watermelon in winter

I'm a missionary!  HOORAYYY!!!!!  Hard to believe it's for real. Being an EFY counselor summers 2008 and 2009 helped me prepare for and want to serve a mission even more.  I had the opportunity to be an example for the youth, and to teach them from my own life lessons, and from lessons in the scriptures.  That's where I learned to teach by the Spirit.  That's where I learned to teach, period.  That's where I gained my desire to teach people  and bring the Spirit and gospel into their lives.  That's where I first saw lives change in a short amount of time because of the Spirit.  What an amazing experience both summers, and such good mission preparation. Back tomorrow, for the last time!!  Then I fly out to Utah, and I'll have my mom update my blog once in a while!

So today has certainly been interesting. Plan A: Wake up in time to leave the house at 4:30am, to get to the beach in time for sunrise over the Atlantic. Then come back and say goodbye to Alex, come home and take a nap, go to the Temple, then go to the youth dance as a "chaperone." Well, that's when Plans B and C come into play. Always have a backup plan. Also, always carry your cell phone, even when you think you won't need it. Take your license, AAA card, and credit card with you, even if you're only driving two miles and back. And set two alarms when you're getting up 3 hours after you go to bed. Here's how the morning went. Woke up and looked at the clock at 5am. 5AM?!?!?! Can't be. Check my phone, and sure enough...5am. Text Alex "It's 5!!!!" and race out of bed, get dressed, and leave the house within 3 minutes. Drive on a road with no traffic, all the way to Hampton Beach, getting there just in time to see the sunrise ...

Alright, I think it's about time for another post, as I've been neglecting my blog for basically the entire summer. Updates: I've begun my mission papers and I'm working on those; hopefully I'll get them in by the end of September. That's NEXT MONTH. It hardly seems real that after years of anticipating this, I'm taking tangible steps toward my mission. In only a few short months, I could be half way around the world, or just a few hours away. I don't know yet where I'm going, but you can bet on it that I'll post here when I know :) In other news, EFY and camp and such are finally done. I loved working with the youth of the Church this summer. They are amazing people, and I learned so much from them. I made amazing friends in counselors with whom I worked, and I'm glad to say that I still talk to many of them :) I feel like I just got home for the summer last week, and many people are leaving in the next week or two for school. F...

If you've ever been to EFY, you know the rest. So the past 3 and a half weeks of my life have been...insane. Insanely tiring, insanely awesome, insanely spiritual, insanely uplifting, insanely in fast-forward, and basically amazing overall. I love the youth-- I always learn SO MUCH from them. They're truly amazing. I can't really summarize my weeks, because I had so much happen that I can't even squeeze it down. But in a nutshell...every year I learn something new at EFY. Usually lots of new things. I think this year so far I've learned that anything is possible through the Lord, and that first impressions should not always be lasting impressions. I also think that I learned how to love better, loving through the eyes of Christ. 7 years of EFY and I'm not sick of it yet!! Also, it amazes me how I can work with the same group of people for only 3 weeks, and yet I know some of them better than people I've known for years. I've made some amazin...

So my time at home has flown by, and it's just about time for me to leave again! I leave tomorrow morning, bright and early, to head down to DC. Friday will be filled with sailing, hopefully. I'd better bring sunscreen, or I'll get to EFY as a tomato. I haven't done much since I've been home. I worked a total of 4 hours at Hannaford...that'll be a small paycheck tomorrow, though I won't get it for 3 1/2 weeks. I did some painting projects at the Youngs', though, which has been helpful to my financial state! They're great people, so it was fun to hang out and catch up with them too. It's always better to work for people you like! I've attended the Singles Ward a couple times, and it's great to see old friends and make new friends! I'm looking forward to going there weekly in August and the fall. I really love that ward, and I'm glad to be back! Other than that...oh, I've taught Steven and Michael some country danci...