Here I GO!!!

Well, my time as a pre-missionary is coming to a close. I gave my farewell talks today and they went very well! I spoke on a talk by Elaine S Dalton, the former General Young Women's President. Her talk was titled Be Not Moved, it was such an amazing talk! I urge you all to go read it (the link on her name will take you to it!). I was blessed to be able to give my talk twice actually! I gave it in my home ward along with a boy who is leaving on the same day as me. We then sang Come Thou Fount with our siblings. It all went really well and I did so well at not crying until I was done singing! I then gave another version of the same talk in my singles ward, it was also good! Except that I cried, because my very best friend was in the congregation watching!

But Anyways...

Just 23 hours until I am set apart as a missionary! It's all so overwhelming because I don't feel prepared at all, yet the list of things I actually need to get done isn't all that big.

Well.... I guess packing is kind of a big thing

I should probably get to that

But anyways, this blog will be run by my wonderful mother from now! I'll be emailing her so she can post all of my adventures here!

I would love to hear from anyone and everyone! Please shoot me an email or even a letter! My addresses can be found under the "Send Me Some Love!!" tab at the top of this blog!

God bless

I'll see you all on the flip side

You might be a future sister missionary if...

You might be a future sister missionary if...

• People keep reminding you when you leave
• People keep asking where you're going (even after the 10th time you've told them)
• People keep telling you about the cousins/brother/sister-in-law/uncle they have living in your area
• People keep telling you what the weather will be like in your area, even if they've never been there
• Boys are suddenly 110% less attracted to you
• Boys are suddenly 110% more attractive to you
• Everyone keeps asking you if you're excited
• Everyone keeps asking you if you're nervous
• Everyone tells you that you'll have so much fun
• Everyone tells you that it will be the hardest 18 months of your life
• PMG is your light reading for before bed
• Shopping is 90% less fun
• Shoe shopping makes you want to cry
• You need to replace 90% of your wardrobe
• You decide to get up at 6:30 every morning and go to bed at 10:30 every night
• You actually get up at 10 every morning and go to bed at 2 AM, 5 days a week
• You can tell people how many days until you report at the drop of a hat
• You count down all your lasts (last full month, last full week, last weekend)
• Your Facebook profile picture is you holding up your call
• Your cover photo is a temple
• Your Facebook name starts with Sister or Hermana
• You're part of the "Many are called...but few are sisters" Facebook page
• Watching other people open their calls makes you cry...even if you don't know them
• Watching anyone do anything that requires more effort that breathing makes you cry because it's just so darn inspirational
• The best gift anyone could give you is a mini hymn book
• You have a blog
• Your favorite weekend activity is doing temple sessions
• You know exactly how many outfits you can make out of 8 blouses, 9 skirts, 4 cardigans, 3 pairs of shoes, and 2 scarves
• Your workplace is your favorite place to tell people about the church, whether they want to hear it or not
• You can't decide if "Called to Serve" or "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go" is your favorite song

Thanks for reading! Hopefully everyone found it a little true and a little funny :) If you have any to add feel free to comment!! Come back soon for more!

Probably only one or two more posts before I report (in 9 days!)! My mom is going to take over the blog and hopefully have an update every week or so!

I Can Do Hard Things

It's been a crazy busy week in the life of a future missionary! With only 16 days until I report to the MTC it's all coming down to the wire. Everything big is taken care of and it's all just details I have to worry about now. Writing my farewell talk and (thinking about) starting to pack is making everything real. In just a few days I'll be able to count down my days left in Idaho on my fingers!

So this past weekend I got to support my dad in a big bike race that we've participated in several times as a family. The LoToJa Classic is a road bike race covering 206 miles and 3 states in one day. Starting in Logan, Utah and ending in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Both my parents are extremely talented ultra distance road cyclists. I have no idea where that gene went when I was born. I hate biking. I would so much rather run. Which was why I started crying a little bit when I got a letter from my mission president stating I'll need a bike for at least part of my mission. But anyways. With my parents always racing and me never racing it only made sense that I start supporting them! In most long distance bike races all the racers are required to have a support vehicle. That's where I come in. I drive the family mini van along the race course and stop at designated feed zones to hand my racers food, drinks, water, whatever they may need. After years of practice, my mom (who didn't race LoToJa this year) and I make a pretty dang good support team. We were able to get my dad through a feed zone in a matter of seconds. We never timed it, but my best guess is that the time it took from him stopping his bike to him starting back out was about 30 seconds total. Ya, we were that good.

