Adios!

Well, I'm waiting to get set apart as a missionary in just an hour and a half, and thought I'd do one last blog post before I turn the reins over to my mother. :) 

Here was my 21st birthday cake... I wasn't feeling an entire cake, so we settled for a lovely red-velvet cupcake from Bliss Cupcakes. The cake itself was pretty good, the frosting ... not so much. So it was good that it was a little thing.

For dinner my parentals and I went to Cafe Rio. The first choice would have been Chipotle, but I went the week previous, and since Cafe Rio has so many Utah connections, I decided it would be a great way to spend some eating time. And the left-overs were great. :)

We took a little adventure on our way home past the hospital where I was born. It is now an abandoned shambled building, but hey who cares.

This weekend all the family is in town, and it has been awesome. Family time = best time.  The End.

How could it not be with a face like this?

Hooray! Some very sweet friends drove out to hear me speak in church.

So there you have it. Life is great, and I'm finally going on a mission! I feel like I've been waiting for a long time. Because I have. There is still a huge list of to-dos to tackle between now and Tuesday morning when my parents and I load up and drive out, but I'm happy. It actually still feels really surreal, and maybe that's how the entire mission will last; I'm just glad to be going.

Something that you might not know is that missionaries (or their families) pay $400 a month for their missionary to serve. That's $7200 for:

- two phone calls home (one Christmas and one Mother's Day)

- 18 months away from home

- weekly emails to the family

- sweaty, sweaty days in Mesa

- missing weddings, graduations, three semesters of school

Why on earth would I pay all that money for all those things?

Because I also get these things:

- HUGE opportunities to learn and become better

- meet hundreds of new people that I will come to love

- have experiences that will stretch and teach me

but most importantly,

- watch others come unto Christ by accepting the restored gospel. And that makes it completely, entirely, beyond worth it. 

I can't wait!

See you in Mesa!

P.S. - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GREATEST MOM EVER IN ALL THE LAND.

MTC Countdown: 68 hours. (WAHOO!)

The Word of the Day: credulous \ KREJ-uh-lus\ , adjective; 1. ready to believe on slight or uncertain evidence