I'm Home...

Hello All,

Okay everyone. I'm here. It's Nicole again, and no longer Hermana Okeson. And let me tell you what, it's weird. So weird. I think I'm one of those squirrely RM's I used to make fun of. I keep making my sisters bed, and then after I finish my studies I wonder what to do with my life. I've practiced flute and come to the decision that you sound a little (okay maybe a lot) rusty after 1.5 years and that patience that apparently I failed to develop as a missionary is going to have another chance to develop itself in my life.

Coming home was good. The time felt right, and in some ways spending my last transfer in a new area made going home easier, I was less attached and then no one knew I was leaving so there was no huge fuss. I was able to go out working, which is what I wanted. The last night in the mission home was fun, and I enjoyed spending time with the Taylors and the other departing missionaries. It was a little weird because the group I went home with was almost all English missionaries, and as a Spanish missionary I really didn't have much contact with a lot of them. But it was fun none the less. We had a great time talking about lessons learned as missionaries and setting goals for the future. I also had the great opportunity to be taken to the mission home by my Grandma, which was just F.U.N. It was great to get to see her even if it was just for a short time.

The actual flight was long and un-eventful for the most part. I did get to talk with a young mother on the longer flight and help her through security in Japan and then hook her up with the mormon.org website... so my missionary work isn't done. It was pretty fun, I enjoyed chatting with her and getting to invite her to learn more. I've got to do some follow up on that one. Besides that it was just a long experience, being a missionary for a year and a half has made me incredibly not good at just sitting around, so one day of flying and traveling just about killed me. I was pretty excited to get off of that last airplane. The reunion with my family was good, although a little delayed, as my suitcase got lost and so I spent a good hour trying to communicate with the baggage people in Shanghai... I realized pretty quick that my Spanish wasn't going to help me here. Super frustrating to speak more than one language and for neither one to be any good. Oh well. One hour after everyone else had gone through the gates I finally made it through to see my family, video camera and signs in hand waiting for me. I always joked that they sent me out a white girl and I was coming home a Mexican, but when I saw my family I realized it was true. One and a half years later I am now the short brown one of the family. My siblings all really shot up in height and all I did was get brown. haha.

So now I'm home, trying to finish adjusting... Mostly I'm just working at getting myself into some type of shape to start school in two weeks. I think that will be good for me. I'm not so good at just sitting around anymore, and I keep wanting to daily and weekly plan. I also keep wanting to start everything with a prayer, which for my flute playing is probably a good idea. But it's all good. I'm really enjoying the time with my family. I have a year and a half of harassing saved up for my brothers and I am enjoying spending time with them.

I'm enjoying sharing my experiences with them and taking some time to look back over all that I have learned and experienced as a missionary. It sure goes fast, I didn't realize before I left how fast it would go, but man, it has gone by really fast. I miss it, but I know that this is the next phase in my life and I am excited to see what lies in store. I have more to do, and like I said before I was released, just because the name tag is off, doesn't mean that I am done being a missionary, I have had a year and a half of great training and I am excited to continue to look for chances to serve and help others.

Thank you once again to all of you for your prayers and support. I appreciate it so much.
Love,
Nicole

Shanghai then Provo

I'm headed in about two hours to drive down to Shanghai with my family to get set apart as a full time missionary. (I'll fly into Provo Monday afternoon to go to the MTC on Wednesday) Crazy! I know I moaned all summer about wanting things to go faster, but now that I've gotten down to it, the last few weeks have really flown. So, I thought I'd just finish a few things and then bid you all farewell.

First, Check out my awesome pedicure!!!



Look at the detail there. The Chinese never cease to amaze.



Also, I had to take a picture, look at the names for the different nail colors. They're just so punny. I was in all sorts of fits of joy reading these.







Second, all of my letters home should be posted here, so I really hope you'll all keep reading.

Okay, I think that's everything I needed to tell you. I hope you all have a wonderful next 18 months. I'm so excited for this new adventure, and grateful that I have this opportunity. This is something I never expected for myself, but now that the time has come I can't wait. I'll miss you all, but hey, 18 months isn't really that long, so I'll see you all again before you know it.

God be with you till we meet again!

~

I am really, really, really going to miss my flute.

Mission Prep. Part 1

This is a picture from going with my Mom to get our hair washed as a salon here in Suzhou. If I was Queen of the World this would be how I would have my hair washed every day. They massage your scalp while they wash your hair, and then after they give you a head, shoulder, arm, and hand massage.

Next up, pedicures tomorrow.

Mission prep has never been more fun.

Bye World!!!

