Time

I have 19 days left of normal life!

Sure, I'll still be living in Provo for 3 more months but in a place unlike any other...

Yes, the Missionary Training Center.

Oh boy

Not sure how to feel

Maybe I should work on that "farewell" talk for Sunday before I go worrying about anything else (yikes!)

I did finish fixing my other blog in preparation for future missionary updates

Go check it out and follow it if you want to read of my adventures over the next year and a half

or get my address and write me a letter (you know you want to)

or connect to my little brother's (soon to exist) mission blog :)

my mission blog

Just a Song...

loving this song right now

plus i think she is adorable

enjoy!

93

Today my family celebrated the life of an amazing man, my grandpa, Dwight King. He passed away this past Tuesday at the age of 93. Obituary

Honestly, today was harder than I expected. It was beautiful but rough. I didn't expect to get so emotional. Grandpa had been in a care center for the last few years, his memory was not great, he could hardly hear, and he was no longer mobile. Though it was sad to see him like this we knew he wouldn't be around for too much longer. When my Dad called to tell me he had passed away I was sad but mostly resigned. Being too young to appreciate my time with him when he was functional and his continued deterioration made it hard for me to feel close to him by the time he died. I was initially disappointed that I wasn't more sad about his passing. Thankfully, the funeral service and picture displays helped me to remember the times I was close to him and who he was before his body let him down. As my dad spoke about his father and his brothers shared their thoughts I was overwhelmed by the muddled memories I have of my grandpa and how their words of respect and admiration rang true of the man I remembered.

I have the most amazing family. Just watching and listening to everything done and said today reminded me of that. There aren't many families that are as close as ours but the bond between my dad and his seven brothers is so impressive. They are a sight to see when they are together. Every one of them is over six feet tall, they are loud, obnoxious, and stubborn. All of them are brilliant, hardworking, and hilarious. But they are so different and that's what makes their love and support of each other so great. My beautiful cousin said something to me that totally struck a chord. We were talking about how we wish we could've been closer with grandpa the last few years and she said how the best way we can feel like we know grandpa is to recognize the way his sons, our dads, have lived their lives. I can't express how much this reminder means to me. My dad is such an amazing person as are my uncles and when I think about the things I do know and remember of my grandpa and how much greater those attributes would be when he was raising my dad I have a greater understanding of what we lost this week.

I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. The knowledge that I will get to see my grandpa again and the grandma I never knew. That I still have the opportunity to really get to know them. I can't imagine losing the people I love and not having that reassurance to bring peace and joy. I love my family and am thankful I get to spend the rest of eternity with them and my Heavenly Father.

I love you Grandpa!
It's good to be King :)

Ugh

Frustrated. Confused. Annoyed.

Finals must be getting to me.

Ha, I wish!

On a lighter note, this young man had a career high night on Wednesday to help the Jazz take out the Nuggets in the last game of the season and the last game I'll see for a year and a half. Seriously though, I needed that. Thank you!

What a stud :)

"Get mad, then get over it."

peace. love.

LK

On to a New Adventure

If you haven't heard, in 2 days (95% sure on this) I will find out where I will live for the next year and a half. Yep, I'm going a mission for the LDS church. For those that know me well this probably isn't too surprising since the marriage market hasn't been too kind to me, joke joke.

But seriously, I've pretty much planned on a mission my entire life. Then I got to college... Did you know it's a lot harder and more complicated to drop everything in your third year of school then it seems? Anyway, I wasn't sure if a mission was going to work out for me but I still had over 2 years until I had to decide so I kind of left it in the back of my mind. It was still enough of an option that I always included it in my future plans as a possibility but I still wasn't sure if it would happen.

Fast forward to December 2010. I had just turned 21 the month before, had yet to officially declare my major, and definitely hadn't decided on a mission. Over Christmas break all would be decided. My wonderful friends from high school put a breakfast together so we could all catch up with one another. It was so great to see everyone together again and to hear about all the amazing things they were doing with their lives. All of them are so on top of things and were making such good decisions. They made me realize I needed to get things figured out. So, I figured I'd set up an appointment with my home ward Bishop just to chat and get his advice on things. Like 2 days after I made this decision I got a text, "Hi Lauren, this is Bishop Jardine. I hope you have had a good Christmas. I was wondering if you would be willing to meet with me this Sunday?"

