My Favorite Missionary

Okay, I couldn't think of another way to start off my blog entries rather than with my big brother, Ryan. Ryan is my best friend, who since I was thirteen has been mistaken for my twin, younger brother, or boyfriend. He's the only person I can tell the whole truth to and at the same time be safe from being judged. He is my own personal body guard with one main goal: scaring off every boy within 15 feet of me. Looking back at when our family first started coming to the Santa Margarita Ward, I would have never believed you if you told me that my brother would be leaving for a Mormon mission when he was 19. I really do believe that my brother's decision to serve a full-time mission was because of the examples of his church leaders and LDS friends. Like I said, my brother is my best friend, but recently I admit I've been advoiding all thoughts that involve my brother. The reason was so I could hold myself back from actually realizing that I won't be seeing my best friend for 1 year, 9 months, and 3 days (is that right?) I have to hold myself back from realizing that he's missed my sixteenth birthday, and will miss me finally getting my license, and my first date . However, once I started thinking about everything he's missed and going to miss within the next two years of my life - I realized how selfish I was being. Ryan is truly an amazing and perfect person, as I am sure anyone who knows him is already aware of. Ryan has a gift of befriending any person who walks by by simply opening his mouth or grinning that huge smile of his. Ryan also possesses a very sincere testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and has made it his duty to share it with every person he encounters in his Charleston, West Virginia mission. As his little sister, I couldn't be more proud of his decision to leave his friends and family behind for two whole years to serve the Lord. I admire his courage and just plain and simple love for the gospel. Honestly though, I am still living every week for his email on Tuesday at roughly 7:30am our time saying, "Im on." And waiting for his usual close of the majority of his emails: "remember to pray everyday, and read the Book of Mormon and remember who you are bc there are people who are watching you as a member of the LDS church."

he's the best brother in the world.