Hermanas on the Driveway

On Saturday morning, my brothers were washing my moms van, when Mason came in to tell me that the sister missionaries were here to talk to me. I was so SO excited! I ran out there and chatted with them for a few minutes, and then my mom and I invited them inside for some water, and we all sat at the couch and talked for a good while. I didn't even know we had sister missionaries in my area, and it turned out that they were missionaries for the Spanish branch (hence the "hermanas" in my post title. Because "hermanas" is Spanish for "sisters"). It also turned out that they just came to my brothers and asked them if they knew about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and my brothers were just like, 

 and told them that I was getting ready for my mission in Italy. And the missionaries were like

And then we all talked and happily ever after. 

So that was a fun Saturday. :)

Amongst the excitement, I can't believe I even forgot to tell you!

My mission call came on Thursday evening!

I decided to wait until Friday evening to open it with lots of friends and family around.

That was crazy, and I spent the next 24 hours cleaning to distract myself from the envelope taunting me on the back of the piano.

But the time finally came, 

And THIS GIRL is going to be serving a mission in...

I report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on September 4th, 2013. 

I will prepare to preach the gospel in the Italian language. <3

The mission encompasses pretty much northern Italy. It isn't just Milan, it includes Florence, Siera, Pisa, Venice (!!!), and a wee little chunk of Switzerland, even, that I doubt is very inhabited. 

I have to note, that all throughout this process of preparing and filling out papers, and turning them in, and waiting waiting waiting... Italy has been in the front of my mind. 

I kept thinking that that would be the most perfect, beautiful place to serve a mission. Of course, because I thought that, I also thought that surely the Lord wouldn't call me to serve there. He would call me to somewhere I didn't know I wanted to serve. Like Brazil. Or Boise, Idaho. 

But no, my Heavenly Father wants me to serve Him in beautiful, beautiful Italy.

My mom says that maybe I just wanted to be there because I had a feeling that that was where I needed to be. Maybe that's true, maybe it isn't.

All I know for sure is that I want to be the best missionary I can be for the sweet people of Milan. 

Let the preparation commence!

P.S. 

Here is a video if you were curious as to how freaked out and excited I was when I opened the call. Video credit to the lovely Darci Cole. :)

You guys.

My mission call got sent in the mail today.

That means that there is an envelope

Just flooaaaating through the U.S. mail system.

That has my name on it.

And the name of the place I will be living for 18 months.

And when I will leave.

And what language I will be speaking.

Like. Oh. My. Gosh.

I now give myself permission to use every GIF that expresses happiness/excitement that I have ever saved to my "GIFs" file.

Ready set go.

 heehee yeah that one is me and kate showing off our wicked mad dance skills in ^^^fast forward^^^

So yeah. That's where we're at now.

The call should be here either Thursday, Friday, or Saturday this week. 

BAHHHHHH!!!! :)

Day 5: A Photo of You 2 Years Ago

I picked this one because this picture was taken at a time that I was so purely happy. As you can see, I was lacking sleep, I could have definitely used some mascara, and maybe some sunscreen and aloe vera gel, but heck, I was at girls camp. Did you know that girls camp made me happier than almost anything when I was in young womens? Honestly, I can't even think of a time that I could have thought, "Holy cow, I am SO happy right now, and I don't know how life could get better." That sounds kind of dorky, and I know some people didn't enjoy their girls camp experiences as much as I did, but I can honestly say that I never felt better than when I was at girls camp, teaching 12 year old girls to tie knots, reading letters from my mom at the top of a mountain in Camp Lomia, bearing my testimony to my ward, or leading a bunch of morning-grumpy girls in a round of "LET me see your Boogaloo! (What did you say?) I SAID LET me see your Boogaloo! (What did you say?)..." Sigh.

The more I talk about it, the stupider it sounds, but I am totally serious. Girls camp is where it's at. The bee's knees. The cat's pajamas. The hoppin' place to be. I am currently bugging camp leaders to get me in this year as some kind of leader, or cook, or personal assistant (because now I'm too old to go as a young woman... sniffsniff).

