No me gusta

Right now I'm just sitting in the Operahouse, working, and listening to Mama in the background and trying so hard to drown it out with the lovely voices of Brandi Carlisle and Unkle Bob... it's not going well. I don't think I've been more scared of a movie. Maybe it's because I don't know what going on and all I can hear are people screaming so my imagination gets the better of me. Or I'm just a wimp. Either way, no. me. gusta. I'm scared to go anywhere near the door because, with my luck, that would be when a really loud, scary moment would happen and I would jump. To make things better, someone just walked in to get gift certificates. No one ever comes in here after the movie starts, usually. Needless to say, I went into ninja mode. I just want this movie to be over.

On a completely unrelated topic, today I finally finished all of my mission shopping. I just have to await some stuff in the mail and have my mom finish my temple dress and I will be all set. I cannot believe it's less than a month away! And I am overwhelmed by those who want to be there in Provo before I report to the MTC. I was surprised when I didn't have to ask someone to pick me up but the lovely and talented Kaelin Vining just volunteered out of nowhere! It's going to make the whole going-to-California-for-the-first-time-and-not-being-able-to-see-friends-for-18-months adjustment a lot easier having her there. And my sister. And my cousin. And maybe Brandt. and maybe the Mullers. And who knows who else. But no matter what, Kaelin will be there, and that will make my life a whole lot easier. 

Something I've been thinking a lot about lately is how much I'm going to change during my mission. For one thing, I think I will be a lot quieter. I don't think I'll get to know Spanish well enough to have the same kind of touch as when I speak in English, and maybe that's better. My friend Sam pointed out that he's quite a talker, and learning Spanish is going to make him have to think about what he's saying before he speaks, which could be really good. In that sense, it could be good for me as well because then I can learn how to talk in English again because we all know I'm a little inept at that sometimes. I don't really want to lose my outgoing-ness but I can see that happening in the beginning, just because of my past experiences with Spanish, I can see myself not wanting to talk very much because I don't want to embarrass myself. I guess I'll just have to get over it before it gets the better of me. It'll all be really interesting to see how everything plays out. 

I've also been thinking about the people in my mission. There are a few people I know that either live in the Riverside mission, have siblings serving in the Riverside mission, or are going themselves. I keep imagining myself with these people I've never met, with faces I've never seen before and we're all laughing and getting along and talking about the mutual friends we have and just becoming really good friends besides. I'm curious to see who my trainer is and what kind of a missionary she is. And what kind of a person she is. Hopefully I get someone that I can have fun with but still get the job done but again, we shall see.

Thinking about all this stuff just makes me anxious to get going. I hate not knowing things and not knowing who my first companion is going to be is killing me. I really just want to know already. Once I know who it is, it won't kill me as much to know who my next one is because I'll be focusing on the current one, but right now, I've got no one. I just want to know! 

I also can't believe how many of my friends are on missions already. I seriously never thought this day would come when almost all of my friends would have served a mission, be on a mission, or have their mission call. It is mind blowing. I am truly blessed to have found such a good group of friends. Kind of a random bunch, some of which aren't even friends with each other, but I love them all and am so proud of them. I'm also proud of my friends not going on missions because they're all going on to do amazing things like Fiji and grad school. I miss all of my friends, but I'm just glad they have everything figured out for themselves... for the most part :). 

Well it's been a rather long day. These are my thoughts. 

Iowa Weather's Dumb

My mom and I try and go walking every morning at around 7:30 if it's not freezing cold, snowing, or raining. I started this goal a week or two after getting back from Rexburg and it's going really well. Oh, wait, no. Iowa weather sucks this time of year and it's always freezing cold. I've decided if I should be walking in six miles every day, then I should be walking six miles every day in California weather because walking in freezing cold weather is a lot different than walking in not freezing weather. I'll sweat more. Gross. 

And lets not forget that every time we try to have a party for work there's some sort of blizzard that decides to maybe make an appearance. Sorry, snow blizzard, but you are not an employee at the DeWitt Operahouse and so you are not invited to our parties, no matter how much you may want to be. And so, dear Iowa weather, I would like to make a request that you change your ways because I am trying to get ready for a mission here and obviously the world revolves around me.

Speaking of the DeWitt Operahouse, I cannot believe by the time I leave for my mission I will have worked there for about two years and seven months. I has been quite an adventure. I have some pretty awesome stories about working there. It has been the best job I've had ever and unfortunately I have to put in my two weeks at the end of this week. I don't really know how to go about doing that. How do you say you're quitting a job that you've worked at for a little over 2 1/2 years that you don't really want to quit but it's the right thing to do? "Sorry, but I'm leaving for 18 months then hopefully will live in Rexburg until I graduate. It's been great." As much as I love my family, this job is the reason I come back to Iowa on my off semester. I don't want to leave it. But, if you're looking for a job, we're taking applications and it is the best job in the world.

Well, here goes nothing

     So I'm new to this whole blog thing and for the most part, this blog will be filled with my letters and emails to home from California but I figured until then, this could kind of be like a journal. And maybe that's what a blog is supposed to be. Or more like a diary, everyone reads other peoples' diaries, no one reads journals... except maybe doctors reading journals of other doctors... and those aren't the kind of journals I'm referring to anyway... but that's beside the point. Aaaaand we're focusing again.

     So yesterday I went to six hours of church. Six. Needless to say, I was a little exhausted by the end of the day. The reason was I had my own church from 9-Noon then I traveled on down to Rock Island for my friend Sam's farewell at 1:00 which is another three hours of church. It was great hearing Sam's testimony and the love he had for everyone in his ward. I also was blessed to be there for Sam's last Gospel Doctrine class that he taught. After hearing his testimony and watching him teach, I had no doubt that he was ready to serve a mission and that he was going to be a great missionary.

     It did, however, bring to attention how far I have yet to come before I feel like I could be ready. Thanks to his example, I know have a kick in the butt to get going on my mission preparations. Just today I read five chapters in the Book of Mormon in English (which doesn't seem like much, but it's more than I usually do), I listened and read along with the Book of Mormon on CD in Spanish for five chapters (again, doesn't seem too much, but trust me, five chapters in the Book of Mormon in another language takes a good, long time. 45 minutes to be precise.), I reviewed my purpose as a missionary that I'm supposed to memorize: "Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." I memorized it in Spanish too: "Invitar a las personas a venir a Cristo a fin de que reciban el Evangelio restaurado mediante la fe en Jesucristo y Su expiación, el arrepentimiento, el bautismo, la recepción del don del Espíritu Snato y el perseverar hasta el fin." (Well, okay, I really need to work on the Spanish one... but for the most part I got it.) And I memorized the first three verses of D&C 4: "Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men. Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day. Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;" 

So basically I'm on fire today and the flame is going to burn strong... hopefully... because I've still got a long way to go. Buuut I think that's all. Ta ta.