Today is the Day!!!!

Today I will be set apart as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I'm speechless.
But these quotes all relate to how I feel...

President George Q. Cannon (1827–1901), First Counselor in the First Presidency said, “God has reserved spirits for this dispensation who have the courage and determination to face the world, and all the powers of the evil one, visible and invisible, to proclaim the gospel and maintain the truth and establish and build up the Zion of our God fearless of all consequences. He has sent these spirits in this generation to lay the foundation of Zion never more to be overthrown, and to raise up a seed that will be righteous, and that will honor God, and honor Him supremely, and be obedient to Him under all circumstances.”

Harry Emerson Fosdick said; “Real Christians do not carry their religion, their religion carries them. It is not weight; it is wings. It lifts them up, it sees them over hard places, and it makes the universe seem friendly, life purposeful, hope real, and sacrifice worthwhile. It sets them free from fear and futility.”

Elder Glenn L. Pace said; “Sisters, I testify that when you stand in front of your heavenly parents in those royal courts on high and you look into Her eyes and behold Her countenance, any question you ever had about the role of women in the kingdom will evaporate into the rich celestial air, because at that moment you will see standing directly in front of you, your divine nature and destiny."

Farewell!

The time has come! It's only Thursday, but I don't have any more time for blogging before I'm set apart as a missionary. (on Sunday! YAY!!!)
For the past few weeks I've swayed from feelings of anxiousness or numbness. But recently all I feel is EXCITEMENT! I LOVE my savior Jesus Christ, I LOVE His church, and I LOVE teaching His gospel! My dream of being a missionary is coming true and I could not be happier! Is there really anything else I can say?
Nope! The only thing on my mind is "YAY YAY YAY YAY EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Until we meet again, I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes:

"When we stagger or stumble, He is there to steady and strengthen us. In the end He is there to save us, and for all this He gave His life. However dim our days may seem, they have been a lot darker for the Savior of the world. As a reminder of those days, Jesus has chosen, even in a resurrected, otherwise perfected body, to retain for the benefit of His disciples the wounds in His hands and in His feet and in His side—signs, if you will, that painful things happen even to the pure and the perfect; signs, if you will, that pain in this world is not evidence that God doesn’t love you; signs, if you will, that problems pass and happiness can be ours. Remind others that it is the wounded Christ who is the Captain of our souls, He who yet bears the scars of our forgiveness, the lesions of His love and humility, the torn flesh of obedience and sacrifice."
-Jeffrey R. Holland, January 2003 Ensign


Oh, and here's my mission address if you'd like to write me: (I'd love to hear from you)
Sister Andrea Monica Summerhays
Utah Salt Lake City South Mission
8060 S 615 E
Sandy, UT 84070

For My Friends

I love that the gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel about friendship.
One of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon is Mosiah chapter 18 because in my study and application of this chapter, I have learned about the covenant of baptism. I like to call it the covenant of friendship because truly, that's what it is. Thank you, Heavenly Father for blessing me with the commandment to be a good friend.

To me, we are emphatically taught in Mosiah chapter 18 what it means to "come into the fold of God, and to be called his people." The way is clear; God has commanded us to be friends. Through baptism, we promise to God that we will "bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; yea, and...mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and stand as witnesses of [God's love] at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death...that ye may have eternal life." Or in other words, endless life spent in the presence of God, our loved ones, and friends. Furthermore, we have been commanded "that there should be no contention one with another, but that [we] should look forward with one eye...having [our] hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another...And...that [we] should labor with [our] own hands for [each other's] support...And there [is] one day in every week that [is] set apart that [we] should gather [ourselves] together to teach the people, and to worship the Lord [our] God, and also, as often as it [is] in [our] power, to assemble [ourselves] together...And again...the people of the church should impart of their substance, every one according to that which he [has]...And thus they should impart of their substance of their own free will and good desires towards God...to every needy, naked soul." And because the people of Alma had become real friends "they did walk uprightly before God, imparting to one another both temporally and spiritually according to their needs and their wants." and "they [did] sing to [God's] praise forever."

Today I want to thank my dearest, sweetest, closest friends. I love you. Thank you for showing me God-like love, for accepting all of my craziness, meticulousness, and insecurities. Thank you for showing me your own kind of craziness and loveliness. Thank you for our memories, secrets, laughter, adventures, parties, and mistakes. I'm grateful that God has blessed me through you.

