Bluer Skies

I have much to be joyful about. The move to Avondale has surely shaken up things in my life, but I feel like things are finally coming together and I am finally seeing why I was supposed to move to Avondale. I would like to take this opportunity to bask in my joy, that has long anticipated.

1. I hung out with my Grandmother last week and told her about temple work and got her permission to baptize my Grandpa in the temple (which I will be doing today). While explaining this to her she asked if I could teach her more about what I believe and about what I feel about religion, and said she has seen how important it is to me and wants to understand it better. Of course I was thrilled and I was moved to tears when my Grandma agreed to meet with the missionaries :) I also feel so excited to do the temple work for my Grandpa. This will be the first time I will be doing temple work for someone I have actually met and been close to, so the feeling is a little different than when I have done ordinances for other ancestors. I just start to cry when I think about witnessing my Grandpa's baptism and know that this is what I should be doing.

2. EFY is in a little over a week. Although I am pretty nervous, I am even more excited! I know this will be an amazing experience for me and I am so excited to work with the youth and be able to teach them more about what is really important in life. I will be leaving for Flagstaff next saturday and am beyond stoked!

3. The day after I return from EFY, Sunday June 28th, I have my missionary interview with the Bishop! I have already talked to him and he said we will have my interview on sunday, then turn in my papers the wednesday of that week, then I will just have to wait to meet with the stake president and it will be off to Salt Lake with my Mission Papers! I cannot believe how quickly time has flown by and how soon I will be turning my papers in and eventually receiving my call. I cannot express in words my anticipation at receiving my call.

4. I have recently been assigned a new teaching assignment for my calling as ward missionary. I am now teaching the most super legit and amazing new convert, Sarah. I have had two lessons with her, but they are really more like discussions. I feel like I am learning a lot with her because I am still a new convert too, kind of, so as we discuss the principles of the gospel as they are presented in Preach My Gospel we also discuss what those principles mean to us personally and what it was like for us to learn about them the first time before we joined the church. I love her to bits and pieces and I feel like we have such a great connection and we agreed on a lot of things. Unfortunately, I will have to transfer my records to the West Wind Singles Branch out in Avondale once I get my mission call, so we are going to have to try and finish her lessons before the middle of July. I know I will remain close with her after I move to the other ward, but I still would like to finish the lessons with her so she doesn't have to get a new ward missionary.

5. Today was my Dad's Birthday celebration, which went really well, everyone behaved and there weren't really any arguments or problems, which was great. I was talking to my Dad about how he needs to get out of the house more and we decided that we would start doing things on Monday nights (It can be like FHE without the spiritual part!). So, next Monday we are planning on walking around our neighborhood, which is almost 3 miles. I am really wondering what I will talk with my Dad about for the length of the walk, which will probably take 45 minutes if we walk at a leisurely pace. I really really hope I will be able to really get close with my Dad, to where we can talk about almost anything, and eventually about the church and why it has changed my life so much.

6. Addison friend who she babysits for, Chalon, wants to take Addie and I to see Wicked at the Gammage on July 11th, and I am pretty much freaking out about it! I have always wanted to see it, but now is now the time for me to be spending money I don't need to spend. I am sososo excited and looking forward to seeing Wicked!

Things are obviously looking up :)
Love, Madi