Missionary Online Recommendation System

this is what i was looking at for a whole 10 days as i waited for my mission call. i thought that id be able to see exactly where my papers were in their progress but all ive seen is Recommendation has been submitted. then, this last friday, my envelope was in the mail box! i love suspense and there wasn't any of it! haha but now i have 3.5 months to prepare and anticipate to serve a mission in spanish. in california. with raiders fans. and As fans. and giants fans. and only 60 min or so from jimmer and the kings. right across from the bay. overlooking the ocean alllll day. going in the temple whenever i want.

oh the excitement of anticipation!!!!

Oh, also, I went to mission prep tonight and it was just me and colton. he's leaving for his mission in a month and is going to argentina. we had the lesson of what a testimony consists of and it was pretty neat.   First you bear your testimony on a subject and then your companion bears their testimony about it and then brings up a different topic and bears their testimony and then it bounces back to you. it goes on like that until you stop apparently haha. the topics of what the basic testimony are 1) God lives 2) Jesus is our Savior 3) Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and translated the Book of Mormon 4) Thomas S. Monson is our living prophet today 5) the LDS church is the only fully restored church of Jesus Christ on the earth today. its pretty cool stuff to learn about.

California Oakland/San Francisco Mission, Oakland Temple Visitors' Center, Spanish Speaking

How fitting. I've been more excited about going to the temple since my first interview with Bishop Munoa than serving an actual mission. Heavenly Father knows me so well! Not only is He letting me serve at THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TEMPLE IN THE WORLD but He's letting me learn Spanish too! I would have been happy anywhere but He and I both knew deep down that I would be disappointed if I didn't go somewhere Spanish speaking. He is too good to me. Plus it's California, where it's sunny always - just one of the many things that makes me happy. I am so incredibly blessed with a beautiful, supportive family who are just as excited as I am to serve a mission. I'm thankful for their love and constant encouragement. Everything I am I owe to them, especially my mom and dad. Thanks for teaching me how to love others and smile at everyone Mom and Dad. You're the greatest examples I could ever ask for. I probably requested you in the pre-existence so thanks for accepting the challenge.

Fear not, little flock

ONE

First and most important, my mission papers were officially submitted to Salt Lake yesterday. This means the countdown started YESTERDAY!!! Woa, right? It's just completely insane how quickly my life is changing. I thought I'd never have the paperwork done and now they're being looked at and pondered about. Craazzyyyy... 

I only hope that my call comes before June 28 when my family leaves for Boston. We'll be gone for two weeks and my letter could just be sitting in our mailbox that whole time. Lonely, afraid, confused as to why no one has opened it... I just don't know if I could do that.

TWO

A second, and third, and well fourth cool thing is that my family and I had the chance to go to the groundbreaking of the Phoenix, AZ Temple. That was pretty cool. We turned some dirt and felt the spirit.

THREE

Me and my madre went shopping over the weekend and we got a few new skirts for me. Two are super long, Sister skirts! And they don't make me look Amish or Mennonite! Woo-hoo! I also bought a new skirt today. It's not long though. Modest and super cute but not mid-calf length, you know? Maybe I can still wear them depending on where I go. We'll see!

FOUR

I teach the 14-15 year old Sunday School class at church now that I'm home. It's fun to chat with them, have kids appreciate my outfits, and use colored chalk. =D Last week we went over the signs of Christ's second coming and used one of my all time favorite scriptures to be comforted DC 6:34 . It's good stuff for sure.






PS: YSA is so, sooo much fun.

It Is Finished

DONE!!!! I AM TOTALLY DONE WITH MY PAPERS! I finally got that stinken picture taken and now it all comes down to my Bishop interview followed by my Stake President Interview and then the papers are off to SLC!! Here is the official photo that I had to send in for my application.

It's way cuter when it's not cropped but I guess they aren't kidding when they say they want a head shot. For once I don't mind that my hair is so short otherwise it wouldn't have fit in the picture! I'm pretty sure I was thinking "Spain" when I smiled for this...

I'm lucky that my mom is so good at taking photos without ANY HELP AT ALL! She knows where good lighting is (these doesn't have any photoshop), how to tilt your head just enough so it looks good and what to focus on as the shutter clicks. I'm no professional but I'm proud of her ability to take good photos. Some of her other favorites include:

 

Ok, she doesn't really like the last one but I wanted her to document how shiny my hair was today haha. The second to last one was about to be the official picture but then my dad voted for the one you see at the top. "Your bangs hide your eyes. Your picture needs to show how open you are to people and being half hidden doesn't help. Plus your cheeks are too shiny in the others and that's not realistic." He didn't say those words exactly but something similar. Good point pops. Years of asking for his opinion has finally paid off and he now gives quality feedback. Apparently he has been listening to my comments about make up and hair for the past 20 years. I'm pretty sure he doesn't listen too well when I talk about clothes though. He is a boy after all. The best Dad ever, but still.