The Mish

The where, when, and why.

Okey doke. So maybe the real reason I felt it was necessary to have a blog is because it provides an outlet for all my thoughts, both the meaningful and the pointless. My thoughts have been all over the place lately because of my mission that is coming up. I can't even express to you how excited I am to go and serve. Absolutely it is kind of daunting and intimidating sometimes but when these thoughts come, I quickly replace them with thoughts of excitement and faith.

So the Where of the mission: 

Riverside, California

I honestly can't think of a place I'd rather serve than in the California Riverside mission. My only prayer before I got my call was that I wouldn't go somewhere freezing cold like Russia or Alaska. I told myself I didn't care where I went but I think deep inside I kind of wanted to have a crazy mission that people kind of gasped when I told them where I was going: somewhere foreign maybe. But when I opened my call and read where I was going, it felt absolutely perfect. I'm relieved I'm not going foreign and California is the best. My family lived in Redlands, California for about a year when I was 10 and I loved it! Some of my favorite memories are from Cali. My mission is in southern California, just north of San Diego and South of LA. It's also just about 10 miles south of Redland! I'll be right there! So exciting!

When? Well, I am leaving for the Provo MTC on July 17th! That is exactly 50 days from now and I still have so much to get done. It's sneaking up on me. My thought the other day was: If time is flying by right now, can you imagine how much faster time is going to go once I'm on my mission?!? 18 months will come and go before I have time to grasp the concept of what's happening! My goal for now and the mission is: Don't look forward more than you have to, but enjoy the moment and focus on the now. I know that sounds backwards from what the church teaches so let me justify it a little. It is always important to have a big picture in mind. However, for these 18 months that I am serving the Lord, I think it will be easy to look ahead at when I'm going home and how much time I have left. I don't want to do that or else the time will slip away from me before I know what happened. I want to enjoy each and every moment of my mission as best I can. That's the goal.

The Why of this post is the easiest part: because I love my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Because I love Him, I want to invite others to come unto him and experience the joy and truth that I have found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Click here to learn more about me and my beliefs.

Why the Blog?

Because everyone else has one, of course.

Um, no. I don't have a blog because everyone else does... that's just dumb. 

Perhaps the reason is so that I have a place to type my thoughts that I consider to be my "simple nothings": Thoughts that are not life changing but that I want written down. 

Perhaps it's so that I don't have to cramp my hand while I try to write it all in my journal (the same journal I have had since 2007). 

Perhaps it is so that there is a place for my family to post my missionary letters when I'm gone. 

Perhaps it is just because I am bored at work on a Monday morning. 

What ever the reason... here we are. Let the fun begin.

Okey dokey... ahem. Allow me to introduce myself: Kristen. The name is Kristen and I love the water. Varsity swimmer for all 4 years of high school and water polo for a couple years. Lake Powell is always a blast where I can tube my heart out and wakeboard. Water is epic.
Next: my family means the world to me. I am child of 6 of 10. The 5 older than me are married and I have 10 nieces and nephews. It is always a party at my house.
Going on, I have just been called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I will serve 18 months in Riverside, California starting on July 17th. I get to share my beliefs with the people of California and I'm so excited.
Lastly, humor is the best thing that is here on earth (besides my family and the gospel). I had a teacher once that said "If you lay an egg, laugh at it." I don't know if I even know what that means, but it's funny! I've learned that if I can laugh at myself, life is easier. So laugh and love, y'all!

Okey doke. Now you know... This is me and this is my blog!