Abbie and I have always been so different. My mom will tell you how difficult we were as kids because we never wanted to eat at the same restaurant, see the same movie, etc. We have always had different interests and made different choices, but now we have both chosen to serve missions. I know that each of our unique sets of talents and experiences will be consecrated for missionary work. We are both needed, and that is so exciting!
It's a small town tradition.
After cuddling with the farm animals I headed home to go out to dinner with my family at Brick Oven. There is nothing I love more than just laughing with my family. They are always a party.
We spent the weekend together playing cards, watching basketball (March Madness!), hanging out at the Grandparents' with the extended fam, and listening to conference.
I really loved all of conference, but my favorite conference talk this time was Elder Christofferson's talk about redemption. You can read or watch it here:
Conference reignited my excitement about being a missionary. Which was great considering what happened next.
58 days? I knew that wasn't right. That's less than two months! I called the church I.T. guys to say, "This is a mistake right?" They said, "Probably but hold on." A few minutes later I was on the phone with the missionary department with a lady who said, "Sorry...we called your stake president like a week ago...but yeah, you are now leaving on June 5th."
Um, okay!
This is a list I like to call...Things That Got Messed Up
1. My sister is graduating on June 7th.
2. My family is going on a trip to St. George on June 9th. This trip was only planned because I won't be able to go to Washington D.C. with them at the end of June.
3. The night before this happened, my roommates and I were planning a trip to Seattle.
4. I had a plan to make $1,000 between May 3rd and June 19th. That will not be happening.
5. My dad is going to be on a different continent during the week before I leave.
6. Combine fast Sunday with number 5, and basically I will be giving my farewell talk in like 4 weeks.
7. My visa is taking a long time and I was already worried about whether I would get it by June 19th, let alone June 5th.
8. I was looking forward to having two weeks of summer with my sisters. Now I will be leaving before they get out of school.
9. I had big plans for June 8th. Really, though.
10. I wanted to finish the Book of Mormon again before I left. I am on 2 Nephi right now. Did I mention I leave 8 weeks from today?
The week that I decided to go on a mission, everything immediately fell into place and went so smoothly. I finished my papers in 10 days. I took all of that as a sign that I had made the right choice.
So what about when things aren't going smoothly? What about when I have to submit my FBI clearance twice and start everything over?
So that is it. I am more ready than I think I am and I am 100% excited to be a missionary. That trumps any whiny list I could ever make.
I just love you Hil!!
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