23 days and counting....

The time is drawning near, and I'll be taking off for my mission soon. So how does a pre-mission dame like me spend her time, thoughts, and energy? So far, it has gone as follows....

Prepping for the Mission: As my departure date gets closer my brain has started to have crazy fits at an increasing rate. In the beginning--back in August when there was still plenty of time to get things done and still enjoy leisurely activities--the biggest brain tantrums were centered around an overwhelming feeling of inadequacy. My trail of thought ran a chaotic race of pointless circles inside my head. It would start asking me terrible things, like, "Well, geez, you grew up in the church, but do you really know the doctrine?" "You're just a silly girl, do you really think you can make a difference?" "Remember how you're probably the biggest homebody on campus? How are you going to survive 18 months without the constant contact of your family and friends in the valley?" In short, I could hear that creepy, scratchy voice--which is so iconic to me from the Joseph Smith movie at Temple Square--telling me, "You are a fool." (What an odd choice for the voice of Satan, btw. It sounds like the voice my brother Marty used to make when joking around.) Anywho, I've been reading "Preparation Precedes Power" by Randy Bott (BYU Mission Prep Instructor extraordinaire!) and it turns out that this is very typical of pre-missionaries. That's right, I'm normal. Eat that Satan. Of course Satan would be playing up on my fears--I'm the biggest scardy cat I know. I've just moved to my parent's house and I sleep in their basement. I can't go to sleep without the hall light on, I'm such a wimp. Of course, maybe if you saw their basement you would understand. There's a well in the food storage room. Yup, a real live well (not to be confused with whale-because that would be silly). Like, any day Samara from the ring could come crawling out of that thing with her wet black hair draped over her face, claiming that I only have 8 days to live! Yes, our basement is freaky. But back to the mission.... I would highly recommend Bott's book and prep class to anyone, young and old, even considering the mission. If you have little kids, I'd start spoon feeding them these nuggets of greatness. It is NEVER too early to start your preparation for the mission, and this books is clear and direct about what should and should NOT be done prior to qualifying for missionary service. So, hallelujah, I am not inadequate--just susceptible to feelings of discouragement that the adversary is dumping on me daily. Good news though: it turns out (in case you haven't figured this one out yet) that the Spirit converts people to the truth of the Gospel, not Evelyn. So, as long as I do all I can to prepare and learn and stick my heart out there in the work, God will make up for all of my many inadequacies and, hot dang, some pretty fantastic missionary work will happen!

Body Worlds Exhibit: I've never done the cadaver thing, but I remember that I thoroughly enjoyed dissecting pig fetuses and cow eyeballs back in 11th grade Biology (so lovingly dubbed "Biology for dummies" because, well, it was). Everyone who had a brain in my high school took AP Bio, except for Adrienne, Gladys, and I, because we were too lazy. And it gave us an excuse to invent things with duct tape, write man-hater poetry, write a book about Tommy the Molecule, and win the Science Fair that year with a project summoned up and slapped together the day before. The day we were assigned to dissect fish I was the only girl in my group. And, guess who slit that sucker open because all the jocks were about to vomit? Yes, me. It was just like gutting a fish, so no biggy. I thought it might get me brownie points with all the hot jocks, but it turns out they could spot a nerd even if she were in Bio for dummies. My delight with the trout's anatomy must have given me away. Sad day. Those jocks were good looking, even if they were mindless.
But, Body Worlds! How inspirational! What a beautiful collection of human bodies. I know that sounds weird, but you've got to see it to understand. It inspired me to take better care of my own body and to appreciate the God given health that I have been blessed with. Seriously, the more I learn about the intricate details of this life--biology, astronomy, meteorology, anatomy, etc.--the more I am convinced that not only is there a God, but that He has a brilliant mind and an exceptional eye for beauty. And we are His most prized work of art. Please take the time to see this exhibit as soon as you can. More info can be found about the Utah exhibit at http://www.theleonardo.org/bodyworlds/

Recording my Music: I've said I was going to do this for about a year now, but I am a slackerpants and have never made the effort to do it. Fortunately for me and my lack of assertion, my friend Matt Shaw is taking a recording class and is using the music that I have cooked up, with the additional solo guitar genius of Tim Shaw to put a little lovin' together in the Y studio here on BYU campus. It'll be great to have my stuff nicely recorded before I take off on my mission and forget it all. People have asked me if I will continue to write music while I am serving my mission. I could, I guess, but I imagine myself being very happy in the mission field, with next to zero heartbreak (I'm banking on that--since I've been dished out way too many servings of heartbreak in the past few years), and my best music is all sad and angsty and melancholy. I'm not sure how a happy, spirited song would go over with my bluesy style. It might sound lame--and I will not write lame sauce music. I'll leave that to the experts.

Zion National Park: I decided to have one last outing with my favoritest Rebeccahead. We shimmied on down to Zion's this week and did some stellar hiking. After scrambling up to the top of Angel's Landing, making a sand angel, feeding the critters they specifically ask you not to (how could we resist? They are so darn cute!), and stumbling back down with sandy feet and stinky pits, we decided it would be a good idea to jump in the river and refresh ourselves. Needless to say, the October water was freezing. Every time I jumped in my mind would freeze, I would get dizzy spells, and nearly pass out as the river's gently flow pushed my up onto a safe mossy rock. We decided to stop before we passed out and hiked back down to the buses while we watched our freckly skin morph into patches of red, white, purple and blue. Attempting to salvage my outer limbs, which were at this point smurf blue, I stuck my half frozen hands into my stinky pits. Ah, warmth! However, when I pulled them out of my pits, I realized that the pressure from my arms has pushed all blood out of my hands and now instead of blue, they were starch white. It took a good twenty minutes on the bus until I started to feel the tingling sensation of life in my digits again, and another hour by the campfire before I felt like a normal human being with normal and functioning hands. The next morning our muscles were sore in a peculiar way. We suspect that the lactic acid mulling around in our muscles from our exertion during the Angel's Landing Hike hardened prematurely when our bodies were exposed to the cold water. It could be completely incorrect, but it remains our fierce suspicion. But! ask me if it was worth the jump from the red rock cliff; if it was worth the herd of gawking German tourists snapping photos at the rare species of crazy American females (Rebecca and I) jumping Geronimo-style into the water; if it was worth the thrilling sensation of taking a risk and doing that Carpe Diem thing that I recommend to almost every person I know. And I say to you, "Heck, yes!" a million times over.

Cleansing Diet: So, now that I have returned from Zion alive and well, and have consequently given my adorable metabolism and extra boost (really, I adore it, and I freakin' deserve to! I've worked hard for this sucker), I am now starting my scheduled cleansing diet. It's a three day program, so no big deal, right? I am a wonder women in embryo! I can do anything...well, I can do anything for three days! (It's good to start somewhere.) Most days, when I am an inactive office worker/slave/bum, I can get by on nearly nothing, and I typically do. Daily office w/s/b diet consists of grapefruit juice, granola, Sobe, and chocolate. However, when my metabolism acts up I turn into a carnivorous raging beast! I go on dates in triple fold in order to satiate my hunger (boys are a beautiful source of protein-packed meals, and I adore them anyway). But, now I have a dilemma. My metabolism is in its prime beastly state and I am stuck with this cleanse business for three days. Be strong, I tell myself. But I am on hour 4 of 72 and I am having hallucinations of peanut m&ms and pizza. Must. Be. Strong. My mad love affair with chocolate will just have to wait until Friday. Oh, unrequited love is always the worst!