West Indies.

PUP GOT HIS MISH CALL and he opened it LAST NIGHT!!

He's been called to serve in the WEST INDIES MISSION!! FRENCH SPEAKING!

THE BEST!

I'm SOOOO STOKED for pup my bff.

Oh. And he reports November 14th. So we'll juuuust miss each other in the MTC.
but it's cool Cause he goes in the SAME day as Hansen, so that'll be fun :]

I luh pup! I'm sooo proud of him! And can't wait for both of us to be on missions!

The Church is True!

sometimes I wonder why I didn't choose french horn...

It's just so ep!

I'm listening to Mahler 5 right now and it's INCREDIBLE. Kinda sad I missed it with phil. But it's ok.

Also. Mahler's a stud. I realize I'm only half way through his symphonies, but seriously. He must have been on some musical steroid when composing these cause they are all unbelievable. I legit get goosebumps at the end of EVERY ONE of his symphonies. Sometimes in the middle of the piece. Like, youtube his adagietto from the 5th symphony. It is hauntingly beautiful.

Oh. And the reason for the blog post title is because Mahler is like the king of brass. The parts they have are incredible.

And also I'm watching the Chicago Symphony and look who I've spotted several times.

I LOVE HIM.

Well. I love life. The Church is True!

p.s. Pup FINALLY has his mish call! He's opening it in a couple hours. More on that soon.

project symphony.

So for those of you that don't know, I have a pretty laid back job. basically the only things I can't do are talk on the phone and sleep.

Being a music major, where I spend all time outside of class and work practicing, it is the perfect job for me.

Anyways, right now I am mish prepping at work. Which is great.

But, another little project I've decided to take up is to listen to every symphony ever written (in no particular order.)

So so far I've done Schumann and Tchaik.

IN LOVE.

And tomorrow I will start Mahler. I gotta do the early ones too. Like Mozart and Beethoven. But yah. I'm getting all my classical music in just in case I don't get to listen to classical music on my mission.

I love life!

The Church is True!

"satan sucks."

So it turns out, having a broken phone and a broken down car at the same time is horrible. hah. But despite it all, I am still happy. This blog title was taken from a journal entry two nights ago. When I was really upset and stressed and just frustrated. ha. It actually was my journal entry for the night. Those two words. But! I'm doing better.

REASONS:
I'm working almost full time. I started 'Le Livre de Mormon' yesterday. I'm mission prepping. The only thing I'm doing outside of my work time is playing cello. It's sunny. I got to walk A LOT yesterday. I'm in p-town with lots of family and some of my best friends. I'll be outta here in less than three months. I love french. I love missionary work. I love life.

The Church is True!

The Grand Canyon and Escalante.

So a few weekends ago, memorial day weekend at the end of May, my friends and I decided to take a little three day trip down to the Grand Canyon in Northern Arizona, and then to Escalante in southern Utah (pronounced ES-CUH-LAN-EE.) hah. And it was soooo fun!!

We spent the first night on Point Sublime in the Grand Canyon. And oh man was it beautiful. SUPER WINDY. But beautiful. At the point we had a 280° view of the canyon. And it was so ep. It said in the description pamphlet that "eating and sleeping will become secondary." And oh man. They were not lying.

ch-ch-check it out:


The next day we headed up to Escalante. It was gorgeous! He hiked to a waterfall (Calf Creek Falls) the first day we were there. And it was beautiful. We actually hiked out in the dark, and the moon was so bright that we didn't even need to use flashlights. It was great. By the time we had finished the hike it was completely dark though, and the place we had wanted to camp out was full.
So this was the sight that greeted Aleena and I when we got back to the car. hah.

The men. Gathered around the map:


Luckily, we found some random place to camp that night. hah. It was pretty sketch. But fun. It actually turned out to be a good little campsite. We made bratwursts and smores, it was great. Also. This was the first night that we were nowhere near a bathroom, or even port-a-potty. Luckily, I didn't need to go to the bathroom til I got to church. So I held it.

Church on Sunday was soooo great! I LOVE the Escalante Second Ward!! The people are just so genuine and kind. And the ward was fun. haha. Hilarious. And I just felt comfortable there. Even though I smelled like campfire and looked horrendous, everyone was just so kind and reached out to us; to me. hah. And relief society was a hoot. hahah. Oh my stars. The lady teaching the lesson taught on President Uchtdorf's last conference talk. So at the beginning of the lesson she brought a picture of President Uchtdorf to the front of the room, set it on the table and was like, "I just thought I'd put a picture of President Uchtdorf up here during the lesson so that we could all admire his pleasant face." Aleena and I almost died. It was hilarious.