Well that was easy enough! I responded that I had been hoping to meet with him anyway and Sunday would work perfect. I have to say it kind of freaked me out that he had been the one to set up our appointment. Going in I was pretty sure a mission would come up since he really didn't need to meet with me as I have my own Bishop down at BYU but I wasn't sure what to expect. After saying our "hello's" we sat down and the first thing out of his mouth was, "Lauren, have you thought about serving a mission?" I told him that that is why I had wanted to meet with him. He said he'd never asked a sister that before but he felt like he should with me. He said it was completely my choice but that he felt I would do a great job if I did choose to serve.

That was pretty much all I needed to push me in the right direction. We decided that I should start filling out my papers and I would know if it wasn't what I was supposed to do. After our chat I was about 90% sure that I was supposed to go on a mission but as that was my first real search for an answer I figured I should probably add a bit more personal thought and prayer into it before I said it was a sure thing.

My reasons for going on a mission:
I've always wanted to
I'd regret it if I didn't
Nothing is standing in the way:
- Again, no boys so the higher priority of marriage is not in the way :)
- I go to BYU so school is not an issue
I want to improve my academic and spiritual discipline and I think a mission would help
To live away from home
To experience the world from a different point of view
To learn a language

There are other reasons but of course the main reason is that I've always wanted to have more opportunities to share the things that I know about this life and the next (BYU isn't exactly optimal for that). To give others the chance to have what I have and to experience the blessings that can be available to them and to do something to repay my Heavenly Father even a tiny bit for everything He has done for me.

So my reasons to go list covers pretty much everything so it's pretty clear I should and need to go. There are reasons for me to stay. They sound dumb, even to me, but they are the things that I will have the hardest time sacrificing. Reasonable things aren't even on this list, I'm almost embarrassed at what I'm worried about missing but here are some:
- Lives of friends and family. I have a feeling that the next year or so is going to mean marriage or baby for many a friend or cousin and it is honestly hard for me to know I will miss out on those things or even smaller things like my brother's games or performances.
- Sports seasons, auditions and shows, things that don't happen exactly the same twice. Completely irrational I know.
- Fear of losing skills like voice, dance, acting, etc.

Obviously all selfish, worldly, dumb, dumb reasons. I didn't even have the normal worry of most sister missionaries apparently. My Stake President asked if I had any fears or worries and I told him that it was hard knowing I was missing out on things. He assumed that I was afraid of missing out on dating and marriage hahaha. I laughed at that one. Definitely not worried about that. I explained what I meant and also let him know my basic history with men. We enjoyed a shared chuckle at my expense ;)

Anyway, the minute I figured out my logic for possibly not going I knew there was no way I wasn't going. So here I am excited, anxious, nervous, and truly confident in my decision. Since I realized there was nothing worthwhile holding me back it has gotten so much easier to let all those reasons go. When I think about the things I will miss I don't get sad about it and those things no longer seem as important. I know I am ready for this and I know Heavenly Father is helping me to see the bigger picture and to forget myself a little more each day.

Can't wait for tomorrow!

P.S. I need to thank this guy for the wonderful basketball season he has given me before I leave. I really enjoyed our elevator ride the other day Jimmer. Good luck in the Sweet Sixteen!

"Jimmer Fredette, nothing but net!"

Understanding

First off, let me say that I am one of the most liberal LDS members I know. I like to think I have an open mind and I try to be educated on both sides of most arguments just so I can understand where the other person is coming from. Initially I might keep on arguing but when I walk away from the issue I usually see more clearly and see where I could've opened my mind more and where I was mistaken.

I am a theatre girl, not to stereotype, but this usually means I'm surrounded by people who's opinions can differ greatly from mine on things like religion and morality. I am totally fine with that, in fact, I love it! I learn so much and I think I see both sides more easily because of it. I meet great people from all places in life. The only problem I have sometimes is that I am often the odd one out. I often find myself alone in my opinions and it can be frustrating when others refuse to give me the chance I am willing to give them. I am all about understanding but in my world right now it feels like the people with opposite opinions refuse to do what I am trying so hard to do, Understand.

You might know what I'm frustrated about at the moment and I know it's frustrating a lot of people on both sides of the issue. I am close

to and come in contact with many gay people, I am close to so many people who have loved ones that struggle with homosexuality. I am not removed from it, I am not homophobic, I have nothing against homosexual people. I have loved ones that are homosexual. I know with certainty that that is the position my church also holds.

At the same time, I, as a member of the LDS church, can't support acting upon those inclinations. Instead of going on and unintentionally offending anyone, I want to encourage you to visit the links I post below. I think they clear up a few of the misconceptions that have been spread this past week.

