The Countdown Begins...

In roughly three weeks, I will no longer be a part of society in the sense that I access computers daily, read the morning news, or check my facebook on a regular basis. I will be in the MTC in Provo, UT. I will be learning how to teach and communicate the message of Jesus Christ in the Spanish language.

I have been asked innumerable times if I am nervous about going on my mission. The answer? Totally nervous. The reason? I will encounter hundreds and hundreds of people every week who grew up speaking Spanish. I, a mere 19-21 year old, who has barely had a legit spanish conversation in my life will be expected to communicate effectively with them. Any other reasons? Sure. I will be very much isolated from the world. This however is not necessarily a bad thing. I will be focused and serving with a purpose. I will have plenty of people back home and there in Arizona supporting me.

Am I scared? Not at all. I know that I will have the Lord's help over the course of the next two years. I know I will be fine. I know the world will somehow manage to keep on spinning without me being an active user of Facebook and Google. I know that it will be the hardest two years of my life to this point, but I can almost say with 100% surety that it will be the best two years of my life also. I will be teaching love and truth to those I encounter.

Now, this may just end up to be where my rant becomes a bit too philosophical.

Our world is running short on many things. The most important thing that I feel is in short supply is true, unconditional love. A war of some proportion starts somewhere in the world every day. These may be wars of word or wars of weapon. Either way, they are unnecessary and only cause unneeded pain. Too often hate becomes the deciding factor in many situations.

Is it overly idealistic of me to expect hate to be conquered by love around the entire globe? Probably, but I do not care. I am going on a mission to perpetuate a message of God's love for ALL (and this does not exclude anyone, good or evil, black or white) of his children.

While my holistic impact may be small in the end, I still will have made a difference in the lives of many people. I may not turn someone from total corruption to utter perfection. BUT! I know that I can and will make people realize that there is far more good in life than they may have thought.

I, as well as nearly everyone else in the world, have had a dark moment or two in my life. I have always come out of those dark places surrounded by light. This may come in the form of a friend reaching out, a mere comfort of the heart, or by someone simply throwing a smile my way. Most importantly, I have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. When I am down, I know there is always someone there for me to talk to. That person is our Savior, Jesus.

I hope this did not come across as "holier than thou" or anything, but I guess I am experiencing a bit of a high and hopeful point in life.

Hopefully, this blog just becomes another way for me to bring joy to the lives of other whom I may or may not know....