más de un mes

It finally came!

After seven long weeks of waiting...it finally came. (Technically it's more...because it's been done since the weekend after Thanksgiving!) Quite the wait.

But it's here now.

And what a surprise.

I thought I had thought of everywhere I could go. Most everyone was thinking Germany/Austria, my mom wanted me to go South America, and Angie was determined to send me to Africa. Everyone also joked about me going to New York, New York North (I currently have two cousins there), and I really wanted a visitors center.

But I knew I would go where the Lord needs me to go.

But it doesn't make it any less surprising.

So Wednesday night, I'm walking to work, sure that it hasn't come yet and Heidi texts me. IT'S HERE! Of course while I'm headed to work. And I was surprisingly chill. I called Allison and she was screaming, and then screaming at me for not screaming. But I knew I couldn't have it, so I didn't worry. I worked a normal shift, walked quickly back home and crashed.

But Thursday was completely different. I wake up and my heart is throwing itself against my rib cage, I can't stop smiling and I randomly giggle all day. I still had institute, so I went to mission prep, learned lots, felt the spirit, and even checked out the wall for some more location ideas. I successfully caught the bus, got on the train and it wasn't even noon yet.

My mom was waiting for me at the station. And sitting on the dash was this large white envelope.

O.M.G.

I decided to open it by myself. First. Come to grips with it, then have a party (as long as it's not idaho, st george, colorado, or jackson hole.) So I have the car, I have the call, and I debated at being one with the trees or going out to the temple. I decided to go up the mountain to the draper parking lot, park and look out over the valley while I read my call. 15 more minutes. The agony. I tried listening to music, the news, even praying out loud, but I still found my lead foot getting the best of me. I eventually made it.

But by the time I made it up there, I didn't know if I wanted to know. What if it was someplace hot? What if it was someplace icy? What if it was someplace with a horrible crime rate? What if the language was impossible? What if the MTC date was before May 3rd/May 17th (IM3 and Into Darkness, respectively)? What if? What if? What if?

No Katie. Faith. It'll work out.

So I pull it all out, and I'm staring at the missionary info packet. After having been to an opening, I know this collection of papers has loads of information all specific to me! The first page is a letter from the first presidency, I decided to read that first. It was quite inspiring. I was so excited to be a missionary! I'm going to go out and serve the Lord people! I get to bring people such awesome knowledge!

And I don't even know where yet.

I know the second page of the info packet is my mission president. President Holzapfel. And I'm thinking to myself "Hmm...a good strong German name! From Utah, probably normal. Served a mission in Itay and Switzerland, interesting interesting."

And then I turn a page to far...the mission map. My eyes go first to the bottom right corner, and all I see is a city called troy. Where's Troy? What? Greece? No there's probably a billion Troy's in the world. 

And then I see the mission name.

What? No...Really? Really...? Whaaaat? Is this a joke? For reals?

For reals.

Now I read the call letter. Sure is. WOW. COMPLETELY unexpected. I sit there for a minute, with my heart in my stomach, and I know it's where I'm supposed to be, but I'm not quite excited about it yet. So I text mis padres, let them know about my shock, but they don't want to know where yet.

So I drive back down the mountain and it's only 1:30. I come home and my mom is all confused on if she wants to know or not. She ends up finding out that it's in the states and that it's some place she's never really been before. So we decide to have a party. Mostly just old YW leaders, my two neighbors, Mary Jane, and Allison+sisters (Alex told me that me and Allison were the best missionaries ever, then Katie told me that she's going to miss me. Why aren't my sisters like this!?).

We've got the map out, people are making guesses. I just grin and hold the resealed envelope in my hands. And once everyone finally arrives, we gather in the back room, I whip out the letter and my stellar acting skills, and read it out loud for the first time.

Dear Sister Schwendiman,

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Alabama Birmingham Mission. You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, May 29, 2013. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the English language.

Was everyone surprised? Of course they were! I tell them all about how it's the first mission (alphabetically) and read out who my mission president is. Apparently, he was a professor down at BYU, so him and Mary Jane are tight. Everyone is telling me about the awesome southern food and how it never snows down there (that's not a good thing). But they were all so excited. 

The Church is true! And I'm ready to preach it.

I have so much more information and so many things I want to share...I will definitely have more posts. But for now, just be glad that it's here :)

This is going to be quite the adventure.

WotY

I finally decided on my one word. My word of the year. The word that I'm going to REMEMBER all year so that I can be a better person.

I love this concept...resolutions are always so complicated and require way too much effort.

I actually had the word picked out shortly after I made my list, but I thought I needed to test it out for a little bit just to make sure.

And I think it's a keeper.

It first came to me when I was doing super awesome scripture study time while I was reading this talk by Elder Oaks. In it he says...

"We have to forego some good things in order to CHOOSE others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ..."

I feel like I've made some good choices in my lifetime...I've never really been thrown into a situation where the decision wasn't obvious, but the world knows I cannot make an decision where there are no consequences. I'm very obedient, and if you tell me when and where and what I will do it! But if you ask me to CHOOSE when and where and what, I will struggle.

And then Elder Oaks goes on to say:

"As we consider various choices, we should remember that it is not enough that something is good. Other choices are better, and still others are best."

And so...this year I much CHOOSE between good, better, and best even in situations that are not incredibly consequential.

