Disneyland (?)

I got a little something in the mail last week.  It came in a big envelope that I opened up in my family room with a brother on one side, a sister on the other side, another brother and my mom and dad across from me, and another brother on speakerphone.



Ladies and gentlemen, I've been called to serve my Heavenly Father for a year and a half in the California Anaheim mission.  I'll be learning Spanish (besides the stuff I know already) and I'll leave for the Missionary Training Center on August 1st.  Everyone's first question is either "Will they let you go to Disneyland?" or "You get to miss two Utah winters?!"  On the first one, I don't know.  On the next one, HECK-TO-THE-YES, BABY!  No snow.  Minimal rain.  Me likey.

For anyone who's LDS and has the opportunity to serve a mission: do it.  I don't care if you're scared out of your pants and don't think you have anything to offer.  How could it possibly hurt to commit yourself to a few years of working for something that's bigger than you?  I don't know how I could afford not to focus on something other than myself for a while.

There isn't any way to explain exactly how I feel right now.  The best I can do is to say that this is the hardest and best decision I've ever made in my life.  It's hard every day, and it's not letting up anytime soon.  But somehow I can't ever go back on it.  In the words of Alan Paton, "I am moved by something that is not my own."

Isn't today just a beautiful day?