Life being home...... and in pants

Hello again every one,

I know it's kind of been a while! So I was not going to post anything further on this blog, mainly because I am not a sister missionary any more. BUT as I was sitting in class today the thought came to me blog again. What in the world?? What do I have to say that would be anything of interest to anyone out there in the world?? Well... still not exactly sure but hopefully in time it will become clear. However there is something that I would love to share with you all. Hopefully this will help someone somewhere.

As you all know, I recently returned from serving a full-time mission. I got back about 9 weeks ago and holy moly it has been a roller coaster! With the crazy amount of sisters returning from their missions right now (believe me, they are taking over the BYU's haha) I am sure that many are facing some of the similar challenges that I have/ am currently facing. This is kinda crazy and I know everyone goes through the adjustment differently but here is my story and how I am semi- returning back to normality (well I was never normal but you know...)

Getting off the plane was crazy. It didn't even feel like real life! There was my whole family just waiting to give me a hug. My brother Bradley wasn't there because he is still on his mission but we had a new addition, my cute nephew Eli! I tried so hard to not cry when I saw my family..... yeah you try looking at a cute little baby holding a sign that says "I have been waiting my whole life to meet you" and not shedding a tear! Safe to say I was pretty emotional. We were such a scene at the air port that this poor innocent friend waiting for her friend to get of his plane was crying as she watched us. When her friend walked up to her he was pretty confused at her tears. 

It didn't feel real! Of course our first stop was In-N-Out on the way home from the airport (they definitely don't have those back East) and I was still trying to talk to random strangers in the parking lot. My family was laughing hysterically at me and my nerdy-ness. Well everything was fine and dandy until that night when I met with my stake president (local church leader) to be released from my duty as a full-time missionary. The second he asked me how my mission was I again started to just cry uncontrollably. How could I even sum up how amazing the last 18 months of my life had been or how much they had changed my life or how much I love the people out there? There is no way to sum something like that up people... so you just cry. Then when you are released of your duty you have to take off your name tag. Ok you may be wondering if I cried yet again.... the answer is duh. That was the tag I got to wear to let people know that I was an official representative of my Savior Jesus Christ. That was the tag I wore for the best 18 months of my life so far!

Well safe to say that finishing a mission is was harder than starting a mission. When you get home you are supposed to go back to real life as we all know it. Don't get me wrong now..... being with my family and wearing pants was prettyyyyy nice. But what was I supposed to do now? I spent every waking minute either preparing to teach and serve or teaching and serving. Well the next weeks held a lot of trial and emotions that I had never anticipated. I will save you the whole sob story but safe to say I had a pretty hard time. Until......

One Sunday as I was sitting with my family waiting for church to start, I was looking around at my awesome family and other awesome families. It hit me like a ton of big huge bricks. Heavenly Father has an awesome plan for me and serving a mission was amazing but it was just a part of that plan. Serving a mission for the Lord has taught me so many things that I will use for the rest of my life! I have met people that I will be friends with forever. I just know that even though my purpose in life has changed from helping every one come closer to Christ every minute of every day, I still have a big purpose here. We all do! The best part is, I can still help others to come closer to their Savior, just in a different way than I did as a missionary. Its great! I still have the every day struggles but it gets easier all the time when I remember who is really in charge here.

Now don't feel left out.... this is just my story of adjusting back from a mission, but we all are going through adjustments all the time. That is a huge part of life. Every one has a different plan, whether you are adjusting to married life, divorced life, life without a loved one, college, job, baby, etc. I hope we all can remember that God has a plan and if we hold on and do what is right, everything is going to be A.O.K!!! I know that it will! 

Remember to look for the humor and the positive in every day. People know my loud obnoxious laugh from anywhere, mostly because I never stop laughing. I promise there is something to laugh about in every hour. Big or small.

Love,

Brook..... even though sometimes I still introduce myself as Sister Swisher.... awkward ...

P.S. here are some pictures to prove that life is still fun after the mission!