The Journey Begins!

Hola amigos y familia!
I'm so very happy to say that I've received a mission call from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! I am assigned to labor in the Peru Chiclayo Mission and will report on September 23, 2014 (:

As you can guess, this blog will be used to keep anyone and everyone updated on my adventures in Peru. I won't be directly writing the blog--hopefully I can teach my mom some tech savvy skills to transfer e-mails to here (: *for any of you family members out there that know about computers my mom might need your help once I'm gone! (:

Also, to any visitors passing by my blog, I hope that my words will inspire and uplift your hearts through my testimony of Jesus Christ. He is my Lord and my Redeemer and has provided me happiness that I had never known. Please, if you have instinctively pushed the concept of a living God out of your mind all I ask is for you to pray. Just get on those two knees and humbly talk to our Heavenly Father. He will always receive you with open arms and once you have felt the love he has to offer you just as I have, you'll hardly believe that you ever doubted yourself. He is there. I promise.

To any one wanting to write me--please do! I have to admit though that I'm a terrible responder but I have a feeling that I might be in need of some of your words once I'm out in the field :)

On this exciting journey I have been asked to speak in the Spanish language. This will probably be one of the toughest mountains to climb for me but I am SO excited to learn. A mission may be a brutal mental, physical, and spiritual challenge but it is oh so sweet as well. If any of you would like to write me in Spanish, I highly encourage it! I will be thrilled to practice this great language and correspond with you bilingual folks out there :)

I want to express my love for all of you that have supported me throughout the years. I truly hope I haven't offended any of you and desire your forgiveness if I have. There are innumerable blessings in my life and each one of your spirits have impacted me more than you will ever know. To my family, I don't know how I can ever repay the love you've given to me. I feel so undeserving but extremely lucky that I was born into my family. May God bless all of you for sending you to me.

The last thing I want to do is bear you my absolutely genuine testimony. There are certain things that we know in this life and I feel like the most blessed human being ever to know that there is a living God and his son, Jesus Christ. They are so special and sacred to me; my personal relationship with them has brought upon me unshakable faith. I have faith in their existence, faith in their timing, and faith in their answers. I believe that Christ has walked this earth in days past and was crucified for our sins. Along with that, I believe that He was not only crucified for our sins but for the infinite grace we need to return to a loving Heavenly Father. I believe that with the dislocation of Christ's church upon this Earth, our dear brother Joseph Smith has brought the restoration of the gospel back again. I undoubtedly know that the Book of Mormon is 100% real, ancient, and true scripture and that it was through the power of God that Joseph Smith was able to translate it. I believe that there is a prophet today who speak and receive revelation from God. And lastly, I had once believed but have come to know that through the power of prayer and study of scripture that God offers us a love that no man can understand--that obedience to this love and his commandments do not bind human nature but free it instead.

I hope that you will enjoy my blog and a peek inside the country of Peru! May God be ever present in your life from today and that my blog will strengthen that testimony. As they say in Spanish:

Adiós por ahora!