Mesa, Arizona Temple!

Going to The House of The Lord!

Mesa, Arizona Temple

Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved this Temple. More specifically, the Temple grounds, as I had never been inside. Many Christmas times my family and I would visit the Temple grounds to see the beautiful Temple lights with the many nativity scenes and the gigantic three wise men on the grounds behind the visitors center.

 The Huge North Star

 My sister and niece in front of the gigantic Wise Men

 Brothers, sister and grandma surrounded by beautiful lights.

The Mesa Temple

I have always just had a love for being on these sacred grounds with the thing that is most important to me! My family! It is no coincidence that I feel the most peace while with my family at the place where families can be sealed together forever!

So you can imagine my excitement...

when I get to go in the Temple myself for the first time! The experience was incredible and new! It was different than anything I experienced before. I felt the Spirit with me through it all. The Temple is the House of the Lord where one makes promises with God and he blesses you and makes it possible for families to be together forever!
That was my absolute favorite part! Being in the House of the Lord with many members of my family. My dad's parents, my parents, my mom's mom, my oldest brother and his wife, my oldest sister and her husband, my second oldest brother, and a surprise, my cousin and his wife who had no idea I was going through that day!

Me and me Mom in front of the Temple!

My brother Scott, my dad, my brother Brad, my aunt Ruth and her kids(in the back with), my dad's mom, and his dad!

I am so excited to go back again soon!

My Mission Call

 As soon as I turned in my papers to my stake president, I waited in agony for my mission call to arrive. I knew my call would be coming soon, because I was able to log in to my missionary email  on Thursday, 3-19-15, which meant my call had been assigned! I was praying that my call would come on the 21st. It was possible! Utah is only a state away from Arizona. But, my best friend/roommate Lisa Rios was calling it, it wasn't going to come until the 28th. Lisa Rios (I know, confusing, same first name as me. I'll just refer to her as Rios from now on) had just received her call a few weeks earlier, and was guessing that my call would come in the same time line as hers, the Saturday a week after being able to log in to the missionary email. And it would come in the evening.

Well, She was right! I got my call on the 28th. That day was very interesting and just awesome all together. Early that afternoon, Rios and I had the Elders and Sister Missionaries from our ward over and they taught a lesson on Zone meetings (a type of meeting that missionaries have) and we also did some role playing. What an epic lesson for the day I received my mission call, getting taught by missionaries and role playing as one.

After that Rios and I ran some errands and still no call from home (I put my parents' address down for where I wanted my call to be mailed to.) I was starting to wonder if Rios was right. Was my call going to come tonight, or would it come Monday. I really hoped she was right. We got back to our house and started talking about nothing when my cell started ringing. (It was about five o'clock) I looked at the caller ID and it was my sister Megan. "Could it be ... " I thought. Maybe. She said that her and Tricia (my other sister) would be at our parents' house. So I picked up the phone, Rios standing right next to me, gripping my arm, having read the expression on my face.

"Hello?"

"IT'S HERE!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"

(I seriously screamed for ever.)

I told Megan thank you, hung up and Rios and I immediately went over to my parents' house. 

It was so incredible. The Spirit was so strong, I could not stop smiling. We stopped by the store on the way over and I am sure the cashier thought I was crazy because I was so happy.

Anyway, I got to my parents' house and nearly all my immediate family was there. My dad was at work, but was on the phone, Scott and his wife Michelle were also on a phone, and everyone else was there in the living room. 

The obvious thing happened next. The cameras were recording, and I opened my call! I was so surprised when I read where I was going. No one had even guessed anywhere in the UK, let alone the capitol of England!

"Sister Haynie:
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 England London Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months.
You should report to the England Missionary Training Center on Thursday, July 9, 2015. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the English Language."

England London Mission! 
Woot! Woot!

 My Call!

Lisa Rios and I with our Calls. Lisa²!

The Mission Calls of Lisa²!

It is seriously one of the best feelings ever to know that Heavenly Father not only thought that you were worthy to be called to preach His gospel, but to be assigned to a specific area to teach His children! People of the London area, here I come! I promise to work hard with and for you!

~(Soon to be Sister) Lisa Haynie

Introduction

Hello everyone!

I am (Sister) Lisa Haynie and soon I will be serving my Heavenly Father and savior Jesus Christ in the England London mission! I got my call on March 28, 2015 and have about a month left to go until I am on a plane (for the first time by-the-way) to the London MTC!(also first time going to another country!)

I decided to start this blog when I was scouring the internet for any information I could get on my mission area. I wanted tips and advice on clothes, what to pack, shoes, how to mentally/spiritually/emotionally/physically prepare, etc. Anything that could get me in the best possible shape for the easiest transition into missionary life when I landed in England. After hours of searching, I found this website with a bunch of blogs that are updated weekly from missionaries serving in the England London mission! Jackpot!

(Even if you are not going to England, the original home page is filled with helpful information on all missions.This would have saved me soooo much time in my search for advice. You are welcome!:))

The blogs have really helped me understand so much about serving a mission, specifically in England. Oh! And they have gotten me simply ecstatic to start the work! I am about to burst, I am so ready to be out there! There is just the problem of me not having collected all the things I will need to bring with me. Otherwise, I could be out there right NOW !

All in good time, all in good time...

So here I am , and here you are, and hopefully I can help some of you on your quest: preparing-to-be-the-best-prepared-pre-mission-missionary. I also hope to post every time I learn something new, that I think might be helpful information, on here until the day I leave, and hopefully even after I return :).

P.S. This is my first blog ever, I am still tweaking things here and there, please be patient with me. Thank you!

~(Soon to be Sister)Lisa Haynie