My First Week in the MTC

This past week has been slightly awesome. We arrived,
checked in, took our stuff to our residences, and went to our class. Our district,
from what I'm told is pretty different. Most of us have different calls,but all
Spanish speaking. When I first walked into class this kid looks at me and says
"DEVIN!!" At first I had no idea who he was, but after he reminded me
of his name I remembered that we had lifeguarded together for a couple summers
during high school. My companion, Hermana Johnson is also from Arizona. She
actually went to high school with my best friend, Kenna. Anyway, from the
moment we got into class the teacher only spoke spanish to us. I was so lost!
That's pretty much how class goes, they speak spanish and we try to catch on.
Amazingly, it works. I already know more than I ever learned in high school.

Our schedule is slighly hectic, and there is nobody to
supervise us. Luckily our district is awesome and we are always where we need
to be doing what we need to be doing. Okay, I have to cut this short, I only
get 30min on the computer and I currently have 1 minute left! But, if you want
to know more,write me! got to DearElder.com and enter my name and mission
(Honduras San Pedro Sula)! It's free, too. I think you might have to put
provo mtc, but I don't know. I want to hear from home/ texas/ Denver! okay, got to
go, bye!

I'm Going on a Mission... Tomorrow!

From this very moment, right now as I write this, I am approximately 16 hours from boarding a plane headed to Utah. I'm all packed and ready go! I have all the stuff I'm not taking boxed up at stored at my mom's house, and my computer is now in my dad's possession. I'm so excited to go, but I feel like I just ran out of time. I didn't get to spend as much time with family as I wanted to, plans with friends got cancelled, and I failed to visit some other family friends while I was here. I left myself two weeks to spend in Arizona, but it was hardly enough! I feel bad if I hurt any one's feelings, but fact is, I'm coming back! 18 months doesn't even sound long when I say it. Time flies when you're having fun and working hard! (I'm not naive, I know there will be times, many times, where I'll hardly consider it "fun", but I'm ready to work hard.)

Anyway, I'm excited to go! I love my Heavenly Father, and can't wait to share His love for His children and the message of the Restored Gospel with the people of Honduras! Feel free to write, my MTC address is to the right and it's also on my Facebook. (On the right, I couldn't break up the separate lines of the address, so when you see "::" that's a break. Maybe I'm special, or maybe Blogger is. Let's just go with Blogger.) My sister-in-law will be posting letters from me as my blog updates and updating my address, so check back in!

Revamped

I decided it was time to change the title of my blog, so I went ahead changed the colors, too. Nothing too fancy, I'm not good at that kind of stuff. As I have stated in previous posts, I struggle with such things, like loading pictures and getting them place where I would like. Hopefully my sister in law will do a better job while I'm gone.

I have six days left before I head to the MTC. People keep asking me if I'm nervous. Well, not really. I'm just ready and excited to go. It's something I've always wanted to do and now the time has finally come, kind of surreal. I'll definitely miss my friends and family, but when I think about that past 16 months, from the time I moved to Texas until now, and how quickly that time has gone by, the idea of being away from friends and family for 18 months hardly seems like a long time at all. I'll be exchanging letters and emails with them, so it won't be too bad. 18 months is nothing. However, letters would be appreciated! I'll be posting my MTC address on the sidebar here, and my sister in law will update it as I move around.

What else? The past week and a half in Arizona have been amazing. I have spent a lot of time with my family, especially Chris, Brooke, and their kids. Chris and Brooke have been awesome. The advice and their support is beyond measure. Brooke has told me many times "we've got your back, anything you need, let us know." It's pretty awesome having the amazing siblings I do. All of them have offered to be there for me when I need something while I'm gone, and are doing different things to keep my affairs in order. My sister is making me an 18 month calendar with pictures of my friends and family, too. How awesome is that? And Kyle & Tara supplied me with suitcases. I've also received amazing support from other friends. My friend, Cat, has been awesome. Constantly telling me how proud she is of me and even supplying "a little" $$ for missionary stuff. She has been an amazing friend and I know I can count on her for letters :). Sister Heiden, my Young Women's president through high school also supplied some cash, cause she's awesome. Even more, she came and supported me my when I went through the temple for the first time. That meant a lot to me. She taught me so much as teen and was a big strength to me throughout high school. My parents have been awesome, too. My mom keeps asking me what I need, as well as my dad. Cindy has been amazing as well. I have been blessed with an amazing family and spectacular friends :)

I have spent a lot of time with my friends, Christie & Kenna. I love them so much and am so grateful for them! The good times, the bad times, the hilarious times, the lessons learned, and the love and support I get from them is priceless. I wouldn't trade them for the world. As for my other friends, you suck. Just kidding. I am grateful for all my friends. From Arizona, to Texas, and to Denver, the Lord has blessed me with amazing people in my life that have helped me to learn and to grow and to become a better person.

