Women's Chorus

I have been so blessed this last 3 years by having the chance to be in the BYU Women's Chorus. Every day at 3:00, I have wandered into the HFAC to spend an hour singing with some of the most amazing girls on campus. I cannot imagine my BYU experience without it.

I have never been on staff or anything for choir, but I didn't want to let that stop me this year from being involved. As the year progressed, I adopted the role of the unofficial photographer and took pictures at every event we had...concerts, parties, service projects, retreats, etc. I loved it. My goal was to get every girl pictured, so of course I wanted to know who every girl was. Those girls have truly changed my life for the better. Some of them I only just really got to know last week and some of them have been good friends of mine for all 3 years now. Wow, it's been a crazy ride but oh so worth it.

This last weekend we had the chance to do a performance to be filmed and later nationally televised on PBS. All 4 auditioned choirs, along with the BYU Philharmonic Orchestra, sang/played pieces centered around the theme "Pilgrim's Journey Home." We explored all different aspects of the theme...war-torn times, service, faltering in faith, enduring to the end, and reaching our eternal home. As we sang, I was just trying to soak in every second of being on that stage...the cameras zooming in on my face, the feel of the lights, the look of the dimmed audience, the sound of the choirs and orchestra reverberating through the hall. It was the closest thing to perfection I've ever felt.

Ever since I got my mission call, I have never felt such strong feelings of doubt and inadequacy flood my mind. But the final closing numbers (which consisted of all 5 groups) were beautiful arrangements of Come Come Ye Saints and Lead Kindly Light. The words to both of those hymns and the power and conviction of all 700+ performers on that stage brought me to tears. Especially on the third verse of Lead Kindly Light, "So long thy power hath blessed me sure it still will lead me on!" I thought of all the times I have called on the power of the Lord in the past and I have been blessed with it. It will be the same on my mission. The Lord wants every one of us to know that He is near, always looking out for us, and He will bless us with the power we need to further His work upon the earth. I had no idea if a camera was zooming in on me right then, but I knew that I wanted whoever was looking at my face to know that I know, and to have a desire to come to know it for themselves. I felt like we had a little glimpse into missionary work by having the responsibility to portray the pure love of Christ through our music, our faces, and our spirits.

Sorry I've been rambling on, but Women's Chorus was so much more than a choir to me. It was a time that I could set aside to feel the spirit, strengthen my testimony, and strengthen my friendships every day. If anybody reading this was in Women's Chorus with me this year, thank you. Thank you for your patience as I passed out ;) , for your support in hard times, for your smiles in wonderful times, and for your love in all times. I love you!

CALLED TO SERVE!

I have been called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am assigned to labor in the NEW JERSEY MORRISTOWN Mission. I report to the Provo MTC on July 1, 2009. I will prepare to preach the gospel in the SPANISH language!!!

So there you have it. I cannot believe I am going on a mission! When I opened my call and started reading the words, I knew that I have been called to be where I need to be, speaking the language I need to speak, in order to teach the people I need to teach. It is an amazing feeling. I haven't stopped thinking about it since I opened it last night. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord for 18 months of my life. He has given me everything. Thanks for all your support during different stages of my life to get me to this point! I love you!


We started out the evening with a rousing rendition of "Called to Serve"
At this point, I was really really nervous...
And then I freaked out...
Where's a map? :)
I love my family. I'm so glad they live close so we were able to celebrate this special day together.
Oh yeah, and I decided to cut my hair, as you can see in these pictures. But don't judge too harshly, it had been raining all day :)

I never would have believed...

1. I should be getting my call in 2 days! But I can't open it until Thursday because some stuff has arisen on Wednesday night...
2. Remember the "socially clueless recently returned missionary"? Well, after a sufficient length of time completely ignoring me, then acting as if nothing happened, he came up to me on Sunday night after ward prayer and asked me on a date for WEDNESDAY night. Yeah, I was like, "You do know I'm opening my mission call that night, right?" He assured me that he did but wanted to go out afterward.
   
