The Adventure is About to Begin

Wow, guys! What an adventure the last nine months have been, as I have been preparing to serve a full-time mission. I leave for my mission this coming Tuesday, July 1^st. However, tonight I will be set apart as a missionary. I will get a blessing, and thereafter, I will begin living by mission rules. I will not use my phone, social media, and other technology after tonight. When I leave Tulsa on Tuesday, I will fly to Salt Lake City. On Wednesday, I report to the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, which is the college town BYU is in (about an hour south of SLC). In the MTC, I will be in classes to help prepare me to be the best missionary I can be. I will be at the training center until July 15^th.

While in the MTC (July 2-15), send mail to:

Sister Genevieve June Hickman

JUL15  CA-SAC

2009 N 900 E Unit 165

Provo UT 84602

Another great way to contact me in the MTC is through dearelder.com. You can write me through the website. If you submit it before noon, they will print it out for me and give it to me that same day! When you select my mission: select Provo Missionary Training Center (not Provo West), NOT Sacramento (because I am not there yet). It is FREE, same-day delivery. How cool! They will print your letter and give it to me that day (I know I just said that, but it is just so nifty). You will have to fill out a little bit of info, but my address listed above should be what you need. I won’t be able to write back until P-day, but it will be fun to read letters everyday if you send them!

So what is P-day? I will try to always explain the Mormon Missionary lingo. P-day stands for Preparation Day. We get one day off a week (kinda), and it is usually Mondays. That is when we get one hour on a computer to email, do laundry, and run a couple errands. It is still pretty structured like the rest of the days of the week. My email is listed on the side of my blog. That is the only way to communicate with me through technology. The only downside is that I have just an hour once a week, so I may not have time to respond!

Every week when I get my hour to email, I will do the traditional “missionary thing” and summarize my week. My friends are going to post it in this blog, so that it will be easily accessible. They will have it up by that afternoon/night of whichever day my P-day is!

Don’t text me…please! I will not have my phone. My brother-in-law is taking over my phone number while I am gone. The good news is that I will have the same number when I get back. But anyways, I don’t think he will want random texts from my friends…that would be awkward…

So, besides email, there is the good old snail mail. Feel free to send me letters anytime. I love letters. Mail them to the address listed on the side of the blog. Try to always address it as Genevieve, not Genny. They said it gets confusing when people use nicknames. By the end of these 18 months, you guys will be able to spell Genevieve in your sleep! I couldn’t spell it until I was about 16….that is not a joke. The address listed on the right is the address of my mission office. They will then forward my mail onto me in whatever area I am serving in. People have asked me if they can send packages….yes, you can! But be aware that it may not get forwarded to me from the mission office for a fews days. There are also strict rules on what we can and cannot do, so try not to send magazines or stuff like that!

There is an app called missionarygram, which you can download and send me pictures through. When you log-in, you’ll link it with my email. From there, you can easily send me pictures from your phone (yes, it has filters…I know, pretty cool) and a little message. It will go directly to my missionary email!

I am so excited to leave for my mission. The goodbyes have been bittersweet, mainly bitter. Just kidding…..actually not really, they really have been sad. BUT I am so ready to go now! The hard part is done, and I am ready to get going! When I write home my first few weeks, I will explain better what I do everyday because I know some people are confused. Essentially, our role as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ. These next 18 months will be very strict, but that is to help us stay focused on why we came on a mission. I will not see any family or friends, but I know they will be supporting me every step of the way. My mission will be challenging spiritually, emotionally, and physically, but the Lord will be with me every step of the way.  I know this Church is true, and I love the Gospel. That is why I am basically disappearing from the real world (seriously) to take this on. Thank you to everyone who has loved and supported me! The next time I write, I will be an official missionary in the MTC…..ekkkk I can’t wait!

With all my love,

(Almost) Sister Hickman