Cumorah

Well... I believe I mentioned I'd be spending a few weeks in Palmyra New York while participating in the Hill Cumorah pageant.  The pageant has come and gone and I'm left with some wonderful friendships and memories that I will always cherish.

I'm sorry I didn't post more during the month.  We didn't get much time at home, when we did it was usually sleeping time.  And that small amount of sleeping time was often split between actually sleeping and letter writing, emailing, uploading pictures etc.  Not a lot of time left for blogging.  Whoops!

So here is a little glimpse of this awesome experience:

 We started out really tired but excited to start our new adventure. Some of us were so tired that we put our clothes on inside out (*cough cough* DAD).  Oh how we love red eye flights..... or maybe not. We were so tired that we got to palmyra, plopped down on a plot of grass and slept for a few hours.  Yes.  We looked like Hobos.

Of course I had to find the Maori Book of Mormon! Or the "Pukapuka A Moromona" I'm still missing my bestie Nikora can you tell?

 Lets just say spencer likes weird new foods.  Horseradish wasabi anyone?

We sure did work hard.  Falling asleep was a common occurrence.

Everybody at pageant spent their free time with their "cast team" which was determined by age group.  Mine was by far the greatest.  Loved it.  Love them.  I will miss spending my days doing crafts, playing games, and making fun crazy memories with friends. 

I spent a few nights "sleeping" with my friends in the dorms.  I'm not sure if we actually got much sleep, but it was fun!!

One of my favorite parts of pageant was sharing my testimony and a message with audience members before the show.  I love missionary work and I love sharing my testimony that Christ lives and loves us.  Guess who I found? Elder Zachary Harris (a friend from high school) has been serving his mission in New York for about 18 months now, so good to see him!!

I was especially grateful for the 3 opportunities I had to visit the Sacred Grove.  There is an amazing feeling of peace there.  I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith.  And now I can say that I've been there where it actually happened!

Pageant was great.  BUT there was one thing I hated about it.  The ending.  Come on? Why can't we just stay here and do this forever? Ok jk jk I understand it has to end and we have to get back to real life but man I really hate goodbyes.  People come into my life, I love them, and then they have to leave.  Thats just how it works.  I get it. But I hate it.  It happened in high school, summer trips, college, and it even happened with Nik.  Today it happened with pageant, I had to say goodbye to these great friends.  Most of us will be serving missions over the next two years which means we won't see each other for a while, God be with you till we meet again! 

I'm so grateful for this opportunity.  It gave me the emotional and spiritual boost I needed.  It helped me to realize why I'm going on a mission, and how much I'm going to love it.  It helped me understand what Jesus is like and how much I want to be like him.  My heart has truly changed and I'm ready for the next big step!

I can't wait to get out there and serve at the same time time as my best friend. My testimony of missionary work has grown over the last few weeks and I'm so blessed to have so many people I love out serving the Lord.