{ Mission Pictures }

Well folks... I have exactly 16 days from today. Time truly flies. So much to do, so little time.

But... I am SO very excited. 

I got my mission pictures done by the lovely and talented Amy Hess. She's amazing. 

I Love to See the Temple

On June 24th 2014, I had the incredible opportunity to enter the Lord's house. I was able to go through the Bountiful, UT temple and receive my endowment. 

Going to the temple is something you dream about and prepare for your entire life. I've known and loved the song "I love to see the temple" for as long as I can remember. 

"I love to see the temple.  I'm going there someday. To Feel the Holy Spirit, To listen and to pray.For the temple is a house of God,A place of love and beauty.I'll prepare myself while I am young; This is my sacred duty."

"I love to see the temple. I'll go inside someday. I'll covenant with my Father; I'll promise to obey. For the temple is a holy place where we are sealed together. As a child of God, I've learned this truth: A Family is forever."

In the temple you truly do feel the spirit so strongly. You do go there to feel the "holy spirit", to "listen" and to "pray". It is truly the Lord's house and the spirit is so tangible inside. The sacred covenants made with my Heavenly Father are so important to me. The temple is truly the only way we can get back to Him.

"Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the house of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father." -Brigham Young

 The work that is done in the temple is so important. I LOVE being a part of temple work. What a blessing it is in the lives of those it is done for and also in our own lives. It's a win for everyone. I can't wait to go back more and more. The more you go the more you learn to LOVE it and appreciate the importance of temples and temple work. 

 What a blessing it was to have two of my best friends there with me! These two are gems. I actually went through the day before Maisie left for her mission!

I was able to go to the Brigham City temple the next day with one of my sweet best friends Sydnie who is now serving in Eugene, Oregon. How lucky are we to have so many temples so close.

"Dear Sister Matheson....."

After I had finally made the decision to serve, one thing led to another and my papers were finally submitted on March 9th 2014. I remember feeling so excited. Later that afternoon I was leaving for my Spring Break trip to St. George & California with two of my best friends, Maisie and Kaycee, both of which who had recently submitted their papers. We literally talked the entire drive about missions and our worries and where in the world we could be spending 18 months of our life. When we got back Maisie opened her call to Merida, Mexico! A week later Kaycee got her call to Richmond, Virginia. I had seen SO SO SO many of my close friends open their calls to places all around the world. I didn't think it was actually coming. 

I remember asking my bishop if my call had been assigned on the Sunday before I got my call. He said that it hadn't. I was perfectly okay with that, I was honestly scared to get my call. Three days later, March 26th 2014, to my surprise, I woke up to a text from my mom that said, "It came" freak. I hadn't prepared myself for that. It threw off my whole day. Because I was up in Logan I almost waited until the weekend, but with the persuasion of some close friends and my roommates, I decided to drive home that night and open it.

When I got home it was just sitting there on my counter, my life in an envelope. It's a weird feeling looking at a simple envelope and knowing that it is literally going to change your life, in a good way of course :) I remember having a mini study sesh and praying to my Heavenly Father that I would be comforted in wherever I was going and that I would be excited not matter what. I listened to the hymn, "I'll go where you want me to go." Its words brought great peace "It may not be on the mountain height Or over the stormy sea, it may not be tat the battle's front My Lord will have need of me." No matter where I was serving I knew that the Lord had need of me. I have a wise friend serving a mission in the St. George, Utah mission who wrote me and said "Remember when you get your call, you are not called to serve in a place, you are called to serve in His place. And it's not about where you serve, but HOW you serve." 

 As my close friends and family started coming to my house, my nerves grew more and more. It kind of didn't feel real, I had been to so many call openings that it felt normal. The not normal part was the fact that in a couple minutes I would be the one reading that special white piece of paper. Finally the time came. As I stood in front of people who mean so much to me. I felt so loved and so blessed. Those stellar people were so many of the people who have gotten me to that point in my life. I looked around for a minute and then finally opened the envelope and pulled out the paper and started to read.

"Dear Sister Matheson, you are hearby called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints. You are assigned to labor in the Mendoza, Argentina mission. You should prepare to preach the gospel in the Spanish language. You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on August 13th 2014." 

And just like that, things got real. I was going to Mendoza, Argentina. I felt really good about it. I know that there is a reason the Lord wants me there. And I am happy to go there and find that reason. I love the people of Mendoza, Argentina already.