The Homecoming!
Well, the end of the mission draws to a close, earlier than expected because of the Covid-19 pandemic that has raided the world. We received news Thursday night at like 11 pm, March 19th, from our Zone Leader Elder Bishop that Friday we would start quarantine (the next day). We got up Friday and went to Bradesco (the Bank) and then to the grocery store to buy our food supply to last at least a few weeks. Then we stayed stuck inside all day, and Saturday, and Sunday, and then Sunday night at about 9 pm we received a call from Elder Bishop again that he got the news that all foreigners would be sent back home the following day. We freaked out and then he called shortly afterwards saying that that following week we would receive notice of what day we would fly home. We began to pack our suit cases and say goodbyes to the members in Pindamonhangaba and our investigators and recent converts Guilherme and Yasmin by telephone. We would get all kinds of phone calls from the Elders in the mission office and one was about the S.T.E.P. program and if I had been signed up already. I told him no and I also got another phone call from the Elder later on because the system had shut down there, what was the name of my Stake and Stake President, and I had to really think because it had been so long but it finally came to me and that was a relief. Finally, we were told Monday evening that I would be going home with the rest of the Americans on Wednesday and to be at the Rodaviaria in Jardim Paulista by 12 pm. Then on Tuesday they switched it to be there before 2 pm. So Tuesday night we said our last goodbye to the family of Erika and Lenilson and their kids Launa, Lura, and Isaaque. We laughed and chatted and it was so fun to see them before we left Pinda the next day. Sister Melquiades would be going to Jacaeri and would be in a trio. Then Wednesday comes and we get all ready with our suit cases and clean and get the apartment ready for the future missionaries there and then at 12:10 we go down to put our bags in Irma Dulci's car. She is the ward Relief Society President and was happy to take us to Sao Jose Dos Campos. We left and she had made some sandwiches for us to eat in the car as it was an hour and 10 minute car ride. We got there at about 1:30 and there are only a few missionaries there. But in the next 30 minutes everyone shows up, so we all take pictures and hug and say our goodbyes and then the first van came and took a group to the airport. We wait another hour and the next van comes and gets us and we all get in. Sister Mel and the other Sisters go to their areas and it was sad to say goodbye. The van ride was only an hour to Guarulhos and we got there at 4 pm. We passed by Vila Ema and I thought about how a year and 2 months ago I had arrived on my first day in the field there at that same place.
We arrive at the airport and the next van pulls up behind us of another group of missionaries from my mission so it was great seeing all of them. We all go in together to the lobby area and there is the rest of our mission with President and Sister Miller. We hang out and chat and everything is craziness because there are a ton of other missionaries there too, from all over the Brazil. President is working things out for us and we were really blessed to have him there helping and guiding us. The Elders from the mission office too, poor guys, because they were the ones that were organizing everyone. We finally get the news at 6 pm, that actually we are not going on a plane tonight, but that it is scheduled for tomorrow, still they don't know what time. So we all grab our bags and get into the giant buses and head to the hotel to stay the night. We arrive at the front and I see the sign ''Marriott'' and I was like ''you are kidding me.'' ''What??'' I could not believe we would be staying in a Marriott. It was way crazy and super nice and fancy!! We all brought our bags in and waited in the reception hall as they called us up to sign into our rooms with a companion. So my last comp was Sister Moon from Orange county California! We brought our bags up to our room on the 2nd floor then went back down to hang out with the other missionaries. There were also others missionaries staying there other than our mission. But President gathered us around and said he had booked a nice dinner for us as a mission and to have a last testimony meeting together. So we all head to the room off the dining area and sit and he starts the meeting off speaking in Portuguese and then he looks around and says ''Wait, why am I speaking Portuguese?'' and everyone laughs and we sing ''I'm trying to be Like Jesus'' as the opening song and then have a prayer by Sister Abilla. Then Sister Miller stands up and bears her simple, yet strong testimony to us that this is the true church of Christ and that the Book of Mormon is true and was translated by the gift and power of God through