I'm here...uh...or there...

On the morning of May 2, 2012 I boarded a plane heading for Las Vegas, in Reno. On the plane ride I sat next to Jane, a 55 yr old woman who was on her way home to Houston TX after a visit to an old sorority sister that she hadn't seen in many many years. The reason for the visit was, as she put it, bitter-sweat. Her friend was dying from pancreatic cancer. After months of chemo not working, she had decided enough was enough and that she wanted to be able to enjoy what little time she might have left. Since being off the chemo, the doctors have given her about a month. What would you do, if you had a month left to live? She chose to invite all of the people she loves and to mend ways with as many as needed. Jane told me stories the entire flight. Even though I had initiated the conversation, she had no problems taking it from there. There were moments when she'd be laughing so hard that I almost couldn't tell if she was crying and I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry with her. It reminded me of a friend that I have that when she gets laughing hard enough she will genuinely start to cry and I never know whether to laugh with her or hold her close to comfort her. When Jane laughed, it would fill the plane, and while I believe there were a few that wished she'd be quiet, I'm confident that the majority were jealous of me because I got to sit next to Jane. She shared with me a moment where a mutual friend of her's and her sick friend turned to the sick friend and said, "I hope you know, I'm not coming to your funeral.". The statement was made because she didn't feel she could handle the emotions. The ill friend's response was, "You just did.". What an interesting way to look at it. I suppose in a sense we are all dying and are therefore always attending each others funerals. I know that initially sounds a little morbid, but if you think about it in another sense it can be quite meaningful. So, as the song states, "Live like you were dying." and as Jane's friend did, make the most of what you've been given. I recently read a passage of scripture that had a spelling nuance that I hadn't noticed before. The scripture is in the book of Helaman in The Book of Mormon, it's chapter 12 and it says something to the effect of turning away from wisdom's paths. Notice that paths is plural. How often do we have multiple paths presented to us that are all good, or how often does God give us multiple chances to correct the path we are on? As we turn away from one wise path, He doesn't give up, but rather He gives us another wise path, and another, and another. We are only in real trouble if we keep turning away from wisdom's paths and give up trying. So, in the example of Jane's friend, lets "Live like we were dying" and seek out our loved ones and mend wrongs. 

Anyway, back to my trip. After a long chat with Jane (or rather after listening to Jane talk to me for an hour and a half.), we arrived at the Las Vegas airport, and after waiting in the security checkpoint line for an hour and a half, I finally boarded my flight bound for Mexico City. The flight was beautifully sunny, right up until the approach to Mexico City where clouds began to appear. As we lowered into the clouds, everything was black as night even though I knew the sun was out somewhere behind them. Through a break in the grey and black below me I saw a red glow atop what looked to be a mountain. It was either an extremely condensed fire, or as I suspect, it was a volcano. It looked more like lava, but I wasn't able to get a clear enough look before the darkness engulfed my sight again. A few minutes later we gradually dropped below the clouds. Even with the clouds eclipsing the sun's light, the Earth began to glow with red and orange lights as far as the eye could see. It seemed to light up the world the way thousands of candles would light a dark room. Miles and miles of flickering lights like jewels scattered across black velvet so densely that each jewel seemed to blend with the next. Truly this was a magnificent sight. Upon arrival at the aeropuerto I had no troubles (other than the fact that  there was no gate assigned for my next flight to Buenos Aires) getting to my next flight quickly. After sitting and waiting for a couple of hours, it finally showed that I was to head to a specific gate where the plane had already arrived and we were ready to board.

It was an 8 hr plus long flight, where I slept for much of the way. When I awoke, I looked out my window and could see that we had just passed over what I could only assume to be the Andes mountains. It was the morning of the 3rd and my first sight when I cracked open the shades was a desert with a volcano in the middle of it. It was gorgeous! After crossing the barren desert below, it eventually turned into the Argentine campo (country), all of which is flat as flat can be. From the Andes to Buenos Aires on the opposite side of the country there seems to be no variance in elevation whatsoever.

At the aeropuerto I made my way through customs and getting my visa quickly only to find myself waiting for 10-15 mins alone wondering if my parents had forgotten me and realizing just how handy it is to have a cell phone. I guess that's what I get for having missionaries come to pick me up. They are on the Lord's schedule. When they got there it was a wonderful reunion and along the way home we saw the Buenos Aires temple (which is under remodeling and will be rededicated in Sept). Such amazing buildings!

Everything here is very European mixed with Latin America. Home for now, is the twelfth floor of an apt building. The elevators are...interesting. The afternoon was spent at the mission office where I met the mission president, President Carter. As it turns out, about 30 missionaries have been held up in the USA awaiting their visas and won't make it down until June 5th. So...well...President Carter has more or less called me to serve as a missionary in the Buenos Aires West Mission starting sometime around the fifteenth or this month and going until the beginning of June! How cool is that!? I'm so excited! I hope it all actually works out so I can. I'll update as soon as I have more information. I'll post again in a couple of days, hopefully.