Off to Poland!

I am leaving in two days to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Poland Warsaw Mission. Woohoo! This song, "Set the World on Fire" is one of my favorite songs - I love the message and wanted to share it with you.

I will be at the MTC (Missionary Training Center) for nine weeks learning Polish and practicing teaching in Polish, and then I'll fly to Poland. It's always been a dream of mine to serve a mission because what I believe has changed me - I know who I am and why I'm here. Jesus Christ is why I believe in everything I believe. And He is why I'm serving a mission.

I will be gone for 18 months and will return to the states in March 2013. If you'd like to write me (I'd love to hear from you), here's where to send your letters! :)

From Sept. 2011-Nov. 8, 2011, write me at:
Sister Nicole Betty Sheahan
MTC Mailbox # 153
POL-WAR 1108
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

After that (Nov. 9, 2011-March 2013), please send letters (and packages of Nutella! haha just jokes) to:
Sister Nicole Betty Sheahan
Poland Warsaw Mission
Swietych w Dniach Ostatnich
UI. Wiertnicza 135, 1 Pietro
02-952 Warszawa
Poland

I pray that God will be with you in your life - He always is if we'll just ask and put Him first. I will definitely be creating more music when I get home, but I've really felt this is where my Heavenly Father wants me right now.

I'll be MIA from this blog until about March 2013...

Onward & upward my friends!

Much love, Nicole

I am His Daughter

I had the blessing to sing this song, "I am His Daughter" on the EFY 2010 album, written by my amazing friends Stephanie Mabey and Debra Fotheringham. I ran across this beautiful video that a lady made and put with this song; I love this video because you can see the light in these women and they radiate that they know who they are. It just reminded me of how lucky I am to know that I am a daughter of God. Truly knowing and remembering that every day changes everything.

I'm going on a mission!!!

Since I was a young girl, I dreamed of serving a mission for my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I wanted to go because the gospel of Jesus Christ has completely changed my life, because it’s changed me and brought me true joy. I want to tell everyone about it, and give them the chance to hear this glorious message - that Christ's true church has been restored on to the earth and that God continues to speak to His children and guide us.

I wasn't sure if a full-time 18-month mission was what God had in mind for my road in life. For a while I thought, "No, my focus needs to be on music and serving God in that way."

I do feel that music is a big part of my life's mission. But earlier this year I wasn't feeling at peace in my life. I was enjoying my jobs and being in Nashville, but I think Heavenly Father was giving me that unsettled feeling so I'd really search out what He wanted me to do at this point in my life.

So after a lot of prayer and nights where I went back and forth wondering if going on a mission was right for me, I just felt this incredible peace about it. That unsettling feeling I had had before stopped. I knew that peace was from God.

Well, God has a way of making our dreams come true...this was kind of an unexpected thing for me right now. Late Friday night I got home and there was a white envelope from Salt Lake City addressed to Sister Nicole Betty Sheahan. !!!!!! I was freaking out, running around the house...because it came much earlier than I expected, and I realized this white envelope contained the location where I'd spend 18 months of my life. Wowzers.

I got my parents on the phone and had them make guesses of where I might be called. It could beanywhere in the world! The leaders of my church pray and receive revelation from God to know where He would send them. There are 140 LDS missions around the world.

Mom guessed Spain, Italy and New York.

Dad guessed France and Florida.

Shantell (my awesome roommate) guessed SoCal.

I guessed England...

I opened the letter, trying to stay calm...

It read...

Dear Sister Sheahan:

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Poland Warsaw Mission...

DAHHH!!! POLAND! I never could have guessed. I am beyond excited. I was googling Poland all weekend and am trying to learn about their history and people. I will be entering the Missionary Training Center September 7, 2011 to prepare to preach the gospel in the Polish language.

I can't wait! My sister served a mission in Rome, Italy. And my twin brothers are currently serving in different parts of Chile. Each of them said that it's been the most amazing part of their life where they've found greater joy than they ever imagined.

I'm going because I believe with all my heart that Jesus is the Christ, my Savior and Redeemer. God lives. We are all children of our Heavenly Father, and He wants us to know Him and seek Him. He answers us. I grew up in this church. However, if I didn't know it was true, I would not be doing this. I would not use all the money I've been saving to buy a keyboard and to record another album to go do this for 18 months. If I didn't believe in this with all my heart, I would not be leaving jobs I love and going far away from my family and friends. Time and time again, God has confirmed its truthfulness to me, that it truly is from God, another testament of His son, Jesus Christ – and a companion to the Bible that contains a fullness of the gospel. And because I believe, I can't keep it to myself. That's why I'm going.