Joseph Smith and how much it has influenced her life since she was introduced to the church and baptized (in Camarillo!!). Then President stands up and tells us about an experience he had preparing for and running an Iron Man in Australia 9 years ago with his son. His message was about how difficult and trying life is and how many challenges we will face, but that someone is always there, watching, helping, guiding, healing, leading, and comforting and that is the Savior Jesus Christ who sometimes works through other people. Also, that we all will reach our goal of eternal life, if we just keep going, just push through, and don't give up. The blessing of life eternal from God is the same for all His children, so long as we continue faithful and with a strong hope in Jesus Christ. He then invited us to share our testimonies because they were still getting things ready for dinner and at this time it was 7:45 pm. So a few people start popping up in their seats and they bear their testimonies and one of the Elders from the mission office, Elder Tanner, stood up to tell us his experience about working in the office and receiving all the steps to get us home and he bore his strong testimony that the Lord was in every step and He guided what needed to be done and it is all a miracle that we have everything we need to get home safe. It was really powerful and a blessing to hear that! I stood up towards the end because I knew this would be the last time I would share my testimony in front of other missionaries as a missionary. It was really wonderful and the Spirit of the Lord was so powerful and present. What a beautiful way to end my last night as an official representative of Jesus Christ! We then all went into the dining hall and ate dinner together as a mission. The food was very delicious and super fancy and I had a really great time. They told us we would receive more information tomorrow and so we stayed chatting and then began to wonder up to our rooms. I had a great time with Sister Moon as we shared mission stories and experiences and I felt so old! (I was the oldest Sister there, with time on the mission I mean). The next day we got up and talked and shared some more stories then got ready and headed down for breakfast. Sister Moon's mom called her from the hotel phone so that was hilarious and little weird for us haha. After breakfast, we hung out by the pool with some other Sisters and talked and then took mine and Sister Knudson's funeral photos because we are officially ending our missions. Then we went back to our rooms to pack and brought our stuff downstairs to the lobby. We then waited around for the buses to come get us and we kind of freaked out a little because we went into one bus, while our luggage went into another, so when we got to the airport, we had to wait until our bags came which took a little while. We then headed inside the airport and put our bags with our mission's stuff, took pictures with President and Sister Miller, and then I saw a few people from my MTC group that we all flew on the same plane together to come to Brazil. I saw a Sister Noall, Elder Cox, and Elder Bastian and then the sweet Sisters that took care of me and Sister Vaenuku in the MTC - Sister Wilkin, Sister Vueyk , and Sister Larson. I hung out with the other Sisters from my mission and we would walk around and go get food and açaí and then Néfi came around telling us to be down with the rest of our mission at 4 pm. So we go down a little after and there is this huge group of missionaries waiting to hear their names be called to get on a plane. President did not like that so much so he goes and talks to one of the guys in charge and has him put us all on the second flight for that night, so at 10:50 pm. We all take our luggage up to the 3rd floor to check in and then wait in another line for our itineraries and then go back down to the 2nd floor and that is when President and Sister Miller say: "Well, we are leaving....." And everyone was like "NOOOOOO" and then that is when we all gathered around and sang ''God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again'' and everyone was crying and then we all lined up to give Sister Miller a hug, and then President hugged all the Elders and then one Elder asked to hug Sister Miller so then all of the Elders started hugging her and so then all us Sisters began to hug President Miller, so it was all a very sad, but concluding farewell. They waved goodbye and walked away right after telling us that they loved us so much! Afterwards, we all agreed to stay together and to hang out until 9 when we would go up to security and at this time it was 5 pm. So we sat on the floor and some played the guitar, others sang, others played Uno, others sat quietly reading or writing, and others went to go get food or to the bathroom. We all stuck together as a mission and I loved being able to get to know the missionaries better. Some