Just a few more days

Happy New years!

This will be my, Daniel's, last blog post before I leave on my mission. In this blog post I will go over some of my new standards and what I will be doing for the next two years. After this blog, my parents will take over. This Tuesday, I will be set apart as a missionary. 

Missionary Schedule

As a missionary I will be following a very organized schedule along with raising my standards. I will get up at 6:30AM each morning and then after a very busy organized day I will go to my bed at 10:30. 

In the next week, I will get set apart the last day of 2013 and then I start my service when I enter the Missionary Training Center on the 1st. This is where I will learn how to teach the gospel better. I will be in the MTC for about 12-14 days. 

As soon as I enter the MTC I will have a constant companion with me. This companion will always be in very close by. When I fly out to California we will eat lunch, go to Temple hill, eat dinner and then I will be assigned my first companion and we will begin work the next day. In these 2 years I will not be able to text, get on Facebook or play video games along with a lot of other things. I will be allowed to listen to approved music that uplifts. I am also allowed to email friends, family and others. Though I will only have one day to use email and for a limited time because I will be very busy. I won't be able to see family in my mission. 

There is so much that I am not able to go over all the standards, but a few other major rules are that I am not able to swim, if you would like to know why, read the bible. I will not be able to flirt! If you would like to know all of them you can read the Missionary Handbook.

Also, just a side note. Thank you if you have bee apart of my life because everyone has helped me get to this point. I hope the best to you all, and please do send me emails and letters :-) 

Two mini Farewell talks!

This past week has been good. I am currently in Broomfield, Colorado! Last week though, I was in Bountiful, Utah. I gave my farewell talk in each ward. In this blog post, we will go over some events that have occurred this week due to going on a mission soon and then I will talk about my farewell talks.

This week has been a good week. On the 18th of December, I ended being an employee for Supply Link. It has been great working for such a good company! We ended with a dinner party at "The Roof" in Salt Lake City! The next day I flew to Colorado and it took about 6 hours from point A to point B because of the heavy snow fall in Utah. 

Last week Sunday, I was able to give a mini farewell talk at the Mills Park Singles ward in bountiful. I was asked to talk about why I have decided to go on a mission and what I have done to prepare for it. Today, the 22nd, I was also able to give my farewell talk at my home ward in Colorado, Broomfield 1st ward. I feel it a good idea to combine both in this blog. Just a heads up, there will be pictures once my weekly letters to home start in a few week! Please do keep coming back and join the Facebook Group! 

I would like to share some stories that have helped me prepare for my mission. Having moved a few times and having lived in three different countries has helped me learn how to adapt to change a lot better. But the thing that has helped me learn how to deal with change was when I moved to Salt Lake City to live with 4 other strangers to go to college. This was probably one of the biggest things that I faced at that time because I felt like my whole support system had been pulled away from me, I would now have to cook dinner for my self, I would have bills to pay, and so on. I was very homesick, but after a blessing which my room mates gave, I was able to view life as the plan of salvation teaches us, and I was able to know that this was just for a short time. I am grateful for the friends that I was able to meet during these last few years as they have helped me grow and learn.

It has taken me some time to get to this point, but I feel it has all worked out perfectly. I was also able to receive my Patriarchal Blessing about half a year ago and that was such a blessing to be able to get that and to see the importance of going on a mission in my life mission. I know Heavenly Father wants me to go on a mission and I know it will not only benefit others, but also me as I have been able to observe those people who have come back from an honorable mission and how it has affected them.

I have also prepared by going to mission prep and talking to a lot of friend about their missions. The best thing that has prepared me the most is gaining a testimony.

I would love to share my testimony with you today. I know that Jesus lives and also loves us all! I know that He died so that we may have the opportunity to return to live with Him and Heavenly father again! I know that the priesthood is real! I know that when we keep the commandments that we are blessed! I know that we can live with our families together forever! I know that this Church is very true and I know that Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet of God who guides us TODAY. I know that the Book Of Mormon is true. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet and I know that the Atonement is real.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Looking into what to do with bank and driving license.

I got my mission call! :-D

YEAAHAA! On the 16th of October 2013, I got home to find a white envelope from the Office of the First Presidency! I waited two full days so that my friends could come down from Idaho to Utah! I then opened my call at about 9:00 PM on a Friday night (the 18th) So that my Opa en Oma could watch me open my call all the way from the Netherlands! We also had very close friends watch me open my call from England (about 4:00 in the morning there!) Here is the video!

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the CALIFORNIA OAKLAND/SAN FRANCISCO MISSION! You should report to the Provo Missionary training center on Wednesday, January 1, 2014.

Thank you all for watching me open this call! I gladly accept!