Papes! (And not the Newsies kind.)

As of this morning, my LDS missionary application has been
officially submitted!

My availability date is April 24, 2013.
My call should arrive in the mail in January.

I am excited to see when and where the Lord needs me to serve!

There are a lot of things motivating me to serve a mission. First and foremost is my love of my Savior Jesus Christ, and all the happiness His Gospel has brought me. I can honestly say that EVERYTHING good in my life is somehow connected to my membership and belief in

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

I want to do what small thing I can, give my widow's mite back to the Lord, to show my gratitude for all He has given me. I love Him--and He commanded those who love Him to feed His sheep. (John 21:15-17)

I believe Elder Russell M. Nelson said it beautifully:

"All missionaries... serve with the sole hope of 

making life better for other people."

Finally, my favorite scripture and a key motivator:

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God" 

(Doctrine and Covenants 18:10). 

What more can I say? I love God and I love His children. That's why I, and so many others, choose to go. I can't wait!

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P.S. Your Christmas season is not complete until you've seen this. Beautiful.

Merry Christmas, my friends! 

Fine! (Fee-nay!)

Ahhhhhhhhhhh. I can relax. With another semester of college under my belt! I took my last final this morning, and now I can truly rest easy until January 7, 2013!

This is how I feel:

It has been such a great semester though; I have learned a ton about our society, our minds, our past, our bank accounts, our bodies, and our Savior.

PLUS I have had the most fun semester of my life (out of three. yeah.) I made some incredible new friends and strengthened relationships with my old friends. You know how sometimes you just find new friends, and you don't know how or why, but it just works out perfectly? Like you have all been friends since birth, even though you've only known each other for a few months? You just CLICK? That happened to me this semester. Nothing beats a good BRO-DOWN. Nothing.

I got to play soccer with my old high school teammates again on an intramural team--that was glorious. I've even picked up my cello a few times too!

After saying goodbye to almost every male friend I had, I have seen SO MANY of my gal pals decide to serve full-time missions--and this was supposed to be the year that all my friends got engaged! I am so excited for all of these ladies because missions are wonderful things!

And now? I get to watch Phantom of the Opera to kick off my 3 week break. Life is good, and don't you forget it!