I have been called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I will be serving the Lord in the Philippines Iloilo Mission and I report to the MTC on April 25th. Honestly, I feel like every month is so full of exciting news and events. Normally I become overwhelmed by it all and don't share it all, but this time I want to write as much as possible... plus I'm at work and I'm bored out of my mind :)
So, since last month...
I spent Christmas at home in Orem, Utah. I spent most of my time there working on my mission papers and were able to have them submitted just a few days after Christmas. A couple days later, I drove with Mom and Dad back to Rexburg to drop Daniel off for the semester and I was able to see and spend a little bit of time with one of my good friends. I'm going to miss Daniel a lot, but I really hope he enjoys BYU-Idaho as much as I did. I believe he already is more than I did my freshmen year actually, so that's a very good sign. On January 5th I flew to Missouri where I have been ever since. I spent a few days with Kristy and her family before moving to Warrensburg and have been able to visit her again since, so hopefully I will get to see her often while here. It does get a little lonely from time to time living by yourself.
Warrensburg...
I'm living in the upstairs of a friendly old couple called the Olpins. They are so sweet and nice and I was very surprised by the living arrangements. I was expecting a few close to empty rooms, although I knew they would be furnished. I was not expecting to be living in rooms filled with their stuff. I feel a little awkward and almost as though I shouldn't be touching anything. They do own a lot of books though and I have been taking advantage of those. I also thought I would have total privacy with no roommates, but the Olpins come upstairs all the time to give me popcorn or to invite me to some event or other or just to chat for extended periods of time. They are the sweetest people ever and when that happens, I'm not so lonely, but I have to be careful to shut my doors and not leave things lying around... All the doors are also very hard to open and close and the floors are squeaky so I'm worried about bothering them at times, although I know they don't care.
There are train tracks running along one or two blocks from the house. Every time a train passes (which it does ALL the time and in the middle of the night), the whole house shakes and it is very loud. I have been having a very hard time sleeping as a result, plus I have been sick a lot this past week. Since receiving my call though, I have had a much better attitude about everything and I know I will be able to get through this time in my life just fine :)
My Internship is going. I've been bored out of my mind... I have finally been given a project to do, which makes my job a little more interesting but it's hard for me to sit in front of a computer screen all day. I never wanted a desk job, which is why I chose the field that I did... anyways, I'm planning a Kid's Climbing Club for this summer. It sounds like it will be fun. Too bad I won't be here to enjoy it. Okay, so far everything has been sounding very negative, I realize that. I am in a very good mood though, just so you all know. I have been very busy with other things since my call. I have applied for my passport and have renewed my driver's license and am working on several other things.
I finally went to my own branch this last Sunday. I was really surprised at how small it was! There were maybe 2 or 3 guys other than the elder missionaries and maybe 15 girls. My very first day they asked me to play the piano in sacrament meeting. After church I had an interview with the bishop to get my temple recommend to receive my endowments, which I will be doing in the Nauvoo temple on February 11th. In the same interview, he also called me to be the Ward Music Chairperson. So I get to choose the hymns to sing every sacrament along with who's playing the piano and leading the music... so since I played this Sunday, I have a feeling I will be playing every Sunday from now on and will need to find someone who knows how to lead.
I am so excited to serve the Lord in the Philippines. I am excited to share the gospel and to get to know the Filipinos who I already love so much. I'm excited to learn Tagalog in the MTC... and all the other languages that I'll have to learn once I arrive in the Philippines. I'm excited for the warm weather and beauty of the area. I'm even excited for the nasty food, washing my lauundry by hand, water that needs to be filtered... all that. I'm just excited about life in general!
So, I'm pretty sure I've been rambling on enough... and the climbing wall is about to open, so I think I'll go climb for a little while. :)
