Day 52!

"Dear You: I may be thousands of miles away, but you're still the first thing on my mind"

-Anonymous 

It has been 52 days already! I've been so busy finishing up Spring semester that I haven't been updating much, but it's soooo close to being done now. Thank goodness! I am having a pretty good time here in college and I'm still progressing in Swing and Ballroom dancing! This past Wednesday we had our Swing Vintage Night and it was TONS of fun! Anyone who goes to BYUI should at least try dancing out. It's become one of my greatest passions. Swing is my favorite so far though ;)

So, what's up with my awesome missionary? Well, he just got out of the CCM, and is now in Antofagasta, Chile! He's in his first area of Calama, Ascotan. His first P-day out there was last week, and he already is doing so much. He loves teaching those in the area and cares for his companion. It's funny because he said the nights are pretty cold. Of course, that side of the equator is experiencing winter, not summer. Though all his pictures are with lots of sun during the day! It's cool to hear from him every week and read how he's doing and especially how much he's changing already. He sounds more and more like a missionary every single week. His love for God and for the people in Calama is evident and I am so proud of him for what he's doing. This mission is SO worth it!

Elder Modawell & Elder Casas

A mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is such a special time for elders and sisters in this day and age. We have more missionaries than ever before and they are out serving and giving their heart to the Lord. They dedicate their time and efforts for 2 years for elders, and 18 months for sisters. It is so wonderful for them to do this work. I have many great friends/family out doing this work and I'm so proud of each and every one of them. Soon, I'll be using this blog to update about them too! Already another of our group went out yesterday and it's so awesome! Sean, Brayden, and now Will is out serving the Lord! All we have left is our "brother" Lorenzo! I can't wait!

As for me, I am continuing in school here at BYU-Idaho. I have a couple-ish weeks left until the end of my freshman year! I will be home for a bit and then already can't wait to see what Fall semester has in store for me. I have lots of activities (of course dancing is one of them) that I hope to participate in this next year. I will even be in Choir in Fall! I hope to make this next school year a real blast. I just take it one day at a time. :)

As of today!

1st Month Picture

I have a lot of faith in this journey. I know that Heavenly Father is with me and is helping me along the way. Sure, I have my moments where tears escape, but that's ok. I can still continue forward with a smile on my face. I can keep laughing and helping those around me. My life isn't a "waste" with this trial in my life. In fact, it's even better! As long as I make the decision to let it be better, then I can be a strength to others and to myself. These 2 years are such a blessing for learning and growth.

Out of the 700s!! :)

"But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be 

perfect and entire, wanting nothing." -James 1:4

I am officially out of the 700s everyone! This is so exciting and I feel accomplished. I'm telling you, the days are just flying on by. He has already been over 4 P-days and has 2 some-odd weeks left in the CCM (Spanish: MTC), and I'm so proud of everything that he is doing there. This past week, he was sick though, but he was able to get over it with the help of a blessing. He is so strong and is doing all he can to stay worthy to feel the influence of the Holy Ghost as he teaches. He wants to help and serve everyone around him. He most definitely has a heart of gold.

I can really feel the blessings of having a missionary out in the field. It is so special and important to me. I want to keep supporting him all I can while I am going to school, dancing, singing, and hanging out with friends. Even when I date, I can feel those blessings to help those around me. It is great to feel such tremendous heavenly help.

So, my great missionary is his district's leader. He is leading them so well! They have a fun district I can tell and that's them all below. He even told them about me! Haha. He is silly! ;P The Hermanos (brothers) are strong young men in the truth and the hermanas (sisters) are fun and they even said I was "cute" when he showed them a picture. Made me happy that they are supportive. I feel so glad that he is surrounded by good and helpful people. I pray for each on of them and hope they all feel uplifted by the spirit when they go their separate ways into the field. I want them all to be happy and remember this wonderful time in their lives.

Here at BYU-Idaho, on my "mission," I am striving to stay as busy as I can. I think of him always but think of it as an exciting adventure where we both learn and grow and become even better people. I am getting better at dancing. My roommates and I get along SO well and we laugh all the time. We have so much fun together and we support and love each other to the core. :)

 



~Egypt

One Whole Line!

So today marks Day 20! Whoo hoo! It's so great and exciting and feels like time is just rushing on by!  I love this Countdown Calendar I got from Deseret Book. It's actually really cool to see it being filled up each and every day. I'm so happy and proud of myself for making it this far. Yeah, yeah, I know it's isn't a ton in the long run yet, but I still see it as an accomplishment in itself. :)

So these past 20 days have gone by really fast and I have been keeping as busy as possible. I do lots of homework (obviously!) and go to dance every week which is super fun and I love seeing all my good friends here at BYU-I. I'm getting better and better which makes me so happy and excited to dance with my mish later when he's back. I was always jealous that he was so good and now I can (hopefully!) measure up as well.

My roommates and I get along so well now and we are like the best of friends too. We already decided that 3 of us would room in the Fall together since the other won't be back until Winter. I am so blessed to have them in my life to love and support me in this wait.

I also went to our tree this past Sunday and had my roommate to take a nice picture I could send him this week. I love this spot and it gives me so much happiness seeing something we share.

This is already starting out pretty busy but I am very glad that it is! The busier I am and the more I focus on my goals for these 2 years, the faster I feel it all going. I seriously can't believe ONE WHOLE LINE is colored in! So great right!?

My roommates and I decided to take a funny picture with some balloons we have as well. We have a "Dear John" one and a "Dear Sean" one. I'm simply shocked at the Dear John one and then get all happy with the Dear Sean one :) We thought it was pretty funny.

