You know, it's a lot more difficult making my life seem exotic and exciting when I'm no longer living in a foreign country as a missionary. The most exotic I can get is a trip to Utah, which granted does have some pretty exotic Jellos but doesn't hold the same weird-infections-strange-new-foods flair that my mish had. But still, life never ceases to entertain me.
Funny
So far. I've only caught up on three movies: the Greatest Showman, the original animated Cat in the Hat (hey, I was watching with my little cousin) and the live action Aladdin. Yeah, I know, I'm trying to catch up.
I think my family enjoyed watching ME watch the Greatest Showman more than they liked watching the actual movie. They got a serious kick out of it. I was SO invested in the outcome of the story, and it showed in my exclamations, my comments, and finally, almost leaving the movie early before my mother yelled me back into my chair. I guess I've been hard-pressed for "intense" PG entertainment in the past year and a half. The most entertaining the thing I watched on my mission was a series of Safety Videos on how to avoid getting sick, injured, or robbed. Good stuff.
Cultural
The other day, I went with my family to go check out a local Argentine restaurant. When I walked in, I could immediately tell that it was authentic because I recognized several Argentine name brands and my favorite Argentine treat. So I started nostalgically talking to myself in castellano. The funny part was everyone in the shop got whiplash turning around to look at this white girl speaking with an Argentine accent. It's pretty fun being able to surprise people with my Spanish!
Spiritual
I've been going through old boxes of stuff, trying to decide what to throw out and what to keep. It kind of disgusted me how many clothes I have. I mean, I must've bought a Mayfair Monsoon t-shirt every time I sneezed in high school, I have so many. So much useless stuff.
My mom came to see how the organizing was going. In classic fresh RM mode, I started crying.
There's something so grotesquely unjust at living with such excess after knowing people who live with so little. I walk into Costco and am met by an unfathomably large quantity of food, the vast majority of it the organic-veggified-healthy kind. I walk to the public library and drop my siblings off at a free lunch open to all kids and teens.
And then, to come home to a house that provides for my every need... it's pretty rough.
I guess my only option is to be grateful and to give. I have always thought that if God has trusted me with His gospel, He expects me to share it, and the same principle applies to worldly things. He blesses us so that we might bless others. God's gifts are like the plague: designed to be easily shared, highly contagious unless we actively seek to quarantine ourselves from all humanity.
Moral of the story? Be like the plague.
Just kidding.
Share the gifts God has given you
Love you all and sending prayers!
Kai
