La mia chiamata per la missione di Milano

Well, first of all, my world kinda flipped upside down when this announcement was made.  I didn't know how to react. I remember saying, "Is he kidding?  Is this real life?"  And then for weeks, the idea became more of a reality.  It seemed too good to be true.  Could I really go now?  Is a mission what the Lord wanted me to do? 

Every time I watch this video, I get the chills. Tears fill my eyes. I am so excited. 

Quite honestly, I've always wanted to serve a mission and bring the world His truth.  I just didn't know if the timing would be right, or if that was the Lord's plan for me.  

I believe in personal revelation.  I know that as I turn to Him, He will provide answers to my prayers and give me direction in my life.  As I started working on my papers, the decision felt more and more right.  (I didn't faint when I had my blood drawn, and that had to be a sign :).)

But, of course I would serve a mission.  Why did it take me so long to figure it out?  I wanted to be sure.  I wanted to do what the Lord wanted me to do.  And you know what He told me?  If I wanted to go, I should go.  And heck yes, I wanted to go.  So here I go. 

My Stake President asked me "if there was anywhere I wanted to go, where would it be?"

  "Wherever the Lord wants me to go," I said.

"Yes, of course.  But, you must have a place you dream about going."

"Well...Italy. I would love to go to Italy."

Last Wednesday, I found out my call had been mailed.  Probably the longest day of my life.  I started crying when I told my mom it might be coming that day. And all day, I kept waiting for a text from my Grammie that it had arrived.  My dad texted me every hour, saying "so?"  And at 5:00, it arrived, a time for  a Google plus hangout was set, and the waiting began.

I have to say, I have watched this video a few times. I'm quite dramatic. But I'm Emma, I freak out and get dramatic :) Please watch, and share in my excitement.  

Italy, Milan. 

May 1st.

We had a huge Google hangout going.  So much fun.  I wish my family could have been there with me, but it was so fun for all my cousins and my grandparents to share in the moment with me.

My best friends were there! And seriously, these girls are my best friends.  I don't know where I'd be without them.

4 of us are serving missions.

Ellie: Poland, Warsaw

Jasmine: France, Paris

Karina: Argentina, Cordoba.

Watch out world.

My cousins from Salt Lake came down.
Andrew is serving a mission in Oklahoma right now.
Thanks for coming :) It means a lot.

I couldn't be happier.

I know this will be the hardest thing I will have ever done in my entire life.

But I have a testimony of this gospel.  I love my Savior.

Feed my sheep, He said. I will serve those around me by serving a mission. As I study the missions of the apostles after Christ left the Earth, I strive to feed His sheep.

I want to tell the people of Italy that they have a Savior who loves them and who died for them.

I want to tell them that Christ's gospel is restored upon this Earth.

I want to tell them that they can be with their families forever. 

I want to share with them my knowledge that The Book of Mormon is the word of God.

I can't wait to share this in Italy. 

(Remember how 8 months ago I was blogging all about how I'd be in Italy in a year, and how I was trying to learn Italian?)

May 1st.  96 days left and counting!

I forgot

Dear fingers,
I forgot what it was like to practice piano.  I thought I could play the way I played 5 years ago. Not. quite. I'm sorry you are out of practice.  But don't worry, an hour (plus) a day makes the awkwardness go away.
Love,
Emma

my break through pictures

First off. California.

first taxi ride

view from the kitchen
 not complaining

yeah I pretty much have
the cutest cousins
in the world

too many Christmas sweets
this wrapper is my motto
for next semester as well

chocolate milk bottle

not even staged
they seriously all just gathered together
one by one as Seth read to them.
pretty adorable

another ocean view

frozen yogurt expedition

the children before their Christmas program

beach sunset
I have a thing for sunsets.
who doesn't?

panoramic view from mountain

Home Sweet Home.  Arizona. 60 degrees and beautiful.

I have some cute little brothers

yeah, we're a pretty good looking bunch
things get a little crazy with 9 people
we love our Mexican food
we are from Arizona

Christmas Eve feast

scarred for life?
Bruce the stray dog
he's come around a lot apparently
he likes to harass Zoe
poor thing

another sunset
this time in Arizona
I love Arizona sunsets
home.

