Expedited Process

Life changes direction so fast, and of course it is for our benefit. Its never been in plan to go on a mission. Not that I didn't want to serve, just that I thought going on my study abroad was my "mission". So I convinced myself of such, and was vocally opposed to the idea of serving. Well I got a "slap" in the face when I learned that I needed to serve a mission. Coming here to BYU-Provo has been a little tough, but I couldn't have grown as much in Idaho as I have here, in my own identity and testimony. It truly has been a blessing to be able to attend school here and learn from those that surround me. As I have been wanting to know why I am here at BYU, in a sense what is my purpose, I still am unsure, however it was very unsettling to stay and do classes until I am finished and then go to Graduate School. (This plan is still something I will, its just on the back burner now) So I decided I was going to go on a mission a little over a month ago and will leave on my mission in little over a month.

I turned in my mission papers last week on Tuesday, my stake president told me he wasn't sure if I would get in the bundle for the First Presidency to look at on Friday. But sure enough, at work on Wednesday, I was extremely anxious, so I booked it out of the office and ran home. And there was a huge, heavy white envelope sitting in my mailbox.

I ran up the stairs screaming, and I had my roommate take it out of my hands before I ripped it open. The myth is that if the call weighs more than $1 it is foreign but if its less than its stateside, but I have heard of my people who debunk this myth, so I had no clue. But I kind of a had a feeling it wasn't going to be a Stateside mission. I was completely happy to go anywhere and I know I would be happy anywhere.

In order to comply with my family and friends schedules, I told them I would open up my call at 8:00pm at my apartment. My family was on a skype, I had my Bishop, Annie and Kyler on speaker phone and about 40 very supportive friends come over and watch me open my future location for the next 18 months.

The whole afternoon before opening up my call, I cleaned and made treats because those are my stress relievers and then went to my Psychology Class which was ironically on Anxiety Disorders, by the time I left I had basically diagnosed myself with one. After class, I had my eye on my call the whole time.

I opened up the call at 8:07pm in front of a full family room in my apartment, with full support of great family and friends. I was so nervous, and was shaking like crazy. My worst fear was the envelope I had received was actually a rejection of my mission papers. Oh course that wasn't the case. It was so incredible.

I am called to serve the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Guayaquil South, Ecuador, Spanish speaking. I leave June 22! My friends were laughing so hard because my Spanish really struggles. But I know it will all work out and I am totally thrilled to go. And I am extremely grateful for all the support I have from my family and fantastic friends!!

Domestic Tumbleweeds

This is what occurs when you live in an apartment full of hairy girls
Not to say that the girls (myself included) are overly hairy but well ya know
The couches in our apartment are probably the most uncomfortable seating you can get
Lets just say they make it uncomfortable to simply sit, lean on, spoon on etc
So as a result we resort to the floor, hey its brand new carpet.
I have got to say that we only have 3 girls in my apartment currently, but we cant all be home together and not be in the same room.
In fact if one of us is home and in the separate room we all gravitate to where they are.
Well this one night we were all on the floor, innocently doing homework
and there was a sudden storm of domestic tumbleweeds.
You may ask what a domestic tumbleweed is, well tends to consist of

pencil lead
lint
food crumbs
bobby pin
paper scraps
and about 5 different types of HAIR

You may find this absolutely disgusting, we did too and then we realized that...
they had invaded our apartment! At any given time we can find about 4-5 rustling around on the carpet. We find them EVERYWHERE. Simply just walking around and getting one stuck on your toes. Or they are wrapped around your laundry. Or if you drop something on the ground you go to pick it up and one decides to cling on as well. Or even in your own bed. Well the locations are endless.....EH PACHA!

A Reality Check

Because of my job, I get to be more informed and read lots of news stories and articles. I love knowing what is going on around me because I tend to be sheltered from the "real" world because of the Provo bubble. And sometimes I find something to "complain" about that should not even be a complaint. I am not dealing with:

-Trying to find my family members
-Attempting to figure out where to live because my house was swept away by a natural disaster
-Trying to find safety in my home town
-Protesting against my countries government
-Fighting a chronic disease
-Dealing with protecting my self and family from neighbors
-Struggling to overcome hard addictions

Not to say I don't have problems or trials, but when I look at the news pages, I realize that I live in America, let alone Utah, I go to a fantastic university, have a loving and supportive family, I have a safe place to live, great friends, I have the gospel in my life, the choice of what I get to study, the temple is two minutes away and . And I gripe about taking midterms or not getting enough sleep. I am so grateful for all that I have and sometimes I just need a reminder that I chose this lifestyle. I am not forced to do these things, its a choice. So my new goal: NO COMPLAINTS.

