The Final Countdown

Hey everyone!! I have now less than 30 days until I leave everything behind and depart to Upstate New York to serve a mission. Time has flown by... but now that 98% of the preparation is done I can just sit back and enjoy quality time with the family. Its been nice watching tv, relaxing, going mission shopping, studying, babysitting, etc, but soon that will all be over and then it'll be time to get to work. Many of my friends have asked me "What exactly does a LDS missionary do on a mission?" and the answer is simple... SERVE! However, there are two distinct sides of service. There is the basic form of service which includes constantly preforming good deeds for others to make them feel loved and also help them in their time of need. So I am predicting I will be raking a lot of leaves and snow shoveling will play a big part in the future haha! The other service that I will provide is spiritual service. Teaching and bringing people to the knowledge of Christ and that He lived and died for us so that we can return to the presence of God. This form of teaching we call "Proselyting." This will be the focus of my mission, but I will always be on the lookout to help anyone, even those who are not interested in learning my faith. I will be very very busy in the near future, but I see the next year and a half as my time to make the world a better place. It will be hard, but it will be worth it!

NY State Map

Most people when they heard the words "New York", they automatically think of New York City, Long Island, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Wall St., subways... and pizza. However my area of service will be nowhere close to those locations, except for the pizza. Everyone loves New York style pizza! Upstate New York is almost like a different world full of Universities, farms, smaller metropolitan areas, and national\state parks with the most amazing scenery. Here's a state map so that everyone can understand the geography and where I'll be living, which is the area shaded in Red!