I am hereby called to serve in the Brazil Ribeirao Preto mission. It is anticipated that I will serve for a period of 24 months. I will report to the Brazil Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, August 17th, 2011. I Will prepare to preach the gospel in the Portuguese language. My assignment may be modified to the needs of the mission president.
Wow. Brazil?! I can't believe it. Honestly, I knew that everyone I know from Washington has been called there so far this year, but I never saw myself going there. The more I think about it and read up on this little place near Sao Paolo (I don't know how to do the cool accent marks yet - Portuguese is not something I have an inkling about) the more I feel like this is perfect for me. According to Wikipedia, its the California of Brazil. I'll let you guys read up on it yourselves.
But I had my call in my backpack all day, just pondering where I was going. This made it impossible for me to focus on things like schoolwork, but thats just a little side effect. I am so excited that I have my mission call. I am so excited to serve the lord. I took my mission call with my sister up to the Provo Temple and opened it up there, and it was perfect. The people who guessed correctly were my Nana, and Gemma. I can't remember if anyone else guessed Brazil.
This is when my call came...
Took it up to the temple around 7:30 PM my time.
You don't get a letter signed by good old Tom Monson every day.
The Perfect Backdrop to a perfect day.
Rebeirao Preto, Brazil
My mission president and his wife.
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Overall, I am extremely excited. Unfortunately, schoolwork beckons!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHhh.
Darn. Sometimes you look at your planner one day and say, "This is good...this week won't be too bad..."
Then you look at it again and realize...."Darn. What was I thinking? These things are going to take a lot more work than I originally thought..." and your week is devoured by school work.
This morning was really stunning outside! The sun was shining again after two or three days of overcast gloomy weather. Unfortunately it didn't stay for too long, but I got to make a nice phone call home in the sunshine before elders quorum choir and what not. And low and behold, I've been REALLY homesick today!! The sunny weather makes me think of the brief span that it is sunny in Washington. Because when it is, it is soo nice! I was looking through my cell phone pictures from the beginning of the year and was remembering how unbearable hot it was outside all the time here in Provo, and really missing that as well. The scenery and sky was unbeatable earlier in the year. It would be nice to have that little river/pond back again! Some good news though: The ducks are returning.
This is this morning here outside my dorm. I went behind that building straight ahead called the "central building" and went on those benches to call my family. It was nice, Gemma answered and was just getting ready for church. Brigitta call me!
In other news, I got some new scripture markers that I was so desperately needing. I got 5 colors and splurged, what the heck I'm gonna need them for the years to come haha. These look EXACTLY like highliters on paper, but feel like crayon so they don't bleed through my scriptures. I love how bright and vivid they are. They make the words pop off the page.
I started going through the pictures I had taken on my cell phone again that I had recently uploaded on my computer. This is arguable the BEST one I have taken from the rooftop of the JFSB.
Lately we had a lot of rainy weather. I found this picture that made me smile because I was caught in shorts one day when a flash rain started up suddenly and everyone was bolting for shelter because of the intensity of it! I personally didn't exactly make it out safely.
Once my sister and I went to Olive Garden after seeing Despicable Me. There was this Russian guy behind me with the perfect accent like Gru in the movie, and his hands were creeping on me. The hair on these things were amazing! See for yourself!
Sometimes when I got to the Taco Bell in the student center I like to pretend I am somebody that I really am not. So far I have been "Hans Solo" (she didn't know it was just 'Han'), Chewbacca, Colonel Mustard, and Luke Skywalker.
This is my friend Karsten. Pretty much the coolest kid ever. Too bad he is moving down to Utah right when I am moving back up to Vancouver!? What are the odds! Smiths! I urge you to reconsider your move until I leave on my mission, then conveniently move back in two-three years :)
Sometimes people do funny things to the statues around campus...
Once I found out that somebody had stolen my car from my garage. I soon found it later on and now my baby is back with me safe and sound. The guy had put it on display in Brigham Square! Of all places?!?! The audacity...of course I am going to find it there...
So I'm sure that everyone has flashbulb memories sometimes when a song comes up of a time in your youth where the exact place and time of where you were and what you were doing will come into your mind. Well, that just happened to me when a song by Paul Simon came on called You Can Call Me Al. From nowhere suddenly the memory of me being upstairs in my bedroom of our old house in 105th Court, came into my mind. Downstairs the 2000 Athens Olympics are playing on our old TV and swimming is going on, and my parents are watching it. It is a glorious sunny day outside, the trees and grass in our backyard is green. Our trampoline above all that ivy is beckoning to me. I was 7 or 8 years old at this point in my life. And I just remember this song playing for no apparent reason, I think it must have been from a tape player, and loving the chorus where he says, "If you'd be my bodyguard, I can be your long lost pal. If I can call you Betty, and Betty when you call me you can calllll meeee Alllll." Except ever since I was little I thought - and this is literally a revelation I just had when I looked up the lyrics to this song - that he always said "If I can call you Daddy, Daddy when you call me you can calllll meeee Allll..." That is quite hilarious how just doing this post can reveal certain things that I would have never known.