Because I live in Provo

One thing that I have missed, since not being in Idaho, is all the friends that I left there. BUT! One thing about living in Utah is that everyone comes through here once in a while, so as a result, I have been able to see many of them. And this makes me so happy that they come down and visit me, its awesome. I love it :)

Spice of Spontaneity

One of the most common characteristics of a college students is "flaky". As a result, we fly by the seat of our pants. Because of our free agent lifestyle, we have no strings attached and so as plans
come and go, we seem to base the choice on factors such as the most thrilling, cheapest, interesting, who is it with, or most fun. Being the college student I am I decided to do just that and add an extrakick of spontaneity into my life.

The lack of any substantial break in the Winter semester makes it seem to drag on especially with the frigid weather, which would be much more enjoyable if there was some beautiful snow to go with it. Nonetheless, we had our last "break", meaning one day off, this last weekend. Events were coming and going there were possibilities such as, Fresno, St. George, Sports games, vocal performances, skiing and snowboarding, homework etc... my plan was to stay in Provo, as much as I wanted to get out. After I resigned myself to not going anywhere, my roommate, Megan marches in and says, "Hey! Do you want to go to LA?" I was in shock and wasn't mentally prepared for the trip but after hashing out the pros and cons for about an hour, we said "Why not?" So we decided to go! I was super hesitant and astounded that I would just up and go to California. But what can I say I am a flaky, free agent, college student.

Megan, Nathan, Josh and I left Provo at about 6:00pm on Friday and caravaned to Las Vegas. I had never done anything in Las Vegas except driven through it. We stayed at a girl's family's house next to the temple, they were the nicest family ever. Saturday morning they made
us the most scrumptious breakfast which included, whole wheat pancakes, fresh strawberries, whipped cream, homemade maple syrup and eggs. It was wonderful to be in a family home, so refreshing. We left in the morning, and went to the Bellagio Hotel and were planning on seeing the water show, however due to high winds we were not able to. We walked through the casinos and I could only handle a small amount of it, the lights, alcohol, and smoke was just not enjoyable for very long. The strip was a kind of see it once experience .

We then headed to Los Angeles, California. We were going to be staying at Nathan's grandpas house. Nathan's older sister and her roommate also live there. They were the sweetest, most hospitable people. When we arrived, Grandpa took us out the most delicious Chinese restaurant.
We devoured all of the entrees. Grandpa was the cutest man ever! Leslie, was the best tour guide, because she is kind of a celebrity she knew everything about Hollywood. After dinner, she took us out for a night on the town, we hiked up to the Hollywood sign and saw the beautiful
lights of LA. She also showed us around the Chinese theater, where the celebrities hand prints are and the stars on the sidewalks. They were also setting up for the Oscars so that was fun to see all the preparation. It was kind of rainy but because it was a Saturday night,
there was a lot of clubbing going on.


I definitely felt a little out of place, a little Mormon girl with sneakers, jeans and pea coat on,
versus the the girls in extremely short skirts, tight shirts and stilettos. I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb, I don't think I would ever fit in that atmosphere and don't ever want to.

On Sunday, we went to church at Grandpas ward. It was so refreshing to be in family ward and in California out of the Provo bubble. After church, Nathan's older sister, Lindon, took us to the Santa Monica pier. It was a gorgeous day on the Pier and the wind was gently blowing, the water was a little nippy, but definitely bearable, and it didn't matter because we were on the beach. Everything was green and the sand was warm. I loved every moment of soaking in the sun. She then took us to the Los Angeles temple, it was beautiful. And the visitor's center was newly redone and it had been a while since I had been in one and it was so fun to look at all the new technology that they are using now a days to spread the gospel.

Leslie is from Arkansas and so she made us a wonderful southern meal, including chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and collard greens. I had never had collard greens and they were that bad! On Monday morning, Grandpa took us out for a delicious meal at a wonderful
bakery.

And then we headed back for the wonderful bubble of Provo. Well back to lovin' school.

I Found a New Hobbie

It could possibly be...

the example of an awesome Mom that always cooked amazing food,
the Idaho attitude of generosity and openness rubbing off,
my awesome roommates that love to be my "sous" chefs,
the Mormon instinct,
my maternal genes kicking in,
the passion for trying new things,
the Brown family traditions I was raised with,
a way to gain relief from school work,

...whatever it is, it gives me the LOVE and DESIRE to cook for people.


