Ok I know it has
taken forever to get around to it but I think I’ve found a spot to kind-of
start my blog. Getting home from my mission. Then I can refer to my mission
stories and stuff in other posts if I feel inclined to do so.
Ok, so I got home in
September and it seems like forever ago but also just yesterday. My mission was
amazing, life-changing and was the greatest decision I have ever made. I loved
it. It was fantastic but it had to end, and so it did. I came back a little
early to jump straight into school at BYU-Idaho but not too early. I had about
5ish days at home (In California) before I was off to Idaho. In those five days
I did quite a lot but I want to talk about my first few hours off the plane---
getting released from my service as a missionary from my stake president.
I got off the plane,
(& missed southern hospitality immediately) and then I was greeted by my
parents with signs (made by mom of course). I was told my brother and soon to
be sister in law wouldn’t make it until tomorrow. (BUMMED!!!)
We then were off to go for my release
but my dad thought it would be good if I went to the mall along the way as to
give President Alexander time to get home from work. I was able to get anything
I wanted for me…. Running shoes with neon laces. Big deal for me, not gonna
lie. Left the mall, a million pass along cards later and headed to Presidents.
We got there and I
got interviewed and we chatted with my parents. Great things were noted but one
that meant the most is something he said to me. It was along the lines of;
“Sister Guymon, on
your mission you dealt with eternal matters on a daily basis. Everything you
did was eternal. From what you studied, to who you spoke to. This has been your
norm for the last year and a half. Your back now. Your gonna do some things
that seem, not so eternal. Like school, dating, meeting friends, and other
things like that. Im gonna guess that you might get frustrated at one point and
feel down that what your doing seems insignificant to your eternal salvation.
But there will come a day when you have found ‘the one’ and you will be looking
across the alter from him and you will have a flashback at your decisions you
will have made from now until then, and you will realize just how very eternal those
decisions are. Never forget that.”
I’ve tried to keep
that in mind and be excited about the upcoming adventures in my life, rather
than missing my mission so much im in ‘return missionary freak out mode’. I
will ALWAYS have fond thoughts and a piece of my heart in Georgia, but I also
had some of my heart in California and Idaho & Oh boy was I excited to see
my family! So he made me take off my name tag, and I became a girl with a first
name again.
I was so excited when
we pulled up to my house, I wanted to see my dog so bad! I ran to the door and
as I swung the door open CODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My brother had jumped out
from the door and screamed boo!!! There was a photographer waiting to get my
reaction to seeing my brother for the first time in 3+ years and it was
AMAZING! Not only that but my soon to be sister in-law was there! I hadent seen
her in 1.5 years so also super pumped! Then my dog! Great surprise. It turns
out the mall was them just delaying me. Cody and Laura had hopped on a plane
that landed shortly after mine and they raced home just in time to surprise me
=) best surprise ever!
This was taken
minutes after my brothers surprise…
My eyes are red but that’s the face of a girl with her whole family for the
first time in over three years! (Left to right; beautiful mom, hilarious dad,
ME, big bro Cody & amazing sister in law Laura)
K now lets go through
my next 4 California days now…. (new post maybe… I think so)