Hi everyone!
A lot of people have recently requested that I write another "weekly email" for the blog. I
enjoy writing, but I haven't written hardly anything down the past two
weeks because things have been so crazy! I want to write about my last
week in the field, where my thoughts were at, and the amazing things I
experienced.
The
last week of my mission went by so. incredibly. fast. Every journal
entry from that week begins with "Wow. Where did the day
go?" Or something similar. We were running everywhere! We had tons of
appointments, and so many people to say goodbye to. It never really hit
me that I was saying goodbye to Missoula and the people there until my
very final day in Missoula as a missionary. And then the tears
started....and they didn't stop...it was pretty bad. 
That Thursday
was the most stressful day of my life! Sister Crosland and I were in
charge of the housing and travel arrangements for five sisters going home
from our section of the mission. At four in the afternoon, plans changed
and we had ANOTHER sister needing to drive down. Long story short, all
of the plans changed , and it was absolute insanity from that time
forward. It all worked out in the end though! #sistercroslandisachamp
Friday morning the four of us staying at the Hendersons woke up at 4:30 to get ready and finish packing up. We needed to meet the other two sisters and be in the car and on the road by 5:45. All was going soooo smoothly until I walked outside with Sister E. King to load up the trucks 
unbeknownst to us, a blizzard had come through during the night, and
all of Missoula was absolutely covered in snow. Perfect. It was way
below zero and my hands were totally numb! For some reason I had packed
every single pair of gloves. 🤦🏼♀️ We ended up getting on the road
around 6:15am
after defrosting the cars and getting all the bikes on the back.
Picture this. Two trucks. Six sisters all bundled up. Six bikes. 18 suitcases.
And a whole lot of snow.
We
made it to Helena in one piece with only a few scary moments that I
will not disclose at this time. In Helena we met up with a few other
missionaries and all of us sisters hopped in the transfer van with Elder
Baird the "car tzar" of the mission. Of course, I called shotgun. We
had a long road ahead of us and I needed to glean as
much wisdom as I could from Elder Baird. It's a tradition for everyone
to share a miracle they have seen in their area in the last week. I
think almost the entire drive the six of us sisters shared miracle after
miracle. It was amazing. It was also really hard the closer we got to
Billings. Reality hit when I saw those rims again. So many memories
flooded back and the realization that I was in fact leaving Montana the
next day- needless to say, I was reduced to a puddle of tears.
The
mission office was a buzz of activity when we arrived. There were 18
missionaries flying home this transfer, it was a pretty massive group!
We had pizza, we laughed, we cried. Just your typical day in the MBM. I
had my departing interview with president. That was tough. Again, lots
of laughter and lots of tears. He's my fav.
We
had a testimony meeting that night. It was so cool to see how each
missionary I've served with has grown. At the beginning of my mission I
can remember sitting in a similar testimony meeting, just wondering what
it was going to be like 18 months from that moment. I sat in the exact
same spot somehow. But everything was completely different. Listening to
everyone else, and recognizing the growth in each and every person, it
was a moment I'll never forget. The senior missionaries all shared
advice with us and bore their testimonies. Again we cried and we laughed
and we cried some more. After the meeting ended, no one wanted to
leave. 10:00pm passed by, and then 11:00pm.
All of us just holding on so tightly to these last moments together. Oh
man, it was rough. Eventually, we all split off to the separate places
we were sleeping at. Sister Hodgson and I somehow lucked out and got to
have one last missionary sleepover together. We had 7 months of stories
to catch up on! I think we fell asleep around 1:30 4:30 in the morning came much too quickly. (Yes. 2 nights in a row with 3 hours of sleep.)
We
spent the morning at the temple. What a sweet way to end a mission. It
was amazing to look around and see my sisters and best friends all
dressed in white in the celestial room of the temple. We all saw each
other at our best. Lots of hugs, and many more tears. After the temple
we headed back to the mission office to make breakfast for everyone.
President claims to be the pancake king, and he definitely proved that
to be true! Haha it was so fun :) The excitement of seeing my family
started to set in being there and seeing Sister Pearson and Sister E.
King each reunite with their families. The knot in my stomach just kept
getting bigger and bigger.
So
at this point, I should probably confess something. About 3 months ago I
devised a plan. If President wasn't going to let me extend, I would
simply pray a blizzard would come so I could be a missionary for just a
little bit longer. So selfish, I know, but that's what I did! So, when
the snow starts falling as I'm leaving Missoula I'm thinking, "President
is going to kill me" Hahahaha Saturday
morning, it's a full on blizzard. And now everyone knows it's my fault.
So we get in the 12 passenger van. President is driving and I'm sitting
shotgun, and the rest of the car is absolutely full. As we are winding
up the road to the airport (we are LATE and the roads are VERY icy) I
turn to president and say, "yknow...maybe it wasn't the best idea to
pray for a blizzard" to which he responds "Ya think?!"
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Everything
is such a blur from that moment forward. All 18 of us got our boarding
passes and checked all 34 bags of luggage in. And then, the worst
goodbye of my life. I'm simply not going to write about it because it's
still a soft spot and tears are already coming as I type. There were
lots of tears, not so much laughter in that moment. My heart just sank
with every step I took. Our plane couldn't take off for another half
hour or so. I sat next to Sister Hodgson, Elder Syrett, and Elder Hatton
on the plane and once we started thinking of the exciting things ahead
of us, we had a great time :) It was the most surreal experience
stepping off the place in SLC. It felt like my feet were not even
hitting the floor. My stomach was in my throat and the tears would not
stop coming. At this point I don't think I even know if they were happy
tears or sad tears.
When
I saw my family, I finally realized just how much I missed them. I all
of the sudden realized just how long 18 months is. Everyone was bawling.
Kelsey was at least a foot taller. That was kinda freaky. Quinn was so
confused as to what was happening. Ciara and Aubrey looked the exact
same. Mom and Dad too. The whole airport was absolute chaos with the
10(?) of us missionaries reuniting with our families all at the same
time. It was such a cool moment. Man oh man I'VE MISSED MY FAMILY!
"The
hardest thing I've ever loved to do was getting on this plane, and
coming home to you. In a million ways completely torn apart as a land so
far away (well, pretty close in my case ;)) still owns my heart." Oh
how I miss the Montana Billings Mission :) But oh how wonderful it is to
be with my family again :)
Much love,
Sister Fletcher ;)
Too tired to pack
Prayed for blizzard
Homeward Bound
