Dear next adventure (day 25),

Random roommates turned best friends. Two married. One engaged. One finishing out her life dream/career. One in the MTC. Two going to the MTC the same day. I still can't really believe that I'm leaving them. They are my entire social life, my everyday loves, my constant friends.

We've have an ongoing quote wall in our apartment for almost two years now. I'm not really sure what's happened to the physical quote wall butcher paper sheets from each year we lives together. I think our funny lines were typed up and saved somewhere. But it doesn't really matter. What matters is the hundreds and hundreds of giggles that have come out of them. 

The first quote was a good one. We hadn't known each other that long. All of us were from Utah except Katie. After many, many introductions to those housed around us, Katie finally shorted the story. "I'm from Iowa. I'm the foreigner."

Maybe it was one of those things that you had to be there for. Or perhaps it was only funny because it was US and we all laugh at the same random things.....but it was great. It still is, actually. 

We'd always ask her "Katie, what's even IN Iowa. I know nothing about that state."

Her response: "Nothing." But we always talked of road tripping there anyway. 

She's from a smallish town. Near the Mississippi River. She likes it. Not much going on, though, she says. 

 Her family is pretty close with the missionaries. She said she had them over all the time growing up. But when they added another set of missionaries to her home town, she was a little stunned. She hoped they would have enough to do. We all laughed. 

One word. One word changed my next 22 months. My whole life. I probably should have been thinking of a million other things. But as that one state's name floated over the FaceTime connection, my only thought was KATIE!!!

Karma. 

I can picture Rachel's reaction when she gets my letter. "NO STINKIN WAY," she's going I say. Her mouth will drop all huge and she'll scream in the way that only Rachel screams. I'd pay big money to see it in person though. I wonder if she'll think I'm kidding.

Des Moines Iowa. 

Gosh. I can't even spell it. Thank you, Autocorrect. 

I've been so busying telling all my loved ones that would want to know, that I haven't even told myself yet. I'm going. For reals. 

English speaking. 

Half of my heart wants the perfected language curriculum that re MTC brings. Half of my heart keeps remember how frustrated I was this week without communication. Half of my heart remembers that I still don't speak my own language very well. All of my heart is relieved. 

September 25. 

So two months here. Two months home.

The letter that changed my world. Opened over Facetime. 20 minutes before the coffee shop opened. I love technology. And that coffee shop is my new favorite place ever. And I loved my daddy's voice bring me the news.

Heck yeah, baby.
Stoked. 
-(almost) Sister Sumsion