82 Days to Go: What to do?

I think that I will try to post daily to this blog in preparation for my leaving to the great land of Poland on June 20th 2012.

I thought that I would list some fun facts about June 20th and why it is significant in my life:

1. My nephew Max's birthday will be then.  He will be turning 8 at the 'hump' (year mark) for my mission, where he will have the opportunity to be baptized!
2. 1877 – Alexander Graham Bell installs the world's first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
3. It will be summer solstice (a beginning to my favorite season)
4. 1975 - The movie "Jaws" was released (even more reason to stay away from the water on the mission)
5. I will be leaving on my mission! (The greatest event ever!)

FYI - General Conference begins tomorrow!

Au revoir!

Mission Call & Blog Intro

Hello All,

I have been called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Poland Warsaw Mission.  I will be reporting to the Provo MTC on June 20th 2012.  I will be preaching the gospel in the Polish Language.

My hope is that I can fill this blog with things that I am doing to prepare for my mission.  I want everyone to be aware of the incredible amount of things needed to do to prepare to serve a mission.  Also, I am hoping to have my letters and/or pictures posted to this blog while I am away.

I have quite a few temporal things to do in preparation for my mission.
#1 Priority:  Get a passport!
#2 Priority:  Get Typhoid Shot (The only one I need!)
#3 Priority:  Defer my college education at Brigham Young University
#4 Priority:  Start packing up my things
#5 Priority:  Survive finals while being excited about the mission :D

I am also still in the process of letting people know where I will be heading.  Two of my great friends Elder Michael Campbell, and Richard Fetzer are already leading the way in missionary service and I need to let them know of this great landmark in my life that I have reached.

I wanted to share a quick quote about the Book of Mormon from the Prophet Joseph Smith:
“I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”
History of the Church, 4:461; from instructions given by Joseph Smith on Nov. 28, 1841, in Nauvoo, Illinois; reported by Wilford Woodruff.

Please keep me in your prayers as I continually day-by-day keep preparing to go forth.

Sincerely,

Brother Logan P. Baranowski