Tomorrow.

It's all a bit surreal, really.

This is something I've thought about doing since I was a kid, and something I watched cousins and neighbors and my friends' siblings do, and they went off and I imagined what it was like.

That's the hard part of it, I think. It's so new, so different. Change is always hard. It's the fear and unsurety of the unknown. It's not just going to a new place and meeting new people, or being away from my family for eighteen months, it's the fact that I'm going to be changing so much of my life.

My friend Kimmie is on her mission (she has a blog too - visit it here!) and she mentioned something that was really interesting to me.

"I think that for a while, I forgot who I really was. I forgot that I can still be myself here and be able to do missionary work at the same time. After I read about Saul/Paul, I decided to give up my heart to the Lord, and since then I've been SO happy. I don't think I'll ever understand the mindset that we sometimes get in that the Lord will change us into someone that we won't like. He loves us and would never want to make us unhappy, so why would he change us into a stranger that we would hate being?"

I'm really glad she mentioned that because it's so true, and I think I was worried about it! It's a whole change in how we live. I'm giving all of my time to the Lord.

But then I think about Alma, in the Book of Mormon, how he gave 14 years to be a missionary and it doesn't seem so scary. He turned his life around and gave it to the Lord, and the Lord was with him always because of that. I know He'll be with me, too, because I'm doing His work in bring people close to Him!

God lives and loves us! Don't you ever forget it.

See you in 18!

p.s. I'm turning my blog over to my dad who will update it for me while I'm gone. :)
p.p.s. Isn't my family cute? We got our pictures taken at the Gallivan Center by the amazing Dan Dresser on Sunday!

Everything's OK!

I KNOW I'M SO CHEESY AND YOU LIKE IT.

So guess what? I'm going on a mission! I might've mentioned it before, but there you have it! It's been a long time coming. And let me tell you a little something.

So I finally, FINALLY had my papers in and was waiting patiently for my call to arrive. I was at work and just thinking OH MY GOSH I'M GOING TO THROW UP (but don't worry I didn't) because I was so dang nervous! Honestly, I was so nervous about where I was going to go. I was trying not to worry about it too much, but I mean that's a year and a half of my life. So I was freaking out a little and driving my family NUTS with texts (IS IT HERE YET???!??!!).

My Uncle Bruce ended up hanging out by the mailbox with his lunch, and I'm pretty sure he was more anxious than me! I didn't open it till 8:30 so some other people could come.

Okay, okay, before I tell you where I'm going (IF YOU DIDN'T ALREADY KNOW BECAUSE THAT WAS LIKE 3 WEEKS AGO) I have to tell you this.

You know when people ask you where you want to go on your mission, and you're supposed to say, "Well, I don't care. I'll go where I'm supposed to!"

So I would always say, "Well I don't care . . . as long as it's foreign . . ."

I was so nervous, you guys. What if I went somewhere state-side? It would be so lame! And I kept telling Heavenly Father, "You know, I'll go where you want me to go . . . but you know I can handle foreign, right? Right??"

Alright. So I was about to puke open my call, and everyone was there and there were phones and cameras and everything. I used a rather large kitchen knife to open the envelope, and there it was. My call.

I'm going to Oklahoma City, everyone!

And as I read those words, I have to tell you, I didn't even have half a second to be disappointed. The Spirit testified to me that Oklahoma is exactly where I need to be. And I could hardly read it, I was crying so much.

AND THEN I READ THAT I WOULD BE LEAVING ON AUGUST 7th AND HOOOLLLY COW. That's so soon! But it still seemed so far away . . .

AND HERE I AM WITH NO MISSION ANYTHING and it's 3 weeks away!

I can't even handle this.

I'm so excited I could die.

BUT I WON'T SO DON'T EVEN WORRY.



p.s. OK? Gettit? Like . . . Oklahoma?