Christmas carols
we all take a turn at the piano
flute, violin, clarinet
17 voices
the Strongs, the Baers, and Sister Jackson

9 stockings
10 including Zoe
yes, Zoe has a stocking

our 15 foot Christmas tree
it's last year standing

Mark's Christmas Eve PJ shirt
I'm a Mormon.
I know it. I live it.  I love it.

Christmas Eve Pajama tradition

this is my Dad
he loves Zoe
and wolf books

Christmas Eve tradition:
walking down the stairs youngest to oldest to see what Santa brought
we all slept together in the same room

Anna gave each of us a note
this one wasn't even that funny compared to the other ones

catching up with old friends
Scavenger hunt - find a drink with two straws

lots of cuddling with Zoe during wisdom teeth recovery

picking our Arizona grapefruit

New Years Eve
such a party
Thank you to the Merrills

old friends
yes I won at bowling
still not very good

Wisdom teeth

Right now I am really craving pizza.
What I have eaten these past 2 days:
- Danimals smoothies
- milkshakes
- yogurt (I think I'm sick of yogurt for the first time all year)

I am really cold and am craving some tomato soup. But we don't have any.

Love this wisdom teeth experience. I feel like I've lost brain cells over the amount of movies I have watched.

Have a good day!

There's something about...

I can't sleep, so I'm going to write.

There's something about

• a song that just relates to you in so many ways.
• 3 road trips back and fort to Arizona within 2 weeks days
• mountains.
• tall boys.
• Michael Buble's Christmas album.
• meeting a new person.
• opening up to people.
• letting people open up to you, and letting yourself love them, despite everything.
• realizing how wonderful and kind everyone is to you when you're having a bad day
• receiving a Father's blessing.
• a full moon.
• sunsets.
• coming to a realization that you hope you won't forget.
• boys with accents ;)
• voxing your mom and your aunts and your Grammie.
• waking up to a text from a friend telling you to read a scripture that you really needed to read
• speaking in another language.
• pulling multiple "all-nighters."
• breathing in fresh air.
• culture. pure culture.
• photography and capturing instant moments so quickly.
• having 20 panic attacks every 5 minutes and realizing how annoying that must be.
• watching your little brother play basketball.
• holding a door open for someone.
• finally letting all of the tears out at once.
• mom's homemade apple and berry pies.
• realizing you might have made a difference in someone's life.
• being humbled by all the people who have made a difference in your life.
• talking to one of your best friends on the phone till 2:30 in the morning, getting food with them, and knowing they will always be there for you.
• lying in your bed, wanting to sleep, and desperately praying for hours on end that your heart will stop beating so fast and you will calm down.  And then actually falling asleep.
• Mumford and Sons
• rekindling meaningful friendships
• loving others
• talking with your roommate way too late into the night
• the beautiful power of prayer
• a personal relationship with my Savior
• writing a blogpost while your adorable roommate snores on the couch
• realizing it's really late and I need to go to bed

This was super random and jumbled.  But I'm grateful for everything I have.  And although school is overtaking my life and causing me more stress than necessary, I am grateful for my family and friendships, and I know that in the end, it is the relationships we build with others that matter.

life right now

I love my Savior.

I love His gospel.

I love His prophets.

I love the Bible.

I love studying the New Testament.

I love the Book of Mormon.

I love my family.

I love my roommates.

I love my friends.

I love my job.

I love my freshmen.

I love my height.

I love my long hair.

I love my new phone.

I love fall.

I love the rain.

I love everything related to pumpkins.

I love colors. 

I love leaves.

I love the mountains.

I love wearing blazers.

I love pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and cookies and cake.

I love discovering new music on Spotify.

I love Mumford and Sons.

I love having a clean room.

I love meeting new people.

I love to smile.

I just love life right now.

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

So I'm in this video for like one second.  But Karina and Ellie are very much featured in it.  And Eric is in my ward - so DUH I have to share it :)

Watch! Share! Boost of the views! Check out Eric Thayne on youtube :)

curse of breaking things

I have a curse.  No really, I do.  And while I write this I can't even laugh at myself anymore.  I just want to cry.

It all began with my Dell computer a year ago.  Don't even know what happened, it just decided not to turn back on again.  Started making weird beeping noises and overheating.  I lost everything.  After a couple weeks without a computer I decided to rent from BYU.  Let's just say I went through SIX of them.  Same sort of thing, they decided not to turn on.  One couldn't hold a charge for more than five minutes.  Sometimes I would back things up, other times I forgot to back some stuff up.  So I hardly have any papers or anything I wrote from my freshman year of college.  After going through six PCs, I bought a Mac.  Haven't had any problems whatsoever.

