make it stop :(

Oh boy. :D

Somehow a large amount of butterflies found their way down my throat and into my stomach. It's so funny that for so long I wanted to feel that again, that rush and excitement that comes with having "butterflies", but now I just want them to leave before they ruin all of my plans.

Movin' on up!

Now that tuition is bought and paid for this semester, the charts are creeping for the mission fund. I almost have two months paid for! yay! only sixteen...more..to go.. :( I can do it!!



Scheduled my physical for next week..woo hoo. It's scary how time flies and I only have like two more months until I can turn in my papers! I feel like I have so much to do!

676 miles later..

I had the most amazing, exhausting weekend ever! I had the awesome opportunity to drive up to Utah with Ashley, Matt, Katie, Abby, Mo, and Addison to see General Conference!

The drive up was not the best. We left around 5 pm in Arizona and got to Bountiful to stay with Abby's Grandparents' home at around 6:00 am. I admit I did not drive the fastest because it was night and I was paranoid about hitting a deer, I counted 8 deer on the side of the road as I drove! I also got pulled over in Page, I was not speeding, it was right after Ash threw a banana peel out the car window so that's what we figured it was, but actually my tail light was out, so no big deal. After the cop left we blasted "Rollout" by Ludacris, and it was hilarious. Once we got to Utah it was snowing and I had never driven in snow before, and you couldn't see the lines on the freeway, so my knuckles were white on the steering wheel for a few hours. We made it there safely, but everyone was definitely in dire need of a nap and I was very stressed out.

After getting some sleep we all got up and went up the street to the Bountiful Temple, which was beautiful, and did baptisms!


Following baptisms we went out to Salt Lake to go shopping at Gateway and then dropped Ashley off in Provo to stay with her friend Lauren. While in Provo we went to the missionary mall and the sister missionary mall and explored. On the way back home we went to Sandy to pick up Elise, who is amazing and I wish she lived in AZ, and we stopped and said hi to one of the elders who was in our ward who recently went home, Eric Irving.

Saturday we didn't quite make it up in time for the morning session of conference, BUT we did go to the afternoon session and got AMAZING seats right in front, thanks to Elder Petit's mom, who was pretty much the coolest.

After conference we were able to explore temple square. I loved just sitting and looking at the temple, it is so beautiful. The visitor's centers were very neat, and I really enjoyed talking to the sister missionaries. I am not sure if I would want to serve a temple square mission, I want to be out proselyting all day every day :).



That night we just partied it up at Abby's grandparents home, they fed all of us plus Elise, Clark, Spencer and Mark a delicious roast beef dinner and then we all watched a movie. Abby's Grandparents are amazing! They were so kind to let us stay in their home, and they fed us dinner everynight and even dropped us off at conference so we wouldn't have to worry about parking! I am extremely grateful for them!
Sunday Morning Ashley, Mo, Addison and I went to conference with the tickets we received from Bishop Matheson. It was a good session, but I think all of us had a hard time staying awake after being up so late. We tried to get into the garden on the rooftop but it was closed :(


This weekend was amazing. I had so much fun with all of my amazing friends and I loved seeing everything in Salt Lake!

The New and Not So Improved Primary Songs

The people I work with are amazing. We do extremely outlandish things at all times to keep us all in the cheeriest of moods, which usually entails some form of singing. We mainly sing with Disney songs, but yesterday Addison and I decided to be sneaky. We came up with a little game where either Addison or me would begin a church primary song and our coworkers all scrambled to finish it correctly. This was either shocking because they got it right OR hilarious. What a great way to sneakily teach all our coworkers about Mormons :)

Correct Responses

The wise men built their house upon the... ROCK
I like to look for rainbows whenever there is... RAIN
I am a child of... GOD

Incorrect Responses

Give said the little...PUPPY
The Lord commanded Nephi to go and build a...FARM
Famillies can be to...SCARED
I will go, I will do, the things the Lord... TELLS ME TO
I hope they call me on a...LOVE TRAIN

my mother's irreplacable logic

Today my mother called, oh how I love her. She asked how my break was going and how my mini road trip to flagstaff went. Then she asked if I had seen any more doctors or talked to anymore church officials about my mission, and I said no. Then she launched into the usual "I don't think you should go" discussion, which is my favorite. Here are some of my favorite reasons why my mother thinks I need to stay here.

1. "If you have to fly somehwhere there could be terrorists on the plane that could crash the plane." I told her that could happen if I flew to Illinois to see Grandma, to which she replied, "No, it wouldn't happen then, it just wouldn't"

2. "I can't see you for 18 months, and I might miss something" I then asked her what she might be missing while I was gone and she said, "well....your hair could change color, or you could get obese..." wow, thanks mom.

