How Will You Serve?

Mission oh Mission

Recently I've been reading over some blogs and emails of friends that are on their missions. Every LDS friend I ever had throughout high school is currently in the mission field and I couldn't be happier for each of them. But it puts a lot of pressure on me. With the missionary age change, there was a huge influx of youth deciding to serve and leaving on their missions. In that pack of rabid Mormons were all of my friends. I've never been against serving a mission myself, but I've never had the desire to either. It simply wasn't something that I ever felt I needed to do. Recently, the pressure at BYU to serve a mission has come full force and hit me like a brick wall to the face. I've started feeling like I need to serve a mission and that everyone is doing it so that means that I need to as well.  After praying about it, I realized what was going on. A mission is not in my life plan, at least not right now. While it is always a good thing to serve, it may not be the best for me at this moment. Before I came to this realization, I scanned my brain for everything I knew to be true about serving an LDS mission. So here goes.

1. It is not easy by any means

Everyone tells you how great the mission is, but how often do they tell you the downfalls? Of course, the mission overall is an amazing experience and one that everyone should get a taste of somehow and sometime in their life. However, it is in no way easy mentally, spiritually, physically or emotionally. This would never have been a sole reason to keep me from serving but keeping in mind that whole picture of a mission was important to me. It isn't all dandelions and snowflakes. Investigators often don't show up to church, cancel appointments, and sometimes bail on their own baptism. Sometimes they struggle to keep commandments that are foreign to them and fail to live the gospel standards at all times. It is hard to watch as people that you have taught fall away just as they were starting to grow. Does that make the mission any less worth it? HECK NO.  In many ways, the trials that are experienced on missions make them that much MORE worth it. 

2. It's going to be the best experience of your life

To me, experiencing another person's way of life is one of the most beautiful of experiences. You get to see why they are the way that they are. What made them the person that they are today. It can be an entirely different culture from your own or only a different living situation that makes them different from you. To grow to respect those differences is what makes a real human being. We are all different but we are the same in that we are all children of God. We have to accept each others's differences and that we aren't all going to learn the same way or experience the same things. That, to me, is one of the most important lessons that comes from serving a mission. 

While I don't believe that I myself will be a missionary in the near future, I have the utmost respect for those that do decide to serve. There are few things equal to giving your life to the service of your God and fellow men. My only hope is that I can find another way to be the servant that God needs me to be. 

Happy Falloween

It's October!!!

Guys, time has flown. I've been here over a month already... Don't tell my mom that though. I think she's still in denial. It's been a pretty exciting few weeks. 

First of all... My roommates and I were on TV. Yes, TV. How cool is that?? So if anyone watched the BYU volleyball game against Washington and you were paying attention at the beginning of the 3rd game, you saw us :) 

Second, Kristie found office chairs by a dumpster so we went and commandeered a few... and then proceeded to race down the sidewalks on our rolling chairs

Provo Temple

 Next.... Last week Holly and I took a walk to the Provo temple and walked around the grounds for a while. It wasn't ever my favorite temple but it definitely has its own place in my heart these days.

 Blood Drive!!

And we didn't even pass out.. 

Out for a walk on the town...

and we found the ocean!!

And the old Brigham Young Academy (the beginning of BYU)

Can you say Studio C?

We can because we met them 

America, The Land of the Free, the Brave, and the Loved

Hello!! It's been an exciting two weeks in Provo. Yesterday was 9/11 and we had our first home football game. With the stadium almost full (which is saying a lot since it seats over 63,000), there was tons of support for what was about to happen. Not only were we about to play Houston, but the school had something special for that night. Before the game started, the school's Army ROTC brought out the flag that covers the entire field. They and both football teams held it as those in the stadium sang Proud To Be An American. Then we kicked butt. Actually we weren't playing too great but we were definitely winning! Next, between the first and second quarters, there were card stunts on the east side of the stadium. Behold...
The Card Stunts

After this, we welcomed home a soldier from Iraq that wasn't supposed to be home until December. No, his wife didn't know that he was coming :) They found her in the crowd and brought her and her daughter down to the field before her husband made his appearance. She is due within the next couple months so Daddy will get to be home for his new baby to get here.

