france, sweden, france.

So! For the past couple of months I've kinda been going crazy with the whole ethos of 'you're leaving for 18 months' going on in my head. The three most notable things I've done in that time is: Go to Paris; Go to Sweden; Go to the south of France. All of which were AMAZING. 

In the second weekend of April, myself and a friend went to Paris! Our hotel was a 5 minute walk from the Eiffel tower, and a metro stop was just outside the front of it. perfect! Three days of galleries, restaurants, arches, cathedrals, and a lot of walking; but we mastered the metro system in no time (so much cheaper than the underground, very depressing). 

sitting outside the Louvre

bridge over the Seine, Notre Dame in the background

Notre Dame

Arc De Triomphe

Bon! The first day was a bit rainy, but the rest of the trip was super sunny. We took a coach from London Victoria on the Friday night, and was at a car park on the champs elysees between the Palais des Congres, and the Arc de Triomphe on the Saturday morning. Travelling overnight by coach, is one of the most uncomfortable things I have ever endured; but the fact it was heading to Paris, most definitely helped. 

The last day we were there was definitely my favourite. We had lunch by the banks of the river next to the Eiffel tower, walked down past the d'Orsay, Palais de la Concorde until we got to the Musee de l'Orangerie, where there are some of Monet's waterlilles (my favs). And then just spent the rest of the day in the gardens between there and the Louvre. Bliss. 

Sverige! 

In the first week of April, my friend Lena came to visit me in England, so it was only fair that I then went back to Sweden to pay her, and a couple of others, a visit. On the 21st of June (midsommar), I flew out to Göteborg City Airport, anyone who has been there will know I use the term 'airport' lightly, it is a glorified shed, and stayed till the eve of the 24th. 

In those days we: danced around a maypole celebrating midsommar, with flowers in our hair (and by that I mean sat down in a park, slottsskogen, near a maypole, eating a mixture of chicken, chocolate and cherries, all with flowers in our hair); went canoeing; went on paddan! (a boat trip round the canals and harbour in Göteborg); Cycled up to a lake near where Lena lives and decided swimming was a good idea; went on a late night walk of the city; went and saw the Hulldins! (the family I was an au pair for); and saw the Oscarsons and some of the lovely YSA (mormons). It was sooo good. Also during my stay we had kebab pizza and watched both Angels and Demons, and the Da Vinci Code. Seriously. Such a good trip. 

South of France. 

I have no pictures of this week. For some reason it didnt occur to me to take any. It was absolutely beautiful. We were staying the in the gorge de l'ardeche, and spent the whole week either in a canoe, or swimming in the river. 

I have swam underneath that land bridge.

From our campsite, 20 minutes walk away, was this little cobbled town, which was just filled with tiny streets, churches and restaurants. Just like you had stepped back in time. I love camping. And swimming! love love love swimming! That is something I think I am going to find difficult on my mission, as mormon missionaries aren't allowed to go swimming as a safety precaution (which is fair enough). Bondi beach is in my mission boundaries as well! I wont miss swimming pools as such, but rivers/lakes/sea etc. Thats the best kind. 

Apologises also for the amount of pouting. I don't have 'a smile', I just look silly, and so the natural thing to do in that case is either complete hideous face or pout. Pout it is. 

australia.

So, I'm already bad at updating this. Was to be expected. 

Wednesday the 10th of April. From what I had been told, wednesdays are mission call days. It was a beautiful sunny day when it came. I was busy getting ready for work, trying not to get too anxious about the lack of post man on my street, when we spotted him. On the other side of the street, blissfully unaware to the drama he was causing. Did he have the letter? Was I going to have to wait another day? Week?! My father then decided to take the dog for a walk, that just so happened to follow the path of the post man. Full blown stalking was in action. By the time the poor man arrived to house numbered 309, both my parents were in the front garden, along with my neighbours. And there, in his hands, was a large, A4 envelope, addressed to Sister Amelia Maria Paulsdotter Stanbury. Sheer panic ensued.
AUSTRALIA SYDNEY NORTH MISSION. 

