Going Public
Well, I'm about to click "Send" on the email that will catapolt this blog into viewing, so I thought I'd give you all a proper Welcome.As you can see by glancing at the archives to the right, I started this Blog long ago when I first decided to "plant a seed". The seed I planted was to move toward serving a mission and the fruit that has been brought forth has been amazing.
Now, as far as what to expect here...as it reads in my little "mission statement" this is an account. An account of people, places, experiences and feelings. I reckon I'll talk about things you'll understand and things you won't. My time to type will be precious, and I won't have enough of it to explain everything and for that I apologize in advance. Lots of different people will be reading this, so if I say something you don't understand just click at the bottom of the post where it says "Speak your peace" and a box will pop up for you to leave a comment. I'm sending this link to people who'll know what I'm talking about when I refer to Kansas, being a member of the church, serving a mission, living in Hungary, etc. There are seriously centuries of experience and wisdom tuning in here and I am very confident that you'll be able to find answers to your questions.
As you examine the contents of this page, you are also bound to notice that mine isn't the only name attached to it. A very dear friend of mine, Bryce, has graciously volunteered to offer his help for me to maintain this blog and I am very much indebted to him for it. I won't be able to accomplish this without him.
As I write to you from these pages, you should probably prepare yourself-I'm going to be a missionary. Missionaries find and teach people about the church and help them join if they so desire to after learning about it. That means things here will be spiritual and that's not a side of me lots of you are familiar with. Right now I have the luxury of time and my posts can be a little chatty. Once I enter the MTC, things will change. My posts will be shorter when my focus becomes demanded by the Work, but they will continue.
My hope is that this can be a supplement for all of us. That I can still reach out to tons of people I love so that when we correspond individually I can be more personal and not shell out a variation of the same letter to everyone. Realize that I'll be talking about you here, but I will take great care to protect everyone's privacy and never mention full names or any information that might make you traceable to any ill-doers who pass through. However, I have no control over nor will I even be aware of what's written in the comments, so please be mindful of that as you use them.
And although I will be a missionary-I will also still be that beautiful unique spirit you all have come to know and Love. I'll address you as "Party People" and I'll introduce you to each other through posting a short description of the "Friend of the Week". This will be spiritual and informative, but it will also be fun and I think it will quickly become a perk to your weeks. It's also not meant to be a secret-whether I'm your friend, your sister, one of the companions with whom you served, your daughter, your third cousin twice removed on your paternal grandmother's side, whatever-feel free to forward this along to whomsoever your heart desires.
I'm excited to do this, and I truly appreciate everything all of you have done to support me. Whether you are aware of it or not, each of you has helped me to become a really amazing woman. When missionaries serve, blessings rain down upon them and upon their families-whether you only get a drop or a drenching downpour I know that those blessings will be passed along to some degre to every each and one of you (see what I mean about that Spiritual side of me?).
But now that I've gotten that out of the way, you should keep scrolling down and read about my very first Friend of the Week (it's a great one!)!
posted by Ashley @ 10:59 AM
