My New York Trip!

I am the luckiest girl in the world and got to go back to my mission for a week over the holidays! It was such a blast! Everyone told me, "it won't be the same when you go back", "don't expect too much", etc. I just want to say publicly that they were all wrong! It seriously felt like I was a missionary again. Of course it helped that I stayed with members/recent converts and even went out on splits with the sisters in my old area in the Bronx. It was FANTASTIC!

Lisette picked me up from the airport and took me home to her house in the Bronx. I got a couple hours of sleep and then went with her out shopping all day in Parkchester and around the neighborhood. It was good just to be out on foot on the same streets, seeing the same people. She was going to go out with the Sisters in the area that night, so I went along. We did a split and I got to go out with my granddaughter, who happened to be an ASL/Spanish sister just like me. So we got to visit Anne Maldonado, a deaf member who lives in the neighborhood.

Then we met up with the other sister and Lisette and we all went to a member family's house for a birthday party. I didn't know the family, but I got to see a few people I did know. The Guevarra and Vasquez families were both there. It was fun to see those kids. Now 12 years old, Angelica Vasquez was so grown up but Harrison looked exactly the same as he did almost 3 years ago! The best part was that when the sisters had to go home at 9pm, I just waved goodbye and stayed to hang out and play. :) Later that night, Lesley picked me up so I could stay at her house.

On Thursday Lesley, Arianne and I drove up to Westchester. We met up with Lesley's boyfriend Ike, went to Costco, and did some other grocery shopping. It was nice just to spend time together and see old familiar places in White Plains.
On Friday, Ari went to school and we went into the city to have some fun. We went to Canal Street and did some touristy shopping. I was on a mission to find a fun purse in chinatown! Then we went to Rockefeller's Square to see the Christmas tree and the ice skaters. It was so beautiful, but SOOOOO packed with people, it was ridiculous! Then Lesley had to head back up to the Bronx to get Ari from school, so I headed up to Inwood on my own to visit some people. On my way, I went by Time Square, swung by the temple for old times' sake, and while I was there, of course I had to grab a Gray's Papaya hotdog and a pina colada.

The singles in Inwood were having a Karoake night at the church, so I stopped by to say hello. I didn't know most people there, so I ended up leaving before they even started. I went to the Silver family's house but Leticia and Ivon were out babysitting. Marisol and Nayma were there. Nayma was with a bunch of girls from her sorority at school in Syracuse. When I left their house, I headed over to see Jasmine Gines. She was doing so great! I had heard that she had gone inactive for a while after I left the mission, but I was so excited to hear that she has been reactivated! She's doing well and is so enthusiastic about church and reading the Book of Mormon again. Then I got to take a late night bus ride bus across the Bronx to get back to Lesley's house. It was a thrill, let me tell you. (I hope my dad doesn't read this) :)

Saturday was another fun day in the Bronx. I met up with Denice (Hermana Porter) and her friend in Parkchester and we explored and more importantly, ate at CROSS BRONX PIZZA. :) It was so good to be back there. They went back to the city and I went over to spend some time with Megan Hutchinson in the Bronx. I ended up staying over there for the rest of the day and late into the night. It was fun to see her again. I got caught up on all the offensive and/or exciting things that have happened in the Bronx ward in the last 3 years, cleared up a lot of doctrinal confusion, and got a lot of business/ambition advice. It was fun.

Sunday was a packed day! I wanted to see as many people as possible at church, so it was fortunate that I had served in 2 wards that met in the same building. I went to the Olmstead Spanish ward in the morning and then the Olmstead English ward immediately following. It was so good to see so many people that I have not kept in touch with. There were a lot of exciting stories that were surprises to me. The Dickson family has another little girl. The Manga family has another little boy (now a toddler). One of the best surprises was Judy. Three years ago, we found her while looking up inactive members on the ward list. She had started coming back to church. When I saw her a few weeks ago, she told me that she has received her patriarchal blessing and even her endowment. It was such a blessing to see how her life and the life of her 9 year old daughter have changed so much. She was so sweet and even started crying when she thanked me for finding her 3 years ago. It was a great moment. There were several moments like this on Sunday as I saw so many of the recent converts from the time I was there (mine and the other missionaries') thriving in their testimonies and serving faithfully in the wards. It was just what I needed.

After church on Sunday, Lesley drove me up to the Arroyo's house in Port Chester. It was so much fun to see all the kids. Mayrecht has SUPER long hair and is all into girly things now. It's cute. Anahi and Wilita are exactly the same, only bigger, and I guess you could say Wilita has calmed down a bit. The new baby Chelsea (I know, isn't it rad?) is adorable! It's so cool to see how her presence has totally changed the dynamic of that family. When anyone enters the room, they're immediately gooing and gawing at her. It's great. Elizabeth and William are doing great. But I don't really know what to say about Sunday night. It was pretty horrible, and yet funny. They had some relatives in town from Virginia for New Years. When I walked into the house, there were a couple guys sitting at the dining room table drinking coronas with Eduardo and Rosa (8 mos pregnant and not drinking). Rosa wouldn't look me in the face and did like a limp dead fish when I hugged her. After a few minutes, she took Eduardo downstairs to the basement, and they weren't heard from again. I found out later that she REALLY didn't want me to be there because she thought I was trying to steal Eduardo away from her. So I didn't ever touch, hug, shake hands with, or even speak to Eduardo the whole time I was there, trying to help her not freak out. It made for an interesting time at the Arroyo's house. I spent most of the night with the kids playing video games and watching movies. One of the drunk guys kept finding me and trying to talk to me, asking me what I wanted in a mate. :) It was quite comical, actually.

The next day was Monday, New Years Eve, and I spent the morning going around to visit some families in the neighborhood. I got to see Marcela, Santiago and Kevin. They were so cute. Santiago has a haircut like a little surfer/skater kid. They're so big! Then I ran over to see Patricia and the girls. I caught up on the high/middle school drama of Ana and Paulina. Ana is into cheerleading and track now and has a boyfriend. The biggest shock at that house was Natalia. She was just barely born when I left the area 2 years ago. It was crazy to see this little girl running around and chatting her head off. Christopher was doing great too. He has improved so much and is so much more independent now. He still doesn't talk, but can do some things on his own, which helps Patricia out a ton. It was so good to see them all. The only thing missing was a trip down the hill to Noa's house. The Sandovals are living in Virginia now, so they were greatly missed.

Then the Arroyo's picked me up and took me up to Connecticut, where I met up with my cousin Heidi for lunch at Burger King. It was so nice to see her and her little boys, including a new baby boy who I hadn't met yet. She drove me back down to Port Chester and dropped me off at the Saavedra's house. This was another of those amazing surprises when Sergio (the dad) told me that after years of charlas with the sisters, he had finally been baptized almost a year ago. He was so excited to show me his home videos of him singing in the ward choir and tell me about how active he is. It was such an amazing thing to see this family that had been a part member family for so many years was finally preparing to be sealed in the temple. It really made my day.

That night, the New Rochelle Spanish ward had a New Year's Eve party. It was a great chance for me to able to see a lot of the members who I couldn't visit in their homes. Of course, there was lots of food, pinatas and dancing. All in all, a really fun time. It was such a fun trip, but it had to come to an end. The next morning William and Elizabeth drove me to the airport and I flew home to Utah.