Sunday, June 3, 2012
Day 671: Here today, gone to Maui.
Posted by
Lindsay Brooke.
On Memorial Day, I left for Maui and came back Thursday night. I have never been to Maui before, so it was fun to get away for a week, even if it was to lay on another beach. Everyone in Hawaii is very friendly and welcoming, but more so in Maui than I have noticed on the other islands I've been on. I was getting discounts left and right, being told where to go, what to do, and seeing some of the most beautiful sunsets I have seen in Hawaii. It was a relaxing week of laying out, snorkeling, swimming and shopping. I was seriously so carefree that whole week. Who gets to take off a week of work to take off to Maui? I feel so lucky. I was seriously soooo relaxed. This seriously is the start of a great summer.
While I was in Maui, I got the call I have been waiting a month and a half to get. Yes, my friends who have been keeping up, I am doing study abroad in Jerusalem, Israel this Fall semester. I almost started crying when I got the call, I was so happy.
Let me start from the beginning. I really wanted to go last fall semester, but felt like it wasn't my time to go, so never submitted my application. I waited a year and started the application process once again. I got all of my paperwork done, sent off my application, and went to NYC knowing that when I came back, I would know soon enough whether or not I was accepted (although I had no doubt in my mind that I would be.) I told EVERYONE that I had turned in my Jerusalem application. Looking back, I probably would have kept it more of a secret, but I was so excited, I couldn't contain myself. I was going to travel abroad and was so so so stoked.
About a week after I got back from NYC, I was at the beach, when I got a mystery number call. I didn't answer it, and later listened to the voicemail. The woman on the other line said she was from the Jerusalem Center, and that I was missing one of my forms (my ecclesiastical endorsement) so my application wasn't complete. I called back saying that I did it, and that my Stake President should have sent it in. She said they never received it, and I had to submit another one before my application could be complete. I started to stress because it was the week before finals week, so this was adding another thing to my list of things to do. My Bishop and Stake President had both been released, so it wasn't a quick fix. I had to meet with 2 new people, who talked to me for a while because they didn't know me. It was a stressful week, but I was able to get in and my application was finally complete. All I had to do was wait for my acceptance letter. My family came to visit and seriously the day after they left, I received my letter. I found out that I was not accepted, but #6 on the wait list. I was absolutely crushed. I was so angry, I couldn't believe that I wasn't accepted. I knew it was because my ecclesiastical endorsement was late, and I felt so hurt because that was out of my control. She told me I could call back anytime to check my status on the waiting list. I called back 2 weeks later and found out that I had moved to #4. I called back again after the first payment was due to see if anyone else had dropped out, but I was still #4. I decided to wait until July to call back again to see if I had moved up the list.
People started to ask if I had heard back from Jerusalem yet. I was so embarrassed and wished that I hadn't told anyone about my application. With each person that asked, I grew more and more upset that I wasn't going. I wanted to go so badly, and this is something that I have been waiting more than a year to do. I felt that maybe this was something I was not meant to experience and that I should just come back to Hawaii in the Fall to graduate. I didn't really feel great about that decision, so I started looking into internships or job opportunities for Fall semester.
Last week, after going back and forth on the whole decision, I finally decided that I was not going to come back to Hawaii for Fall and bought my plane ticket home for July. Ultimately, I want to finish out my last semester in Winter and graduate in April like I had originally planned. I wasn't sure what I was going to do for Fall, but I knew I didn't want to spend it in Hawaii. So I left for Maui, and decided that when I came back, I would figure out my life plan from September-December.
So I was in Maui, on my way to a new beach, when I felt my phone ringing. I looked down, and saw that it was Jerusalem. I said, "Oh my gosh" and answered it. I still remember the feeling I got and the happiness that came when the woman on the other line told me there was an opening and whether or not I wanted it. I seriously felt like I could start crying. All my stress and anxiety was gone. It was all working out. And I am so so so thankful. I read this quote today:
Sometimes you just have to stop worrying, wondering, and doubting. Have faith that things will work out, maybe not how you planned, but just how they're meant to be.
I realized that I need to have more faith in the future. I get so stressed when I don't have a plan or know what to do. I think I was being tried for my patience, and I'm not really sure if I passed the test ha. I need to learn to have faith and trust that things will work out the way they are meant to be.
I'm leaving Hawaii near the end of July. And leaving for Jerusalem Aug 28.
I'm finally going to use my passport!!
listening to: Maroon 5- Payphone.
2 comments:
AHHHHHHHHHHH! AJLDJFAS;GKL;SDJAKSJF;AK
I am so excited for you! (and jealous!) I'm so so glad everything came together. You deserve it!
Thanks Britt! Hopefully we can meet up before I leave! Miss you!
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