3. "When you come home you might not like us anymore" I told her that would be impossible and that you are family and I have no choice but to like you. I said that jokingly of course, I really do love my family, and nothing will ever change that.

4. This one was my favorite, and showed true desperation. My mother, who is against the concept of marriage, said "Maybe you should just stay here and get married...at least you would still be here." I told her that if someone wanted to marry me they have until June 28th to express that, because once my papers are in then I am going. Then she said, "Well I will just go find those missionaries and set them up with you." I informed her that missionaries can't date on their missions and she said, "Well..I am sure they know boys who you can marry."

I love my mom to pieces. When it comes down to it she really is supportive of anything I choose to do, she just worries about me like any normal mother would. I am going to miss her the most when I leave.

It's Official..almost

Last week I began the early stages of an amazing, yet daunting journey. My Mission papers. On Monday I met with the bishop and he gave me all the paperwork, all 23 pages of them, eek. This is why I decided to start them so early, since I work so much and there is so much I still have to do it will probably take me quite some time. I cannot submit my paperwork until June 28th, so that should give me plenty of time to get the paperwork done, go to all four doctors appointments, get all the clearances, get my wisdom teeth out... :/, and so on and so on. As soon as I had those papers in my hands I knew that this is exactly what I am supposed to be doing. For the last year I have bounced back and forth, never really coming to a conclusion, but now I am firm in my decision and am so excited and wish I were able to leave sooner! Unfortunately, I don't turn 21 until September 28th so I have another 6 months until I can leave. Fortunately, this gives me enough time, hopefully, to raise all of the money for it on my own, spend time with my family and try and leave them with an understanding of my motives and gain their support, and party it up with my friends who I will terribly miss for the one point five years that I am serving. Anonther big deal is that I am moving home to live with my dad in Avondale as soon as school gets out so that I can save money. I will still be driving to Tempe pretty much daily to work and for church on sunday but I will be trying to spend as much time with them as possible before I leave.

My biggest fear about the mission is that I will get so caught up in being this perfect Mormon that I will lose myself in the work, in a negative way. Some of the sister missionaries I have met seem so...fake? lacking personality? void of fun? constant companions with the little white handbook? I don't know about you but I don't think you need to be boring to be a good teacher or to share what you know. I hope as a missionary I will be fun and full of energy and life. I don't want to become a boring version of myself. I think the elders are pretty good at staying fun on their missions..at least the ones who taught me the lessons were good at being a blast and a half


(their instructions were: Look as if Jesus were ascending from the heavens)



See! Missionaries can be themselves and be fun and people still get baptized! haha :)

The Current Trend

Today's "Everyday Shakespeare" Calendar Quote

"I say, we will have no more marriages. Those that are married already, all but one, shall live. The rest shall keep as they are." -Hamlet

Translation

"I hereby declare we will have no more marriage. Whosoever is already married (except one person I know) will stay married. Everyone else will have to stay single"

My Thoughts

It seems like everyone and their mom is getting married..or maybe everyone and MY mom, haha, she's engaged but doesn't have a date..long story whatever. Anyways, it seems like every sunday someone, or sometimes two couples stand up to announce their engagement. I have a plethora of wedding announcements hanging in my kitchen and am so excited to go to the receptions and party it up and celebrate their awesomeness as a newly married couple. I just thought this quote was really funny, especially since everyone is getting married. What if President Obama had a press conference and said this? How bizarre would that be? Thank goodness that would never happen, and that even if it did I am sure our church would find ways to allow its members to marry since it is so pivotal to our growth and becoming more like God. It seems like the topic of marriage is always buzzing around me, from friends, roommates, Brother Hofeling, etc. Last week I told Bro. Hofeling about my decision to serve a mission and he is still set on me getting married this summer, which seems so funny to me! 1. I don't date, which is not a problem or a complaint, I don't have time for a boyfriend or dating. 2. How am I supposed to be married in the next 6 months if I don't even have any potentials? Brother Hofeling is convinced that I am surrounded by potential husbands, anytime I mention a boy doing something nice for me, even if its just a hug when passing, Bro. Hofe usually says, "Oh maybe he is the EC! Want me to talk to him?" I love Bro. Hofe but goodness gracious, he can be so ridiculous sometimes. I will love being married one day, when the time is right for me and when Heavenly Father thinks I am ready and sends me someone who is perfect in everyway to spend eternity with me. But, for now I am 100% content living the single life and am even more excited to serve my mission!