on christmas day while skyping with mckayber (on his mission in indonesia) and cole + april (living in louisiana) i opened up my mission call - a call to serve an 18 month mission for the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints.

as i opened it and started reading my stomach was filled with butterflies. i read the words: WASHINGTON, EVERETT MISSION and immediately the butterflies stopped. i knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that that is exactly where i should serve.

the more i think about + prepare to be a full-time missionary, the more excited i get. although i know embarking on this adventure will be CRAZY difficult at some points...i also know that if i work hard and do what my father in heaven tells me that it will be so, so rewarding.

here's to a new, very scary, adventure.

xoxo,
had.

living in hawaii has taught me to appreciate the simple beauties in life. everyone teases me about my excessive need to take pictures all the time - but i can't help it! i want every good memory, every beautiful thing, and every wonderful person captured so that i'm sure i won't forget the good parts of life.

"Keep trying. Be believing. Be happy. Don’t get discouraged. Things will work out."

"I come … with a plea that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I’m suggesting that we accentuate the positive. I’m asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort."

"How magnificently we are blessed! How thankful we ought to be! … Cultivate a spirit of thanksgiving for the blessing of life and for the marvelous gifts and privileges each of us enjoy. "

"We live in the fulness of times. Mark that phrase. Mark the word fulness. It denotes all of [the] good that has been gathered together [from] the past and restored to earth in this final dispensation."

"In all of living have much of fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured."

"Don’t belittle yourself. Never forget that you are a child of God. You have a divine birthright. Something of the very nature of God is within you."

"Believe in yourself. Believe in your capacity to do great and good things. Believe that no mountain is so high that you cannot climb it. Believe that no storm is so great that you cannot weather it. … You are a child of God, of infinite capacity."

infatuate [verb in-fach-oo-eyt; adjective, noun in-fach-oo-it, -eyt]
verb (used with object), infatuated, infatuating.
1. to inspire or possess with a foolish or unreasoning passion

I am truly infatuated with the sky...especially the hawaiian sky.

Most of the time when I think something is important or beautiful, I take a picture of it. This would explain the reason I have a looooot of pictures of the sky on my phone currently.

The clouds. The blue sky. The silhouettes of the palm trees. These things added together create the most beautiful skies my 18 years of life have ever seen. Take a look for yourself (although pictures never seem to do the world's magnificence justice)...
xoxo, had.

Today I had the most interesting & thought-provoking conversation with my cute roommates. After hearing different comments about what different people find beautiful, it made me think to myself, "Had, whyyy do you worry so much?"

I love the quote, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," because I feel that it's just so truthful. Every single person, in every single place on this earth has something beautiful inside of them - and as I meet lots & lots of new people on this new adventure, I'm going to try and find that beautiful thing. 

Because my roommates were the ones that initiated this thought process, I want to share something beautiful about each one of them:
Madison - an interest in others, an amazing giver of advice
Alyssa - a desire to make those around her feel cared for
Mikayla - a pizzaz for life, makes everyone around her giggle.

Love those three & that I get to live with them for the next little while. Thankful for the ladies of #314.

As I took the time to decide upon a theme for my new year, I considered what would encourage me to be a better daughter, sister, friend, student, and disciple. With my senior year being half-way over and college craziness beginning, it's really important me that I'm not too eager about moving forward, and really take some time to enjoy the stage of life I'm in.