Not only am I proud to be an American, I am proud to be a BYU Cougar. It was the last place that I wanted to be but now that I am here, I can't imagine being anywhere else. Everything we do here only reminds me of how important and loved I am and how blessed we really are. We live in an amazing country, it might be going downhill but the night is always darkest just before the dawn. We've been told that things would get bad before the Second Coming. It's to be expected. But when you see the smiling faces and feel the love of those around you, how could you not love the place that we call home? America, the promised land, on the earth created for us.

One Step of Many

Getting ready for college is a pain in the butt.. From writing essays for school applications and endless paperwork for scholarships to packing up your life and moving, it is A LOT of work. But look how many people have done it. And they survived! So whether you're a high school senior or a mother of four that wants to go back to school, don't get overwhelmed with all the craziness. I promise it just makes everything that much more stressful. Trust me.. I applied to 9 different schools, all of which I was accepted to. So while it looks like a lot of work, it is definitely worth the time and energy that you put into it. It's what's coming up next in the story of you. My advice would be to pace yourself. Don't try to do everything at once because it's not going to happen. Start at the beginning and work from there. Also, reuse essays. If they have the same prompt, why not?? Just vamp it up a little bit to fit what that particular school is looking for. One school I applied to wanted kids that are culturally diverse and want to learn more about others' cultures so I made sure to include some things about that in my essay. Don't change yourself to fit their needs, they can tell if you are lying. Find their needs in who you already are. That way you can write about things that you know and are passionate about because it is really who you are. 

Creating My Own Me

I'm leaving for school in less than a week!! Ah! How crazy is that? I've been told countless times this summer how I'm growing up too fast and making everyone feel old. Sorry, I can't help it that I was born 19 years ago. Life happens, ya know? ;) Well this whole moving thing is getting pretty stressful.. Not because it's hard, but because I am ready to get it done and over with. Let's get the show on the road! It's pretty nerve-wracking to move somewhere new and where you don't know anyone but also exciting. I'll get to meet new people and do new things and I'll have the chance to become the person that I want to be, not the person that I've been forced to become. Admittedly, that's a little scary too. What if I become everything that I never wanted to be? But then... what if I become the best version of me I can be? It's a new start to creating Kelci.

By Happenstance..

So I've been thinking about encounters.. Not the ones we plan where we pick a day and go out and meet up to do something. The ones where we are out and meet someone by chance. When you accidentally run into them going around a corner, pick the same ice cream, or meet online. The ones where no one set you up, you just.. Meet. Don't shoot me down if you disagree, but I believe that people are strategically placed in our lives. God knows what and who we need and when we need it. I know that there's been soo many people in my own life that have been there just when I needed them. Each person I've known, whether good or bad, has taught me a lesson. A lesson that I probably wouldn't have learned any other way. Maybe I've made a difference for them too. So those random people we meet on the streets, may not be all that random. They may be just what you need..

It's a hard-knock life

For most of us, it isn't easy to try new things.. Some people thrive on it! Not me. It can be scary to step out of our comfort zone and take a chance. Whether its trying a new sport, meeting new people, going away to college, or moving all the way across the country, new is hard. Recently I've had a lot of experiences with NEW. It's a new feeling to know that I won't see my best friend for six months. Or that I won't be living at home anymore. It's definitely an all-new experience to realize that all too soon I will be 90% financially independent. And I have to admit, it's scary. But does it have to be hard? I once had a teacher that taught me an important lesson. I can do hard things. She showed me that I can live up to my potential and become the person that God created me to be. Maybe it's hard for me to reach out to people and be their friend.. But maybe someone needs my smile today. The way I see it, life is meant to be hard but we can still make the most of it. Don't let your fears and insecurities get in the way of you living the life that you want. You want that job? Go get it! Don't know how to make that cute thing on Pinterest? Have no fear, you can learn! I don't want to live my life remembering all the dreams that were never fought for or wondering how much happier I could be if I had just stepped out of my shell and taken a chance. And you know that you don't want to either. So together, let's take a chance. Let's make a life that can improve that of those around us. Let's be the light in the world that so many people look for. Let's conquer our fears and capture our dreams. Why? Because WE CAN DO HARD THINGS.