Back in the States

It's been about two weeks since I left Saipan. What do I miss? What don't I miss! Oh wait... cockroaches. Seriously though, other than the termites that started swarming the last week I was there, and the nasty handle to the garbage room door that I was always terrified to open, I miss it all. I miss the kids. Hugs unlimited! Little children running up and grabbing my hand and smiling from ear to ear because they have new shoes and want me to see the way they light up. That is all the sappy-ness I care to share. The more I write the more I feel like crying... anyways.

I had never flown so far by myself before. Saipan to Guam, Guam to Hawaii, Hawaii to Seattle, Seattle to Walla Walla. True to my way of doing things, I was terrified of the trip beforehand. That passed when I made it through TSA and was sitting at my departure gate. The minute I hopped on the first plane I sat back and let myself enjoy the journey. Around 24 hours later I was walking across the tarmac to the Walla Walla Airport Terminal. I looked at the windows and swallowed my disappointed - I didn't see any faces peering out looking for me. "Mom is probably waiting further inside" I thought. I wished that Laura would be able to meet me. She was taking a test down in Portland and couldn't drive up till that evening to see me. Then I opened the terminal doors and took in a sight that didn't sink in for a full minute. Laura was standing in front of me. She was waiting for me at the airport. Laura was standing there by my Mom and a group of friends who were all wearing flower leis and holding a welcome home banner. Talk. About. Surprised.

Talk about blessed. It was the biggest blessing to be welcomed home by friends. The people who came that afternoon to greet me probably aren't aware of just how much they helped me adjust to being home. Remind a returning student missionary that they have friends back home and you have helped them in the best way you can.

I had two days to adjust to being home and on that third morning, Friday morning, my family packed up all our things into boxes and moved across town to a little house in a quiet neighborhood. I love it. We call it the Cherry Cottage. I'm sitting here in the Cherry Cottage right now. Sitting and thinking. Sometimes I like to sit and look around and think of how different home is from my apartment on the third floor of the Transamerica Corporation Apartments in San Jose, Saipan. I like to think about what the staff of the elementary school would be doing at this time of the day. Other times I sit here and think of how busy my life is going to be this Autumn. We like our busy lives here, don't we? We like to make other peoples lives just as busy as ours are. Oh well. I remember what that is like. 10 months don't change a person so much that they forget how to jump back into their pond at home... thank goodness.

The point of this post is to let you all know that I am doing well. I have learned an immeasurable number of things this year and I cannot be more grateful for the experience if I tried. Thank you everyone for reading my adventures and keeping in touch with me on this rather remarkable adventure.

Until the next,

Faith Hoyt