MY FIRST POST!!!

Alright!!! So, this is my blog. I think we are in need of a little explaining. April 2010, I started wondering where my life was headed. I began to question what I was going to do with my future, I'm pretty sure I am gonna be an astronaut, cowgirl, doctor and the first woman president. BUT those things are probably not gonna happen anytime soon soooo....in the MEAN time, what should I do? The idea of a mission came and went...and came back again. But me, silly, silly me ignored the promptings. Time and time again I brushed the thoughts aside thinking "oh, only weird girls go on missions. I don't want to be a sister missionary!"

Well time went by, online classes were taken. And I figured School was where I was headed.....but it just didn't feel right. Boo, why must I BE so dramatic? So I humbled myself and asked for some help. I prayed, and then prayed some more. BYU-Idaho was NOT where I was supposed to be, well great WHERE AM I SUPPOSED TO BE?!?! A mission? dangit. Okay, okay. So I prayed some more....then I prayed a little more because this is 18 months we're talking about. "DUH Meredith! Get going!! You're LATE!" FINE! So about the 16th of September my papers were completed and in Salt Lake City.

One glorious afternoon while driving a potato truck for Baker Farms (not driving well, just driving) I got a call from my father "your call is here! And I'm opening it". I-90 has never SEEN speeds like mine that day. Let's be honest that poor envelope never had a chance, it was toast the moment they printed my name on the outside. I tore it to shreds and read the following: Dear Sister Ottley: You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Brazil Salvador Mission.

So there it is! I'm headed to Brazil. I leave my beloved United States on January 25, 2011 and land in Sau Paulo, Brazil and report to the MTC in Brazil on the 26th. I know this is the right thing for me. I cannot wait!!! There is NOTHING I'd rather be doing with my life. It may sound like I didn't want to go but I've never made a better choice, ever.

I love you all and hope you will write me lots and lots. :)