The Long Version

I got back into the United States at about 6 this morning. I left Paraguay at 3 yesterday afternoon, and cried most of the way from Asuncion to Buenos Aires.

I've known for three weeks. So have my parents, my pastor, and a select few others. It was a surprisingly well kept secret.

There are a variety of reasons why I'm back. There was a lot of sickness, which I mentioned. The people I was supposed to live with got sick, and I wasn't allowed to stay with the missionaries for an extended period of time. We sat down at breakfast and they explained the variety of issues and explained that no, I was not in trouble, this was just not the right time for me to be in Paraguay. They suggested that I go home for a while, go to college, but they definitely wanted me to come back after college. They didn't want me to go, and I didn't want to go. But it was necessary.

I love Paraguay and I will most likely pray every day until I am able to return that I get the opportunity to go back. That country will always have a piece of my heart in it, and I will never forget the people that I met there or the experiences that I had. I'm not saying that I want to go live there forever, just that my work is definitely not done there, and I have to go back someday. I had to keep telling myself that when we took off from Asuncion.

"I will be back."

The trip back was an adventure in and of itself. I'll tell more about that later. Right now I need to sleep and convince myself that I'm really home and I'm not just dreaming.