Time flies.

Its hard for me to believe that I have been living in Hawaii for this whole school year and I only have 3 weeks left. Its even harder for me to believe everything that has happened in this amount of time. I have loved every moment of this journey. As you may or may not know, the beginning wasn't exactly what I expected. Originally, Lindsay had convinced me to come with her just for a semester and then we would both go to Provo together. We both were accepted here and that was the plan. But life doesn't always go as planned. Last summer, when we were getting excited to come here in the Fall, she met Spencer who has changed her life forever, as well as the rest of my families. They got engaged which left me coming to Hawaii alone. I was honestly considering not even coming anymore. Going to a place that I knew absolutely no one wasn't exactly my ideal situation. Little did I know, it came to be the best decision I have ever made. I couldn't be more grateful for the chance that I got to be able to come here for a year. At times I feel ungrateful for leaving. Its hard to explain to people the reason why I am leaving Hawaii because no one can completely comprehend it unless they've been here. It was probably the hardest decision I have ever made to decide to move back to Provo to be with friends in family and I hope that my family and friends will support me in that decision. At times, I keep thinking that I am going to come back. I'll always want to be here, but I think that in the long run, going to BYU provo is better for my future. People always say to follow your heart, not your mind. They seem to be meshing together, which is what has made my decision so hard. I know that I will love it there too, Im just having a hard time saying goodbye to everything that I have come to love here. I'm hoping that I chose the right thing. I have met some of the most amazing people here and I am going to miss them a lot. I feel like I have learned and grown so much in these short 9 months, and I wouldn't have been able to had I not come here alone. I've met people from all over the world, worked at the Polynesian Cultural Center, which was in and of itself one of the most amazing experiences I have ever gotten, and learned of the different cultures of the world, while living on the most beautiful island of Oahu. Its hard to believe that in 3 weeks, I wont have much of this anymore but I know that I am just moving on to more new and exciting things in my life. I found this quote thats very simple, but it has a lot of meaning to me.

"The purpose of life is a life of purpose."

I know that there was a reason why Lindsay met Spencer the time she did, and that I came to Hawaii alone. Even though having her here probably would have made the experience 1000x better, I think that there are a lot of things that I may not have learned because there was someone else here that I could depend on. I definitely learned a lot about independence and surviving on my own. Im 3000 miles away from my home, and I'm in the middle of the ocean. Its hard to sat that I could still be dependent on someone. I know that there was a purpose for me being here. I've learned a lot about myself, patience, how to be more outgoing, independence, the true meaning of friendship, had multiple testimony building experiences, and have had the time of my life in the process.

"Time is what we want most, but...what we use worst."

Its hard for me to think back to the times that I just sat in my dorm room on a rainy day. I feel like I lost so much time when I could have been sitting on the beach just admiring the ocean and everything else here. Time is so precious and my time in Hawaii is coming to a close. I want to be able to make use of every second here. I cant express how grateful I am to have been here. It has been such a blessing in my life. I know that everything that I have experienced and learned here will help me in the future. I have overcome so many fears and gotten over things that probably would have stuck with me had I not moved so far away. This was part of my plan all along and I hope that I'm following the right promptings in going to Provo. Hawaii will always hold a place in my heart. It has made a huge impact on my life and I am excited to see what else is in store for my future.