It brings me great joy and satisfaction to have people sit down at my table and not have to worry about anything and the food is already prepared for them. It is quite a puzzle to get everything cooked and prepared right on time, but after the dishes are all cleared and people are full and satisfied its such a great feeling of accomplishment.
My roommates often say to people when they come over, "If you need any maternal needs taken care of, ask DaLynn, she will be there for you." So maybe that is where the drive comes from. Anyways, it is always fun to found things that you really enjoy doing, what ever it may be :)

One Year Ago...

One year ago today, I had one of the best experiences of my life. I went to the Jerusalem Center, I would not trade that experience for anything. And I am going back....sometime. Oh mylanta 2010 went so fast. Well parts of it did.
Highlights:
-Trying out skiing
-Getting a new laptop for college
-Going to the BYU Jerusalem Center
-Seeing the Giza Pyramids
-Eating cow tongue. (Not recommended)
-Staying on the Sea of Galilee
-Spending the summer with my family
-Transferring to BYU-Provo
-Having my Idaho roommates come visit me
-Trying the completely "random" room-roommate thing.
-Taking 8 trips back and forth to Utah
-Riding in a Limo
-Trying Calamari
-Attending Christmas Shows: The Forgotten Carols, The Nutcracker, The Christmas Carol, and Jon Schmidt.
-Finishing Statistics
-Completing all my Generals
-Getting a new job as a secretary
-Seeing SLC temple square all lit up
-Ice skating for New Years with friends

Well that about sums up my year! Awesome. Bring on 2011!

"Cutesie"

Bows, ribbons, flowers, coordinating, barrettes, clips, sashes, scarves, shoes, earrings, pictures, and MATCHING. I just love these things. Every semester I always try to get my roommates to match and coordinate for roommate pictures, I think it so cute but much to my despair it never happens. So as always it didn't happen this semester either. But nonetheless, I still think they are awesome. What a good semester with Stacie, Megan and Hanna.

Amazing Woman

“DaLynn, slow down, it is not a race!” Was what she used to say to me during every piano lesson, “You will sound a lot better if you don’t try to go so fast.” The faster I finished the quicker I could get my hands into her DELICOUS treats, my favorite were her peanut butter kiss cookies, or maraschino cherry cookies.
Walking into her house to the smell of FRESH homemade bread, or scrumptious pies was almost expected every visit. Her bed was ALWAYS made, the living room was in pristine condition, vacuumed orange carpets, grocery lists on the fridge, and a huge curl dryer on the table. She would KINDLY direct us to the toys downstairs or if we were lucky we could play with the toys under the oven. After playing downstairs for a while, she would come down and ask if we wanted an ice cream cup with a wooden stick. But she would say, “PLEASE go eat it outside.” And we were quietly reminded to shut the door on our way out. We would say, “Can we watch a movie?” Even though we only had the option of Cinderella, so she would say there is SO many better things to do. Sometimes she would say, “Do you want to come back to Audra’s room.” This was a huge treat, Audra’s room! Wow how COOL! And then she would show us her newest sewing project. Which was ALWAYS for someone else. Maybe even ME. My birthday was NEVER forgotten, I think I got the same ABC cookbook twice, but it didn’t matter, I loved it just the same. Playing in the doll house was an ALL TIME favorite; take your shoes off before you go in! Upon leaving there was always a SWEET warm hug with her very strong hands. But what I will never forget is the sweet legacy she left. As I was at the hospital this weekend with her, I know she doesn’t know me and doesn't remember a single thing, yet as she was trembling her hands, I put my hand on hers and she played with my finger, I could feel her ever present spirit radiating and it comforted me as I started to bawl. I will never forget her wonderful example. Love you Grandma!

The Season of Gratitude

One of my favorite General Conference Talks this session was President Monson's talk on gratitude. I have reread it many times since I was there live and it just impresses me every time. And since it is a season of gratitude, I always like to write things that I am grateful for. These are my top things:
-The Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life
-Supportive Parents who love me and want to help me succeed
-A wonderful place to gain an education
-My friends and roommates
-Jesus Christ and the atonement

"We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.... The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life." President Thomas S. Monson

I am more excited this thanksgiving to go home and see my family than I have ever been before! Plus Provo is FREEZING! :) (but gorgeous)

