excited

There are a lot of things coming up in my life.
ok. not a lot. just like, six. that i can think of.
and i'm excited about all of them.

1. Teaching Sunday School
- i taught Sunday School a few weeks ago, and i absolutely loved it! i loved teaching about the Book of Mormon. it was not as hard as i thought it would be. also, i get to teach it with my little sister. life can't get better. but it can, cuz right after i teach, i'm headed to Califronia
2. Going to Disneyland
- i love Disneyland. this little vacation is super spontaneous. my dad LOVES to win things off the radio. He tracks the things he wins and it's actually really impressive. it's his little quirk that makes me love him so much more. but on monday, he texts my sister and says that he won tickets to Disneyland. and the only time that both she and i can go is this week, so we're doing it. feel free to be jealous.
3. Going through the temple for the first time
- this is such a big deal. i'll be completely honest. i'm nervous. i don't know what to expect. i've put it off for a few months, mainly because i am scared, and also because i love my soccer shorts way too much. don't judge me, trials aren't all universal. this is mine :) but i finally have my date set and ready to go! now that i have it set sin stone, my nerves are going away, and i couldn't really care less about my soccer shorts. i just wanna go!
4. Giving my farewell talk
- oh gosh. i'm excited, but i wanna throw up. i am just excited to see all of my friends. i'm terrified to actually talk. why? i stutter, i talk too fast, i laugh at my own jokes.. yep. it'll be interesting for sure! entertaining to say the least. 
5. Finals
-i enjoy taking tests. so naturally, i'm excited about taking my finals. i love seeing what i know. it's like a game for me. hard to describe. i'm not excited about taking them so close to the date that i enter into the MTC, but i signed up for classes, so i'll do what i have to do to pass. yay tests! really.. once those are doe with, i'm off.
6. MTC
- i just wanna leave! i've waited for.. about 5 months so far (since i put my papers in), so what's another month? TORTURE. i don't wanna do anything. I can't focus on school, i just wanna leave. But, this too shall pass and i'll be gone soon. I can't wait. i love this gospel, and i want people to grow to love it as much as i do. 

pretty much, there isn't much time left until i am gone, and it's finally beginning to hit me. i'm more excited than i am scared, but that doesn't mean that the fear doesn't creep up on me. i'm human. it's exciting to think that in 28.5 days, i will be a missionary. living life in the MTC. It's unreal. There are no other words that can describe my life right now. except maybe one: Exciting.

-raela.

i love them

i love this video.
for two main reasons.
i love pokemon.
i love missionaries.
i love them.

my best friend is on a mission.

he loves pokemon, too.

so this is especially happy.

i love life.

... and pinterest.

-do good,

raela

wanna know something?

     So, I got my mission call. Yep, if you haven't seen where I am going, click here :) yay! but I am so excited. I cannot even wait until i get to leave for the Dominican Republic! but before I do, i thought you might like to know WHY i decided to serve a mission, since girls don't have to.
READY?

go.

     I remember sitting in church one day, as a primary kid. Our teacher asked us what some of our goals were. Get married in the temple, have kids, go to college, etc. then, i raised my hand. "go on a mission." my teacher looked at me, and said, "yes, the boys will go on missions." that kinda offended me. I wanted to go on a mission. i didn't care that it was for boys, but i wanted to go. From then on, it had always been in the back of my mind. I had friends talking about how it's dumb for girls to go on missions. and for a while, i thought it was dumb, too. But I still had a secret desire to serve, and i didn't know why.

     In May of 2011, I had the opportunity to go to Peru. I went with my parents and older brother. He had returned from his mission the summer before, and we wanted to go and visit parts of his mission. I was lucky enough to go and experience that awesome country. But while i was there, i saw all of the different lives that my brother had changed while out serving. Not only were the people changed, but i noticed something different about him while he was there, among those he served. He was happier, and had a light in his eyes that he just wanted to share with everyone. For example, we had a cab driver that took us to the Lima, Peru temple. He asked a little about why we were there, and without any hesitation, my brother shared the gospel with him. I could feel the spirit so strongly. The cab driver was interested! and he kept asking questions. He asked if he could wait for us and pick us up after. of course we said yes. We went to the distribution center, and my brother bought a Book of Mormon for him. He wrote his testimony in it and gave it to him when we returned. That really made me jealous. I wanted to be able to share the gospel with people as easily as he did. I wanted to change people's lives. I longed for that.