But anyways, I always get emotional and inspired at this type of event. And I was comparing this type of race to the gospel all day long. Life is like a big long bike ride. There are uphill parts that are so tiring we're not sure if we'll ever make it to the top, there are downhill parts that you just fly down with no effort and enjoying the scenery the whole way down, there are also the long flat country roads that go on forever and are so mind-numbingly boring that you would almost rather be battling up a mountain. The church and the gospel are like the nutrition and water we need in order to finish this ride. Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father are the ones supporting us. We trust them in our mid-exercise state of mind, when we can't tell if we're hungry, thirsty, nauseous, or simply need to go to the bathroom, to get us what we need. We might think we need just water to survive, but they know better and give us water enriched with sports drink, plus they know when to give us sports bars or energy gels. The finish line of this ride we call life is when we finally get to get off our bikes and hug those who supported us and thank them for taking care of us.

Biking 206 miles in one day is hard. Really hard. That's why I've never done it. Life is also hard. But if we accept the support that is so willingly offered to us by our Savior then it becomes a beautiful ride through a gorgeous country.

Another tender tidbit on this years' LoToJa... Last year a man from Mesa started LoToJa, not knowing it would be his last. On a bridge about 180 miles into the race, there was a wreck that resulted in his death. This year, his wife started riding the course on the bridge and finished the race in his honor. She received a finishers medal at the awards ceremony the next morning. It was a really beautiful tribute and many eyes (including mine) were wet with tears. Faith in humanity: restored.

On a happier note! My dad finished LoToJa for his sixth time this year and received his 1000 mile club trophy! Plus he set a PR for this race of 9 hours and 27 minutes!

And so, in conclusion. It was a good weekend. Seeing as I'm done working (quite sad, actually) I have plenty of hours in my days to prepare to leave! Getting all my shopping for the little things like razors and a new make up bag done. I'll actually have to start packing soon... shudder. It's kind of like how it felt when I was getting ready to leave for college. But times 100.

We also got to do a session in the Logan Temple the day before the race, it was so beautiful! First time I've done a session outside the Boise temple!

Hope you enjoyed this post! Come back soon for more and feel free to email me or comment below!

Nobody said it would be this hard...

I am 24 days from leaving my family for 18 months. I have 22 days left in my beautiful state of Idaho. 

24 days.

Everyone keeps telling me I'll have the time of my life. It will be the best 18 months I ever have. 

So why does it feel like I only have 24 days left to live? 

Nobody told me it would feel like the goodbyes are final goodbyes. Nobody said it would be so difficult to explain to people why you're happy and sad all at the same time. Nobody said it would be hard to explain why you even want to do this.

I knew the tears would flow, but never did I anticipate the ease and volume that they would present themselves with. I knew I would be saying goodbye to friends and co workers, but I didn't know how attached I would be to the people I'm leaving for a year and a half. I knew the packing list would be long, but I didn't quite comprehend how much stuff you need for 18 months of life.

Going on a mission is hard.

I'm giving up my friends and family, my laptop, my phone, dating, jeans, flip flops, alone time, and over $7,000 to do this.

I want to be there to tell my fellow future sister missionaries that it's ok to scared. Heaven knows I'm terrified out of my wits! And I'm not even going anywhere remotely dangerous! I'm so so scared, but it's ok because I have the comfort from my Heavenly Father. What more do I need? If God can help Moses part the seas then he better be able to stop my tears and tell me that everything will be fine. And if Job can show faith through bankruptcy, abandonment, and illness then I can show faith in perfect health, with a whole support system of a family, and with abundance that I don't even appreciate as much as I should.

It's been an emotional few days. Getting down to the wire with not much time left for preparation. It's all getting real, and that's the scary part! I report in less than a month. I made a list of everything that I need to do and buy to be ready to go, it's less than a page long. I'm leaving my job this Thursday, and this is really proving to be harder than I thought it would be. I didn't think I would love the goofballs I work with this much. But I do. Oh well.

It was my last Fast and Testimony meeting before I leave, so naturally I had to get up and bear my testimony on missionary work. Just hoping my farewell talks go more smoothly!

Be faithful and happy. Don't worry about anything, because God has your back. Always has. Always will. Promise.

Thanks for reading! This was all my emotion just kind of pouring out into a random post! Come back soon for more and feel free to comment or email me!