A man walks down the street
He says why am I soft in the middle now
Why am I soft in the middle
The rest of my life is so hard
I need a photo-opportunity
I want a shot at redemption
Don't want to end up a cartoon
In a cartoon graveyard
Bonedigger Bonedigger
Dogs in the moonlight
Far away my well-lit door
Mr. Beerbelly Beerbelly
Get these mutts away from me
You know I don't find this stuff amusing anymore
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal I can call you Betty <---- I seriously always thought he was saying "Daddy" up until like 5 minutes ago And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al
A man walks down the street
He says why am I short of attention
Got a short little span of attention
And wo my nights are so long
Where's my wife and family
What if I die here
Who'll be my role-model
Now that my role-model is
Gone Gone
He ducked back down the alley
With some roly-poly little bat-faced girl
All along along
There were incidents and accidents
There were hints and allegations
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al
Call me Al
A man walks down the street
It's a street in a strange world
Maybe it's the Third World
Maybe it's his first time around
He doesn't speak the language
He holds no currency
He is a foreign man
He is surrounded by the sound
The sound
Cattle in the marketplace
Scatterlings and orphanages
He looks around, around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity
He says Amen and Hallelujah!
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al
Call me Al
Another song of such nature is the song "Medicine Man" by Bobby McFerrin. We had this CD that my sister and I would always pop into our living room CD player (man, so many memories of that living room in the old house), and as it would play we would just walk around in circles (I would follow her) and just bob up and down like a bunch of Indian tribals...actually a lot like how he looks on the cover in the video. Listen to the song, and you can probably understand how we being so young just thought it was a hilariously funny sounding song. Probably the part that sticks out in my mind is that we would always shout, "VENNE MY BAY BOOCHAY!!! UHH UHHH!!!" at the beginning because that is what he said. And to this day I can picture us perfectly walking around in circles singing "I am a medicine man....I am a medicine man..." Tiana can attest to this.
Listening to good music from childhood can bring back some great memories. That much I can say with certainty.
Step in front of this shot and the ball will most likely go straight through you. I was astounded when I saw this goal. So much swerve! Dani Alves is the man.
My Uncle sent me a link to this video, and it was such a great one. It really cheered me up when I wasn't having the best day. I will always love soccer.
So last night I had two things planned to do that I really wanted and needed to get done: a stake president interview and an intermural soccer game - the first one to kick off the tournament. The interviews were starting at 6:00 PM and the soccer game was at 7:00 PM on the opposite side of campus. Me, well being me, decided that I could make it to both. Obviously I needed to go get my stake president interview and that was the top priority, but I just really wanted to play in that soccer game. So, because the interviews were first come first serve, I went at 5:20, right after my astronomy class. I got up to the conference center and there were already 3 people there, so I thought, okay that's decent I will be 4th. If each interview is 10-15 minutes and there are 3 people doing interviews I will be through with a half hour to spare before 7:00, plenty of time! As it drew nearer and nearer to 6:00 more and more guys came. I thought how lucky I was to get there earlier. Finally, President Madsen came out with the clipboard and says, "first come, first serve", and everyone gets up at once and goes to the clipboard! So, it didn't even matter when you got there in order because this kid who had got there 2 minutes earlier signed up for 3rd in line! I ended up 5th, still decent. President Crowley came shortly after and at 6 they took the first two guys who were signed up to get an interview...
...a half hour later, they were just getting out. The interviews were taking longer than expected. And, there were only 2 people doing the interviews. At 6:30, with the 3rd and 4th guys in there I was just counting minute by minute go by hoping that they would emerge and I would be next. I just wanted to be out by 6:50 so I could sprint back and then run to my field and only miss a short part of my game. This girl shows up and sits down, and then President Madsen comes out and goes, "I hope you gentleman don't mind, but we always take ladies first." I was okay with that, because I was happy to let her go in front of me. At that point I was so anxious that I kept getting the recurring thoughts to leave and come back on sunday when I wasn't so pressed for time. When 7:00 came I just thought to myself, "Why do I care so much? Who cares if I miss one soccer game! I am about to get interviewed by the stake presidency to consecrate 2 years of my time for a full time mission, what does this one time mean?" I knew that Satan works hard so that young men won't serve a mission, and him putting in the thoughts of the soccer game in my mind was his way of trying to get me to leave. Once I finally got into the interview room I had pushed the entire game from my mind, and everything at that moment seemed so much clearer to me. I knew I would much rather be there, taking to President Crowley at that point in time. It was one of the best interviews of my life, and I learned a lot. I also felt the spirit very strongly. I was still in there at 7:22, when he asked if I wanted to stick around for a few minutes so I could push the final "send" button to the first presidency. He knew I was missing my game, but I just said, "It will be over soon anyways, I would love to stay." I got to "touch the prophets finger" according to President Crowley.
This whole experience gave me perspective as to what is important in life and what isn't. One game in a soccer tournament isn't anywhere near as important as getting an interview to go on a mission. And, I am getting my call in 9-13 days now. It will probably come not this Wednesday but the Wednesday afterwards, and I am so excited. Just put things in perspective. What is important to you now? What will be important to you in the long run? Don't let Satan pull you away.
Also, I was blessed - we won our soccer game and I get to play in the next game. Good job team!!!
I was in the creamery today when I saw some frisbee discs. I promptly took a picture - Jimmermania. You could have a wind Jimmer of your very own! Only $3.39! "Engineered for maximum flight"....that is the best part.
Hunter made a timelapse of Brenton and I sleeping. The morning after I saw this I about died laughing. Just wait to the end...that happened around like 2 or 3 in the morning.
Also, I know it's disgusting that I have feet in my face all night but when I am asleep I don't even notice it.
