So I haven't been on this blog since November 2013... I guess school and work got the better of me!
A little about what has happened in the last however long...
-I finished my first semester of college:
I have seriously no idea how I survived!!!! It wasn't necessarily the school work in itself; work was REALLY stressful. I won't go into details, but let's just say that I had a little trouble with a bully boss. On top of that, I had finals and research papers to complete.
-I auditioned for the Nauvoo, Illinois Young Performing Missionaries:
I didn't make it in, but it was a good experience for me, though it was a trial at the time. I have dreamed of being a YPM since I was 9 years old, so being rejected hurt. This was also during my low point at college/work, so that didn't help. But now that I look back at it, I realized that it did teach me that good things can come from a bad situation if we let ourselves continue onward with a positive outlook.
-I finished my second semester of college:
Ok so my second semester was stressful, but in a different way. I had done my schedule completely different than first semester. Basically I had two classes a day and two online classes. I didn't really have any challenging courses like in first semester, so I found myself getting a little bored. I thought that more time at home would help with my job situation, which it did to an extent.
First semester I had 5 hours of school three days a week and then went directly to work. Sure, work stressed me out and I tended to stress about going back even more once I got home that night, but having two hours between school and work gave me time to become anxious about work. (I never knew what to expect... Everyone I worked with was so unpredictable and I tend to worry a lot, so...)
I got through this semester though! I managed to get an A in my British Literature class, which was exciting. School was officially done on May 3 (my birthday!!!!).
-I was called to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
I am a Mormon, as you might call it. Women aren't required or even pressured into going on missions for our church. This was completely my decision! I put a lot of thought and prayer into this decision, just to make sure that it was the right choice for me to put off school and work.
My call arrived in the mail on May 2, 2014... An early birthday present! I had just taken my English exam that day and had gotten home a little early and had the feeling that it was coming that day. It sure did!
Unfortunately, I had to work that day. Luckily, Fridays were my "easy days" at work. Fridays were always a movie day (I worked daycare.), and I was always scheduled to work from 2:15-4:30. Work had NEVER gone so slowly before! (And that's saying something!)
I get home and have to wait TWO WHOLE HOURS for friends and faImily to arrive for my call opening. Mom had hidden it so I wouldn't peek! I was literally shaking the entire day! I was so ready to find out where I would be serving the Lord for 18 months.
The time arrived and I opened my letter.
Dear Sister Twiner,
You are hereby called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC SANTIAGO MISSION.
WHAT?! I did not see that coming!!! Everyone was expecting me to go somewhere like Utah or England... Somewhere where I would fit in with my blonde hair and fair skin. But no, I am going to the Dominican Republic! As soon as I read it I KNEW that that was where I was supposed to serve. I just had that calm, peaceful feeling about me. I am so excited to go to the Dominican Republic MTC on September 10, 2014.
-I quit my first job:
Ok so my first job taught me a lot. It was hard both mentally and physically, but I am grateful that I had the experiences that I had there, even though some might not have been as pleasant as I would have liked ;)
Things I learned from my job:
1) I do not want to work with children. Don't get me wrong: I LOVE children! I still babysit and wish to have a family of my own one day, but childcare is not the career for me. Having 15-20 first to third graders in my care is more stressful than I would have thought. Nah, I'm good with babysitting no more than six at a time.
2) If I am ever in a leadership position where I am over other employees, I want to go out of my way to be nice to them. I get that everyone has bad days, but when a "good" day for you makes someone's day worse, I think something's wrong. For a while I let other people's negativity invade my life so that I felt hopeless in my situation. I want to be an up-lifter to other people.
3) Children can say the funniest things! Yes, working with children stressed me out, but that doesn't mean that I left without good memories. One of my most memorable moments with working with children is during study hall one day:
Kid: Teacher? Were you alive during WW2?
Me: No...
Kid: What about the Civil War?
Me: No.
Kid: The Revolutionary War?
Me: How old do you think I am?
No joke... I think this kid was serious!
4) I can become friends with people of other backgrounds and personalities. Let me clarify: I have many friends of different backgrounds (Race, religion, culture). However, I tend to gravitate towards people who have similar personality types and values as me. In my first job, I had to learn to work with others whom I probably would have never associated with at school. I found that these were some of my closest friends at work because everyone had a hard time there at times. We helped each other through rough days.
5) I CAN DO HARD THINGS. That first semester of work was hard. The second semester was also hard. Some might ask why I didn't quit sooner. The answer is simple: I wanted to prove to myself that I am tough. I have always shied away from hard situations and difficult people. I am an adult now. I need to be able to survive in this world.
Some might also say that I stress out too easily about things like this. I've thought so many times as well, but remember that every experience is different for every person. What might stress me out might be a piece of cake to you. What stresses you out might be elementary to me. This was a serious trial that I had to go through... But I wouldn't trade it for the world. No, I would never go back for another day of it, but I have emerged a much stronger person than when I entered.
-My family and I went on an amazing road trip:
It started out with us driving to Buena Vista, VA to pick my sister up from EFY (Especially for Youth... It's a youth camp for our church). Then we drove 12 hours up to Palmyra, NY to see the church history sites there and to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant, which was AMAZING! After that, we drove 1.5 hours to Niagara Falls to see... Niagara Falls. Then we went to Kirtland, Ohio to see more church history sites. And FINALLY to Nauvoo, Illinois.
I will post more detail of the trip later. :)
And now we are to the present! Life is going well for me. I am about 28 days away from leaving on my LDS mission to the Dominican Republic and proclaiming the gospel that I know to be true. I am still unsure what the future has in store for me, but I am learning to trust God in leading me down the right paths.