After church we went to the hole in the rock memorial on the edge of Escalante which was cool. We then decided to go to the actual Hole in the Rock. So we went to set up our campsite and then headed down the long and treacherous road. It was quite the drive, but it was soooo good to see it. I've always loved pioneers, but I think I gained a newfound love and appreciation for them hiking down this place that they drug handcarts down. It was incredible. I want to do geneology and find out more about my pioneer ancestorage. Cause I think it'd be fun to name my kids after them and then tell them stories about the amazing people they were named after.

Here's a pic of the gang at Hole in the Rock:


We had the cutest little campsite the last night. I was in love. I probs coulda stayed there for longer had it not been for the whole no bathroom situation. hah.

Here it is:


It was fun. The last day! We hiked Spooky and Peek-A-Boo Canyons. And they were sooo fun! It was a blast to climb and hike through these. And we took lots of fun pictures. I'll try and post just a few of the best ones.

There were some tight squeezes:


I liked creepin':


group pic in peek-a-boo:


We were hiking through lots of sand, so we had sand contests. I won. everytime:


I was trying to be legit and take a cool pic. hah. but I was too chicken to go any higher than this:


And perhaps my favorite picture of the trip. hah. First, a little background. I HATE GOING TO THE BATHROOM IN NATURE. Just ask anyone that went on this trip, and they will attest to how much I whined about it. Like I was sooo obnoxious. [Sorry team...]

haha. but! In celebration of NEVER having to do it again, Aleena and I took this celebratory picture.

It's the best:


Ha. But yah. It was a great trip! And I'm sooo glad I got the opportunity to go enjoy nature and also to bond with these people. They're the best.

Happy Summer! Here's to, hopefully, many more fun adventures before I leave!

Katniss:


I Love Life!

The Church is True!

my cute lil mishs.

Ok. So I've slowly been hearing back from all my friends who are in the mission field. And they're sooo great! I love them all! Here are a few excerpts from emails and letters from my friends.

Irma Tingey:
her reply to my email telling her-
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! CONGRATS!!!! O MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS MOTHER OR PEARL I AM SO SO SO SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!!!! I am so glad you told me where that was because I had no idea either! WOW!!!! Thanks for telling me!!! I AM REALLY SO EXCITED!!! AHHH!!!! I LOVE MISSIONS AND I LOVE YOU!!!!!"

and her shout out in a weekly email-
"Congrats to Pono and her mission call!!! SOOO exciting!!!! I don’t think I know of anyone that has been looking forward to a mission more than Pono Santos."

Elder Ellsworth:
shout out in a weekly email-
"One more good news, PONO!! For everyone else, Pono was my stand partner at BYU in the symphony. She's great and she was almost more excited about me getting my mission call than I was. She got her mission call to the Vanuatu Port Vila Mission. Where is that? I didn't know either. But she says it's kinda by New Zealand? Anyway, a big congratulations to my dear friend Pono. She will be an incredible missionary."

And there's more that I'll put up later and as they come.

I love mishs!

Can't wait to be one!!

The Church is True!

Vanuatu Port Vila.

Oh hey.

So I've been a terrible blogger lately, but I'll try to catch up soon. Life is crazy right now, but juries and finals will be over in a week, so that's wonderful.

Also. I don't think I'm gonna take any classes this summer. It's not official, but I'm pretty done with school for the next couple years. I'm just getting WAYYYY distracted and I want more time for mish prep, and I'll be honest, cello too :]

But yah. I got my mish call May 16th, and I opened it on the 20th!

And I've been called to serve in the Vanuatu Port Vila Mission!
FRENCH SPEAKING!!!
And I report September 12th.

I'm SOOOO EXCITED! I can't even wait.

So yah. That's what's been on my mind lately.

I also went on a super fun trip to the Grand Canyon and Escalante that I'll blog about in a week, after finals are done :]

ME and my bffs right after I opened my call:


And my flag and I!!!


So happy. I can't believe I know where I'm going and when I'm leaving. It's beginning to sink in. Very VERY slowly.

I love life! so much.
and The Church is TRUE!

Love, Sister Pono Santos