Hola Familia/ Amigos
Well I have to admit I am so happy that this day
has come for one
reason. And that reason is for the fact that
I'll never have to write
another email home as a missionary! I truly have
been completely
burned out of writing emails each week home, but
I do it because I
love my Mom!
I honestly cannot describe how I feel right now
at this moment in my
life. Yesterday being a Fast Sunday, I had the
chance to do what we
call Mighty Hour of Prayer, which is where we
end our fast with an
hour long prayer. It was probably one of the
most spiritual prayers I
have had my entire mission. I was able to
finally put words to how my
emotions feel. I have officially decided that my
heart has been taken
by the people of the California Santa Rosa
Mission! My heart is here,
and these are the people I love, they are my
family. However I know
deep down that I still have a very special place
for those who are at
home awaiting my arrival tomorrow.
This last week of my mission has been absolutely
amazing. We have had
so much fun as a companionship doing the work of
the Savior, but being
able to have fun, and enjoy ourselves at the
same time! I am so happy
for the opportunity that I have to end my
mission with both of these
fine missionaries! Elder Jeske, has been
absolutely an answer to my
prayers, and Elder Scow is just so laid back and
relaxed, that it is a
joyous amount of fun!
We had a lot of crazy things happen though, this
past week, that I
don't even know where the time has gone.
Monday was P-day which was absolutely just mind
blowing for me to
think that I was having to send an email to
friends and family letting
them know, that this would be my last week using
the email. But
obviously today all I am doing is sending a
quick email, and then off
to Santa Rosa I go! However we were able to
finish with my last P-Day
with a ton of competitive basketball over at the
Woodland Community
Center! It was such a blast, there actually
happened to be 3 college
basketball players there. One of them is playing
for some school in
Oregon! A small school, but he grew up in
Woodland, and the other 2
were from the city of Fairfield, but are playing
college ball in North
Carolina, 1 of them actually, finished his 4
years, and is gonna go
play in Europe. It was pretty competitive and a
ton of fun!
We ended the night with a super good Noche de
Hogar with the Luna
Family! Which was so much fun, I absolutely
loved it. We basically
talked with them about fasting and the
importance of it. However, I shared my
testimony with them since it was my last time
teaching them as a
family! It was so much fun, I never thought I
could fall in love with
a family so quickly. They mean the world to me!
Tuesday was another very good day. I was able to
participate in my
very own last zone meeting! It was amazing how I
felt like they were
teaching straight to my needs as a missionary,
but more than anything
they were giving me such good advice I felt like
for when I was going
home. It was great.
Wednesday I think was the craziest day of the
week! Well actually it
definitely was! Wednesday was the day I had to
go to Fairfield again
and actually get my MRI performed. I honestly
was quite scared, I
don't know why, but I just do not like the
feeling of being in doctor’s
offices, and such, which obviously means I’m not
supposed to be a
doctor.
However the crazy part of the entire story is
the fact, that I had to
get a dye injected into my shoulder socket.
Which they said wasn't
going to be very painful, just the fact that I
would feel super
swollen and tight. However long story short, it
was only supposed to
take 15 minutes to inject this dye into my
shoulder at the most, and I
was lying there on this table with a needle
shoved all the way into
my joint for an hour. Can you believe that? And
the fact they they
were supposed to numb the first layer, then numb
the muscle and then
go into the joint. Well let's just say they forgot
to numb the muscle
and all the nerves deep in my arm, and they just
went straight in. I
was in so much pain, but hate needles so much,
that I told
them just to keep it in there, and just get it
done with! It was a
long and miserable experience, also because the
fact that the camera
broke that was looking into my joint to see if
they were in the right
spot, and so then it just was miserable!
It was definitely hard to sleep that night since
I enjoy sleeping on
my right side, and my shoulder had 6 oz of this
liquid in it, which
didn't completely go away until like Friday
morning. However it
reminded me so much of shoulder surgery.
Friday was a good day! We had weekly planning, which
was
weird because it was my last time. However I
actually didn't really do
too much, because I had to drive all the way to
Davis to
have my departing interview with Presidente
Alba. It was actually a
very uplifting experience. I thought it was
going to be a lot
different, however I got so much from it, and
learned so much about my
self and the things I need to work on! And
continue to do when I get
home tomorrow!
We then had the chance to be able to go to Winters
with the Souza
family, and it was probably the best dinner I
have had my entire
mission! We went to the Buck Horn! It was
absolutely delicious! I got
a full rack of baby back ribs, and was
absolutely in love! I can't
thank the Souza family more. They are absolutely
amazing, and mean so
much to me! I am truly going to miss them!
It has been so hard to say goodbye to the people
here of the Santa
Rosa mission! This place has stolen my heart,
and I will always have a
special place for each and every person I have
met on my mission! I
have absolutely learned so much, and grown in so
many ways, and I give
all the credit to those I have served for the
past 2 years. People say
we go on missions to change others lives, but I
think they have
changed my life just as much, if not more.
Love you all so much! I'll see you all on the
Flipside!
Love,
Elder Parker Albertson
