Audra is really doing great on her mission!
Last week when we talked to her, she told me she was getting emails from several friends who are starting back at BYU. She surprised my when she said, "Mom, I'm so glad I am not there!" Since she has been really homesick and has struggled quite a bit, I asked her why. She said, "THIS is where I am supposed to be! I am learning so much about myself and I have grown so much. This is where I need to be."
Of course, I was very happy to hear that! But, when we talked to her this week, she was feeling quite homesick again. I never served a mission, but it feels like quite the roller coaster.
Happily, her eczema has cleared up! This was causing her a lot of problems- it had gotten so bad and was hurting so bad that she was unable to sleep for several weeks. She went to the dermatologist (that was a bit of a miracle- they showed up for her appointment and they had her meeting with a cardiologist! When they explained they needed a dermatologist, they looked up the doctor's schedule, and miraculously he happened to have an opening right then, so Audra got seen. And, the medicine worked! Her eczema is gone- hallelujah!
She loves her trainer, Sister Lewis, and is nervous because the mission president asked her last week if she could be a trainer during the next transfer! There are 19 new sisters coming out because of the age change, and they may need Audra to be a trainer! Yikes! But, she will be great!
She LOVES Acai and we told her to buy it everyday if it brought her joy- she can use our credit card for it. The mission has been HARD, and if that makes her happy, go for it! It's only two dollars there.
We have had to talk to her a lot about not catastrophizing. She tends to think the worst is going to happen, when it never does. She worries too much and gets way too much anxiety. So we need to help her work through some of these things and not worry about what "might" happen.
When we spoke to her this week, she accidentally used a couple of Portuguese words instead of English words. She still feels like she is really struggling, but members there have told her that they have noticed improvements. She is working hard, and we know the Lord will magnify her efforts.
They have 3 people on baptism dates, which is awesome because it shows their hard work is yielding results.
We sure love and miss this girl, but we know she is doing amazing things!
The temple has been closed for cleaning the whole time she has been in Brasilia. She was happy to finally go.