Like this year I have chosen to serve a mission, instead of going to school or getting married (haha, that was just for a good laugh). And it it's the best decision I have ever made. And on my mission, I think I'm going to have to make some other very difficult choices, and I need to choose what is best.

Another highly influential moment in deciding this word was the day I found this message...

Because...just yes.

You're only 19 once...better CHOOSE to make it the best 19th year you'll ever have. No regrets.

If I were to die today...

For my public speaking class, I had to write and present a eulogy for myself.

Writing a self-eulogy is difficult. What I think and remember about myself is completely different from what my friends or even acquaintances recall from our experiences together. So this is a brief summary of what I think is memorable and unique about my life.

Katie was an amazing person. She was loving, efficient and surprisingly tolerant outside the home. She strived for perfection, but her entire life was learning to balance comfort with the unpredictable.

Katie was born on Dec. 15 1993, quite the surprise to parents Ron and Peggy Schwendiman as she was not expected for five more weeks.  She was the oldest of four girls, and spent most of her childhood enforcing that she was the oldest, most qualified, most experienced person in the house. She began to express her perfectionist tendencies early by refusing to leave the house before her bed were made, making her the envy of most parents in the neighborhood.

At the age of 6, Katie was tested in and accepted to the Accelerated Learning Program at a nearby elementary school. She would spend all of her school years in subjects that would be taught to children several years older. Katie continued to express academic wealth by completing her associates while still in High School.

But ever since she was a little girl, Katie was also quite adventurous. Not necessarily risky, but she enjoyed doing different things that created a memorable experience. Like camping with extended family, going on a rafting excursion, running around Disneyland for a week, or just having a junket with friends.

At the age of 15 Katie had a wish to travel the globe. She figured that this world belong just as much to her as it did anyone else and she wanted to experience it all! She successfully made it to Canada and California after this epiphany. After the mission age change announcement in October of 2012, she was actually planning on serving a mission for the LDS church, and dreamed of going somewhere exciting and exotic ranging from New York to New Zealand.

But just because she embraced the unexpected, didn't make her any less organized. She always had a plan for her future. She was going to go to college and become a Ultrasound Technician in four short years, hopefully find a husband and get sealed by her grandfather in the Salt Lake Temple. She also dreamed of having four kids, house in the suburbs with a huge backyard, and a poodle named Rudy.

Katie will be missed, especially her cute smile and sweet personality. I’ll miss her creativity, or her effort at creativity. Katie was always on Pinterest, and loved trying out the cool new ideas she found.  I’ll miss her unflagging optimism, there was no such thing as a bad day, just challenges that had to be faced and overcome. She’s still out there having adventures, and her legacy shall continue to spur spontaneous urges to create memories.

positive quality

I am an introvert.

Nothing is wrong with being an introvert...but sadly the world thinks otherwise.

I was talking with my great friend Tay, and she mentioned a discussion she had in one of her classes where they were talking about extroverts vs. introverts, and while they found several upsides for being an extrovert, there was nothing positive said about introverts.

And that made me sad.

The TIME magazine printed article "The Upside of Being an Introvert, (and Why Extroverts are Overrated)" which lists several upsides to being an introvert!
We are more creative.
We are more committed.
We are more focused.
We are more future oriented.
We make better leaders.
We make better listeners.
We had positive qualities!

I have recently found TED and have watched way too many presentations, but some of them are quite fascinating.

The following talk is from Susan Cain. She inspired the above article and has written several books about how to have an introvert advantage and how to be an introvert leader in an extrovert world.

I think we just need to embrace our own personalities and work on accepting others and making them comfortable. I am learning to embrace my introversion! I recently took a personality test that told me how I act and how I can excel. I am an INTP (introversion, intuition, thinking, perception), and it is scary how accurate it is!

There's a little bit of introvert in all of us. So know that it isn't a bad thing, and they can be quite the addition to society. Love it. Embrace it. Preach it.

At least in solitude.

No Regrets

Today in my Institute class (the Women in the Scriptures one...because I'm only taking three...you know), we were talking about marriage and married life and the relationship you need to have with your husband.

Pretty much, no secrets.

EVER.

So I was thinking, is there anything I am embarrassed about? That I will hide in a relationship? Is there anything I regret terribly?

And because my train of thought likes to jump tracks, I started thinking of regrets. Is there anything in life that I wish I had done? Or didn't do?

WotY choices

Back here is where you can see my previous WotY post. [not my best work...but it's just so hard to put into words!]

Arise: this is inspired by last years youth theme.

"ARISE and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard to the nations."

-D&C 115:5

I really love what it means! And since I moved out of YW, I didn't get to enjoy the entirety of it's message. If I select this word there is so much that I want to do with it!

Change: this word pretty much encompasses every new years resolution ever...but it'll help me focus on the change aspect and not the results.

Live: I need to get out of my bubble. I need to embrace the exciting. This goes very well with my life theme, and it'd be quite fun to see what this brings.

Excite: Kinda goes along with the Live concept, but I need to get excited about my life, about my dreams, and decide to have the courage to do something exciting!

Seek: I am strangely drawn to this word. Kinda like how I was with REMEMBER...maybe I should choose this for just no reason at all.

Check back in in a little while...when I finally decide on my word.

2013

2012 was a big year! Lot's of things happened, and there were plenty of adventures...but I do not look back.

So here's to 2013. hoping it's the greatest year yet!