Yay girls camp!

Day 4: My Favorite Photograph of Me and My Best Friend

This was hard, because we are just such a photogenic pair of people. {wink}

As Jadyn Maree would say, we are totes dateable, are we not? {wink wink WINK}

I love this one though. We were 15, and we were on some silly kick where we thought we were the most hilarious folks on the planet. 15 year old girls get those kicks a lot. Anyway, we were giggling like it would save our lives, and it made for quite a memorable lunch. To this day, we go, "THAT was the best lunch day EVER." Because it was. Because we were young and silly and carefree, and might I say "immature". And it was WONDERFUL.

Photo-a-Day 3: Happiness

I was thinking about what I would post today,

and I stumbled upon a clip of this day that changed my life, and makes me weep for joy, even now.

So yeah. ^^^^this is happiness, 

if I ever saw it.

This semester can't go by quick enough.

On Les Miserables

I wanted to post about Les Mis right after I saw it, which was like a week ago. But then I wanted to give everyone else a chance to see it, and I hope that you've seen it now, because I'm going to talk about it, by golly. I saw it again last night, and it gave me a fresher view, less clouded by my dewy eyed fangirling.

Although, let me tell you, my eyes were just as dewy the second time, if you know what I mean.... 

So, yeah, the movie was excellent. Let's talk about it.

Favorite things:

1. Marius.

You guys, Marius was perfection. His performance of Empty Chairs at Empty Tables stole my heart. I was bawling. And Eddie Redmayne is a doll. Let's just be honest here.

2. Inspector Javert

Despite critics' low expectations for him, Russell Crowe owned that Javert. Stars was incredible. His suicide was heart-stopping. His voice had a clarity to it that none of the other cast members had, and I loved it. 

3. Fantine

Okay? I'm glad we're all in agreement.

4. The finale.

When Valjean is with Cosette and Marius! And then Anne Hathaway comes again! And then he dies! And then I die!

And then when the reprise of Do You Hear the People Sing starts...

And all the characters that passed away are on their little heaven barricade!

It was perfection. I couldn't even take it.

5. Gavroche.

Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. 

He was so cute. I almost died.

When he sang "Do You Hear the People Sing", I almost died.

When he did his cute little boy smirk, I almost died.

And then they shot him, I did die. 

True story, you guys.

Hashtag realtalk. (I just said that.)

I don't even think I can talk any more about favorite things, because I just won't stop. I mean, seriously, you didn't even get me started on my beloved Hugh Jackman. OR the fact that Colm Wilkinson played the bishop. Because I can't even go there. I just can't.

So let's just talk about less favorite things for a second.

1. Lovely Ladies.

But we all knew that would be no bueno. The second time I saw the movie, I just spent that whole scene braiding my pull-apart Twizzler. Because, just, no.

2. They didn't sing the whole Little Fall of Rain song.

Which is just sad.

3. They could have done a lot more creative camera work.

I felt like all the characters were in your face the whole time. Like, the camera didn't move away from Anne Hathaway's face for the entire duration of "I Dreamed a Dream." And I was like, "Okay. You can stop now. She has a booger coming out of her nose." For reals.

Other than that, this movie was incredible. Pretty much my favorite movie right now. The acting was flawless. Everything was amazing.

And for my excessive use of GIF's in this post, I do not apologize.

Apostles and warm fuzzy spirit and testimony, oh my!

Tonight, I went with my best friend to a fireside for young single adults.

{I apologize for the poor quality of this iPhone photo. We were working with a very pathetic amount of light, and I didn't want to have to use flash, so deal with it. ;) }

{for those of you going, "what the heck is a fireside??", it is kind of like a special sermon or a devotional given seperately from a Sunday meeting in the LDS church. Usually it is aimed toward a specific audience (in this case, young single adults), and/or has a special guest (in this case we had a few special guests)}

At this fireside were two general authorities {"clergymen" for lack of a better term, from Salt Lake City, where our church headquarters are.}, and an apostle. And if you are going, "Wait, an apostle?  Like, from the Bible? Like, Peter, James, and John??", then to that I say, 

"Absolutely, yes, actually."