still wanted to spend the last amount of time talking Portuguese so we would switch to English and then Portuguese. It was good. Finally, at 9 pm we all got together, as Néfi as our leader (lol) and went up to pass through security. And so, this is where I almost do not make it back. Because I had never received an updated copy of my Visa, so when I got to the customs guy, he looked at it and was thinking and asked me the last time I had been to the Federal Police Station and then went out and asked the other workers near by what he should do and this whole time I was praying so fervently in my mind and heart to God to let the man have a soft heart and let me through. Finally, he came back (and this was a span of literally 10 minutes because I was one of the last missionaries now and Sister Garza was waiting for me looking confused) and it was like the dramatic stamp from the movies, like literally when he stamped it I was like ''I AM FREE BABY I AM GOING HOME'', so then I said a heartfelt prayer of gratitude and we caught up with the other missionaries. We all stayed together waiting at the terminal and had money on our cards still so we wanted to use it up before we got home, so we bought stuff at the sovereign shop and would get up to get water or use the bathroom. It was just full of missionaries (we were all lost) and I had such a fun time hanging out with the Sisters, especially Sister Abilla, Sister Laws and Sister Garza and we all laughed a lot and tried to get our minds off things. Finally, we did the last role count by Néfi as a mission and then we started boarding the plane and it all started becoming real. We got on and I found my seat at the back of the plane seat 34F, it was the middle section and aisle seat, so it was good. They gave us a fancy mask to wear during the flight because of Covid-19. We then took off after the scheduled time, it was almost 11:30 pm, and I said goodbye to Brazil and we were up in the air. Then the very long 12 hour flight brought us into LAX and I was so blessed to just land there and not have to take another connecting flight! A few minutes before we landed one of the Elders a few seats behind me was like, "Hey, guys, we should sing. If we all start then everyone will join in, but we need you guys to help us." So they began to sing and I and the missionaries around me joined in in singing "Called to Serve'' in Portuguese! By the chorus the whole plane was singing and we sang the 2 verses and literally just as we finish the last word "celestial" the plane touches ground and we all yell and whoot and start to sing "I'm Proud to be an American". We land at 7 am, so the pilot flew super quickly to make up the lost time of leaving late. We slowly get off the plane and as I step out onto the runway thing, I feel the cold, dry California air and am grateful to be back on American soil and my home state. We come through customs and that was so quick and easy and then we wait at the baggage claim, for like literally ever. I see Sister Wager and she told me how she got on the plane at the last minute and that she hopes her family knows that she came home. I at least knew that President had said he would send out a letter letting our parents know our flight, but I was still nervous if they would not know of the time or plane. I also see Elder Harvey who was in the same as Sister Vaenuku and asks if he had seen her, but he said no. Then after 40 minutes of waiting, and with just a few other missionaries waiting there too, because I was one of the first to check my bags in on the plane, so they were the last to come off, I finally see my suitcases, the same ones that went with Hannah on her mission to France and that one had popped it's wheel off half way through my mission and the other had a half wheel and it was ripping so they were pretty beat up, but survived a legend! I look at the clock and realize that the day is March 27th and that at this same time of 8:30 am, exactly 16 months prior, I had arrived at this same airport leaving for Brazil. I thought that was such a neat tie-up and such a clear, exact time. Then I joined the throng of missionaries heading for the exit and that took about another 10 minutes. I was very anxious to see Mom and Dad and Clay so when I came around the corner, and realized that it was the same terminal that Hannah had came out of 21 months before, and I come up the ramp and in the distance I see Dadio, so I try to maneuver past the other missionaries, but can't, so I get to the top and just start running and I give momma the biggest hug and am just sobbing of relief to see them and of such a long time of not being able to embrace them. It was the best feeling ever to see them and hug them after such a long time! I love my family! I love my Mission! I love the people of Brazil! I love my Savior Jesus Christ and His Restored Church!
I love being a Missionary!!
Love,
Sister Giles 27/3/2020
