Take time to laugh: Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time I arrived in the romantic city of Nauvoo to serve as a performing missionary for 3 and a half months. Little did I know that I would have the most amazing, life - changing summer of my life! There's nothing better then being exhausted in the service of the Lord.

And there's nothing better then serving with the most amazing people in the world! Little did I know that these people would become my family!! Not only that, the Lord had even more exciting things in store, I would meet the love of my life in Nauvoo! Tyler. :)

Of course, we were missionaries back then, which meant mission rules. No dating. We had the amazing blessing of getting to know each other as missionaries first!

The summer was filled with laughter and joy as we served together.

One of my favorite parts was that Tyler and I got to be dance partners in the Nauvoo pageant! "Courting on stage" as Sister Camp would say.

We all created Zion and were a family! It was a summer filled with joy and love. We sprinted to the end and remembered why we were all called to Nauvoo for that specific summer and for a specific purpose. We had the amazing blessing of being full time representatives of Christ and bringing others unto Him through song and dance.

The summer came to a close and we may have left Nauvoo, but Nauvoo will always be with us. Life was exciting as we started a new chapter! We were released as missionaries, which meant now we could date! Tyler and I both happened to call each other the day after we got released, and then it was history! Our first date...We drove up to Brighton in my jeep (the jeep's top was off) Of course it started pouring rain, but that wasn't going to stop us! Rain or shine, we were lovin life! We got up to Brighton, and had a picnic dinner in the tepee. The clouds soon cleared, there was a fresh rain smell, the stars were out, we built a campfire out on Brownie rock (if any of you are familiar with Brighton) overlooking the beautiful skyline and ate banana boats and smore's. We talked and talked and it was a wonderful evening. That week we got to be with each other a few other times and then I left for China. (6 days after we had gotten home from Nauvoo)

China was wonderful (you can read my blog about it)! Tyler and I being away from each other for 4 months was not wonderful. But we pushed through and we made it! Again, rain or shine, we choose lovin life! I returned from China right before Christmas. And Christmas break, well let's just say it was perfect. I LOVED being home and getting to spend time with Tyler. I even got to go to California with him and his family!