For those who are angry and offended with what President Packer said in General Conference I encourage you to get the whole story by reading his ENTIRE talk, making sure you are not getting anything out of context. I have yet to talk to someone who has.

http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1298-23,00.html

I also would ask you to see how a gay member of the church is reacting to this and his feelings about the entire thing.

http://gaymormonguy.blogspot.com/

Finally, I feel

like this is such an important discussion for anyone concerned with this issue to read. All LDS members should see this and all non-members who are mad at the church or have questions about it should read this. It answers almost every question I've ever seen or been asked.

http://beta-newsroom.lds.org/official-statement/same-gender-attraction

I hope as you read it you will have an open mind and be willing to understand a possibly different point of view. Whether you are LDS, religious, atheist, spiritual, or completely indifferent, I ask you to take a moment and ask yourself if the church is sending a message of hate. Listen to what the spirit, or your conscience tells you and I know you will have less anger and hate towards the other side and their beliefs in either case.

Peace & Love.

LK

Two men I love :)

The One Good Thing to Come Out of the Twilight Phenomenon

I have made a discovery of such great awesomeness that I must share it with all. It's all about... Twilight, yes I know, Twilight. Now before you go get your panties all in a bunch, crying over the stupidity of the feminine gender's obsession over this ridiculous, overdramatic, emotional load of crappy writing, hear me out. I detest pretty much everything Twilight, I promise. Somehow (I can't remember exactly how anymore) I stumbled upon a little gem that is all about Twilight and I fell in love.

So this guy, Dan, is a writer for Sparknotes. He's probably in his mid-twenties, attractive, and absolutely hilarious. Apparently the editors at Sparknotes found out he was one of the only people at Sparknotes that had never read or seen anything regarding Twilight so they asked him to read the series and blog about it as he went along. Genius!

I was intrigued by this concept because I thought it would be interesting to see a guy's thoughts on these books. It wasn't just interesting, it has been super entertaining. I have felt like a complete idiot more than once as I find myself laughing out loud all alone. Seriously though, check it out! The farther into the book you go, the funnier it gets. Oh, and he has awesome cartoons at the beginning of each chapter :) Here's just a little taste to whet your appetite:

Excerpt from the blog for the first chapter of New Moon

Chapter One: Party

Better title: My Kingdom for a Band-Aid

The lovebirds walk into the house, and are greeted by everyone shouting, "Happy birthday!" The house is decorated with pink roses, silver, and crystal. It's very impressive, but a properly planned Dora the Explorer-themed party could be just as classy, and twice as fun.

Bella responds to the decorations and all the attention by telling us, "It was a hundred times worse than I'd imagined." After reading that sentence, I've decided that Bella is the worst character in literature, beating out Nurse Ratchet from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Dr. Doom from The Fantastic Four. What an ungrateful, horrible, lousy person.

Emmett is happy to see Bella, but quickly excuses himself with a wink and goes outside. Alice and Jasper greet Bella, and Jasper, who still loves human blood a bit too much, acts distant and odd. Alice then says it's time to open presents, and gives Bella a box. There is nothing inside. The box contained a new stereo for Bella's truck, which Emmett ran out to install so that Bella wouldn't be able to return the gift. How tricky.

Alice then gives Bella another present to open, this one from Edward. She gives him a mean stare, but he assures her that he didn't spend any money on the gift. As she opens the present, the wrapping paper cuts her finger, and all hell breaks loose.

Edward screams, "No!" Jasper gets his hungry eyes and charges at Bella, and Edward comes running over and pushes her out of the way and over a table, crashing into some glassware (side note: Why do vampires have glassware? I thought most of their meals were eaten on the go). Jasper runs into Edward, creating a loud, rock-like sound. The amazing Emmett then holds Jasper back. As Bella looks around, she realizes the crash caused a more severe cut on her hand, and now she has six hungry vampires staring down at her.

Prediction: (This is Dan's prediction for the next chapter, probably my favorite part of each post) Jasper shouts "Five-second rule!" before diving for Bella's blood on the floor. Later, Bella nicks her leg while shaving. Jasper goes nuts, but Edward protects Bella. The insane, ravenous Jasper kills hundreds of people in his maddened state of bloodlust. The next day he apologizes to Bella and offers her a bottle of Nair with a sheepish grin. All is forgiven.

Anyway, go check it out...

http://community.sparknotes.com/index.php/2009/07/16/blogging-twilight-index-page/

Cool Beans

Lo