Preface

Today is the start of a new year, and the first day of an 18 month journey and so it seemed like a good time to finally get this blog rolling. As many of you know I will be serving an 18 month mission in Finland Helsinki for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I'm a little nervous, a bit more excited and mostly tired (what else can I expect though). I have ever been outside of North America, and have not been on a plane in over seven years, I do not Finnish and am not used to waking up to alarm clocks. Over the next few days, weeks and months I'll be doing all these things.

The start of my mission began this morning around nine o'clock when I was officially made a missionary by a leader of my church. In about an hour or so I leave for the airport where I will catch a plane to Salt Lake City, Utah. I will remain in Utah for a period of 9 -12 weeks, learning how to teach people, learning the language, and getting used to the missionary way of life, at the Missionary Training Center (or MTC) in Provo, Utah.

Now, a note about the title of my blog. I think most people know what it means, but at first glance my thought  the word "exploits"was inappropriate for this. Just to set the record straight, the Oxford English Dictionary defines the word exploit as "a bold or daring feat"... which I think is appropriate in this case.

 Anyhow, I have to finish packing a few last things before I leave. Wish me luck!