This is it!!

Mission papers submitted....check!! This week I had my interview with the stake president for my mission and it was such an amazing feeling! When I left his office I had the most excited feeling I have ever felt! I am just so ready to serve! Its the first thing on my mind when my eyes pop open in the morning and the last thing on my mind when I close my eyes at night. Anticipation?.....yeah we could call that an understatement! On Thursday in mission prep teacher Brother Lewis had us watch a video about Joseph Smith and the Sacred Grove. Now if you know me you know that of course I cried. That's just what happens to me when I feel the spirit (guess that's partly why I love Elder Eyring so much). After we finished the video he asked me to stand and give my testimony of what we had just watched. I thought I was emotional during the movie, but as I stood to bear my testimony of our dear prophet Joseph Smith I was at first hardly able to speak. As I expressed to the class about what I love and know to be true it gave me a taste of what the mission field will be like and made me feel such a bond to Joseph Smith. He is one of those people who at the second coming I am going to be first in line to give the biggest hug ever!


My love for this amazingly faithful boy of 14 who grew into one of the most incredible people to ever walk the earth is so strong and their are no words to express my gratitude! Where would we be without him and the sacrifices that he made for this gospel? It really just makes me want to step up my game about 110%. If a young boy can face so much adversity and still remain faithful to the Lord in accomplishing all that he was sent here to do, then why for any reason would I not be able to do the simple things that would make me a better follower of Jesus Christ? There is nothing like preparing for a mission that gives you a power and a joy unlike any other! It helps me really truly think about the simple principles of the gospel that I don't often take time to ponder and appreciate. And practicing explaining them to others as we do in mission prep helps me to gain a better understanding and testimony of these wonderful parts of the gospel that the Lord has prepared for us!

You know it really is such a great time to be alive! When we acknowledge that, we provide ourselves with such a more productive mindset and allow ourselves to become available to growing experiences that help mold us into the person that we have always wanted to be. There are just so many great opportunities out there and I am taking each one in stride! First up......Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!!

You live and you learn.

Well tonight I did something that I wish I wouldn't have. I just feel so...whats the word I'm looking for.....oh yeah, "stupid". Now that I think about it, its something I never would have expected myself to do because I know that I am better than that. I need to face up to things and not try to find a way out of them because it just ends up hurting people and that is the last thing in the world that I would ever want to do. To my knowledge things are fine now, I went right to the source to mend the situation but I still have this genuine disappointment in myself because I know better.

Then again I have to remember that I am still human. I am not perfect, I am still learning as I go along and we all make mistakes. However I now know to a clearer extent that especially when I don't know how to deal with a situation or feel overwhelmed by it that I need to just take a deep breath and go with my gut feeling of what I know to be right and to be honest and up front. I never want to do anything that would make someone be disappointed in me or have doubts about who I am. Most importantly I have learned tonight, and these feelings will only help me be more aware and more wise in my dealings with others.

The field is white!

Last night I completed and submitted my ONLINE MISSION PAPERS!!! Can I get a what what?! I was so excited/nervous that I could hardly eat all day! Now I just need to finish up the last few things with the Stake Pres and the rest will be up to the great men in Salt Lake! I have hardly been able to think about anything else lately. My coworkers and I have quite frequently been talking mission, and its been so great to be able to include my non-member coworkers in on my excitement and whole missionary preparation process. Its been a great missionary experience already! I get more excited with each passing day, and of course the nerves sort of go along with that as well. I even dream about my mission and about where I might go.

 I wonder about those who I will have the opportunity to teach and grow to love. I talked with my brother's girlfriend the other day (who is so amazing) and she gave me so much peace about things I had been concerned with and helped me to gain a better understanding about what is most important when serving a mission. I am so blessed! Wow its all coming so fast and its only a matter of time until I find out where I will be serving. My Mission Prep class is so fantastic! Oh I just love it! And our teacher Brother Lewis is like a dad to me and so it just makes the whole process that much more amazing! The spirit I feel when I think or talk "mission" is worth everything in the world to me and I can't imagine not being able to have the opportunity to partake of this blessimg in my life.
3 Nephi 5:13

A Thanks To Missionary Mothers!

Wow, every time I think that I couldn't get any more excited about my mission or become more interested in everything a mission entails I am proven wrong! On Sunday I went to my aunts ward where I know several families who's kids are serving missions. Each of the mothers of these currently serving missionaries were asked to speak. As each of these mothers spoke I felt an excitement that I can't even begin to explain and I was so overcome by the spirit that I wept through each talk.  One of my best friends Rachel is currently serving in the Nauvoo, Illinois mission and as her mother spoke about the amazing experiences she is having I knew that I want to have those types of experiences more than anything else in the world right now! There were times through the meeting that I felt as if I had to hold myself in my seat because I was so ecstatic! Literally "everything" else seemed so obsolete to me except that of wanting to serve the Lord, preaching his gospel to every living creature and giving the gift of everlasting joy and happiness that I have been blessed with my whole life. Of course sometimes I wonder if I am really prepared enough or capable of doing such a essentially sacred work, but then I am reminded of a scripture in Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths!"

The Lord will make everything possible for me to be able to take the message of the gospel to his children and will show unto me his great power as I am used as a tool in his hands to help build his kingdom. What an incredible yet humbling experience! I am so grateful to those mothers who shared their missionary's tender experiences and deep testimonies of the gospel. I felt as if I were a sponge soaking up every word and every feeling of joy and peace from the spirit! I love this gospel more than anything in my entire existence because I don't just think, but I know that I would not be here today if I didn't have it in my life. I want to let the world know that so many indescribable blessings can become readily available to them through what Joseph Smith has restored to the earth. The best way to sum up what I am feeling is through a quote from President Monson that has been on my mind for the past few days:  "Missionary service is a priesthood duty—an obligation the Lord expects of us who have been given so very much.” I may not be part of the priesthood but I am so glad that I have the opportunity to walk in the steps of the many great missionaries that were such great examples to me throughout my life. Because I have been so greatly blessed by my loving Heavenly Father through his gospel, how can I not share this life changing message with those of my brothers and sisters who are waiting to hear it? I know that not only will I bless the lives of those I teach through the hand of the Lord but that they will bless my life in return and will teach me things that I would have never thought I could learn about love and service through the gospel of Jesus Christ!