     Another thing that hit me was when we went to the temple. There were buses and people camped out on the temple grounds, waiting for the opportunity to go inside and feel the spirit. How blessed I am to live in an area with temples in close proximity! I don't have to save up all my money for years so i can afford a trip to the temple with my family. Seeing that people were so dedicated to get to the temple made me want to go even more. So i thought about it. A LOT. it wouldn't leave my mind.

I was worried what my parents would say about me wanting to go, so i didn't tell them for like, 3 months. i remember the conversation i had with my mom in the car when i told her i wanted to go. i was freaking out. she seemed surprised, and happy. so that was good. i wanted to keep it on the down-low, but i realized that it wasn't really possible. things spread. REALLY fast. so people knew. but that's alright.

So I know most of you missed me opening my call, so if you want to watch me opening it up, here ya go!

Guys, I know that i am supposed to go on a mission. people in the Dominican Republic have been prepared for the gospel, and they are supposed to hear it from me. I cannot even wait to get out there. I want to serve. I want to be an instrument in God's hands. I want people to be as happy as i am. I love the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I love my Savior. I want other people to love Him as much as I do.

and another big thing in my life, i am going back down to school for another semester. i love school, and to top it off, i will be rooming with my best friend, Riss! i get to room with my sister. how cool is that?! anyways, life is good. EFY is over, and that makes me sad. I miss it. I love my kids. I learned so much from them. I love my co-counselors. i have made lasting friendships and i have learned a lot about life through them. i doubt anyone will really read this, but i just thought y'all should know :)
thank you for reading! follow your dreams!
-raela

First Letter! :)

need i say more? :)

Based on a True Story

*names of people and places have been changed to maintain confidentiality.

     Once upon a time, there was this girl. Hmmm.. let's name her Rachel* :) good plan. So Rachel loved her life. She graduated high school and went to college down south with her cousin, Kasha.* Rachel and Kasha had a lot of fun in college. They met some pretty cool people and did some awesome stuff- like go to classes and study in the library.. cuz that's what people do in college. Of course.

      Rachel and Kasha were LDS, so they would go to Family Home Evening every Monday. One of the first times they went, the ward played frisbee. Rachel and Kasha scoped the field for some cute guys, which Kasha had no luck, but there was one in particular that caught Rachel's eye. He had red hair, super nice legs, and he seemed really funny. Rachel vowed to herself that one day, she would go on at least one date with that attractive male. 
      But sadly, Rachel didn't see him for the rest of the semester.. :( sad day. and he was soon forgotten.
      THEN one day, Rachel and Kasha went to church, and these two random guys that they rarely ever saw came and sat next to them. One of them had green eyes and brown hair, the other had bright blue eyes and red hair. Rachel recognized the redhead from the first FHE ever, and got pretty happy. They introduced themselves as Steven* and Kelton.* The guys seemed way nice, but no numbers were exchanged, and Rachel and Kasha figured nothing would come from it. Rats.
      The next day, Rachel was invited to go play frisbee with some other friends from school. Since she enjoyed frisbee, she agreed and went. When she got out of the car, she noticed one guy in particular- it happened to be one of the guys that sat next to her at church! THE REDHEAD, Kelton! :) Rachel was pretty excited. Yes she was. She didn't dare to talk with him because she didn't want to look desperate or something. Plus, he was AMAZING at frisbee, that's a bit intimidating.
      She kept going to frisbee, just so she could see this devilishly handsome redhead, and possibly become friends with him. Little did she know, but he secretly had a thing for her, but was very shy.
      Anyways, continuing on with the story.. That Friday was the Institute Opening Social. it was a dance,and Rachel and Kasha always went to these types of things. They loved dancing. :) Fun stuff. Rachel went to frisbee the day of the opening social, and all of the people there asked her if she was going to go. She said yes, hoping that Kelton would go too! Rachel and Kasha went that night, talking and being super outgoing, just because they were both in spectacular moods. Throughout the night, they each danced with multiple young men, and even hung around with Kelton a bit, which made Rachel very giddy- she had developed a little crush on this boy. When he asked her to dance, she beamed with excitement. They had not talked much outside of frisbee, so this was a huge step. They were both a little shy, but enjoyed it so much that they started dancing into the next song, which also happened to be a slow song! Rachel loved dancing with Kelton and was angry when another man stepped in to ask her to dance, because she was already dancing!  Kelton was nice enough to let him dance with her. Darn. The night continued, and Kelton stuck around Kasha and Rachel, making fun of their awesome dance moves and such. When the last song came on, it appeared that neither of these young girls would be asked, so they walked towards the exit. But out of the blue, two young men came up to them! How happy- it was Kelton and his friend :) :) :) Kelton and Rachel danced together for the last song. Rachel couldn't even believe it. She went home on a cloud and she was smitten immediately by Kelton :)

