Hello, after a year of no blogging! (Holy cannoli, I hadn't realized it has been that long!)
I'm fairly certain no one reads this blog, but I just want to write and get some things off my mind.
1. I'm going on a mission!
I had always had that in the back of my mind, to go on a mission at the age of 21 if I wasn't married. I never gave it much thought. But, as 2011 ended, and 2012 began, I stared seriously thinking about serving a mission for my church! (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, www.lds.org) I eventually talked to my Bishop and started working on my mission papers! ...without ever officially telling my family I was doing it. Haha.
But, I started working on my mission papers! Papers were getting filled out, dental and medical appointments were getting scheduled, and interviews were lining up. It was actually a lot easier than I've heard. Everyone always told me (from what I remember) that filling out the paper work was so long, took forever, and was a hassle. But for me it went by pretty smoothly!
So, my papers got filled out, and within a month or so (medical stuff took a big longer) all the paperwork was finished! I had a few final interviews with my church leaders, but besides that I was done! Time passed, and my Stake President told me he had submitted my papers a few days prior to talking to me, and that I should have my call by the next Friday! Agh!
Which I did! It came the very day he said it would!
My mom ran out to the mail box, feeling it would surly come that day, and was overwhelmingly excited when I walked outside and she held my big white envelope. Haha.
I didn't open it right then. Or even that night. I waiting 2 full days to open it! It came on a Friday afternoon, and I didn't open it until Sunday night, 7PM! Reasons being,
a) I had to go to work. And my whole family wasn't present at the time it came. I couldn't.
b) One of my brothers live in Utah, and one of my sisters lives in California, so I had to make sure I could skype/facetime them at the same time, and not inconvenience anybody!
c) Everyone was DYING, waiting for me to open it. It was so funny having people explode with anxiety/nervousness/inquiry/interest, waiting for me to open it.
Now, about where I'm going!
I have always wanted to go to Italy all my life! It started when I was little. My favorite food was ALWAYS pasta. Spaghetti. Lasagna. I always ordered pasta when we went out to restaurants. Then as I got older, I apparently started talking faster. Much faster. And I started talking with my hands, and being very expressive when I talked. Friends and family would always tell me I must be Italian, the way/speed I talk. Mingle all those together, and you have a little love for Italy growing inside of me from a young age. As I got older, I realized how much I really, REALLY loved it, and I've loved Italy ever since! Always wanted to go and learn the language and meet the people and have relationships there. I NEVER want to/have ever wanted to go and be a tourist (not just in Italy, but anywhere). Just to look at buildings, landscapes, etc. I want to go, and experience the people. That's always what I've wanted to do. Have relationships with people, and have a reason to go back and visit.
Near the end of last year (2011) my dad emailed me a video of 3 Italian operatic-pop singers. Straight from Italy. I watched the video, and I fell in LOVE with them! They're teenagers. 16-17 years old (or, they were at the time the video was made). And they have amazing, Italian, opera-ish (operatic-pop) voices. I thought it was fake when I saw them singing. But I heard them, and loved them instantly. Which absolutely grew my love for Italy!
The group is called Il Volo. And I love them to pieces. So, in regards to the mission, I would have loved to go to Italy!
Now that you know my love for Italy, I have others loves as well. My dad served a mission in Argentina. My sister served a mission in Texas, Spanish speaking. I have a bunch of friends in Miami, who speak Spanish. I've taken Spanish I & II in college. There are a lot of Spanish people at the ward I attend. And the list goes on and on. The Spanish language is such a big part of my life. I love it. I'm not fluent in it, but I love it, and hope to be fluent in it one day.
So, in regards to the mission, I would love to have gone ANYWHERE Spanish speaking!
Those were the two main ideas I had hoped for for my mission. I also love Ireland, and would love to be called to serve my mission there! But ultimately, I just wanted to go foreign. Anywhere out of the Country. I want to travel.
Now, fast-forward, and I'm opening my call!
I open the call, and pull the paper out, but don't quite look at it, as I'm joking with my friends and family around me, laughing nervously. But mid sentence I look down at the paper, my mission call, and gasp. My heart stopped. I got a little teary-eyed. Because the first thing I see is "Italian speaking". As soon as I gasped, everyone else stopped breathing, and listening intently! So, of course, I start reading!
So, I, Sara Emily Willis, will soon be Sorella Willis! I'm SO excited to be a Missionary for the Lord! To have the opportunity to go to the one place in the world I've always wanted to go! To be able to learn the language I've always wanted to learn! Seriously, I don't know how I got so blessed. I still sometimes think, "Did I read my mission call wrong?", "Am I really going it ITALY?!" It boggles my mind. I was thinking I would go anywhere except for Italy, because I wanted to go there so badly. So here's my conclusion to this:
a) The Lord honestly, truly knows our hearts. He knows our desires. And if they're righteous desires, He will often bless us with them! Not always in our desired way/time, but He does!
b) There are people in Italy who are being prepared for me! People only I will be able to teach. I'm not trying to be arrogant, but that's where the Prophet (i.e. the Lord!) wants me to be! I will be able to help and teach more people there than I would anywhere else!
So that's my big schpeel. I was going to write about SO much more (mostly, my desire to find Mr. Perfectly Imperfect, and fall in love, and get married, and have a happy little family. Much of this comes from recently reading one of my FAVORITE author's books. She's magnificent. And I sometimes wish I could live her life. She just seems to have it all: perfect job, perfect life, perfect family, perfect friends, perfect personality, everything!), but it appears I've already written WAY more than I intended! So I suppose I'll leave it at this. Maybe I'll go on and on about men, and happily ever after another day.
Until then!
Arrivederci! ("Goodbye" in Italian!)