Okay, so enough with the mushy "I love my friends and family" stuff. I have five more full days to enjoy before I leave. FIVE! So exciting. I can't wait to serve our Heavenly Father and spread the good news!

23 Days and Counting...

(Kyle & I at the A&M game vs Baylor)

That's right, 23 days until I report to the MTC! It's coming up so fast. When I first got to Denver I kind of thought it would be the longest two months of my life, but to my pleasure & dismay it has gone by so quickly! I take off next Monday for Arizona... I can't wait! Although I'm sad to leave my friends and the Warrens here, I'm so excited to see my friends and family I haven't seen in far too long & spend some time with them.

Last weekend the Warrens took me with them back to Texas. They have got to be the nicest people ever. They took me with them, gave me the entire weekend off, AND got me tickets to the A&M & Baylor game. It was a lot of fun going back to see my friends and family there. Just in the past weeks Makenna has grown so much! I can hardly believe it, she even has hair now and cut her first tooth while I was there! I got to spend a lot of time with Kyle, Tara, and Makenna. Kyle and I had some good bonding time going shooting and to the football game together. (I still can't figure out pictures on here.) My weekend consisted of a girls' night, dancing, shooting, a date, Midnight Yell, the football game, a bbq, church, and hanging out with friends and pizookies. Can't complain.

I went exploring the other day. So much fun.

My boss even let me drive her Mini Cooper for the weekend while they were out of town.

My friend, Micah, made the drive with me to Vail for the day.

BEAUTIFUL.

Kind of makes me think of the Primary song "I Feel My Savior's Love"

Micah grew up in Utah, skiing and whatnot, I think he got tired of me expressing how gorgeous I thought it was up there every 10 seconds.

I am still enjoying myself in Denver.

My job is still AMAZING.

The weather has been slightly awesome.

I have made myself some good friends and have had myself some good times.

To the right is Micah, myself, and Carson at the Diamondbacks game when they played the Rockies. It almost felt like being back at Chase Field except for the fact that I was wearing jeans, boots, a jacket, and a scarf and was still a tad bit chilly. Definitely not Phoenix.

Time for funny stories? I think so. Ty had to get surgery on a Tuesday night a few weeks ago. I Stayed the night with the girls so Kesha could be there with him. Oh my, it was good mommy practice. I did well getting all the girls to sleep on time, teeth brushed, school clothes set out for the morning, prayers said. Before I retired to bed I got their lunches ready, back packs ready, and planned breakfast for the morning. I was sharing Ty and Kesha's bedroom with Brookly (17 mos). Around two AM she woke up and wanted out of her crib and in her parents bed with me. She was wet, so I decided to change her on the bed. Mid diaper change, she starts throwing up. As to not get puke all over the bed, I quickly scooped her up and set her on the floor, diaperless. That's when she started peeing. I then quickly ran her into the bathroom. After getting her all cleaned up, I put her in bed. On a towel, just in case. I cleaned bed, floor, bathroom, and 30 minutes later climbed in bed with Brook. Every sound she made kept me awake. I was afraid she might start puking again. Which she did. at 3 AM she was throwing up even more than she had before. This time all over herself, me, and the bathroom. This time I gave her a bath, which woke her up and she refused to get out. Around 5 I finally got her back to sleep. On the couch this time. I, of course, didn't sleep. I spent the next hour cleaning up the new mess. At 6, I started waking up the other girls to get ready for school. After getting them to school, Brook and I played (more like zombied around due to lack of sleep) for a bit, then napped together on the couch. Although I did not enjoy that night, I love Brooklyn so much, it was a good bonding experience for us :)

Time to get religious! Life has been so amazing as of late. I have been able to recognize the hand of the Lord in my life daily. From minor to major blessings, I am so grateful for the love of my Heavenly Father and Savior. I know my Heavenly Father lives. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. I love my Heavenly Father. I love my Savior and am so excited to hear the messages they have for us this coming weekend during Conference.

** I had planned on posting more pictures, but it took me days (yes, multiple days) to get those two pictures to do what I wanted them to. I have maxed out my blog efforts on this one :)

Just Livin' "the" Life

First things first: I got my mission call! I leave for the MTC November 16 to serve in the Honduras San Pedro Sula Mission, what's up!?!?! I am so excited to share the gospel, the miracle of the Atonement, the restoration of Christ's church, and our Heavenly Father's love with the people of Honduras!

