Forward

Looking back 20 years is not always the easiest thing to do.  Memories pop in and out of my mind like bubbles; little glimpses of the past, covered in a shimmering pink and blue haze.  We have been counseled to keep a journal.  I think this especially important as a missionary, although I don’t think I fully comprehended why until now.  As I’ve been compiling the events of my mission and the lessons learned, I finally understand.  The haze is starting to clear.  While my memories are all beautiful, the experiences I had as a missionary were not all easy.  I learned more about myself, life, and the gospel of Jesus Christ in those short 18 months than I had in all my other life experiences up to that point combined.  The insights I gained serving the Lord in Slovenia are still profoundly blessing my life today, as a 40 year old wife, mother, photographer, author, educator, friend, sister, daughter, adventure enthusiast; in other words, in everything that I am.  I am so grateful to my loving Father in Heaven, who gave me that opportunity, and I am immensely happy to be sharing it.

My thoughts and emotions, along with the photographs I am including in this book, are personal.  They will not be the same for everyone.  However, with so many young women now serving in the mission field, I wanted to share them.  I hope that others will be able to relate.  I hope they will know that they are not, and will never be, alone.

I just finished reading through all of my mission journals.  What an incredible journey that was. I’m glad to see my language (English) got less slangy as they went along.  Hopefully, that means I did a little growing along the way.  Now, I’m excited to get started on this book.  It’s definitely a project I put off for way too long.  I hope it will be perfect timing for somebody.  Here we go…