Onward, ever onward

This is it! MTC this Wednesday. If you want to follow me,go to hermanawhicker.blogspot.com for letters, pictures, addresses, and updates! Love you all and see you in 18 months:)

Doneski... for a year and a half

I am done with Finals, on the second day of finals.  Seriously, this has never happened to me before...BUT it's great:)  Now all there's left to do is to play with my friends before I leave, pack up and be out of my apt by Friday, and party at Lagoon on Saturday:)

Sunday was a bitter sweet day as the realization of leaving hit me. Many of my friends will be graduated and out of Provo by the time I get back, so it's been hard to say goodbye.  But, life must go on.  Change  has never really been fun for me, but I guess it's always necessary.  It has been especially great to be so close to Jami and Ali these past three years! Loved every minute of that:)  Ali and Per will most likely not be living here when I get back and I'm not sure what the plan is for Jami and James, but either way it'll be different when I return.  I am so blessed. Great family, awesome friends, and the gospel in my life.  It is great.

I'm excited to come home and spend time with the fam and swim and camp though, it'll be great. 
Here are some fun pics from life lately.  Most are from my birthday or Jami's birthday:)

 The lovelies...it was fun to catch up with everyone (Melinda, Me, Kimberly, Caitlin, and Lins)

 We are pretty cute:)

 Jami's delicious birthday dinner: Lettuce wraps and avacado egg rolls!

 She is loved by all:)

 The stache...now gone

 Fam dam

 

Jami's new gardening hat, courtesy of Alison

Linsey hadn't ever experienced "Shake Face" before...so of course I had to demonstrate:) Pretty darn good if  you ask me!;)

Assassins...

is quite the game. Stealth, planning, alliances, and paranoia all play a role in this life or death game.  Here's how it works: 40 people signed up to play. Each person gets a 'target' to kill be a certain deadline (pun intended;). To kill your target, you have to get some form of water onto your target. It can be a bucket of water, a sprinkle of water, a snowball, etc.
RULES are as follows:

• Can't kill on Sundays
• Can't kill at ward activities (however, to and from activities are free game)
• You can't kill you target in their apartment. 
• You can't kill your target if they are in contact with the opposite gender (ie: holding hands, linked arms, etc)
• You can't kill with any bodily fluids--ie: saliva, sweat, etc (yes these kinds of rules must be established with immature boys in the ward;)

Surprisingly I am still in the game:)  There are only three people left out of 35-40 that started. I am pretty proud that I have made it this far! I've only  made 2 kills total, but apparently I am VERY good at evading death!  The fact that I am very busy and rarely see people from the ward, except on Sundays and FHE on Monday, has nothing to do with it at all;)

Let's just say I've NEVER been so paranoid in my whole life. I am constantly clutching my syringe full of water that is always in my pocket, looking for my target as I walk across campus. At the same time I am keeping my eyes peeled for my own assassin that is after me. I always stay in close proximity to man as I walk on Campus...regardless if I actually know them or not, in case I need to gram there arm in an emergency.

Despite my singleness, I have still been able to reap the benefits of being escorted by a male to and from ward activities. It is a good thing my roommate Linsey has a boyfriend, because I would have dies long ago without Stephen. There have been countless times walking home from a ward activity where He and Linsey are holding hands...and I am clutching onto his other arm. Haha it is actually quite hilarious, but he has been a good sport about it:)

All in all it has been a really fun experience, but honestly I am ready for it to be done. I'm sick of being paranoid all day every day:)  I am proud of my two kills though! the first one I got his home teachee to call and ask him to come and pick her up from institute so she wouldn't have to walk home in the rain.  I was waiting next to his car for the kill. As soon as he saw me he started sprinting and I went after him. Don't worry, my little syringe squirts REALLY far;). I killed him and then proceeded to sprint the 3 blocks back to my house because I knew his roommate was trying to kill me and I didn't want to wait around in case he was nearby.  The Second kill I made was by sheer luck. I happened to walk into the HFAC at the same time he was getting out of class. But I got him:)

Here's to hoping I'm still alive at the end of the week...we'll see!!