3. Well, when I called my mom and told her, she convinced me to just wait until Thursday night to open my call since she is having some minor surgery or something on Wednesday and doesn't want to be delirious when I open it. Plus, I think she would be all for me getting married right now instead of going on a mission. She keeps asking me, "Are you sure you want to go on a mission right now?" Haha, I'll miss my mom a lot.
4. So I'm going on a date Wednesday night. I'm thinking of asking my roommates to check the mail and hide my call if it came so I don't know about it but we'll see...

Everyone has said that once you get your mission call, the dates start coming in from everywhere...I never would have believed that would be happening to me.

MY PAPERS ARE IN!!!!

So yes, all that stuff from my last post got resolved and now my mission papers are in! Let the guessing begin...

...and the waiting...

update

Well, my mission papers are done, interviews and all. However, yesterday when I went to my interview with the stake president, he asked for my medical forms. I told him that my bishop said he had put them in his box...we looked and they weren't there. We tried calling my bishop but he didn't answer. I still had my interview and the stake president told me to just come back later that day whenever I got them and give them to him. So I left the stake offices at about 2:00pm pretty upset. I got back to my complex and went down to where the bishop holds interviews but he wasn't there because of the Draper temple dedication. I told my friend Amanda what was going on, then went up to my apartment to be visit taught. While I was being visit taught, Amanda came knocking on my door and said the bishop had shown up for a second, she told him what happened, and he handed her a packet of papers saying, "Here are the photocopies I made of all of her papers before I handed them in. Guard them with your life!" Woohoo, right? Nope.

As soon as my visiting teachers left, I rushed back up to the stake offices and got there at about 2:20pm. They were all closed up and dark...apparently they had left in that 20 minutes for the temple dedication as well. I waited around for another 20 minutes or so, hoping that somebody would show up, but they didn't. Once again, I left the stake offices and took the long way home, letting out quite a few tears on the way. Well, let me explain...I know that my mission papers will go in when they are supposed to and I will leave when I am supposed to, but it was still frustrating. I had just gone through and was still going through probably the hardest week I've ever had at BYU (4 papers, a test, 2 projects, a presentation, passing out, throwing up, and cramps) and this just tipped me over the edge for a bit.

So while I was walking home, I was questioning how much harder it was going to get for me as I prepare to leave on my mission. Satan has been trying to beat me down mercilessly this last couple of months...I have never felt him stronger than I am now. Hopefully that just means that Satan knows I am going to be a dang good missionary! But even with all these temptations from Satan, I know more than ever that the Lord is aware of me. He sent people into my path yesterday afternoon that proved to be such a strength and comfort to me. I know that what I am trying to do is worth it. The gospel is true and the Savior knows and loves each of us and I just want to be able to share that with everyone I know.

I'll keep you all posted.

Hair cut??

Ok, I lied, I haven't put my papers in quite yet but I am posting anyway.

So, I really want to cut my hair short again...as I have had it in the past. But at the same time, I really want to grow my hair out and see how long I can get it. I've never really had long hair. Either way, I for sure need to at least trim my bangs up and give my hair a little shape. But still, any suggestions/advice?

This is how long my hair is now...

...and this is my mission picture...

And this is how short I've had my hair in the past...

Final prep...

Please allow the following paragraph of venting:
Going on a mission is WAY more expensive than people tell you about...and I'm not just talking about the $400/month to actually be out there. I have been having to dish out the cash getting my papers ready! Cavity fillings, wisdom teeth removal, immunizations, TB test, clothes (which I haven't bought yet), etc... Then to add on top of it, for every one of these things, it is requiring me to take time off work to get them accomplished so I'm, in effect, losing the little money I can make. Oh well, it's all in the name of a mission.

Speaking of my mission, I will be putting my papers in on March 25 (ideally). I've gotten my letter from my cardiologist and ran around yesterday having everyone sign everything. Now I'm just waiting to see if little bumps will show up on my arm from my TB test yesterday...no sign yet... :) Interviews with the bishop and stake president are set! Woohoo!!

So you can start making the guesses if you want, though it will be about a month before I find out. It might be helpful for you to know that I will have to stay in a country with adequate medical care (USA, Canada, England (my dad would be proud), other parts of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, or Japan...) My next post will most likely be once I put the papers in.

Oh, and I've been doing jazzercise to get in shape. :)