I'm gonna throw this one in here at the start, mostly because I busted up laughing when I read it!
So true. :P
I realize that in most--if not ALL--of my updates, I simply give a simple outline of what's all been going on as of late and then toss in the few pictures I've taken lately. The updates started as emails to my parents every week or so, just so they know how their baby girl is doing. :P Heh heh. And then it turned into this blog of sorts for other family to see, and yada yada...WELL...Since I am now living at home and most can take a decent guess as to what I'm doing, there's really not a whole lot to update y'all on, unfortunately. I wish I could say that living at home was unbelievably exciting and I'm knocking off a ton of "To-Do's" from my bucket list!...But y'know...I'll let ya know what it is all about! It won't take too long haha, so I figured I'd share a little bit as to what has been going through my mind as of late.
A Pinch of Doubt: I'll tell ya one thing, "the adversary" (whatever your belief on him/it may be, of course (: ) definitely knows my weaknesses. Doubt has always been a big one, unfortunately. I am NOT doubting as to whether serve a mission or not, let me get that out there loud and clear haha. I was preparing long before as to whether I wanted to go or not. Did I have my doubts earlier? Well sure. I had only been tossing around the idea, which is the first step. If I could successfuly be swayed in those first stages, I wouldn't be preparing to leave for Argentina right now!
Argentina...See this is where the adversary tries to sway me NOW. You see, I definitely prayed a couple times and had hoped to go to Argentina, as I've explained before. However, I know Heavenly Father knows perfectly as to where I should serve my mission, and I expressed that just as much. That, yes, I'd love to go to Argentina, but ultimately I wanted to serve where I am most needed and where I could be of most use. All this prayer and hope and curiosity made me even MORE nervous for my call haha. I can not explain how badly I was shaking and the nervousness rolling through me as I began slowly tearing open my call. Most are giddily excited and begin crying. Normally I would be crying haha. But at the same time, it was a very serious and important thing to me, which I wanted to share with absolutely everyone! (; You can imagine my excitement and stunned self as I glanced down and saw "Argentina Mendoza Mission"!...Here is where the adversary chooses to put the doubt in my mind again.
Am I supposed to be going to Argentina?
Did Heavenly Father call me there simply because I had asked him so many times?
Were my reasons for wanting to go to Argentina wrong?
Selfish?
Is this truly where I will be of most use?
I thought of these things many times since I've gotten my call, honestly. But every time they pop into my head, I have to do some deep searching and thinking and yes, more praying. Even if I do have doubts, I find that I can't write out or type out the name of my mission without tearing up a tad. I think of why I wanted to go there: I love the country and the culture already. A family, whom I love dearly, cared enough for me in return to share their pride, their customs, and their love for their beloved country. I was already mesmerized by this place I've never been, that all I wanted to do was to go and meet more of these incredible and passionate people. And now, not only do I have the chance to do so: I get to share a part of me and my life and my love with them, as well. Whether they choose to accept or reject it, I have the opportunity to share my testimony and the gospel with them...Ultimately, these doubts are only making my desire to get out there even stronger. In the same sense, they're also making this wait even more annoying haha. I just want to get out there...
A Heavy Dose of Patience: Four months total. Two and a half months left...Mission calls definitely teach one how to be patient. That's not the only thing requiring patience at the moment, though! FBI clearances for a visa, receiving a passport, waiting for apostilles on my birth certificates and FBI clearance, and then finally waiting for my visa into Argentina...Needless to say, I am STILL waiting on all of these except for my passport! I finally have that one. Time is widdling down quick as to when I need to have all these things in, and it is stressing me out and driving my bonkers like no other. If I don't get all these things turned in to the Missionary Travel Department by February 5th, my report date could be post-poned by at least six weeks...Which, honestly, would break my heart at this point.
My passport!
Job searching. Christian can relate best of all currently, and my mom has definitely experienced this recently, as well. It is no easy task, nor is it even remotely enjoyable! Especially when trying to find someone who will hire you for approximately three months max. Yeah, not too many temp jobs around, unfortunately. I'm doing alright at finding some possible positions, but yeah...It's just a little discouraging haha. I was hoping to find something to keep me even remotely busy, so I can pass the time easier.
And, of course, simply the patience of waiting until March 27th. It can be frustrating at times, I will admit. I do what I can to stay busy, and if I can't think of anything else, I tend to find myself reading, writing, working on Spanish, etc.
Also, for Christmas, my parents ordered me new scriptures in Spanish! :D Which I love, of course...I just felt bad when I found out that all the books and such that I'll need in Spanish will, in fact, be given to me at the MTC...Whoops. Oh well. I LOVE them.
So what else am I doing to keep busy?? Well...I find myself cleaning a bit. or purging and going through old high school stuff to get rid of, or simply doing laundry and organizing...Also, my dad mentioned wanting to get a bathroom done and finished (after a few years, since Dene' and I never finished it haha). The ceiling needed some hardcore cleaning and scrubbing and then a new coat of white paint, and the rest needed another coat of blue, too. So Christian took the lead, and we got to work! It was/is great to feel like I'm accomplishing something haha.
We weren't totally ready for the picture, I guess haha.
Cheeeeese! (:
I've always love, love, LOVED pancakes/crepes/breakfast foods haha, so I've been trying my hand at a few more kinds of these. How am I doing this?? Welll there is quite the funny background story to this handy little book called The Pancake Handbook! Haha but we'll just say that my dad proved me wrong when I adamantly explained, "Dad, it is so pointless to tell you what I want for Christmas, because you think it wouldn't be a surprise if you actually got any of the things on our list!" Hahaha. Yeah, well, I happened to just use this book as an example; therefore, I got this book for Christmas! :P
It seriously has every kind of pancakes, crepe, or dutch baby you could ask for! So I made some giant crepes for New Years Day. (:
I'm also brushing up on my piano skills a bit! I'm trying to learn some Spanish hymns "just in case" y'know, and I've been absolutely loving it. I will admit it that it is sad to see how much I've forgotten, but once a song is learned then it is far easier to pick it back up again. (: Our piano may not be the "newest", but it my absolute favorite to play haha. The chips and keys are so familiar. (:
Alrighty! There ya go everyone! That's what's all going on the life of a pre-missionary haha. By the way, most of you know that I'll have the chance to email home about once a week. What I'm planning on doing is simply writing an email to one address (probably my mom's or something), and I'll include a section that'll go just to my family and then another section that will be open to anyone if they're curious about my updates...I'm not totally sure yet haha. But if anyone has any better ideas, please give this girl a shoutout! I'd much appreciate any advice, especially if any of you have done something like this before and have found something that works well. (:
Love you all! (: I report in 75 days to Provo! :D
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