My Internship is still as pointless as ever, but... I've had plenty of time to prepare for my mission. I've been studying the language for hours each day and have also been studying the scriptures and Preach My Gospel and have been spending a lot of time on LDS.org and tons of other things. I've been so focused and it's been great! This is probably the only time that I will ever be able to say that I'm grateful that I don't have a life. :) Tagalog is so much fun to learn, and it has been coming quickly and easily. I've been learning so much about the scriptures and gospel in my personal study and at institute and church that I never knew before. It's really been a good month for me.
I was glad that Mom and Dad were able to come to Missouri so they could be there when I received my endowment, as well as Kristy and Michael. It was a very spiritual experience and I also enjoyed being in and experiencing Nauvoo again. The next Sunday, I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting and was surprised at how easy it was to speak... granted there were only 10 or so people sitting in front of me, but still, I wasn't nervous. I also planned and played all the music for all 3 church meetings. It all went well. I would say more, but I have a lot planned for today. :)
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
"Called to Serve"
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. :)
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. :)
Thursday, December 22, 2011
GRADUATION
My last couple weeks of school were crazy but fun. My team had a final party where we finally got our champion T-Shirts and we all signed them. My friend Aubrey gave me a BYU-Idaho competitive disc signed by the whole team as a graduation present. My "7 week break" friends had a final party the next day where we celebrated my friend Ryan's birthday and burned two pairs of my well-worn shoes. My roommates had a study party at Craigos during finals week and then we had a Christmas Party after all our finals were over... I'm probably missing a whole lot, but let's just say it was a week full of parties and stress. But it was good too. :)
I finished all my classes and just found out today that I got all A's except for one class. That was very exciting. Mom, Dad, Daniel, Amber, Scott, and Claire all drove down to attend my graduation. April and Dean also were able to come, but I wasn't able to see anyone until after the commencement because of car problems.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
CHAMPIONS!
We Won Championships!!!! After a long season of freezing cold practices and hard work, my team made it to the Championship game and managed to win! The wind was ridiculous and I believe it was about 10 degrees if that. We flipped the disc and the Hawks got to decide which side of the field they wanted first. Obviously, they chose the side that would give them an advantage with the wind's help. They scored the first point and then we switched sides and we scored the next point. Every point before half time was scored into the same endzone and we were tied. During the second half though, we managed to score twice against the wind!! Because of our strategies and amazing teamwork and skill, we were able to pull it off. I am so proud of my team and how far we have come. We are more than just an Ultimate Frisbee team. We became a support system for each other. We became best friends. One of the best practices we ever had was one where we each paired off and talked about the hard things going on in our lives. It wasn't planned, but we were able to see what the team needed that day. Being a part of this team and being a leader of it has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I wouldn't trade it for the world.
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| Just Won Championships!!! |
My college career is coming to an end. Thanksgiving is now over and there are only two and a half weeks left before graduation. Ultimate Frisbee is over, work at the ropes course is over, I've found my internship, bought my plane ticket... all I have left to do is pass my finals, find an apartment, and get Christmas Presents! My internship will be in Warrensburg, MO and I will be working under the director of student activities at the University of Central Missouri. It will include working with a climbing wall, designing outdoor day trips for kids, setting up an ultimate Frisbee competition with other colleges, planning weekend retreats, job shadowing the assistant director of student activities, and tons of other assignments. I'm actually really excited about this job! I was originally hoping that I would be able to do more outdoor things, but this encompasses a lot of different things that will be helpful in many future job opportunities. I think it will be a great experience... I also really miss Missouri, so this will be good.
I can't remember when exactly this was, but after one snowy day I built my very first snowman! The picture was taken a day late, so he's falling over and missing an eye and his buttons, but it was super exciting!
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| My First Snowman |
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
1 MONTH + 20 DAYS to go!!! not that I'm counting...
It's my last semester of college and I am losing it!
I have not been able to get anything done, and yet I feel so busy ALL THE TIME!!! My classes seem so hard and yet I'm still getting A's somehow. I have no motivation to do anything at all. I don't know why I'm feeling this way. I've stopped caring about homework, and yet I can't help but want to continue getting the good grades I've always gotten without even trying. I still love to learn, but I'm tired of not being able to choose what topics to study. The end of the semester couldn't come sooner for me.
I am a little disappointed to be leaving Rexburg just as other family is finally coming to join me... but I feel that I've been here so long, it's time for me to move on. I'm just glad that I get to enjoy having my sister here for a couple months! That's the longest time I've been with family for several years!
I'm trying to make the most of this last semester. My Ultimate Frisbee team has won all three of our games by quite a lot and we are excited for our upcoming game on Saturday. I have been getting so much better and have been learning new strategies every day! It's so much fun! I hope that maybe I will be able to organize a team wherever I live next or maybe even coach younger kids... that would be fun.
I hardly ever get to work at the ropes course anymore because of the cold weather. I'm going to miss that job a lot. More than the job, I'm going to miss having my own private playground that I can go to and play on whenever I want to and experiment with all the equipment, hehe. :) Halloween is probably going to be my last day of work. We've decorated it to look like the pirate ship from Pirates of the Caribbean.
I have not been able to get anything done, and yet I feel so busy ALL THE TIME!!! My classes seem so hard and yet I'm still getting A's somehow. I have no motivation to do anything at all. I don't know why I'm feeling this way. I've stopped caring about homework, and yet I can't help but want to continue getting the good grades I've always gotten without even trying. I still love to learn, but I'm tired of not being able to choose what topics to study. The end of the semester couldn't come sooner for me. I am a little disappointed to be leaving Rexburg just as other family is finally coming to join me... but I feel that I've been here so long, it's time for me to move on. I'm just glad that I get to enjoy having my sister here for a couple months! That's the longest time I've been with family for several years! I'm trying to make the most of this last semester. My Ultimate Frisbee team has won all three of our games by quite a lot and we are excited for our upcoming game on Saturday. I have been getting so much better and have been learning new strategies every day! It's so much fun! I hope that maybe I will be able to organize a team wherever I live next or maybe even coach younger kids... that would be fun. I hardly ever get to work at the ropes course anymore because of the cold weather. I'm going to miss that job a lot. More than the job, I'm going to miss having my own private playground that I can go to and play on whenever I want to and experiment with all the equipment, hehe. :) Halloween is probably going to be my last day of work. We've decorated it to look like the pirate ship from Pirates of the Caribbean. I'm going to miss having a temple so close by that I am able to attend sometimes more than once a week. I'm going to miss having so many young single adults in one place. I'm going to miss my apartment which I have lived in for seven semesters now. I'm definitely going to miss my roommates too. I've been rooming with some of them for four semesters now and I have really gotten close to a couple of them. They have really blessed my life. And... I'm going to miss my hair... because I'm chopping it all off right after I graduate... just thought you should all know! (:
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