Forever Stained

Everyday there is always something that makes me laugh hysterically.
So yesterday, I was able to go to the BYU vs. USU basketball, it was a great game and a awesome game to be a cougar. :)
However, I met some friends at the library afterward, because we are just stalwart students like that. I was concentrating pretty hard on my Statistics homework. Then out of the blue I hear Kennedy say, "Its a bird". And then I hear the flapping. Stacie yells, "No that's a BAT". At this point the 4th floor of the library turned into chaos. I was in awe and didn't move, meanwhile Stacie and Kennedy are clinging to each other and hiding behind bookshelves. As the bat swooped around the ceiling it got lower and lower and then all of a sudden it was over our table. At this point, I freaked out and jumped into the bookshelves with Kennedy and Stacie. The bat migrated to the other side of the 4th floor and we knew because we could hear the chaos forming as well. Mind you the 4th floor the library is the Quiet Zone. It suddenly turned into the NOT so quiet zone. I heard two boys yell, "Its like the office." They darted off with a coat and a garbage can. At the entry of the 4th floor the bat was trapped, by this time it had quite a crowd, paparazzi included. It was quite the scene. They threw a jacket at it and the bat hit the wall and fell to the ground, it got out from underneath the jacket. The boys threw another jacket at it and it was trapped. They quickly grabbed the garbage can and scooped it up, put a garbage bag over it and made a little air hole, so the little buddy could breathe. Everyone gathered and took pictures of the little creepy thing. I don't know where they put the bat, but about 20 minutes later the police came up. They said they had heard there was a bat on the 4th floor, we were like way to go security, way to be on top of it. After the commotion settled, it went back to the normal grind at the library. That spot on the 4th floor of the library right by the media lab will forever be stained in my memory.

Lessons We Learn

Today we had a WONDERFUL ward conference, the bishop spoke, as well as the Stake President. They both are wonderful men and have such a sweet spirit radiating about them.
One of the things that struck me that my Bishop spoke on was about choices.
He said, "You can only do the big things right if you are doing the little things right." I loved this, he went on to list the little things that guide us along a safe secure path to making big decisions, these include:
-Meaningful Prayer
-Scripture Study and Pondering
-Temple Worship
-Partaking of the Sacrament and renewing our covenants
-Serving others
-Caring for the poor and needy
-Magnifying our callings

All these in a sense are "little" things bring us to our Heavenly Father. They help us gain a strong hold to the iron rod. I have a strong testimony that as we do these things we will gain a knowledge of who we are and who we are to become. I love my Heavenly Father and I am extremely grateful for the blessings that he pours out to me.

Bleeding True Blue

Soooo obviously I am back from Israel, much to my dismay. I still reflect on those days quite frequently. But I love having my J-ru Crew up here in Provo its a blast.
I do not know if I have fully adjusted to being a full blown cougar, but I am sure having blast!
Hope we can win tomorrow! :)

Gamla

This at the top of Gamla. Gamla is in the Golan Heights, its a mountain that resembles a camel. It was a good hike, in Matt. 5:14-16, "a light on a hill" this mountain has the perfect image. You can see the Sea of Galilee from here. Christ would have taught at the synagogue on the top of this mountain.

This is Lebonon!

We went to a mine field, and I didnt realize it was real until one of my friends threw a rock into the area and everyone freaked out. So that sign its real and they dont want to clear the mines yet because Israel is afraid of Syria coming and attacking back so therefore there are still landmines. A little scary.

Eating Fishy and Freezing Water

This is a restaurent that we went to that served fish from the Sea of Galilee. The fish that they served would have been the fish that Christ ate and performed miracles with. I actually pizza, but I did try the fish and it wasnt to bad at all. People ate the eyes and the brain and that took it a little to far.

We hiked down to this beautiful water fall in the Golan Heights.

This is Me and Kim getting into the absolutely freezing cold water. I couldnt believe we actually got in it, I had never been so cold in my life and I stayed cold for the whole day. Kim didnt think it was that bad.

But we swam all the way to the back and got into the rock. We were so proud of ourselves. Until we realized we had to swim all the way back. I could feel my blood slow down and my lungs were not expanding like they should.

The Beginning of the Galilee Trip

The beautful sunset in Galilee. These pictures dont give it justice but the Sea of Galilee was so gorgeous.

Brother Manscill's class, we took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. It was so fun, got to sing Master the Tempest is Raging and study Jesus the Christ. It was so amazing to read about the teachings and parables that took place there.

Thats where I stayed for the 11 days I was in Galilee. We stayed in a kibbutz called En Gev on the Sea of Galilee, the mountians that behind are the Golan Heights.

Tel Aviv Trip #3

We went to Tel Aviv again. Its a beautiful city and the best thing was we went to a NON KOSHER restaurant. Lindsey and I got the most amazing breakfast for dinner meal I have ever had. It was blueberry pancakes with fresh blueberries, bacon and fresh fruit. It was so good, it hit the spot.

Me and some of my good girl friends jumping on the beach. The sunset wasnt tha amazing but it was really fun to set out and enjoy the beach.

Gotta love the Beach :)

The moon was amazing, we spent all day chilling at the beach, playing in the water, playing volleyball on the beach and relaxing.