Yes, family. It is true. In under 48 hours I will be on a plane heading back to Pennsylvania, this past week has truly been bittersweet, and very much my heart is filled that I have had the opportunity to serve with these people, at this very time. It truly does not feel like two years. These two years have past faster that I could have imagined, but they did past, and new doors are opening. I am thankful for the people here, and when I get home, I'll let you see some of the pictures of the people that really matter in my life. I love the Seven Springs Branch. I served there from May 2013 - Now. With a small stint in Menlo Park in between. I feel apart of them, and apart of the branch. I will deeply miss the people, and the opportunity to speak this language everyday, but I will continue to seek and find ways to come back here and live here.
I have learned a lot on my mission, so I think it may be impossible to sum it up in just a few words or in a single email, but one of the biggest things I have learned is that change is a real, and that even though it's real, the change is so subtle, and so small day by day that we can get down, and forget that we are changing.
Some of the bigger changes in my life, maybe a bit trivial but I'll start off with these.
Two years ago, I didn't really like to sing, well I did, but not in public
Now I sing in sacrament meetings, priesthood meetings, you name it.
Two years ago, people had to give me 100 dollars to eat a piece of fish
Now, I eat fish on a regular basis, including the weird stuff, raw fish, sashimi, raw squid, boiled squid, fish roe. You name it, i've probably eaten it sometime in the last two years.
Two years ago, I spoke a few word of Mandarin, a handful of phrases in Spanish such as
你好，你好吗 etc. and in spanish vamos a comer!, and vamos todos al rancho! (papa rancho for those who are in on the joke)
Now, I speak, read, and test up to Mandarin Chinese on an HSK Level 4 - 5 Level (the highest is Level 6) and my spanish is enough to keep a conversation (I still a bad hispanic)
Two years ago, I could say I was a bit unorganized, and fulfilling tasks might have been hard to me to accomplish as a whole
Now, I feel like organization is really streamlined, and I understand what it means to remember things and just do them. Even though I am not going to continue to use missionary planners (they don't really work as well in 'real life') I have lots of Apps I can use to plan my days so I can be successful.
I have developed patience, through companions I have learned that others just have their own situations, their own things they are working on in their own lives, and that we can be helps for that. No matter what they are going through, we can help, and be patient with them.
Humility, this is something I have learned at times when I know I cannot fully measure up, that we need to more fully rely on God for some of the things. Chinese is not an easy thing to learn, learning how to deal with people is not easy either. Being a missionary has the highest standards for any person I think on earth, and EVERYONE is watching you, I have learnt how to live up to that standard and be professional with everyone. I have developed so many great relationships, and even professional relationships. This is one thing that I am excited that is coming to an end, is that everyone watching me on the street.
This weekend my heart is full, we had a FHE for my outgoing sponsored by our branch president. I think more than half the branch was there, and it was such an amazing experience to feel all the love and friendship that have been cultivated for the past 14 months with these wonderful people. It was a great experience to be able to share my experiences from my mission with them, and to get photos with them.
Sunday was also a very crazy day, not only did I only get 3-4 hours of sleep, but I had two talks, one spanning the time of 30 minutes. It was my last week at church, and I tried to pay special attention to how I felt, and just greeting and saying goodbye to everyone. It was bittersweet, but it definitely was a great time. My talk went well, and I was happy with it. I will miss these people.
The outgoing fireside was incredibly long due to the amount of missionaries going home, but it was very spiritual, and the spirit was felt. The last hymn, the whole congregation stood up with us and sang "The Spirit of God" and many tears were shed, as this very tender moment of ending our missions was coming to a close.
I am grateful for all of you and your support while I have been out here such a long way away. I am excited to go home and to see all of you in a few days, I hope my flights go well so that I don't have any delays.
Love all of you, I still can't believe this day has come. My last email to be sent on my mission. Now it will be a lot easier to communicate.
Elder (soon to be Nathan) Sanchez
Branch Farewell Family Home Evening
Christina and Me
Sarah and her husband (Investigators)
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