & get there by 8:40.... but we got lost (because of the GPS giving us weird routes - argh - and my own dumb-ness in not just following my instincts... i know tennessee!) and got there at 9:30. Anyway, I gave my talk, stayed after a little bit to talk with people, then we left and headed toward Murfreesboro. After church in M-boro, I visited with Edilver (one of my really really good friends - he is a very special guy) then went to Javier's and we made lunch... then he took me to Monica's and we visited with her. After that Karyl came to pick me up in the rental car, and we drove back to Columbia again - I visited with guadelupe (an awesome lady who is an example to me in many ways) and then we hungout with Hector & Jesus one last time. Afterwards we drove back to Smyrna, I dropped Karyl off at Lorena's, and then went to visit Javier again.
Monday Javier let me borrow his truck (because we had to return the rental car) and I went up to Nashville and Alex (a totally cool Puerto Rican guy who was baptized in December - such a strong example to me, facing challenges no one understands except Christ - but he keeps going) and he colored & cut my hair! He's so awesome. I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay him - he's done it twice for me now. Anyways... then afterwards I went back to Smyrna, finished packing my things, then headed back to Antioch for a family night (family home evening, noche de hogar) with tons of people i love (The Martinez, Alexander, De Leon family, The rice family - Juan carlos, santiago, Alexis, The Garcia family, and the Antioch sister missionaries, and some others were all there)! I was able to give a little lesson, then we had some food, and at 8pm, I had to run, so Karyl & I left and headed to Murfreesboro for a family night at Javier's house - the sister missionaries from M'boro were there, along with a couple members i know - Felipe, Ezequiel, Javier, of course, Ricardo, Fidencio... and I think there was someone else too. Maybe. Hmm... then so Karyl & javier & I talked for a while, then Karyl went to take a call... it was late like 12:00am but we had to leave for the airport at 4am... so we didn't get much sleep. At 4am, Javier drove us to the airport. It was hard to say goodbye, but we did. And well... the rest is history - we flew home, my mom picked me up, and now I'm here in Utah again, keeping in touch with the people who hold my heart there in Tennessee... wow that sounds like a cheesy country love song... but that's how it is. :) And i like it that way.
Well, must go... This entry is definitely long enough. :)
You comment, I'll respond. It's a promise.
Kalli Dawn
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