It's Guessing Time!

So guys im wikid excited! Today was my last interview with the stake president! my papers are officially sent it!

For those who aren't firmiliar with the mission application process first you get permission to start your online application from your bishop. Then once your online application is done, you have a interview with the bishop. Then he sends your application to a higher group of leaders( the stake president) then you have an interview with them. After that interview he sends all my info and application to the head of our church. From there they council an assign me to a mission, and then i get a letter in the mail telling me, where i'm assigned to and what date to report to the Training Center! I will get my call in about 2 weeks or less!

so now its guessing time! everyone gets one stateside & one foreign guess! you can go ahead and comment below!  :)

The Season of Giving.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Its definitely been an interesting one! I made my first turkey and i think I earned my cooking Merit Badge to be a house wife haha. As i look at the long postings on facebook about the Holiday, i reflect on what i'm grateful for. I'm grateful for alot of things to think of it.I am grateful for parents who have taught me right from wrong and to always believe i was meant for great things. I am grateful for my family, and friends,for the short comings i have and for the hard times that i've been through. My family is crazy sometimes but the best family that i could ever ask for & more. And this includes my work family at LGH :)  I'm grateful for the friends that i have even though sometimes i dont spend as much time with them as i would like too.This past year has been a rollercoaster i guess you could say. i reflect on where i was a year ago. I was getting out of a relationship, going into a new one. I was thinkin about my mission and how far away it was. I was changing my major and what i was studying. Ya know so many things happened that i thought wouldn't happen. The Lord has blessed me more then i deserve and my heart is always full whenever i reflect on the tender mercies He has shown me. 
This Thanksgiving it was just my Oldest brother and I. We both pitched in to try to make Thanksgiving work. He bought the turkey & basically i cooked everything. I stayed up all night & tried to make everything perfect . (btw the turkey was a success) I was really proud the way things turned out! the turkey was perfect, we had all the essentials. pie & dessert as well. As we sat down to give thanks, again, it was just the two of us. It was humbling in a way. I missed my family and i was a lil sad that i couldn't spend time with huge company, but ya know what i was given the opportunity to get to know my brother more. My eldest brother and I have always gotten along but not as close as Jared and I. Jared and i are like bestfriend and my two older brothers are bestfriends so thats just how it was. Out at college, Josh is the only brother out here with me. I love my Brother and i am grateful for the love and support he shows me everyday. But today was different. 
 I want this Blog to be the real Journey of my Mission. The good, bad, happy, and sad. In the words of President Monson I can also say "My dear brothers and sisters, I am humbled as I stand before you this morning. I ask for your faith and prayers in my behalf as I speak about those things which have been on my mind and which I have felt impressed to share with you." . Although, I am not standing at the moment and I am not speaking , but lets substitute [write]. 

Going on a mission is hard. This is the hardest thing that i've done and will do so far in my life.I knew that from the moment I made my decision but I didn't realize how hard it would be. There are a roller coaster of emotions that come with this process, well at least for me. I'm anxious, nervous, excited , heartbroken, exhausted , happy, over filled with joy, ect . It's kinda draining but I know it hasn't even started ! . Everyone talks about how great it is during the mission and what to expect after but i rarely hear of what happens before. Sometimes i think it's harder to go for girls to go just because we are not obligated to go.  Since the announcement was made. My life has legit been turned upside down. I had planned to go when i was 21. I had planned my life basically till then. Now plans have to be canceled, education put on hold,  and other things have been moved up on my to do list. I want to go and have always had the desire to go. I talked to my brother what was happening and it was funny to see how he could relate to what i was going through. I have ran into alot of opinions while this has gone on and one still baffles me a little. I explained that I have no idea why alot of return guy missionaries have a bad opinion of sister missionaries. Maybe they just had some syco missionaries that made their judgement, or maybe they got dear johned on the mission i dk. It is frustrating to know that just becuase they've seen weird sister misssionaries, doesnt mean ill come back one? It hurts and is heart breaking to know that i am being catigorized and jugdged as such. My brother Josh talked about he sacrifices he made and how he is kinda dealing with similar emotions in his life. It was good to lean on each other for support and i am grateful that i have a brother who not only is willing to be there when i need him but  also i'm grateful for his support no matter what happens. 

For those of you who have been reading this blog, i am grateful for your support as well. The Lord has been my Rock and even when things change and life is hard, He has always been there. He's always been the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. For me Nothing has changed in that aspect. Today we reflect on what we are grateful for. Over everything else, I am grateful for Him. Everything i have is because of My Savior.  I'm not that great. I have my flaws. He loves me enough to give me more than i deserve He has blessed me with all of you. I am grateful for that :)

Little Brother

So Jared went on a mission yesterday. For those of you who dont know, ( i mean it's kinda hard not to know) Jared is myounger brother/ best friend/ my otherhalf. 