Angel's Landing

       Then nothing really happened between her and Kelton. I mean, they talked at frisbee, and sat next to each other at church, but Rachel waited for him to ask her on a date. Didn't happen. Until they went to the temple as a ward, she challenged him to a milkshake eating contest, bet dinner on it, and DOMINATED. :) that's right folks, she dominated him and he now owed her dinner. Rachel had to give him her number. Rachel thought it was because he was too chicken to ask such a beauty for her number, but later found out it was because Kelton was kinda dating someone else and didn't want to seem like a player.. Personally, i believe them both equally :) So they started hanging out a lot. Like almost everyday. :) Rachel was loving life even more than usual!
       She was heartbroken when she found out that he had a girlfriend, but when he told her that he was dumped his girlfriend for another girl, Rachel was happy- even though she didn't know he dumped his girl for HER! :) yay.
       So, long story short, Rachel and Kelton dated. They were serendipitous. They fell in love.

Rachel and Kelton :)

       Summer came, and that was pretty difficult. They had only been dating 2 months and wondered if a "long-distance relationship" could work for such a new couple. (Long distance, not really. But Rachel lived in Orem,* while Kelton was from a small town called Paragonah.* It was 3 hours away.) They decided to give it a shot. He visited her and her family for the weekend. Her family fell in love with him as well. Rachel's mom did not like the idea of Rachel dating a pre-missionary, but Rachel couldn't help it. Rachel visited him down south and this went back and forth all summer, and they valued every second they had together. (Oh yeah, Kelton got a mission call to serve in Minneapolis, Minnesota* speaking Hmong! :) random side note.)

      When school started up again, Kelton did not return because his mission was before the semester ended. For for weeks, he would visit Rachel and Kasha. Kelton and Rachel knew the day of his leaving was coming up, but tried to live in the moment and enjoy each other (even they were always with Rachel's roommates).
      Then, on September 12, they said goodbye. Rachel was sad and spent some time crying. Kelton cried a bit, but not near as much as Rachel did. Kelton left for the MTC on September 14, 2011. Yesterday. Last I heard, Rachel is doing well, and is super excited for her man to be out serving the Lord.

Kelton and Rachel :)

THE END.

for now

it's raining in cedar city

how appropriate.
let's hope there isn't a flash flood or anything.

dyqhr3w. nz bdx

School officially started on Monday.

As in yesterday. 

Although there are a lot of things that are the same this school year, there are a bunch of things that are different, and it’s been throwing me off a bit. I realized that I am not a huge fan of change, even though I know you can’t progress without it. Let me rephrase that. I like change, after it becomes the norm again. 

             I still room with my cousin, and I love it. We have a new roommate, and she stole our cupboard that we had last year. Unfortunately, I keep opening hers up and seeing all sorts of awesome food, yet I can’t eat it BECAUSE IT’S NOT MY CUPBOARD ANYMORE. How annoying.

 Another big change is with my friends. Most of my friends last year were 18 year old boys that were going on LDS missions the following year. So this year, I get to make some new ones with my cousin. I’m quite nervous about that. I don’t like meeting new people. AH! 

But I think the biggest change that will happen is when my best friend leaves for Minneapolis, Minnesota. When I first met him, I could walk to his apartment.  

5 minutes. Not bad. 

And then summer came. We kept in contact by texting and calling, and occasionally visiting each other. 3 hours away. Not a very common thing. But totally worth it. 

Now that I am back at school, I keep expecting to pass him on the way to the institute building like I used to, or for him to be 5 minutes away again. 

Nope. 

He’s now 20 minutes away, and since I don’t have a car, he makes the commute. What a guy. BUT in 22 days, he will once again be 3 hours away again. In Provo. 

And then pretty soon he’ll be 23 hours away. And I won’t see him for two years.

What a change.

but change is a good thing Rae..