Temple Time

I was blessed to have the most amazing experience this last week. I was able to go to the temple for the first time to receive my endowment. i was surrounded my family and escorted by my mom through the whole thing. I was also lucky to have one of my best friends Ally Taylor there too going through the first time. But most important it was an amazing experience where the spirit was strong and my testimony was strengthened even more of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was different than what i expected but even better than what i could have imagined. It made me even more thankful to be here on earth and that i have the gospel in my life. It has made me even more excited to share the gospel with the people of Guatemala so they can have the joy that the gospel brings me. The Gospel is true and amazing and I love it. 

Love These People

Thinking back on the past few months, i think it is safe to say that i had an amazing experience fall semester of college. This semester i learned a lot about myself, made some big life decisions and grew even closer to some of the greatest people i have ever met. Living in the dorm with my roommate Kenzie Harline was great. She is an amazing person and i was lucky to get such a great random roommate who was very down to earth and chill. We got along great and i loved living with her. I also had two great suite mates Wilsynn and Christina. Christina is from South Korea, she is very funny, and loves to chat. Wilsynn is an amazing cousin and i was lucky to live next to her. We never really hung out in HS i think because we went to different High Schools and both just did our own thing but it was great to have her next to me. i love her.

I think i have some of the best friends in the entire world. Let me say if you dont know Elle Snedigar, you should work on changing that. Elle is one of the greatest people that i know. She always knows what to say to make me feel just great about myself. She may be one of the funniest people i know and has a divine gift of making the coolest craziest faces i have ever seen and they never cease to make me to happy. She also has a great relationship with her Heavenly Father and Savior and i think it is amazing. I am lucky to call her one of my best friends.
Another amazing person who i got to spend this semester with would be Ashlyn Cowley better known as Shlyn. I only recently discovered shlyn senior year of high school but let me tell you i am so thankful that i did. she is also an amazing person. She is very talented and intelligent and witty and makes me laugh and is loving and a great example. she too has a strong testimony that radiates from her. i love her and am thankful for her in my life.
Now moving to The Hayden Brown. i am so thankful to have become such great friends with Hayden these past months. We met over the summer and have been great friends since. He is very funny and intelligent and democrat and genuine and not judgmental and a great guy. I think we were all destined to be best friends and i am so happy about that. He has been called to the Frankfurt Germany mission and he leave about a month after me and he is going to be stellar.
Now Lauren Zaharis is also a fantastic person. She is someone who i know always loves and and will be there for me. i really respect her and her drive to go to Salt Lake everyday to dance with her ballet company. she is a very talented dancer and i cant wait to see where she goes. she an amazing person.

So now the problem (but not really a problem because it is a fabulous thing) but i am moving home so i wont be able to see these great people everyday like i have. i am going to miss them all so much because they have helped me become a better person. I cant wait for the weekend when i get to go visit them!! Its been an amazing semester that i hope to never forget.

GUATEMALA CITY HERE I COME

Guess who's going on a mission!! This chick right here!!

I have been called to the Guatemala, Guatemala City Central mission. I could not be more excited. Not going to lie sometimes when i think about it i get a little nervous but then the fact that i get to share my testimony of the thing i love the most makes it all okay. Guatemala City looks AMAZING! everyone raves over it so i am so excited to live there for 18 months! My mission extends from the capital to the ocean with the mountains in between. I have heard that they keep the sister missionaries in the safe zones which are generally up in the mountains so i am so excited for that! one of my best friends Madeline has been to Guatemala a few times and she says it is so beautiful and she loves the people so much so like i have said many times I AM FREEKING EXCITED. Also, something amazing. One of my moms friends son is in my mission and he wrote home and said that the mission president said that they are just waiting for the army of sister missionaries to come down and help with the work. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?! i feel so lucky and blessed to be a part of this push of the gospel around the world. The gospel is amazing and i cant wait to share my testimony and help bring people in Guatemala unto Christ.

I was lucky enough to be surrounded by the people i love and am going to miss so much when i opened my call. My parents flew up which was a bonus! Also side note i have been so lucky to have Meagan up here in Provo with me. She is an amazing sister who i am going to miss so much. I will be reporting to the Guatemala MTC on April 3 which is going to be great but the bummer is i wont be able to see Meagan in the Provo MTC. But it will be ok. I love her so much and i am so thankful to have lived up here with her.

                                                                      She's pretty great.

                                                          Love them. They are the best.

                                She's the greatest and i am going to miss her so much.

                                                          Who wouldn't love Hayden.

     So lucky to have these two for my parents. They are amazing and i love them so much.

Yay for missions!
love,
Mackenzie

Welcome/ Pumpkin man 2012

Welcome to my life according to the blog world. I am not 100% how to do this and i dont exactly have to coolest life but i thought i would jump right in and give this a shot!

A couple weekends ago i finished my very first sprint triathlon called the Pumpkinman down in Boulder City, Nevada. So we went on down to Vegas on Thursday night and had to privilege of staying at the Foutz home. Unfortunately Shlyn had to stay in Provo due to her responsibility to the ward choir so she was definitely missed on our adventure to Vegas.  Nevertheless Elle Madeline and I enjoyed our stay.

I was so excited to compete in the triathlon with one of my new found amazing friends Madeline Foutz. She is an amazing friend and i am so happy that we have become such great friends so fast! She is one of the nicest people so it was so fun to be able to train with her for this! She kept me motivated to go to the pool or on long runs whether i liked it or not. However it was so worth it because it was the best feeling ever to cross the finish line!

Lucky for me my parents and Rachel and Meagan came to Vegas as well to cheer me on. And an added bonus Dad did the whole thing with me! He is like superman i swear so it was great to have him next to me the whole time. A couple miles out on the bike ride we pulled over to fix the numbers on our bike because they were rubbing against our legs. Then, when we started to get going again i had one foot clipped in when someone hit me from the back going full speed.. woops haha. It didn't hurt too bad because i had to much adrenaline. However about a half mile later my tire went flat because it was probably pitched when we crashed. Sooo thanks to DJ mike we changed the tire as fast as we could and continued on our way. Side Note: Little did i know when i signed up for this triathlon that it is one of the hardest in the country... the entire 12 mile bike was up hill. That was quite a challenge but with DJ next to me he definitely kept me going. Then once we got to the run it was pretty easy i just had to keep my body moving.  Unfortunately i didn't get to finish with Madeline because of the flat tire but she finished about 20 minutes before me and i was so happy for her that she finished as well! She did great! It was a great accomplishment and i am so glad that i did it with my dad and Madeline!

Pre swim pics. lookin great in our pink caps.

                                                             

My great little support team!

Elle was our fabulous cheerleader!