He is now in Washington D.C.!

Hi Mom and Dad and family and friends!  I'm emailing you from Prince George County Memorial Library.  More on DC later :)  I'm glad you got to see Elder Lewis!!!  That's so awesome I'm very proud of him.  Glad you read the Mission President's blog.  Pres. Matsumori picked me up and took me to IHOP, he was surprised cuz i didn't eat very much.  I felt a little sick from the plane (you know me, afraid of heights haha) plus being dehydrated.  I was fine after Sister Matsumori gave me Gatorade and let me take a 3 hour nap and shower. 

The trip from SLC to Atlanta took a long time because we ran into some turbulence so i missed the plane by a couple minutes.  I waited 2 hours in Atlanta for the next flight.  It was fun to be in the world's busiest airport for a little while though.  The flights were a little nerve-wracking cuz I was all by myself but I said, just fake it til you make it.  Look confident, like you know where you're going even though you actually don't haha. 

DC is beautiful!!!  So many trees and green stuff everywhere and the blossoming trees are everywhere!  The temple yesterday was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.  Totes amazing ;) It appeared right out of the trees, on top of a hill.  It truly was like going up to a mountain of the Lord.  It is so majestic and I felt so holy and spiritual there.  I got to go have my own first vision kind of experience.  I walked down to the east door, which some guy said is where Christ is supposed to come.  I touched it and knew that it was a powerful place.  I said a prayer right in front of the temple and dedicated myself to two years of service to the Lord. 

This morning we went to try and get a sunrise shot with the cherry blossoms around Jefferson Memorial but it was cloudy so we got cloudy shots instead :)  I visited the Martin Luther King Jr monument, it was so awesome to see a monument to that great man from history.  He did so much for this country.  Then we walked around through all the Cherry trees to the Jefferson Memorial.  That felt like holy ground to me.  I was in such awe and wonder climbing the steps and beholding the great statue of Thomas Jefferson.  He is such a boss.  My favorite quote was the one around the dome, "I have sworn upon the Altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny."  It reminded me of Captain Moroni and the Title of Liberty, 1 Nephi 4, and Mosiah 20:10-11.  I am glad that our Founding Fathers had their faith in God.  I got to ride the Metro for the first time today, super fun. I also walked around the city for a bit.  It's weird cuz you're in the city but all the trees make it feel like a jungle haha.  Anyway now we are going to go shopping for food and whatever.

My last comments are this: that I am scared.  I don't think any missionary knows what they are getting into until they get to the field.  But I have my faith in the Lord and that is what matters.  We had a dessert appointment last night with the 2nd counselor in the deaf branch and with a recent convert.  It was cool to have that experience on the first day.  I told myself, "Just like in the MTC, but real."  I had to keep reminding myself that God called me on my mission and to be strong.  I will be strong and already I love it.  To the edge.