An Ode to Vanner

Hello again everyone! Wow, it's been probably too long since I last posted...but my time here is quickly running out and I'm trying hard to focus on really making my time count instead of being quite as diligent on keeping in touch. Hope you can forgive me. I'll be home soon enough with TONS of stories to tell. This last week and a half have been...incredible. Seriously, every single day here is different...a new adventure with another story to tell, even if it's a story of an overwhelming wave of sickness that through the power of the priesthood is healed. Those memories are just as important to me as the ones of the small town I visited, or the baby goat I held, and the sweet old women who kissed and overfed me. And I'm only going to keep racking up the stories, as this week I'm off to Moldova! But before that I get to spend more time with some of the most wonderful little kids in the world, and see some beautiful monasteries. And after that? Oh boy, then I get to spend an entire week between the capitol of Romania, as well as a city filled with mountains and waterfalls and relaxation for six tired girls. I get to go HIKING! The only downfall to all of that is that I will miss 5 whole days with the kids. I'm trying hard not to think about how soon I will have to leave them, that will be yet another trying experience. I spent 2o minutes today having my hair brushed by a lego as I held the hand of a tiny toddler trying to walk and sang to the boy in the wheelchair who was holding my other hand while my co workers chuckled at the funny American girl. How could I not be in heaven? And yes that was a run-on sentence I know. Meh.

And you know what else? I know I've only been here for a few months, and that I don't live a life hardly at all like what the missionaries do, but I really do feel like I understand why they act so funny when they come home! The idea of returning to normal life again, just weirds me out. Where not much has drastically changed in a few short months, and yet, I have changed. Maybe not drastically, but enough to make going home feel a bit strange. Anyway, I'm rambling once again, it seems to be a talent of mine that certainly hasn't left me.

So there's the short (that always turns... not so short) update on my life for you!
As for the rest of the post, I started this post a while ago and am only just now finishing it. It is, my friends, an ode to one of the best vehicles to have ever existed.


This is for you Vanner, you may be the only '87 Toyota Van who ever had an 18 year old girl cry over you as she said goodbye. You will forever be a part of my childhood, and I will always think of you as I see others all over the world....

Good to know you can find vans like this in Romania too! I know that my family and friends will agree that Vanner held a lot of good memories and I can't help but smile every time I see one.

Vanner and I, we had some seriously good times....

So, there's my "Ode to Vanner." Feel free to leave comments on your memories etc. Those would be fun for me...and feel free to update your blogs or write me because I still love any news from home! Until next time (which might be a couple weeks) hope you're all well.

Va iubesc!