I'm fairly certain no one reads this blog, but I just want to write and get some things off my mind.
1. I'm going on a mission!
I had always had that in the back of my mind, to go on a mission at the age of 21 if I wasn't married. I never gave it much thought. But, as 2011 ended, and 2012 began, I stared seriously thinking about serving a mission for my church! (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, www.lds.org) I eventually talked to my Bishop and started working on my mission papers! ...without ever officially telling my family I was doing it. Haha.
But, I started working on my mission papers! Papers were getting filled out, dental and medical appointments were getting scheduled, and interviews were lining up. It was actually a lot easier than I've heard. Everyone always told me (from what I remember) that filling out the paper work was so long, took forever, and was a hassle. But for me it went by pretty smoothly!
So, my papers got filled out, and within a month or so (medical stuff took a big longer) all the paperwork was finished! I had a few final interviews with my church leaders, but besides that I was done! Time passed, and my Stake President told me he had submitted my papers a few days prior to talking to me, and that I should have my call by the next Friday! Agh!
Which I did! It came the very day he said it would!
My mom ran out to the mail box, feeling it would surly come that day, and was overwhelmingly excited when I walked outside and she held my big white envelope. Haha.
I didn't open it right then. Or even that night. I waiting 2 full days to open it! It came on a Friday afternoon, and I didn't open it until Sunday night, 7PM! Reasons being,
a) I had to go to work. And my whole family wasn't present at the time it came. I couldn't.
b) One of my brothers live in Utah, and one of my sisters lives in California, so I had to make sure I could skype/facetime them at the same time, and not inconvenience anybody!
c) Everyone was DYING, waiting for me to open it. It was so funny having people explode with anxiety/nervousness/inquiry/interest, waiting for me to open it.
Now, about where I'm going!
I have always wanted to go to Italy all my life! It started when I was little. My favorite food was ALWAYS pasta. Spaghetti. Lasagna. I always ordered pasta when we went out to restaurants. Then as I got older, I apparently started talking faster. Much faster. And I started talking with my hands, and being very expressive when I talked. Friends and family would always tell me I must be Italian, the way/speed I talk. Mingle all those together, and you have a little love for Italy growing inside of me from a young age. As I got older, I realized how much I really, REALLY loved it, and I've loved Italy ever since! Always wanted to go and learn the language and meet the people and have relationships there. I NEVER want to/have ever wanted to go and be a tourist (not just in Italy, but anywhere). Just to look at buildings, landscapes, etc. I want to go, and experience the people. That's always what I've wanted to do. Have relationships with people, and have a reason to go back and visit.
Near the end of last year (2011) my dad emailed me a video of 3 Italian operatic-pop singers. Straight from Italy. I watched the video, and I fell in LOVE with them! They're teenagers. 16-17 years old (or, they were at the time the video was made). And they have amazing, Italian, opera-ish (operatic-pop) voices. I thought it was fake when I saw them singing. But I heard them, and loved them instantly. Which absolutely grew my love for Italy!
The group is called Il Volo. And I love them to pieces. So, in regards to the mission, I would have loved to go to Italy!
Now that you know my love for Italy, I have others loves as well. My dad served a mission in Argentina. My sister served a mission in Texas, Spanish speaking. I have a bunch of friends in Miami, who speak Spanish. I've taken Spanish I & II in college. There are a lot of Spanish people at the ward I attend. And the list goes on and on. The Spanish language is such a big part of my life. I love it. I'm not fluent in it, but I love it, and hope to be fluent in it one day.
So, in regards to the mission, I would love to have gone ANYWHERE Spanish speaking!
Those were the two main ideas I had hoped for for my mission. I also love Ireland, and would love to be called to serve my mission there! But ultimately, I just wanted to go foreign. Anywhere out of the Country. I want to travel.
Now, fast-forward, and I'm opening my call!
I open the call, and pull the paper out, but don't quite look at it, as I'm joking with my friends and family around me, laughing nervously. But mid sentence I look down at the paper, my mission call, and gasp. My heart stopped. I got a little teary-eyed. Because the first thing I see is "Italian speaking". As soon as I gasped, everyone else stopped breathing, and listening intently! So, of course, I start reading!
...
Agh! Everyone screamed. I fought back tears. Smiles and hugs were in abundance. It was so great.So, I, Sara Emily Willis, will soon be Sorella Willis! I'm SO excited to be a Missionary for the Lord! To have the opportunity to go to the one place in the world I've always wanted to go! To be able to learn the language I've always wanted to learn! Seriously, I don't know how I got so blessed. I still sometimes think, "Did I read my mission call wrong?", "Am I really going it ITALY?!" It boggles my mind. I was thinking I would go anywhere except for Italy, because I wanted to go there so badly. So here's my conclusion to this:
a) The Lord honestly, truly knows our hearts. He knows our desires. And if they're righteous desires, He will often bless us with them! Not always in our desired way/time, but He does!
b) There are people in Italy who are being prepared for me! People only I will be able to teach. I'm not trying to be arrogant, but that's where the Prophet (i.e. the Lord!) wants me to be! I will be able to help and teach more people there than I would anywhere else!
So that's my big schpeel. I was going to write about SO much more (mostly, my desire to find Mr. Perfectly Imperfect, and fall in love, and get married, and have a happy little family. Much of this comes from recently reading one of my FAVORITE author's books. She's magnificent. And I sometimes wish I could live her life. She just seems to have it all: perfect job, perfect life, perfect family, perfect friends, perfect personality, everything!), but it appears I've already written WAY more than I intended! So I suppose I'll leave it at this. Maybe I'll go on and on about men, and happily ever after another day.
Until then!
Arrivederci! ("Goodbye" in Italian!)
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