Happy 4th of July

Today marks 236 years of Freedom of the tyrant King George the III of England. Today the Declaration of Independence was signed.  Happy 4th of July!

Today is also another very special day. I get set apart as a Missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  The day I become a representative of my Lord and Savior. I'm very excited! I cannot wait. And since today is my last day I'm going to go to the pool for the very last time then head out to Eustis to get set apart.

I'm going to miss you all, I love you all. And Once a month or every other week, I'll have a Blog Letter to send to my cousins :)

See Ya'll in 18 months

Love,

Sis. Whitney A. McFarlane

Packing Day

As I sit here today unpacking and repacking making sure that things all fit into my two suit cases; I start to think of all the people I would love to pack in my suit cases and bring a long with me. But seeing all the things that I have to pack, there is no way I can pack you, so I have to make room in my heart and bring you that way.  I'm really excited to go, and I'm sure that this week that I'm going to spend with my family in Utah before I report to the MTC is going to be a blast and will help me get over the fact that I'm leaving a lot of fantastic people in the world behind, though one will be in the MTC shortly after me. He'll be in Provo for 2.5 months while at the MTC learning Spanish. So you can say "so close yet so far away". And he won't be there until October. But till then we'll be over 2,000 miles apart, and after he goes to California we'll be 631 miles apart.

I will be living out of these two suit cases for a year and a half, transferring to different wards through out my missions. Just the seven pairs of clothing, two pairs of shoes and simple necessary things I need for everyday living. It is such a sacrifice to give up everything in every day life to go and serve the Lord, in gathering the tribe's of Israel. To going from staying up all night on the computer, sleeping in till noon, watching movies, hanging out with friends and doing what ever you wanted to no communications to family and friends except for once a week on p-day, no movies, no music, bed time curfews and rising very early. Its going to be a hassle for me, but you know what, its going to be totally worth it!

Tomorrow is my interview with the Stake President, then Wednesday is when I become a missionary, and Thursday I fly out to Utah! :)

I leave in a week

Alright I leave in one week to go on my mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I have been called to serve in the Utah Provo Mission and I report to the Missionary Training Center (MTC) July 11th. 

This is something new to me, so i'm really nervous about it because I really don't know what to expect. I'm afraid that I won't be the best missionary, and sound like I don't know anything about the church. But I know that this is going to be a learning experiance for me and a growing experiance as a person. Probably one last step I have to take before I get married and start my own family.  I'm not looking forward to saying "see ya laters" to all of my friends that I have gotten to know and love. Especially the one's I talk to everyday. Having to go from talking every day to once a week is going to take a heavy toll on me. But needless to say I'm very excited to be going on a mission. I've worked my butt off towards this goal since October of last year. Including having extreme dental surgery that I wish I could have avoided.  Its all for a good cause.

So I get set apart as a Full Time Missionary on July 4th, what a special day to become a Missionary of the Lord. Then July 5th I get on the aeroplane to Salt Lake City Utah, where I will be staying with my Aunt Julie for a week before having to report July 11th at 1:10 pm.  My cousin Courtney and I will be doing a temple spree before I have to report and we're going to be going to 6 different Temples, oh the blessing of living in Utah.  I'm going to have Her or my cousin Carli keep up my blog!

I am so thankful that I am going to have friends serving the Lord at the same time as I. We're going to make such a great support system for each other, encouraging each other!  Though, of all my friends serving Mission's I'm the only one in Utah. Everyone else is in California.

~Elder Bourgeois: San Fernando, California

~Elder Reinhardt: Arcadia, California

~Elder Kidd: Los Angelos, California

~Sister Gilmer: Riverside, California.

We're an awesome team!

I would like to bear my testimony, that I know with out a shread of doubt that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only true church on the Earth today. That Joseph Smith did see God the Father and Jesus Christ in the grove of trees in New York. That he was called to be a Latter-Day Prophet to restore Christ's Church upon the Earth again and to translate The Book of Mormon. I know that The Book of Mormon is another Testiment of Jesus Christ. That the contents of the book are true, that he did come to the America's after he was crucified and taught and ministered unto the ancient americans.  I know that Thomas S. Monson is the living Prophet today, that he continues to lead, guide and council the saints to continue to come unto Christ and becoming a member of the church. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

I wish you all the best of luck in everything that you guys do, I will miss you and will think of you guys from time to time! Keep me and all the other missionaries in the world in your prayers.

With love,

Sis. McFarlane.