How this thing happened and why we love it!!!

So we just ate Mac n'Cheese for dinner with hot dogs. Yummy! That is just one of the many small things we have taken for granted in our lives. You know you go about your life living it pretty much like everyone else, shopping, entertainment, etc., Then one day you wake up and say "Hey let's do something different" You think you’re ready for an adventure in your life, so why not. Let's do it!!! Problem is you don't know for sure what it is you want to do and where. Well that pretty much describes where we were 13 months ago this month. We decided that the Lord wanted us to serve a mission while we were young enough to do some work and enjoy it. So January 2011 we started finishing up the paper work. We officially filed our papers in April and received our call in July to report October 31st. That's right, Halloween day we entered the MTC as Missionaries. Now that was not much of an adventure but the food was really good, the teachers and lessons were wonderful. We met some really great people who have become our friends and are serving the Lord throughout various areas in the world. But then on November 11, 2011 our true adventure began. Now make sure you get this...we arrive on the main island at Eleven in the morning in the Lagoon of Chuuk in the Micronesia islands. Did you catch that. 11/11/11 at 11. It is pouring buckets of rain. BUCKETS of HEAVY rain. We are greeted by the other missionaries on the island with beautiful flower leis which they placed around our necks. Everyone smiling, laughing and happy to see us. Stop! Give us your pose, we need a picture. Soggy and all. The young Elders gather our things and we are off to see what adventure we are going to have for the next few years. Well, the roads here on Chuuk are more like dirt roads with really big pot holes in them. We call them "Chuuk holes". Before taking us to see where we will be living, they take us sightseeing. They take us shopping first thing at Ace Hardware. Well, now remember it was raining, dirt roads and we have lots and lots of mud. Ace is a big mud hole. First thing Elder Tiffany does is slip a little and now his foot is a mess. “WELCOME TO CHUUK” Oh I wish I could describe that better but I don't think I can. (Check out our pictures) This island is very pretty but it has a few interesting things about it. One, its third world > its official we have entered in our adventure, something out of National Geographic. Now back to what I was saying in the beginning, small things we take for granted. But not just small things, EVERYTHING. The young Elders here in our zone are amazing. They do such a wonderful job leaving everything behind and they stay strong. Makes me want to be a better person. Not just a spoiled American. That's right I'm just going to say it. I am both SPOILED and AMERICAN. And I don't think that's a bad thing. Matter of fact, if I weren't both of them things I would not be able to embark on this incredible adventure with my eternal companion, Elder Tiffany. So I am not going to pretend that it was easy in the beginning here because that would be a lie. But I will tell you that I have learned that life is an adventure. And every day is preparing you for something new if you will but only be open to it. We have entered into a life style you only read about or watch on television. It is just what we ordered. It’s funny because you think you know what you WANT and need but that’s not exactly what the Lord thinks. I found this quote last night on Facebook by (Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, [1997]) Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey…. delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas, and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride. Well, that quote pretty much says it all, doesn’t it. I am very thankful to the Lord for this opportunity to serve in these humbling circumstances with my companion and look forward to serving and loving the Micronesia people. I do miss the comforts of home, family and friends along with many other things like a glass of fresh cold milk being top on my list, BUT I will go and do… God Bless each of you and God Bless AMERICA!!! Sister Tiffany