Just an Update

I don't have any cool new pictures to post or exciting adventures to rave about but I want to give you all a little update.  Life since Cancun has been pretty tedious.  I finished the fieldwork portion of my research project the week after got back from my fabulous vacation.  Now, it is pure writing.  It is going pretty well.  I have plenty to say.  I am of course, super hard on myself, and am not thoroughly impressed with my analysis.  But, I am going to stick with my same ideas for my senior thesis  so hopefully, they will develop.  And of course, I will be better able to articulate myself in English.  I have until April 25th to finish everything up.  Then, I will take a week to make corrections and receive feedback from my mentor.  I leave for Mexico City on May 3rd.  I present on the 4th.  I wasn't nervous until I learned last week that the presentation counts towards my final grade.  That adds to the pressure. Dave and I are meeting up in the Mexico City airport on May 5th and then it is off to Cancun, Palenque, Yaxchilan, and Bonampak.  YAY!  That sort of shows how much I love Chiapas.  I leave and then come 2 days later!!  But there is so much that I didn't get the chance to see.   And besides, this way I can leave a lot of my stuff with the lady I live with.  I will pick it up right before heading home.  I didn't really want to travel with 3 months worth of crap.  I head back to the US on May 17th. But I fly directly to the bay area so that I can move out of my apartment and figure out all the details of where I will live next year.  Adult stuff.  I can say that for reals now that I am an official adult.   Hopefully adult life will be more exciting than my 21st birthday was.  I didn't do much.  But that's ok.  I will make up for it in a few weeks!  

I am really starting to miss everyone.  I love Chiapas.  Although I could definitely live and work here forever, I don't know if I could leave my family and friends.  I know that the Lord put me in my family for a reason.  I am who I am because of them.  I have a testimony that we will be together forever, no matter what.  My testimony is not perfect.  But nobody, and I mean nobody, can convince me that there is nothing more to our existence than the short time we live on Earth.  Perhaps I could accept it if I lived in a bubble.  I could say to myself, 'my life isn't so bad.  i am pretty comfortable.  maybe this is as good as it gets...'  But when I see people living in extreme poverty, when I see people struggling with mental illness or physical handicaps, or when I see people grieving over the loss of a loved one, I am overwhelmed by the feeling that there is a God.  Their pain will be but a moment.  We will all have the chance to live in perfect peace in the presence of Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Parents for all eternity.  I believe that we will be surprised by the mercy of our Savior.  Black, white, rich, poor, Mormon, and not Mormon--everyone will have to opportunity to accept the infinite and intimate Atonement of Jesus Christ. That's what I believe.  That's what helps me make sense of the pain and suffering that I have seen people endure.  My faith doesn't make me perfect, but it makes me a better person than I would be without it.  And that's precisely why I believe.  

I love you all!