Happy Day

I feel so blessed. Yesterday I received my endowments in the Logan Temple.  It was a special experience, made more meaningful by all the family that was able to attend. I really appreciate all those that came to support me, it means a great deal. I am especially grateful that my Grandma Stones was able to attend. She has such a sweet spirit and I was grateful she was there. It would have been really great if my sisters Cami and Tara would have attended to, but seeing as they both live in different parts of the country it wasn't likely. However, I do feel there love and know they were thinking of me that day:)

Although I definitely don't understand everything that happened there, I do know exactly how I felt. Mom was my escort and told me to focus on how I was feeling rather than trying to understand everything that happened, and that's exactly what I did. The Spirit was so strong and I just felt an overwhelming sense of peace, joy, and love- both for my family and my Savior. I know that this church is true, and I am honored to have to opportunity to represent the Lord for the next 18months starting in June. I am definitely getting more nervous as it gets closer, but I know that is exactly where the Lord wants me and needs me. the semester is quickly coming to an end with only 4 weeks of school left. It is bittersweet. Knowing that once I leave Provo in a month, things will be very different when I get back. There is a very good chance a lot of my friends will be married, Ali and Perris will most likely be gone, all the people in my major that I am good friends with will be graduated, Jami and James could very well not be here either. I feel ready to move forward and onto this new experience, but it is always hard to leave behind good friends and memories.

On a lighter note, I had to bare my testimony in Stake Conference today.  The Stake Pres asked me to talk about why I wanted to serve a mission as well as how I felt as I went through the temple for the first time yesterday. As I was the first speaker, he was up announcing that I was up to speak but he called me "Brother Lyndsey Whicker" and didn't even realize it! It was quite hilarious and the whole audience was laughting pretty hard. He finally realized his mistake, but it was a funny moment.  I always get so nervous before I get up to speak, but I think it went well. I honestly don't even really know exactly what I said cause I was just so relieved to have it done and over with when I sat down on the stand. However, I a few people came up to me afterwards and said how much they appreciated my sincereness and how calm and confident I was. That was nice to know because I definitely didn't feel calm and confident...quite the opposite actually, but I'm glad I came off that way and had the Spirit with me.

Called to Serve

Ready? ......Carlsbad California, Spanish Speaking!

I am so excited! I leave June 6th to the MTC. I turned in my papers on the 13th of February, the call was made on the 16th, and my call arrived on the 22nd. When I got home and saw it on my bed, I immediately called Ali and told her I was coming over to open it. She called Jami to come over while I called Mom and Dad to get on Google+ to open it together. I kind of had the inkling as soon as I picked it up that I was gonna go stateside, because it was lighter than I would have expected had it had passport information in it was well. Honestly, I was a little disappointed at that, but I quickly overcame:) I got to Ali's and as soon as I opened it I quickly covered the letter with the envelope, because I know my eyes would jump down to the line where it said WHERE. Despite my plan, I still saw the "California" before I could cover it. As soon as I read it, I was overcome with excitement and a sense of peace, knowing immediately that this was exactly where the Lord wanted and needed me. Then I read "You will prepare to preach the Gospel in the Spanish Language" and I was so happy! Really, it was so great!

My friend Stephen served a Spanish speaking mission and he gave me a Book of Mormon in Spanish to start reading. So I've been trying to read that comparatively every night. Let me tell you, it is a slow progression. I feel confident in my pronunciation and reading, it's just the meaning part that gets me. Yep, that's pretty important. But it is fun!

I am really excited. I know nervousness will set in as June 6th comes closer, but I know as long as I'm doing my part, I know the Lord will bless me.

Here are some pictures of the night I opened my call:

Livin' the Life

Basically, I have failed at updating my blog lately. Lots of things have happened as of late.
Firstly, this semester will probably be the death of me. I don't know why this semester has been so stressful for me, but it has. Actually I do know. My class schedule ended up working out so that I only have class Tuesday-Thursday. I thought it would be great because I wouldn't have class on Monday or Friday. Right? WRONG! I have class on Tuesdays 9am -9:30pm and Wed and Thurs aren't much better. Plus I've been working 15 hours a week this semester, and that takes a lot of time from studying. Anyways, hopefully that aspect of this semester will go by quickly.

My mission papers are IN! I'm so excited. I met with the Stake President today and he said he'd get them in tonight. He also asked me to give a 5 min testimony in Stake Conference in March...which makes me nervous, but you can't say no to that. I want to know where I'm going, and now all I have to do is wait. Any guesses as to where I'm gonna go?? Ali and Perris say Palmyra visitors Center and Tara says I'm gonna meet my future E.C. and won't actually end up going....we'll see about that. It doesn't look too promising at the moment;)

I have been terrible at taking pictures lately. I need to be better at documenting my college life! But Lins did take a funny one of me yesterday as I was trying to fix the seatbelt in the backseat of my car. It didn't work at all, but at least we got a funny picture from it:)