I am just doing my best to enjoy life right now. Yes, there are DEFINITELY times of sadness and missing him with all my heart and yes, a few tears do leak from time to time, but as long as I continue forward than all shall be well! I am blessed by my Father in Heaven to be here on this earth at this time and to just take life how it goes. For the most part, I am smiling, laughing, and dancing away! What a great time and opportunity for growth and strengthening my testimony. :)

~Egypt

16 days and 2nd P-day

So today marks Day 16! Pretty crazy right? I know it doesn't seem like a lot but I've been so busy and focusing on so much in my life that I feel time just flying by! It is such a blessing to have this experience. I can feel the blessings of having a missionary out in the world. It is truly miraculous. He is having a good time so far. Learning spanish has been a challenge but he is working hard. He already is a District Leader! Wow! What a great young man he is!

Lately, I have been focusing a ton on school and swing and ballroom dancing! I'm already getting really good compared to what I was. I love dancing and seeing my great friends there every week really helps lift my spirits. Some dancing is hard but I am progressing slowly but surely. When I dance, I think of him, because that's where we met. Whenever our song plays which is "Everything" by Michael Buble, I get really happy and dance my heart out to it with him in my mind. :)

Lately, I've been attending the Rexburg, Idaho Temple more often. Almost every day and I feel tremendous peace from it. I'm so grateful to have a temple nearby and has walk-in times so I can go multiple times a week. It's becoming habit. I like to contemplate on life and feel the spirit as I attend there. It makes everything worth it. I think about the relationship I have with my Heavenly Father and the ways I can improve and make it stronger.

God is good :)

What a handsome stud!

Well, anyways, I'm doing well and so happy for all that is happening in my life. I know that everything shall be well and I'm being pretty positive about it all. I won't ever give up! We were able to email back and forth today and it was a great conversation. I'm glad to hear that he is happy. I am happy too. This experience is only making us stronger. We still are silly from time to time and have fun talking (emailing) with each other. Makes my whole week complete! We help each other and are the best of friends.

So, I'm keeping the faith and doing the best I can at all times no matter what! I am reading my scriptures every morning and night, praying, attending the temple, doing my homework... (meh... :P lol), dancing, singing, and hanging out with some of the best of friends a girl could ever ask for. I am truly feeling the blessings of heaven.

One must always remember who you are. Don't ever settle for less than you deserve. Always keep in mind that God cares and loves you. He is always there to help guide and comfort us. I know that He is going to help me through this trial and through this blessing.

Don't ever think that you are alone. You're not. Love prevails even in the most unexpected ways and even with unexpected persons. Whether it is your missionary, or just a friend, a family member, just another person you're dating, etc! There are tons of people that love will find a way to and it will win. God IS love and He will win.

In 1 John 4:18, it reads:

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love."

Be strong and know who you are. In this, there is power and light.

O what a great day this is! :)

~Egypt

In Honor of 2 Great Missionaries Who Left Today!

It's funny because I'm wearing my missionary's favorite purple shirt. The name tag is actually from when my mom was a Ward Missionary, and she gave it to me! 

Go Missionaries!

Non-glasses edition

Glasses edition

First Day of MG Life!

So, as the title says, this is the very first day for me to be a missionary girlfriend! We said "see you soon" yesterday morning and he departed for the Mexico MTC this morning. He will be there for a bit and then will be headed to Antofagasta, Chile. It is quite an adventure for the both of us.So, I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Egypt and my missionary's name is Sean. We met during the Fall of our first semester of college at BYU-Idaho. It was at Ballroom Dancing and saw each other at Swing Dancing as well. It was as if everything just "clicked" when we met. I thought it was impossible for such a great guy to like little 'ole me, but alas, he did! 

We became "official" very quickly and then had a great few weeks. Soon we had to be separated for Thanksgiving Break and were so glad when we were reunited--despite the fact it was only a week! :D We went a few weeks again and then had to be separated once again for 3 months... it was awful... I had the Fall/Spring track and he had the Fall/Winter track. It was painful to already be apart for so long.

After about a month and a half though, I wanted to do something special for Valentines Day. You see, I had never had a "Valentine" before. I decided to surprise visit him for 2 weeks! I felt so awesome! His face was priceless when he saw me. :)

After we went another month and a half of phone calls, texts, and lots of Skype! It was such a humbling experience during that time. We grew closer as time went on.

Sean came and visited me for a week in Oregon where I was and it was such a special event. We met halfway at the Portland, Oregon Temple and seeing his face and hugging him was greatly appreciated. I had miss him so much. We spent the week smiling and laughing. He came along with my mom and I back to BYU-Idaho and he helped me situated for my 2nd semester there. He gave me many gifts and things to help me remember him by:

• Pillows
• His jacket
• My favorite purple shirt of his ^.^

Just to name a few things... haha ;) 

We even were super cheesy and have a Tree! 

We then came across another long distance trial. It was even harder than all the other times. This time, we couldn't Skype or call each other. I couldn't tell him everything anytime anymore. My Best Friend was leaving for Michigan and then on to his mission... 

I cried.

Yet? We prayed and knew that it was the right thing. We even got an answer to "break up" so I could keep dating while he was away. It's hard to take all that in--even now--but God is with us and knows that our future is bright. Good will prevail. We will email each other always and will be Best Friends forever! I know that it will all be worth it in the end, no matter the result. I hope to update this blog from time to time to give hope to those of my fellow MGs out there. You are NOT alone!

Others of our "family" back in his old dorm apartment (his roommates and who just got married not too long to another one of our great friends who were over a lot) are all supporting and 1 has also left for his mission today too! I might update about them too :)

Here's To a Good Two Years!

Yours Truly,

Egypt