As many of you know, I've been called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and have been assigned to labor in the Texas Dallas Mission speaking Spanish. Ummmm...I am SO excited. I leave October 3 which seems forever away, but it's only about 6 weeks down the road which means it will be here before I know it. Crazy. Anyway, of course I had to research the city of Dallas as soon as I got my call. And of course I started at the most reliable source I know of, Wikipedia. Okay, it may not be the most factual, but it's the most interesting.
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| It has a nice skyline. :) |
Here are my random thoughts concerning the mish and Dallas.
1. My favorite Dodgers pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, is from Dallas. I'll have you know that I well aware of this far before I read it on Wikipedia.
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| Kersh. I've interviewed him a few times. Super nice. |
2. According to Wikipedia, many Disney Channel stars are from Dallas. Not that cool, but interesting nonetheless.
3. According to Wikipedia, the Dallas area is home to the largest Jewish population in Texas.
4. My mission basically basically the northeastern corner of the state of Texas and also includes small parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas which is cool.
5. The closest baseball team to Dallas would be the Texas Rangers. Unfortunately, their stadium is located in Arlington which happens to be very close to Dallas, but just barely outside my mission. It's in the Fort Worth mission. So this is good and bad. Bad because I probably won't get to see it. Good because I'll be less tempted to spend time there when the Dodgers play the Rangers in the World Series. Hey, it could happen. And, I'm sure you're dying to know if I'll become a Rangers fan. Uh, no. Maybe they can be my second favorite team. They do play in a different league after all. But that would mean second by a long shot. A VERY long shot.
6. I am SO excited to speak Spanish. Seven years of Spanish will not go to waste. Now of course, I may be in areas where I speak English, but the possibility of speaking Spanish is enough for me. Also, my friend Nico called me from the MTC to test my Spanish proficiency. After much discussion we decided to put me in the advanced Spanish courses at the MTC meaning I'm only there for 3 weeks. Crazy. The MTC will be funny since I know quite a few people who work there. And most of them are in the Spanish department.
7. Some may think that it's a disappointment to get called to somewhere in the U.S. of A. Not me. I love this country. A whole lot. Don't get me wrong, I would gladly serve in the DR or any other foreign country, but serving in the U.S.A has it's perks. For example, I get to stick around for the election. What an easy way to start up a conversation with people about the gospel. Also, I don't have to get a passport or visa. And last but not least, mail is fast, relatively cheap, and reliable. There. You all, or should I say ya'll, have no excuses for not writing me. :)
8. Also, Dallas has an NFL team. Currently, I could care less about the NFL since Los Angeles is team-less for the time being. So perhaps I'll turn into a Cowboys fan. Who knows. I hear they're the team everyone loves to hate.
9. Will I become a Mavs fan? Nope.
10. People tell me the people are great and the food is great. The weather...not so much. The summers are hot. Triple digit hot. Plus they're humid. Not as humid as other parts of Texas, but any humidity added to 100+ degree weather is not good. Luckily I'll only be their for one summer. The winters don't seem too bad. Apparently they get large hail sometimes. Sounds exciting to me. :)
11. My mission president happens to be a former BYU basketball player and the son of my mom's favorite BYU professor. I think we'll get along. :)
12. And last but not least, Anna Schiess, my roommate who is a Texas native and was born in Dallas, says Dallas is the classiest city in Texas. And I like to pretend I'm classy. Ha.
Anyway, ya'll should come to my farewell on September 30. It'll be the party of the year. Meaning probably not, but come anyway. :)