Poland, I'm so excited to get to know you and share the thing that has made me happier than anything with you.

And to each of you, I invite you to really take a good look at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...Not from what other people may say, but from actual members of the church. Find a church building and visit, or contact the missionaries or me, or visit mormon.org. It's either true or it's not. It's either is God's church or it isn't. So with such an important message, shouldn't we each take the time to find out for ourselves?

Enjoy yourself while you're still in the pink...

Here's a little song from my Grandpa...he's a rock star. This makes me smile.

Focus

Tonight my head is spinning because I’m thinking about everything I want to do tomorrow…and as usual, there are only so many hours in the day. And it’s 1 am and I’m getting up in five hours…(Can you believe I'm writing a blog?! For reals! It helps me to get it out so I can sleep.)

I want to do and be so many things so I try to schmoosh it into the time I have, and guess what….I’m limited. Hate to admit it, but I sure am.

I want to practice the piano a lot and learn more music theory.

I want to read tons of books.

I want to be healthy.

I want to help my friends and be there for them.

I want to write new songs.

I want to meet new people.

I want to go to concerts and learn from other musicians.

I want to respond to people’s emails in a timely manner.

I want to…I want to…you get the point.

But I don’t want to run around like a monkey with her head cut off (I’d rather be a monkey than a chicken right now…). I want to live each day in a way that’s truly meaningful. I don’t want to just fill up my time, but I want the things I do with my time to fill others and myself up.

It’s not a bad thing to want to be/do a lot of things, but I’m reminded of what one of my heroes, Dieter Uchtdorf, said:

"Let’s be honest; it’s rather easy to be busy. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. They flood the open spaces in their time with lists of meetings and minutia—even during times of stress and fatigue. Because they unnecessarily complicate their lives, they often feel increased frustration, diminished joy, and too little sense of meaning in their lives. It is said that any virtue when taken to an extreme can become a vice. Overscheduling our days would certainly qualify for this. There comes a point where milestones can become millstones and ambitions, albatrosses around our necks."

So tonight, I’m re-focusing. And that’s personal for me and for each of us on what God needs us to focus our time on. We can’t be/do EVERYTHING…unless we want to be headless monkeys (or, if you prefer, chickens). But we can live each day for God and listen to Him. He will definitely help us know where our focus should be, because He loves us and wants us to be happy.

And that is where I find true meaning.

He wants it all...

I was in a Zumba class the other week (I LOVE Zumba). The teacher turned on this song, "He Wants It All," as we were stretching. I immediately went home and bought it off of iTunes...and pretty much had it on repeat in my car for the next week.

I love it because I need that reminder to give my ALL at work, home, church, with friends or strangers. God does need hearts who are desperate to be close to Him, but so often our hearts are divided or distracted.

I think it's something we must choose to do every day - to wake up and say, "Heavenly Father, I'm going to give You my heart today, I'm going to serve You with my whole heart."

Our all is not going to be perfect - that's why we need our Savior. So we must rely on Him as we seek to give our all. To me, "all" means all the strength, sincerity, and energy you can give right now, and then our all is supplemented by His grace.

My all always falls short. But that's ok. I'll keep trying to give my Heavenly Father my all, and He mercifully fills in the cracks.

Outside my own little world

Trying to get outside my own little world...

In my own little world it hardly ever rains
I've never gone hungry, always felt safe
I got some money in my pocket, shoes on my feet
In my own little world, population: me

I try to stay awake during Sunday morning church
I throw a twenty in the plate but I never give 'til it hurts
And I turn off the news when I don't like what I see
Yeah, it's easy to do when it's population: me

What if there's a bigger picture?
What if I'm missing out?
What if there's a greater purpose?
I could be living right now
Outside my own little world

Stopped at a red light looked out my window
I saw a cardboard sign said, "help this homeless widow"
And just above that sign was the face of a human
I thought to myself, God, what have I been doing?
So I rolled down the window and I looked her in the eye
Oh, how many times have I just passed her by?
I gave her some money than I drove on through
And my own little world reached population: two

What if there's a bigger picture?
What if I'm missing out?
What if there's a greater purpose?
I could be living right now
Outside my own little world
My own little world

Father, break my heart for what breaks Yours
Give me open hands and open doors
Put Your light in my eyes and let me see
That my own little world is not about me

What if there's a bigger picture?
What if I'm missing out?
What if there's a greater purpose?
That I could be living right now
I don't want to miss what matters
I wanna be reaching out
Show me the greater purpose
So I can start living right now
Outside my own little world

(Matthew West)