I'm also grateful to Shauna Niequist, for recording my own thoughts and feelings more eloquently than I could ever express:

"Friendship is acting out God's love for people in tangible ways. We were made to represent the love of God in each other's lives, so that each person we walk through life with has a more profound sense of God's love for them. Friendship is an opportunity to act on God's behalf in the lives of the people that we're close to, reminding each other who God is. When we do the hard, intimate work of friendship, we bring a little more of the divine into daily life. We get to remind one another about the bigger, more beautiful picture that we can't always see from where we are."

"Friendship is a sacred, important thing, and it happens when we drop down into that deeper level of who we are, when we cross over into the broken, fragile parts of ourselves. We have to give something up in order to get friendship like that. We have to give up our need to be perceived as perfect. We have to give up our ability to control what people think of us. We have to overcome the fear that when they see the depths of who we are, they'll leave. But what we give up is nothing in comparison to what this kind of friendship gives to us. Friendship is about risk. Love is about risk. If we can control it and manage it and manufacture it, then it's something else, but if it's really love, really friendship, it's a little scary around the edges."

"the closer you get to someone, the more that friendship gives you and the more force and power it has to make your life bigger and richer."

Room at my Table

Tonight I am making "room at my table" to write. I haven't blogged in...a very long time. My mind and life as it feels has been too scattered and disorganized for blogging time. I think I could write a novel about "how to stress out so much that while you may think you're accomplishing a lot, you're actually just running in circles like a crazy circus act, but instead of laughing at the end, you cry." Perfectionism will be the death of me; it is killing me; it has been my whole life. My resolution for today and for the rest of my life is to repel and ultimately vanquish perfectionism. It controls everything I do, and I hate it. God created me to act, and not to be acted upon. And so, I am choosing to embrace my imperfect, messy, flawed, sinful, foolish self. I will not allow my perfection addiction to enslave me any longer!
Today has been a blog-worthy day. It is December 1st, which means I have 18 days before I enter the MTC. (This could be an entire blog post in itself) I have 18 days left of my "current life" before I turn my entire self, time, energy, talents, and strength to the Lord for 18 months. Reality has struck again. For this reason, I had a tiny break down this morning. But praise be to God, because He is kind, and gracious, and loving, and so good to me. The rest of my day has been the perfect medicine for my ailment. First of all, I got a break from work today! Hallelujah! Secondly, I got to sing Christmas carols at my church's nativity exhibit which was a beautiful experience. I love singing. But more specifically, I love sharing what God has given me with other people. He's blessed me with a voice to sing, and a testimony of Jesus Christ. And when I get to share both at the same time, there's nothing quite as rewarding. Then I was able to enjoy some time with my family for Weston's 5th birthday! He is five years old now! Life is so fleeting. I really loved watching him open his presents, try not to smile as we sang happy birthday to him, and blow out his candles. He is so precious. Finally, tonight, I was honored to hear my favorite author, Shauna Niequist, speak at a Hope Fellowship women's banquet. I spent my evening at the table with Amanda, Brittney, some new friends, and many other beautiful women. We were physically and spiritually nourished by delicious food and inspiring words. It turned out to be exactly what we all needed. These are the things that I'm taking away from my experience tonight:
Christianity is lived, not preached.
I resolve to make time for quiet, meaningful, thoughtful prayer
"I'm jealous of myself right now"
I resolve to give my all (from best to worst) to Christ, exerting more effort to give Him my bad, broken, and ugly
Every woman needs to be given a scarf from someone who loves her
I will make room at my table for the unexpected
True hospitality is not color-coordinated, planned, or picture perfect
I want my family circle to include my neighbors, co-workers, and church friends
I resolve to give up comparisons and competition
I want to take time to experience anew the true story of Christmas, and re-live it each year.
Christmas is more about a pregnancy and birth than I'll ever realize until I have children of my own
I need to make time for myself; for rest, nourishment, and love
I resolve to make room at my table for pain and heart-ache
I want my friends to know that tears are equally as welcome as laughter
I want my home to be a place of warmth, rest, and peace. Where all can come to forget their worries and be reminded of how loved they are.
I resolve to live life slower, to make time for what matters most, and share God's love with friends, strangers, loved ones, and family.

And to close, here's one of my favorite quotes from Shauna Niequist
"You have stories worth telling, memories worth remembering, dreams worth working toward, a body worth feeding, a soul worth tending, and beyond that, the God of the universe dwells within you, the true culmination of super and natural. You are more than dust and bones. You are spirit and power and image of God. And you have been given Today."