The Final Entry -- Pre-mission

Hello all who have been keeping up with my life as a waiting missionary girlfriend! I'm coming to the close of this chapter of my life and about to start an exciting new one. I leave my hometown January 22, 2013 - just one short, full day from now. Although I am so excited about the mission, I will be sad to leave my wonderful friends and family back home. 

Life has been pretty hectic since the last time that I wrote. I got really sick and was out of commission for about a week until I got a blessing from my dad and brother saying I would start to heal quickly and that I didn't need to worry -- I would be better before it was time to leave for the MTC. Isn't the Priesthood amazing? I honestly started feeling better from the moment they laid their hands on my head. I just feel so blessed to have this power so prevalent in my life. 

After I started feeling better, I started helping Dad out at work with some emergency paperwork he needed to get done. I always enjoy working with him because he will always take me out for a Daddy/daughter lunch!

I am a nerd, so I went to my old high school to visit all of my favorite people as well. I've found that it's pretty hard to say goodbye... It was really wonderful to get to see them all again and share the news about my going to serve the Lord.

I also recently tried snowboarding for the first time. My Dad and brother Chris would both tell you that I did awesome if you asked, but that's a lie.... I was on my butt most of the day. And boy oh boy, was I sore after! I really had a great time and I believe that the next time I go, I will do much much better.  

After that, it was time to work on my Farewell talk. I had 15-20 minutes on a topic that was unassigned... I thought I was going to have a heart-attack. But it went surprisingly well! I got my ideas from President Uchdorf's talk about finding finding your own "Happily Ever After." It's one of my favorites and has such a wonderful message that should be continually shared. 

Sunday evening, I got to have one last hurrah and had the wonderful opportunity to see so many wonderful people who have made such a large impact on my life. My parents threw me a wonderful farewell including delicious food! I felt so blessed to have so many friends and family come to send me off. I honestly don't know what I have ever done to be so incredably lucky! Thanks so much everyone! You'll never understand what it means to me to have you all so involved in my life! I love you!

So, it's the Monday before I leave for the MTC. I will be getting set apart tonight, so I will no longer be blogging or facebooking. I will be spending the first 6 weeks of my mission in the Missionary Training Center in Utah. I would love to hear from whomever would like to write. My address is:
Sister Madison Claire Perry
MTC Mailbox # 253
CA-LA 0306
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793    

 It's finally my turn to go out and serve the Lord. I cannot wait to get to share this incredible gospel with those who are so readily searching for a sure foundation in which they can build their life.  I want to let you all know how much I love this gospel and I know this church to be true. The Book of Mormon in along with the Bible give you all the answers you need to know to return to live with your Heavenly Father for time and all eternity. It is THE ONLY way by which man can be saved. The Lord has promised us that if we hold true to the commandments and teachings that we have been taught, we will be able to gain all things. He will always keep His promises. I hope those of you who do have the gospel in your lives will treasure it and share it with others. And I hope that those of you who may not have it, will come unto Christ. Rely on his everlasting love. Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world and we owe everything to Him. 

The Man in Milan

For those of you wondering, Landon is doing really well. This is his first transfer as a trainer and despite what he says, he is doing a fantastic job. Even with all the craziness that has been going on, I can assure you that I have not be shurking my girlfriend-ly duties. His birthday and Valentines day are coming up really soon. I just sent him a super cute package with the deck of cards with 52 things I loved about him, a homemade pillowcase, candy, a tie, and some other fun treats.  Life as a missionary girlfriend can sure be hard at times, but waiting is the most wonderful decision that I have ever made. I hope that any other MG's out there remember that! The Lord has blessed me in so many ways for my decision, especially with this opportunity I have to go and serve myself. 

Anyway, that's all for now... So long for 18 months. 

Having a Grand Old Time

Being home has been wonderful, but super busy. I don't think I have even switched sleeping patterns to this time zone yet because we've had so much going on to keep me off of it. There was of course Christmas, getting out two new lab puppies, the trip to Amish country, and we can't forget Haley's baby shower! It's been a crazy month. 

These are our two new pups who have been quite the handful. Giselle (left) and Kiera (right). They love my brother's dog Dopey who is also living with us right now. Potty training is going pretty well. We still have a few accidents every once in a while, but more often than not, they run to the door and whine to be let out. We are all so proud! It's weird to think that by the time I get home from my mission, they will be full grown. 

 Then, of course some exciting news is that we have all survived the end of the world (Congratulations) and have successfully made it to 2013!!!! 

I started off my New Year exactly the way I wanted to- talking to my fella (on tape). My family had a wonderful night with food, games, and friends. 

Next on my list of things to do was plan my sister-in-law's baby shower. My Chris and his wife Haley (well, mostly Haley) decided that they didn't want to find out what their baby was until the baby shower. So, we were to either decorate the whole room in Mickey or Minnie Mouse to let them know when they walked in. 

 Here's a majority of the decorations that we did. We lined pink and blue balloons and little Mickey head cutouts all throughout the hallway to get them more excited to find out what little Peaches (that's the nickname for the baby) was. Then when they walked in, we had a blue balloon drop and all of these fabulous Mickey Mouse decorations. My wonderful friend Mert and my sister-in-law Patti came up with all of the ideas. I just helped to execute them. We ended up homemaking the cake with a huge amount of help from my wonderful Aunt Linda. Chris and Haley are thrilled to finally know what their little boy is!

Now it's Crunch Time

16 days in counting until I enter the MTC and I get set apart 2 days before that. I can't believe how quickly this is all happening. I've gotten just about everything done that I need. Clothes shopping complete (except for one or two more pairs of shoes), shots done, set up missionary email address... It's all coming along very nicely. Within the next 2 weeks, I have plans to go out with the sister missionaries and start dipping my feet in the water of full time missionary service. I am going so extremely excited!

How's the Fella?

 Landon is doing great. He just recently got a new companion and the two of them get along very well and are having great success. This is his first transfer as a trainer so he's a little nervous about that, but I know that he will do a wonderful job. We are coming up on his 8 month mark in 2 days so that is really exciting! He is getting so excited for me to be out in the mission field with him. We can't wait to swap stories and ideas and help each other along in our call.

The mail service in Italy drastically slowed during the holiday season so, as of my last letter and email, he has not received any Christmas packages yet from either me or his family. Hopefully that will get to him soon. 

Now, before I enter the MTC, I need to worry about his birthday and Valentines Day package. I can't believe that he's turning 20 in just a little less than a month! And I am so excited to celebrate another Valentines day with him. The past 18 months of my life since I have met him have honestly been better than I could have ever imagined. Even with the distance, he's  my best friend. I couldn't imagine my life without him in it. He and I say all of the time that it feels like we've known each other an entire lifetime. I am so glad that we both ended up going to the Hill Cumorah pageant in the Summer of 2011. That trip not only majorly strengthened my Testimony of the church and the gospel of Jesus Christ, but changed my life by adding him in. I am grateful for that decision to attend every single day.

So, time is running up. But, I will write on here one last time before I go to serve the Lord. I love you all. Thanks for reading.