First Post

So I'm sitting here on a Friday afternoon trying to avoid my homework, because let's face it, it's Friday afternoon. I could watch TV, but I don't really like TV. I could do homework, but I've got all weekend to do that (and I already said that I'm trying to avoid that for the time being). I could work on my lesson for Gospel Doctrine on Sunday, but I usually do that on Saturday night. It's too cold to go anywhere and my only roommate who's home is watching TV, which I don't want to do. I've got a few friends on missions who I could write to, but I'm not really in the mood to do that either. I got thinking and figured that I've got friends and family who are going to want to know how I'm doing, especially after I leave on my mission (I'll have my family post my letters weekly so you can all know where I am and how I'm doing), so I figured that I might as well start a blog now while I've got "nothing" to do.

For those of you who see this and don't know, I have decided to go on a mission. It wasn't exactly something I was planning on doing. I was going to finish up school this coming fall, student teach next winter, and graduate in April. Obviously the Lord has other plans for me. One Saturday afternoon in November while I was preparing my lesson for Sunday, I had an overwhelming impression that I need to serve a mission. I can't even describe it. If you ask my roommates what I was like that weekend, they'll tell you that I was a wreck. Of course, they didn't know what was going on until late Sunday night. All they knew is that I was being really quiet, and not being very social. I spent a lot of time in my room thinking. When I did tell my roommates what was going on, they kinda just stared at me like they didn't know how to react. And I don't blame them. I didn't know how to react. For those first few days I was way not myself. And I couldn't focus on anything. I went to class because I'm not the type of person to skip class, but I'm pretty sure that nothing sank in. I spent a lot of time thinking, reading my scriptures, and praying. The more I've thought about it, the better it feels. And believe me, I've spent a lot of time thinking about it. I'll be able to start on my papers in just a few weeks now. That is almost unreal to me. I'm taking Mission Prep this semester and that has been an amazing class! It's only two hours a week, but those two hours are probably my favorite two hours of the week. And despite my busy schedule I try to sit down as soon as I get home from class every day and study my scriptures and Preach My Gospel for an hour. Sitting down and really taking time to study has opened my eyes and I have learned things that I hadn't known before. I truly believe that this will be a great blessing in my life.