But the computers are only just the beginning.  I dropped my phone in water.  Oops.  Had to borrow someone's.

I went on a bike ride on Karina's bike.  Crashed it.  Broke the tire.

My ipod.  Kept deciding not to play stuff and the computer finally didn't recognize it anymore.  It's dead.  Maybe it got dropped too many times, I'm not sure.

I crashed my family's car on the way home from Utah (sorry, guys).  This one really isn't that funny, more like traumatizing.  But my roommates still insensitively laugh at me about it.

When I came back from AZ to Utah this year, my camera all of a sudden had a lens error.  No idea where that came from - it was working in the airport and decided not to work once we landed in Utah.

When I was in California I dented a bike rack.

And now, just yesterday, I wake up and my phone decides to completely die on me.  The touch screen is fried.  It lasted me so long....like 8 months.  That's a record.

So now I'm phoneless, without a camera or an ipod.  My computer still works, thank goodness.  And I was smart enough to get insurance on it just in case.

I also seem to have a problem with breaking toilets too.

I know material things aren't what make life wonderful.  But I like having working electronics.
I have a problem.  I swear, I don't throw my phones against the wall or smash my cameras with hammers.  Maybe I'm clueless, maybe there's some rule to technology everyone in the world knows about except me.  If there is, could you please tell me?  Because I'm sick of this.

I think I'll go cry myself to sleep now :)

Remembering Names

“Remember that a man's name is to him the sweetest and most important sound in any language."

- Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People

For the past couple of weeks, I have started my new job as a Peer Mentor through BYU's Freshman Mentoring program.   As soon as I came to BYU a year ago and met my peer mentor, I knew it was a job I would love participating in.  Being a mentor at Chandler Prep and being the oldest of seven children, I have always found myself in that "mentor" role.  I'm an Anthropology major, so I love to meet people, get to know them, and understand them.

Getting ready for New Student Orientation brought some anxiety but mostly excitement.  I had been training to meet these students for so long, and I finally got to meet them and get to know them!  And once I did, everything became so tangible.  Names became faces, and the real work began.

Now, something I don't like to admit - I can't remember names.  I will recognize so many faces around campus - of people I've never even met.  I have a favorite couple I see walking around everywhere, but they probably have no idea who I am.  She works in the Science and Maps section of the library, and they're quite adorable.  I know their faces, but I could never tell you their names.  With this lack of a gift that I have, I was worried about NSO.  For the days before it, I kept praying that I could remember names.  I still keep praying for that.  Because "a man's name is to him the sweetest and most important sound in any language."

I mean, honestly, if someone calls me by my name, I feel valued.  They know my name; they remember me.  And I would hate to make someone feel like they are not valued by not remembering their name.  And guess what?  I am remembering names so much more now!  A simple prayer that has been answered and has strengthened me.

God knows each of us by name.  He can name all of his children by name.  Jesus Christ suffered for each of us individually.  He knows our name, our deepest fears, our happiest joys, and our hardest trials.  My burdens are His burdens.  And when I can't sleep at night when I'm thinking about my students, because I care so much about them already, I know Christ has mine and their burdens too.  I love Him, and I am eternally grateful that He will forever know my name.

How Great Thou Art

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,

Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

When I look at the stars, overlook a valley from the top of a mountain, or admire the detail of delicate butterfly wings, I am in “awesome wonder” God’s creations and perfect love.  Surrounded by nature, I am humbled by God’s magnificence and cannot help but thinking, “How great Thou art.”

Glacier National Park - Montana

Whitefish, Montana Summer 2011

Singing the words to “How Great Thou Art” is a “prayer” (Doctrine and Covenants 25:12) unto my “Lord my God.”  

 Jesus Christ, the Anointed One, is manifest throughout all of His creations.  His light is throughout the world, and sometimes we fail to recognize and be humbled by this.  I am very grateful for the beautiful world that surrounds us, and I know that Christ’s light is throughout the world.  The simple beauties that surround us testify of Christ, and all things point to Christ.  If Christ is the center of our lives, then all of our questions and doubts can be answered.