1. Some of my favorite foods down here have been banane pesée (fried bananas that you eat with meats and a special veggie mix) with black rice (a traditional haitian dish), which I think I will be able to make when I get back. Well, not the rice, part. Also Chicken Colombo, which is pretty much a light variation of curry. But hey, it's tastey. I would love to be able to take bokits home with me, but I don't know if I'm good enough of a cook for that...
2. Things I'm excited for when I get home...well, I really want to see my nieces. Ok, I want to see everybody, but I definitely do want to see the babies. They may very well be scared of me by now, since they probably won't remember who I am, but that's okay, we'll figure it out. I don't really know what else I'm looking forward to in particular. Every once in a while I imagine being back on some street at home or in Provo, and it's cool, but there's nowhere in particular that I'm dying to go.
3. Ah, the trunky question. It always seems like a trap, but here goes. Am I trunky? Well, there are certain things that I'm really excited for when I get home, but it's not things like school and phones and having nothing to do. I'm excited for how great the future is going to be, one day. Do I wish I had more time in the field? It's an interesting thought. You see, the thing is, everyone who goes out to serve a mission goes and struggles and learns and fights and then, eventually, it ends. Every one of us has to, someday, take the collective efforts made over however long of a period it may have been, and lay it on the altar of sacrifice, saying "Here you go, Father. This is how much I love you. This is what I've got. I hope you're not disappointed. I hope you know that I do love you". And then we keep on living for Him anyway, so it all works out in the end. So, I would say that I would love to have more time out here, because I would love to have a little bit more to lay on that altar for him. I don't think it's uncommon among missionaries, but I do feel a great sense of having so much more that I wanted to do. Now, I'm just trying to squeeze all of it into the next 35 days (thanks mom).
4. How have I changed the most? I would be very interested to have a definite answer to that question, myself. I don't, but I can offer some observations. One is that I've learned to smile. I think that was one of the first lessons that I learned, actually. It's one of the first ones that people around me commented on, in any case. I guess I could say that I've gotten over the image of being a mysterious, moody teenager, and would rather just be a happy person. I've also learned to love service in a very profound way, and I hope that that will always be a large part of me. Some of the most satisfaction that I have had as a missionary has been in serving others around me-not always in dramatic ways, but even in the little things. I love the feeling of having done something good for someone else. One other big one is that I have learned to love, and I mean love the word of God. It is a sacred, special thing, and we are cheating ourselves big-time if we don't go to it early and often. I love it. I hope that I will always make the time for it. Richard G. Scott gave me a pretty good reason to during last conference.
That's my time! I love you all, and I love this gospel. I would not have known that it was true if I had not lived it for myself. As Elder Packer reminds us, there are some things which can be learned but which cannot be taught. I believe that what I have learned here is probably among the most important learning that I will ever do.
-Elder Santos