I've always said anywhere colonial will be fantastic! 
plus, serious mormon tan lines. who could ask for anything more?!

 WAAAAAAAAHHHHHH.
Immediate reaction. Obviously. I then went to work, literally bouncing, telling everyone and anyone that I was going to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and that I would be spending 18 months in AUSTRALIA. Every table I served that day was fully aware of my beliefs. And why should they not? I'm going to spend a year and a half talking about it, why not start with the restaurant I was in at that moment? 

There is my super cute mission map. I saw a couple of them, and they were just so adorable I had to have one. The squiggly line is decorative, clearly not my flight route, that would just be insanity. 
And excuse my mission photo. On your papers ("application") you have to submit a photo with them, and this was the least offensive. Still blonde in it as well. How exciting. 
When you get your call, you are given a website thing and a pincode type thing (eloquently described, what a marvellous english student I was), where you sign in, and there is this little count down of the days until you report to the MTC (missionary training centre, oh yeah, they exist, we take this stuff seriously), and a bunch of stuff you need to do to prepare for when you leave. 
As I know relatively little about the Commonwealth of Australia, the only appropriate thing to do in such a situation would be to turn to the wonderful creation that is google. And google had this to say:

1. The Tropic of Capricorn runs through Queensland.

2. Australia is estimated to be 7,692,024 square Kilometers

3. Australia is the sixth largest nation.

4. Australia is the smallest continent and the largest island.

5.  Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth.

6. Australia has many unique animals, including the kangaroo, echidna, cassowary and wombat.

7. Australia has the most venomous snakes in the world (12).

8. Australian women were the second female group in the world to get the vote ( after New Zealand ).

9. The first inhabitants of Australia were the Aboriginals.

10. Aboriginals did not obtain the vote till 1967.

                                                                                                               ...thankyou google.

Also, one website said Sydney enjoys 340 days of sunshine per year. Not too shabby. 
Essentially, I am over the moon with my call. Its just perfect. I will be flying to Utah in the early hours of the 12th of August, staying the night with some lovely people, and then reporting the next day to the Missionary Training Centre there in Provo. I'll spend a couple of weeks there, and then fly on to the land down under. 
So flipping excited I might die. 

P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way Sydney. 

its decided.

6 months ago, after finishing school, I moved to Sweden to work as an Au Pair. I moved on the 6th of October 2012, and planned to live in Sweden for the following 2 years. As I am half Swedish, I would then have been able to apply for a Swedish student loan, and then been able to study anywhere in the world: but my plan was America. However, at the Oct 2012 general conference, the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Thomas S Monson, announced that women of the church would be able to serve full time missions at the age of 19, instead of the previous 21. needless to say, in the next following months, plans changed.
With mission applications, you have a tonne of forms to fill in, which then get checked and sent off to Salt Lake (where the head quarters of the church are based), where a board decides in which mission you will serve. For example, the Manchester England Mission or the Auckland New Zealand Mission.
My own papers (the mission application forms and such), were sent off around 2 weeks ago, and can be tracked by my local church leaders, who have informed me that Salt Lake have decided, and that my call is in the post, waiting to get to me. 
Waiting. 
For months my mission has been this unknown thing. I've been trying to prepare myself, for something I could not possibly visualise, as a mission in the north of the country I have grown up in will be a completely different experience to say if I'm called to a pacific island. There is room no more for speculation in my head: thoughts of "oh, I wonder if I'm called there". Because I have been called somewhere. It is written on a piece of paper that bares the presidents of the church's signature at the bottom. "Sister Stanbury" has been called to labour in the _________ mission, ______ speaking. Its no longer thoughts in my head. It is assigned. 
Waiting.
Maybe I'll get it this week. 
Or next.
I don't know.
Its driving me crazy. but crazy with what? curiosity? excitement? fear? All I know, is that "crazy", is an appropriate adjective to describe myself, at this given moment in time.