Whirlwind Summer

Oh my goodness, I don't even know where to start. I guess with last weekend.

My mom couldn't resist going to Nauvoo again this summer and there was only a tiny window that we could squeeze the trip in. On Friday, Chris, Matt and I all worked really hard to get stuff done and we all got to drive to Nauvoo. We didn't even arrive until 10 pm and the pageant was just ending. We ran through the fairgrounds as everyone else was leaving and started looking for the cast members we had known from before. The welcome was astounding. We even ran into friends from cast's past and even if names weren't always remembered, faces, love and friendship was. By Saturday, we had 2 other shows we had been invited personally to see and we were told that "Our Story Goes On" would be done in the evening even though it hadn't originally been scheduled for that day. If you haven't seen it, find a time to. I was crying before most of the songs could even be started. It was amazing. The only sad part was that all our Brits were gone! The British Pageant was just done for the first time this summer and of course, they would want to be involved with their own country's show! It is still so amazing the spirit you can feel just by driving into the city limits.

After we got back from Nauvoo, we had two days to be ready for Jon to be home. The panic will make sense when you hear about my upcoming week. But back to Jon. He got taller! And he's way too tan. I guess that's what you get serving in hickville and fixing everyone's cars! Jon has the mission fire. He didn't want to take off his suit and he's still not quite comfortable being home. He did have a date with his girlfriend right after he got released though! Wednesday was crazy because we realized we had 3 days left to get Jon ready for college, and he needed a whole new wardrobe. He was also getting released that night and right after, I would have my final temple interview with the stake president. That was about the only time we would have been able to do all that before the wedding!

Thursday morning, Jon and Chris woke me up while they were teaching each other "self-defense" AKA slamming doors and yelling at each other like they were in hostage situations. Oh what joy to have so many boys back in the house. Mom had to take him shopping and I had to get stuff done. I've finally mostly organized my room and set aside the things for my garage sale (coming soon!) which will help fund my mission-and good thing too cuz my job fell through! loooong story that I'll get to soon.

Friday was commissary day. The commissary is basically a giant grocery store with everything a gazillion times cheaper than anywhere else you can shop. And it's only for people with military ID cards. So we try to go every once in awhile and restock our food storage etc. This trip, mom had one cart for Jon's stuff (she wanted his college food stocked so he only needs to buy milk, bread, fresh produce etc), 2 for the wedding reception we are catering, 2 for the luncheon right after the wedding, and 2 for just Gill food in general. We hadn't shopped there in about 3 months so I guess 7 carts is about right! Then we had to rush home, wrap and freeze all the meat that would need to be brought to Idaho, and organize the rest of the food. Friday night, I was emailing the person who I was supposed to nanny for--they had been stringing me a story for about a month and a half and were getting more vague about when and what I needed to do for them before they moved to Council Bluffs. Last thing I heard Friday night was to expect a check in the mail that I would deposit in my bank account, take out my first week's pay and wire the rest to an address of the person's so-called shipping company. When googled, there was a vacant lot at the address.....fishier and fishier.

Saturday morning, I woke up so excited. I was finally able to go to the temple and receive my endowment! The morning started off shaky though. The check had come and we weren't sure if it would clear. We were NOT about to wire $2500 to a random address if the check hadn't cleared yet. We were waiting for banks to open too so we could call and ask. Mom and I had to be at the temple early though so we left dad to try and call the bank. I had to let everything go for a few hours as I entered the temple with my family and experienced the most amazing things. Think of the happiest time from your teenage life and multiply it by a million. (I only say teenage because my wedding day could be the only thing that trumps this day). And to have my mom, dad and brother with me was just fantastic. Now I get to go through again only this time with Ben and Sarah too!!!

While the temple was amazing, I had to go home eventually and the banks had confirmed that the check was fake. I was involved in a huge scam that kept me from accepting any other job offers for two months. We were told to contact the police so we tried to keep packing and organizing things for the wedding while waiting for cops to show up at our door. The officer who did come was actually very nice and helpful and proud that we had caught the fake check and impressed that I had already printed off all my correspondence with the scam person. Too bad I didn't get a job though! If you need a nanny, I have a few months before my mission!