I felt kind of silly because I know a lot of other people in my church that I know have been lucky enough to have seen and met and shook hands with at apostles before, and they might be like, "Dude. It's whatevers. Every day thang, girl...". But I had never seen one in my life, except for on the screen of General Conference. So, it really excited me when my bishop emailed me and my mom and said that Quentin L. Cook would be in town for a fireside. 

I grabbed my best friend and we ran after that opportunity! 

Guys. I don't know if everybody else who was there felt like it was this amazing, but I felt like it was super amazing.

The spirit when Quentin L. Cook and the two other general authorities just walked into the room. We all stood, and Elder Cook smiled at us and I felt the spirit so wonderfully. 

And when he spoke, even the obnoxious boys behind us who wouldn't shut up {and I feel like I don't even know why they showed up, like if you really just wanted to chat it up with your buddies, your mom isn't making you go to firesides anymore. You're an adult now, so just stop talking, or leave. Jadyn and I were a little irritated.}but even they were quiet, and eventually completely silent. He had such a spirit about him. He was glowing. I had never noticed the glow when I watched him on a screen during General Conference, but he just glowed! And his words were wonderful. He told us that this was a great time in our lives, and to not let doubt and fear get in the way of making important decisions, but to have faith in the Lord and let Him guide us. It was beautiful, and the best part, was at the end. Elder Cook was bearing his testimony, and he said, "Through experiences too sacred to discuss,  I have heard the voice of Jesus Christ." And right when he said that, the spirit filled me up, and it felt like someone had filled my insides with warm hot cocoa, or wrapped me in a warm blanket that was fresh from the dryer, and I could just feel the spirit testify to me that Elder Cook really is an apostle of Jesus Christ, and that he has heard the voice of Jesus Christ, and that Christ lives, and speaks through his prophets and apostles, and it was one of the most wonderful feelings I have ever felt. 

As he was leaving, I didn't get to shake his hand, but he was about 20 feet from me and I waved and quietly said, "Thank you" and he smiled at me and waved. 

That man is an apostle of Jesus Christ.

Thomas S. Monson is the prophet of the Lord.

This church is true, and I had to blog about this while it was still fresh in my mind, and I can't wait to spend 18 months starting this summerish/fall of 2013 proclaiming on a mission. I can't wait to help people feel the way I have felt because of this perfect, wonderful gospel, and especially the way I felt when I saw a prophet of the Lord today.
Oh this gospel is great and wonderful and amazing!  

Oh happy day!

How I feel when my room is messy:

How I feel now that I finally CLEANED IT:

Life is good, everyone. {smile}

OhmygoshNickPeteraYouAreUnnaturallyAmazing.

Reaction:

And with that, I bid you good day.

You should read this book.

I have almost finished this book, and when I do finish it, I want to flip back to the beginning and read it all over again. It's one of those books that you wish you could gobble up in 20 minutes so that you could soak in all the marvelous inspiration that's inside of it before you start your day. 

Stephanie Nielson is the blogger behind Nie Nie Dialogues. I have read her blog for a few years now. She has always been inspiring, but this book, learning about how she met her husband Mr. Nielson, and hearing every challenge that she overcame after her tragic airplane accident that burned 80% of her body, touches my heart, and I can see the ways that God blesses her every day. She is such a strong woman, and a wonderful mother. Reading her blog is even more inspiring after reading her story in depth. She is a superwoman. :)

If that didn't convince you, here is a video promotion for the book:

Read it! Read it! Read it!
And read her blog, too. :)

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

I have one of those frames that have like, 13 picture slots in it.

And it has been sitting in my closet all empty for years, and today I decided to fill it.

Now, when you fill giant frames full of little pictures, you must be very careful to only fill it with the best pictures. The pictures that contain people who bring you such joy, pictures that remind you of some happy, happy, memories, or capture little bits of heaven here on earth. 

I think I did a bit of a swell job picking out just the right pictures.