2012 in Recap

When I started 2012 I had a thought that I was going to have a special year; I was right! This year has had some of the highest points of my life! It has had some interesting lows as well, but you can't be truly happy unless you've known sadness. I think I just want to post pictures of some of the great happenings this year.

In order: I held a snake, I ran in Color Me Rad, I got a job as a CNA, I played rugby for Weber State, I went to the Festival of Colors for the first time, I hiked the crack in the rock at St. George, I went to the Real Salt Lake game, I went to Fort Sumpter, I went crabbing for the first time, I went to South Carolina again, I ran my first Half Marathon, I got see the US Women's National Soccer Team play Canada in RIo Tinto, I went to see WICKED, I went to Jackson with the family, I ran in the Tough Mudder with my auntie and uncle, and I got my mission call to Sacramento, California!! Great memories, no? :)

Here are some things that didn't necessarily happen to me, but they are important to me anyway and I love all of these people! :

In order: My little cousin Rylee got baptized and my awesome brother Jakob got to baptize her, My uncle Kris and auntie Lori FINALLY got engaged on Christmas Eve, and my beautiful sister Micquellyn returned from her mission in Guatemala! Great moments for my friends and family :)

And this year I lost someone dear to me. Sheri Wright was a great woman and her life is one that blessed so many others. She deserves this tribute. It may be a low in the year, but I know that she is no longer suffering and she is in a better place. I love you Miss Sheri!

2012 has been a year to remember. May 2013 bring many more blessings and joys to come!

Happy Birthday Jakey!!!

HaPpY bIrThDaY jAkoB!!! I can't believe you are 17 little buddy! It seems like yesterday we were running around dressing up, going to wrestling, soccer, basketball, baseball, football, and all sorts of activities all over Utah...and Wyoming :) I can still remember walking out the door and Mom being so excited that you were eating your first Saltine cracker. Or that time when I put you in my little baby carriage and started pushing you around the house (yeah...mom and dad were like "WHA???). So many good memories with you little bro :) I'm so proud of you and I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

It's weird as a pre-mi (pre-missionary) to start counting my "lasts" already. You know, "the last time before I leave..." However, my lasts are slightly different than your average missionary. This was the "last" birthday for Jake I get to spend with him. But, seeing as our missions are most likely to overlap, this is the last birthday I get to spend with him for 4 years. That's right folks, my little buddy turned 17 yesterday!!! The next time I'll spend his birthday with him he will be blowing out 21 candles on his birthday cake. Strange? YES! Sad? YES! But so exciting? DEFINITELY! As bummed as I am to miss out on some huge milestones in his life, I am so excited that, at one point, we will get to be serving together! I LOVE MY BROTHER!!

The Standard of Truth Has Been Erected

"The Standard of Truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame. But the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, 'till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, until the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah will say, 'The work is done.'"

-Joseph Smith-

There has never been a more powerful statement in terms of missionary work. I have recently heard a rumor that-since the age-lowering announcement made in October-there are more sister missionaries putting in their papers and answering the call to serve than there are currently sisters in the field. HOLY COW!!!! There has never been a better time to be a part of such a wonderful work! I am SO excited to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!

Yesterday, December 8, I along with over 200 other sisters went to temple square in Salt Lake to celebrate the call to serve. It started out as a small group on Facebook to celebrate our calls and connect with our sisters serving in our same missions. That small group has since expanded to nearly 2,000 women! Well, my friend Anna Finneran (Paris, France) had a marvelous idea that we should all get together, take a picture, and send it to the First Presidency thanking them and showing them how grateful we are for out wonderful Prophet, Thomas S. Monson! Soon, there were girls in Rexburg, Logan, Hawaii, and Provo planing to do the same! So yesterday my dear friend Ariel Quarez (Quetzaltenango, Guatemala) and I headed for Salt Lake. We all gathered around the reflection pond and sang "Called To Serve" and it was SO AMAZING! The Spirit was SO strong! It got me even more excited to serve! I also got to see some of my good friends: Kendall Babbitt (Berlin, Germany), Lysje Schmidt (Berlin, Germany), Cisalee Oldham (Los Angeles, California-spanish speaking), and Chelsey Stegelmeier (TBD). 

“Sisters, this is a call to arms, it’s a call to action, a call to arise. A call to arm ourselves with power and with righteousness. A call to rely on the arm of the Lord rather than the arm of flesh. A call to “arise and shine forth, that our light may be a standard for the nations. A call to live as women of God so that we and our families may return safely home. ”

-Sheri Dew-

I also want to add this beautiful account of Sister Katie Palmer, who was in the MTC at the time of the announcement of the age-lowering:

"Ok everybody, I am just going to cut right to the chase. Conference was divine. I wish everybody could have been in the MTC when that announcement was made! All of the missionaries watched conference together in the gym, so every missionary in the Provo MTC was in the same room when the announcement was made about the new age requirement for missionaires. I'm not sure I have ever felt like I was part of a divinely historic moment before, but on Saturday, I did. When President Monson announced that YM could serve at 18, the room exploded with the spirit and we all gasped and had giant grins on our faces. Then, as so

on as he said they had thought about the sisters as well, it got absolutely silent. It was amazing. NO ONE expected the age requirement for sisters to drop so drastically. But when they said 19 yrs old, we all stood and cheered. And I don't mean all of us sisters, I mean all 2500 missionaries in the MTC. It was as if the Spirit flooded into the room and God's army did a war cry because we knew that the biggest and the best, the strongest and brightest of God's warriors had just been called to the ranks. I so wish that every person in the world could have felt what we felt and known what we know. This is the beginning of an epic era. The gospel is going forth to the whole world and no one can stop it. God needs the mothers of His children to be return missionaries, and now that is more possible. Since then I have heard comments like "Every girl I know back home is wanting to serve now." and from one return missionary I met at the temple this morning, I heard that all of the Preach My Gospels are sold out at BYU and the Provo Deseret. I got chills up my arms when I heard that, because it meant that it wasn't just an exciting moment, but that the youth are actually taking action.

I am so proud to be one of God's chosen, going forth to make way for the tidal wave of missionaries coming behind me. The missionaries have the truth and the whole world is going to have the chance to hear it."

Enjoy the video! :)

You Are Hereby Called to Serve

Dear Sister Freestone:

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the California Sacramento Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months.

You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, April 10, 2013. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Spanish language. Your assignment may be modified according to the needs of the mission president.

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?! I was so nervous when I started to read it (as you can tell in the video)! My initial reaction while reading was, "Sacramento...ok, that's actually not too bad. It's not foreign, but it's still great! That is where I'm meant to be...APRIL 10th?!? THAT'S FOREVER! Ah man...wait, there's more...SPANISH?!?! I may not have gone foreign or sooner, but I get to learn Spanish...what I've always wanted to do!"

I'm really too emotionally spent to make an entire post, but just know that I was surrounded by friends and family members that I love so much. EVERYONE that was there has made an impression on my life in one way or another and I will forever be grateful for all of them (and those on Skype and over the phone) and everything they have done for me :)