Today was a little crazy too because Saturday night, I got to invite a dear friend to church the next day. She's still in high school though so I decided to take her to the family ward which starts and 9:30 am. I got up early to pick her up and stayed through all three hours of that ward then had to rush home and attempt to start packing then rush back for Sunday school in my ward! Since I don't have a job anymore, I will be leaving tomorrow morning with my mom, Jon and Matt to get to Idaho early. Ben and Sarah will be married Saturday and we will likely not return until next Monday. However, my mom also wants us to take a scenic route home and stop by Mount Rushmore and Carhenge so that's exciting! But there is a lot to do and more coming up. I will be very grateful when the month is over but still feel so blessed that all these amazing things are happening. Even the scam was amazing because the Lord is protecting me and helped my parents and me realize we needed to look into everything deeper and uncover the scam.

So that was a lot of typing and I'm still not packed but I've had a good rest now and will get back to it!

The Call

It has been a whirlwind weekend! First of all, apologies for not posting for awhile. I've have a tough couple of weeks waiting for my mission call. I had a lot of doubts and negative thoughts creeping into my mind and I definitely felt Satan working on me, trying to discourage me about my life. But finally, it came! Four weeks after submitting my papers...and here is the story:

I had taken to heading to the front door everyday between 3 and 4 PM to ask if anyone had checked the mail yet. It was actually after four but I had been out with my sister earlier and asked my mom and brothers anyway. They hadn't so I walked down the front lawn, not excited or anything; I was getting used to disappointment. I opened the mailbox without fanfare, saw a larger package for my dad and a folded senior portrait ad with the rest of our mail inside. I took the whole bundle inside to expectant eyes. Unfolding the mail to sort through, my mom and I simultaneously noticed another large envelope between the picture ad and the rest of the mail. It was white. I dropped the other mail and turned it over. It was addressed to me, from the Office of the First Presidency. I grabbed my cell phone and called my dad. He was at Kanesville rehearsal (you should all go see him perform!) and his phone went to voicemail. I looked at my mom in panic. She jumped on the computer saying she could find the emergency phone number for rehearsals. Meanwhile, Chris was calling Liesel and everyone was calling Kate from upstairs. She rushed down and grabbed the camera. I called the emergency number and stuttered out that I needed to talk to David Gill. Kate and the boys were trying to collect bets about where I would go and I was telling them to stop because I didn't want to wait for everyone to bet! Mom called Ben and I had already ripped the top of the envelope open while we were still trying to get three different people on speakerphone. Finally everyone quieted down. I was so excited I could barely pull the letter out. I also knew that if I wasn't careful, I might skip down and glimpse where I was going without even reading the first few lines! I covered everything except for the first line. I started to read with a grin spread across my face as I moved my hand down, line by line. And there it was. "Oregon Portland Mission." I stopped and just laughed! I hadn't been knowing what to expect but it wasn't that! I scanned the rest of the letter looking for the date I was to report to the MTC. I couldn't find it. A flutter of activity happened all at once; hugs, saying goodbye to my dad who had to go back to rehearsal, searching frantically for a date and trying to call my Bishop to see if he knew anything! While my call to the bishop was connecting, mom found the date in the middle of a random page. October 9, 2013. I was relieved to know I had a lot of time to get things done, but I finished calling my bishop so I could set up my temple interview. The rest of the day was crazy because I was trying to call or contact various family and friends and help run my little brother's birthday party.

Sunday was just as busy and exciting. I got to church early to see Matt set apart but had to see anyone and everyone who knows me and tell them where I got called. I was on cloud nine all day only able to say "Portland, Oregon. I'm so excited!" and giggle a lot. I had my interview after church and am now waiting on a call from my stake president so I can have another interview with him and be ready to go to the temple. Unfortunately, I still need to set my temple date (I have a 3-day period that I can do it with my parents and Jon before Ben's wedding) but they are closed Sunday and Monday so I can't even set it up until Tuesday! I sat down and made a list of all the things I need to do in preparation for the trip mom just planned to Nauvoo next weekend, Ben's wedding, the receptions, and my mission! Add to all of that a possible nanny job that has been very confusing and I really hope I will even be in town the days I am needed!

Now that all that is out, I feel peaceful. I know what I'll be doing for approxamitely the next two years of my life and that is a wonderful feeling. I also am so excited to go to Portland and meet the people that the Lord needs me to see. Did I mention the Portland temple is gorgeous? And I finally get to go shopping! I will try to update more as I go through the process of preparing for various things but for now, I need to get some sleep!

P.S. A video of me opening my call is on Facebook but I wanted to write everything out here. If you care haha!