Okay so quick update on life... I moved to Denver! The weather is beautiful here, and the mountains are gorgeous. I can't wait until Sunday! I need to make friends! I have totally been that awkward person you feel sorry for eating dinner by themselves, at the movies by themselves, and chillin' at Barnes & Noble by themselves reading. Haha, yep that has been me! Leaving Texas was so much harder than I thought it was going to be. The past year there was amazing. I already miss my niece, Makenna, so much! I also have made so many good friends there. I would have loved to spend my last two months before I leave there, but I don't think it would have been easy finding a job there for that short of time & the Warrens said that if I wanted to come to Denver, they would take me for as long as I would stay.

So, the Warrens, such an amazing family! The plan was to leave my stuff in there garage during the football season, while they would be in Denver, then Kyle would move it when they come back to Texas, but they so graciously are letting me keep it in their garage the entire 18 months I am gone! That saves me so much money that would have been spent on a storage unit. I love the girls, but I don't care who says my job is easy, it so is NOT! You try communicating with 17 month old, not easy. Ty and Kesha are seriously some of the nicest people ever. I feel like a charity project for them, they really don't even need me, I'm just convenient to have around. Heavenly Father definitely had a plan when I lost my last job, and was introduced to them.

I think that's about it for now... Oh funny story, I went running the other day, and decided to take this trail I saw going off the main road I was on. I assumed it was a loop, so I took it. After running 3 miles I was starting to realize it was not a loop. I decided to just keep going even though 3 miles was my goal. At 4.5 miles I decided to use the GPS to find my way home. I was still over 2 miles from the house. The last 3 miles I walked/ran, but sprinted the last half mile because my phone was about to die, and I wanted to make sure I got there before it did in fear of getting eternally lost. I saw some beautiful Colorado scenery, so it was definitely worth the extra 3.5 miles. I even found a community lap pool and basketball court. I know where I'll be spending plenty of time the next two months :)

My Dad is SO Embarrassing

My dad fully enjoyed embarrassing me as a child/teen. Driving around town I heard this song and it immediately reminded me of these times when my dad would do this little dance at the steering wheel, specifically as he was dropping me off or picking me up at school. He would point his fingers to the left and right, sort of hunch over the wheel, and do this weird head bob thing. It was really, really cool. (Sense the hit of sarcasm there?) Anyway, this is the song that reminded me of my dad. Looking back now I realize I love these times I had with my dad. It wasn't often that he would act like total goofball, but when he did, he went all out.

I have many other fun, funny, embarrassing memories with my dad.

• "No Fun Allowed!" - My dad's rule for any family outing. My friends would always ask "Is he serious?"

• "Damn it, Barbara, we're the MEAN Green!" - A girl on my soccer team apologized for kicking an opponent in the shin during a game. This was the year we wanted to be the "Slimeballs," but Dad wouldn't have it. So we had to be the Mean Green. Dad was always my soccer coach, and he was a tough one. Some parents didn't like him much, but all the girls did. He made us work hard, and we were good for it.
  The best was the year we were "The Gang Green" or "The Gangrene."
  

• Going to ASU football games. Oh, how I LOVED that. We have had season tickets for as long as I can remember. Best family tradition ever! All us Jenkins kids owe a big thanks to our dad for that.

• Swim Meets. My dad was always the announcer guy at Trace & my swim meets. He was at every single meet. Even the ones in Wickenburg (anybody remember that pool? How was that pool so cold in the middle of the summer? And why were there no backstroke flags? I hit my head there every time I raced backstroke. Ouch, concrete wall at full speed...Okay so I wasn't that fast at that particular stroke, but it still hurt.)

• Continuing the sports and support topic, my dad instilled in me a passion for basketball. Not only that, he fully supported me in it, too. He even gave up coaching and refereeing, which he LOVES, during my high school years so that he could come watch my games. I didn't always love hearing his advice (criticism) at the end of every game, but I was a better player for it. But, when I made my dad proud, he let me know and everybody else. There was one game in particular my sophomore year against Dysart, that I had a really, really good game. Like, nearly half our points, assists, a great defensive game, played every second of the first four quarters and OT, game winning foul shot. My dad had NO criticism for me after that game, which was a big deal. When I went to call my brothers to tell them about my game, my dad already had called and told them all about it. It made me so happy that my dad was that proud of me. Anyone who knows me the least bit knows I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE basketball. Playing or watching. It's a passion I will have forever. The joy and happiness I get from it, I owe to my daddy.
  

I could go on for a while about the things and memories I love about my dad, but I hope he knows how grateful I am for him. The love, support, and criticism I have received from him over the years have been a big part in shaping my character. He is a great example to me in many ways. I love him so much, and I hope he knows that!