Lia was excited to come home, but also sad to leave Paraguay. She gave everything she had to her mission. She loved the people she taught, the members, her companions, and her mission leaders. She embraced the heat, the dirt, the mud, and the crappy apartments. She worked and led and loved. She strengthened her testimony, her Spanish, and her relationship with the Savior. She bought lots of souvenirs (and mate), said her goodbyes, went to the temple...and had a little delay in her flight plans. I got a call early in the morning on the day she was supposed to be home. I hadn't slept much that night and knew when the phone rang it was about Lia. The office elder could only get the words, "I wanted to inform you..." out several times before another elder finally grabbed the phone and told me her first flight just got canceled. We were obviously very disappointed, but also relieved that nothing bad happened--just a flight delay. And I was relieved that she was at the mission home and not stuck in an airport somewhere. We had waited 18 months, we could wait a few more hours.
