Transfers

The goodbyes begin with  Dayana

Natalia and her mom

Perla actually someone shorter than Maddie

good friends- rat pac

African dresses made with love

And end with Hermana " Holly"

Hermana Holly and I sat next to the cell phone waiting for it to ring Saturday  night at 10:00. I was feeling a mix of emotions, mostly sick to be honest haha. Transfers can be the most nerve wracking thing for me. 10:30 passed..then 10:45. Thinking it would be a while till they got a round to us, I jumped in the shower when I heard the familiar sound of the elevator style music go off, and my companion scream "HERMANA" from the living room. I jumped out of he shower pulled on whatever I could find and ran to the couch where we quickly looked at the phone and saw that president was calling. 

When the president calls you know there are going to be changes. I immediately felt even sicker. Hermana Holly picked up the phone and talked to president for a couple minutes before she hung up and grinning from ear to ear announced she would be training! And what about me? We waited five more minutes until the phone ran again. This time for me. I answered to hear my district leader Elder Campbell on the other end. "Do you know where you're going Hermana Cragun?" "Ummmm no" I answered back. "Well neither do we" UGG THE WORST. My district leader is aaaaalways doing things like that haha well after a lot of persuasion he finally confessed that he did know....

VALENCIA!!!!!!!!

Valencia is right on the border of the mission. It's the farthest south our mission goes and it is known for being "on fire". Probably because it is hooooottt there for most of the time, and because the work there is just unreal. The minute he told me I was going to Valencia I started screaming. I couldn't believe it.

The next day I started my packing and started planning who I was going to visit to say my last goodbyes. All that adrenaline began to wear off, and as I packed my bags and wrote in my journal Sunday night, I realized just how much I loved my little city of Sabadell and how many special people there were here I was going to miss. As I prayed that night for all the people who had me during my time here I began to cry realizing just how much I loved them and was going to miss them.

I passed by Perla, a mom from Honduras who is probably the sassiest and shortest human being I've ever met. She's been a member for a while and she has always been so good to me during my time here. She has made remarks to me such as: "Hermana I think you have gained weight" or "Hermana. You are crazy" or Hermana I'm not going to miss you Hahahahah but that is  . Under aaaaall that sass you find the most loving humble human ever who is sooo faithful to the church. And as we hugged goodbye she told me that she really would miss me and her house would always be my home if I wanted to come back.

I passed by Natalia and her mom, two of our closest friends here in Sabadell from Brazil. They have the biggest hearts and strongest testimonies. I went by Patricia and her daughter who is my age, Lucia. Lucia and I are born on the same day and we just clicked from the first time. We've decided we were twins, separated at birth. I love them soooo much. I'll miss all their laughs and style. Lucia is trying to decide if she wants to study in the U.S.for a year. I hope so because if she did I would cross seeeeas to see her again.

I went by my best friend Jeffrey's house hahaha just thinking of him makes me laugh. Jeff has the most style and sass out of anyone. He is famous for always saying in his thick Peruvian accent: "Hermana, por favor" or "siter (just like that) puh-lease" to any of the sarcastic comments I make. when I walked in he had the table lined with treats and cakes. He had printed out pictures of the infamous "ratpac" as we called ourselves (Hermana Holly Jeff and I) and had written captions on the back of them. Hahaha I love that kid.

But the hardest goodbye went to my girl Dayana. Dayana is 16 from Bolivia, I can't explain it but we just clicked from the first time. We eat with her family ever Saturday and basically always find ourselves in tears for, laughing so hard. She's truly become a little sister to me. As I went by that night to say goodbye, she met us in the doorway and said "Hermana no no you can't go." And burst into tears. We sat hugging and crying before we had to leave. I love her more than words can describe and just thinking of her crying pulls on my heart strings.

This week was packed with other events, such as getting African dresses and saying goodbye to our friends from Nigeria who I won't forget. They call us the "white Nigerians". Meeting a lady from the ward who was once the strongest member and leader. And has now lost her testimony and doesn't believe in it anymore. Eating fufu and spicy rice, trying food from Honduras, sitting in the house of Graciela who I met my first week on the street who I felt I should talk to and clapped her hands exclaiming she had been looking for the missionaries... We sat talking about faith and prayers and I felt like both of our prayers had been answered that day long ago.

Sabadell.. I couldn't have asked for a better place to have began my mission. Testing and trying, but in the end so rewarding. The people here will ALWAYS have a special place in my heart and I'll never forget them. I love them all so much and am so grateful for the moments I had with them. It's  bittersweet and hard to express the feelings I have right now, as I get ready to board the train to my next adventure.

Onto the next chapter of my mission: Valencia