In about 4 hours I'll be on a plane for Tokyo followed closely by a plane for CHINA. So, once again I'm off to the world of internet censorship, which includes blogger. When I get back I will already have been set apart as a missionary, so this is it folks! I'm so very excited (and a little nervous) for this opportunity. This summer has really made me think about if a mission is what I want to do with my life, and every time I've felt like there really is nothing better in this world that I could be doing. I'm so very humbled and thrilled at the same time that I've been given this opportunity to share the things that are most important and dear to me with whomever I have the chance to work with for the next 18 months. This really is going to be the adventure of a lifetime.

My Mom or my Aunt will be posting my weekly letters here to this blog for all you who want to read. I would love more than anything for you all to send me tons of letters (but if letters don't come then just send prayers my way, I'll take those too) however, I'm a little nervous about putting all of my contact information here for the whole world to see. So, if you want to write me my contact info is on my Facebook profile. If you aren't my friend on facebook and still want contact info on my leave a comment and either my Mom or my Aunt will try to get back to you in a semi timely manner.

I think that's all of the housecleaning. I hope that I'm able to get on here once or twice more before I am set apart because I'd like to do a few more posts on all the fun I've had since finishing school, but if not, just know, I had tons of fun.

I'm really not much for goodbye's, and anyways, this isn't really goodbye. I'll be back in 18 months, and you'll probably actually see more consistent postings while I'm gone...

BYE ALL!!!!

So Long, Farewell

I have 3 days left in Provo. Officially that is. I'll be back for a few days next week, but really after Thursday evening I'm officially homeless. Bizarre. I've been surprised with how much I feel like I am leaving a home. It's only in the last week or so that I've really realized that I've lived here in Provo for 3 years. I'm not sure how that happened.

So what is going to happen over the next 37 days? Well, I'd hate to spoil any surprises or the anticipation you all feel about reading my blog, so we'll just say that in 37 days I will divide my life between 4 states and 2 countries. Pretty impressive. This should be awesome. Nothing like being a traveling fiend before going on a mission and being stuck in a teensy geographic area for 18 months.

Other points of excitement. Currently in my mostly packed apartment the kitchen is in Tia's room and the living room is in the kitchen. In all sorts of brilliance that I am mostly not bitter about my apartment complex decided that kicking us out absurdly early wasn't enough, they were going to clean the carpets before we leave. Ridiculous. Isn't carpet cleaning why complexes feel justified making poor college students homeless for a whole entire week?! Yeesh.

Finally, exciting news, but not my own. The favorite missionary brother leaves for Manchester on Monday. I don't think that kid could get any more excited. Oh, and he informed us the other week that in Mandarin Elder translates back as one other thing. Jedi. Freaking awesome. My little brother gets to be Jedi Okeson. It's settled, he has the most awesome mission language any boy could get sent to. What 19 year old boy doesn't want to be called Jedi for 2 years?

Saying Goodbye

Things in life that make Nicole cry:

~beautifully written symphonies.*
~stubbing my toe for the bajillionth time.
~too many hours in the practice rooms.
~too few hours in the practice rooms.
~packing away all of my beautiful books for the next 2 years.

Seriously. I felt like I was packing away my best friends and they sat there looking all lonely and sad in that box. I'm not scared of many things for a mission, but saying goodbye to my family, my flute, and my books is really gonna be tough. I always knew I had a bit of an attachment to my books, but tonight I realized perhaps someday I ought to get it looked into... lol. I think when I get home from my mission I'm going to unpack those books, go become a hermit for a week and give each one of them the TLC they will be in desperate need of after 2 years.

Saying goodbye to Johnathan is really gonna be a party.





*Currently Mendelssohn and Sibelius are the winners, but just about any classical music leaves me in a puddle of melancholy right now since I'm heading into 18 months of hymns and EFY music... EFY, really? I firmly believe EFY is a good thing, but it has a place, and that place is with pubescent teens looking to fall madly in love during a summer camp and not with stressed missionaries. So, I'm listening to all the classical music I can. Last night I was in Wagner-land, and it was marvelous, mostly because it is my belief the Wagner is someone you appreciate when you know you will only get so much of him then you will have time to purge... because lets face it, Wagner is like a rip-tide, one toe in and next thing you know you're sucked in and no one will ever see you again...

Ps. I have 42 days left until I go into the MTC... Yikes!

Mission Madness

Holy Cow! I have about a month and a half left. I don't know how that happened... I'm only in Provo for a few more weeks, and of those weeks I'm gone a lot on the weekends. Yikes. Yesterday my mom and I did most of the mission clothes shopping that I needed. All I can say is part of me wishes there was some sort of Mrs. Mac's to go to to get all of my mission stuff because I am so incredibly jealous of how fast my brother got everything. That said, I'm not at all jealous of how much Elders have to pay for suits and such, so I guess I won't complain...

I'M GOING ON A MISSION!!!