We have grown up doing everything together. We hung out with the same people, had the same friends, like the same stuff, went on road trips together, went to college together, and most of all drove our parents crazy. Growing up i guess you could say that was our goal most of the time. My mom would come home from school and Jared and I would be causing chaos. But thats just how it is. Jared is about 13 months younger than me so we did everything together because we had to and we wanted to. We were 2 out of the 3 mormons at my school. We learned to rely on eachother for anything. Honestly Jared is way better than i could ever be. He's been an example and i am grateful to call him my brother. 

So for those of you who are not of my faith, when you get called on a mission you enter a training center. Hence, the name Missionary Training Center (MTC) You stay there for a couple weeks learning the language and studying. Then you are sent to the area where you are assigned. Jared was called the San Jose, California mission, Spanish Speaking. He reported Nov14th at 1:30pm. It was actually a bittersweet experience. Jared is definitely emotional and knowing him so well i could tell what he was thinking. He was getting a lil anxious and nervous as we drove by. He asked to stay in the car for 5 more min and so we did. It was cute cause he was trying to collect himself and brace himself for what was going to happen next. As we drove up to the MTC we were greeted by the guard and he told us where to drop Jared off. As we drove past, missionary after missionary stood in a line waiting to help Jared get settled in. They opened his door, and took his luggage. They were extremly nice and asked us where we were from and where Jared was assigned. We said our goodbyes and took pictures. I hugged my bestfriend one last time and watched him walk away. I wont be able to see him for 2 years. But I know it'll go by quickly. He's off Serving the Lord and doing what he's wanted to do for his whole life. I'm glad that this is also something will be doing together. Hopefully we will be getting back around the same time! I love my Brother, he's my bestfriend. I miss him, But we are only apart in distance and i wish him the Best. Good luck Jared, Do work, GIT IT! I know that you're Gonna rock San Jose's world.

A Change of Events

The Lord is way too good to me sometimes! I've seen many little miracles happen over the past couple months but as i've been discussing things over with my Parents and leaders and it looks like I will be putting in my papers in earlier than I expected. Hopefully if all goes well, They will be sent in hopefully by mid next week! It's crazy to think that it's coming alot sooner than i though! So part one of my papers is done now time for the interviews! I have my Bishops interview tonight and hopefully by the end of this week i can have my stake president interview!
Besides completing my electronic recommendation, I've been trying to study the crud outta Preach My Gospel. I've been worried about not being prepared enough or not knowing the scriptures that much, that i'd epically fail. I've been worrying about all the little things and just feeling a lil overwhelmed. Ever hear the saying " Have you prayed about it, as much as you talked about it?" Well i was feeling that i prayed about it alot more than i talked about it. I dont like to complain even though i do have my moments. As i take time to reflect, I'd like to share a couple of events where I felt the Lord's hand in my life. I love the Temple. It's definitely a house of learning and my refuge. I woke up one morning and felt that i should go. It was cold and snowing and i was so lazy. But i got my butt out of the apartment and went. I sat there thinking how amazing it was to have the privilege to be so close to a Temple. When i looked at the girl in front of me and it was Katherine Cross. She was a girl back in my home ward and we had drove to institute together. I hugged her and basically had a little reunion. My heart was full and even though she didnt say much, she had calmed my spirit and made me re-realize the love & desire of going on a mission. Another instant, again i was in the temple, and i was reading my scriptures. that week i kinda was thinking about what i was gonna do about my job and everything i had to leave behind. And Have you ever read a scripture and knew it was something you were suppose to read? or deff helped in some weird way? well for me It was reading D&C 31. I read
 "6 Behold, verily I say unto you, go from them only for a little^atime, and declare my word, and I will prepare a place for them.

 7 Yea, I will ^aopen the hearts of the people, and they will receive you. And I will establish a church by your hand;

 8 And you shall ^astrengthen them and prepare them against the time when they shall be gathered.

 9 Be ^apatient in ^bafflictions, ^crevile not against those that revile. Govern your ^dhouse in meekness, and be ^esteadfast.

 10 Behold, I say unto you that you shall be a physician unto the church, but not unto the world, for they will not receive you.

 11 Go your way whithersoever I will, and it shall be given you by the ^aComforter what you shall do and whither you shall go.

 12 ^aPray always, lest you enter into ^btemptation and lose your^creward.

 13 Be ^afaithful unto the ^bend, and lo, I am ^cwith you. These words are not of man nor of men, but of me, even Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, by the ^dwill of the Father. Amen."

I thought i was taking this way too literal (cause someone once told me, sometimes i take stuff too literally) but then this chapter kept bugging me. so i studied more into it. It was given to Thomas B. Marsh. At the time , He had been called on a mission but he was worried about leaving his family behind and basically what he had to sacrifice. i found it funny that i was worrying about the same thing. Ya know i find comfort in the scriptures. Maybe i am taking it to literally, maybe i'm not. All i know is that i'm serving a mission, it's 18 months. 18 months is not alot of time in the eternal perspective of things. I am Finding confront in that the Lord is intricately involved in our lives and that he knows each one of us. He has a plan for our lives. In the CES devotional last night he said  something along the lines of his life is not at all what he had planned out. But He is happy. he's alot happier than he probably would have been.  This whole experience has been humbling and everyday I thank my Heavenly Father for the tender mercies that he shows me everyday.