Definitely  my first time blogging, ever- whoot for first experiences!  I feel like I will be sharing a lot of them with you guys.  Let me just start off by saying how ridiculously excited I am about the fact that we are going to Africa together this summer!  Sometimes I get this crazy surge of excitement that I just cannot contain! Wow, the Lord is so good!

Alright, well my name is Sierra Jeanne Lassila. I always like to throw my middle name in there because I think it's spelled interestingly, fun fact! :) I was born in Prescott, Arizona, lived there for a few years, spent kindergarten and first grade in a small town in Wisconsin, then moved back to Arizona!  There, my parents got divorced (when I was 8), and both got remarried! Hal, my stepdad, was originally from North Dakota, so my parents bought a flower shop in good ol' Garrison and we made the trek up here!  I love this state (shout out to Beth!) haha! It's given me soooo much opportunity, I'm blessed.   I'm currently at Minot State University, double majoring in International Business and Marketing.  I LOVE that so many of you are doing pre-med, global studies, education- wonderful!   I've always kinda wished that I had a desire (or intelligence) for med school, but the Lord has really shown me some awesome things in the business world. Sometimes I just want to quit school and go do missions, but I'm starting to come to peace with the fact that my major will be for the good of the kingdom.

I've had a pretty crazy amount of jobs in the past year or so.  I worked on campus, at Bath and Body Works, tutoring, assistant speech coach, and a server at a restaurant on and off.  It's tough to balance, but it helps make ends meet most of the time!  For the past three summers, I worked at a bible camp near the town I'm from (which is Garrison). I absolutely adore that place and the people I've met there!! Such a beautiful, peaceful place to be crazy and enjoy God's wonderful creation. ..Continuing on jobs, I actually just had an interview to be the RA of the international floor on campus next year- so praying that's the Lord's will, because it would be incredible! I do a lot with our campus ministries, especially Chi Alpha and Lutheran Campus Ministries. They are so different, but between them I get everything (regarding fellowship) that I need!  I know how blessed I am to have those communities. I also host a small group bible studies with some amazing girls.  I loooovvveeeee music. Absolutely. I love playing and worshipping. If I could worship (while in Africa, of course!) all the time, I would.  I play guitar and piano, as well as sing. I started taking violin lessons last semester and although I still sound like a third grader, it has been so fun! I have to admit one (well, pretty much the only) downfall about spending the summer in Africa is the uncertainty of being able to play all of those instruments- so I guess I'll have to soak them in now!  I love having deep conversation- I would love to just spend my life listening to others' life stories, Jesus, and then praying together. I could do that allll dayyyyy longggg! Other than that, I grew up doing a lot of water skiing and wakeboarding, etc- and love being active and just soaking up the sun!  I've taken up running lately (although I am not really good at it, haha) but I'm trying to get in shape, and most of the time I love the way I feel after a run!  Is this getting too long? haha, hopefully you all are still reading (and enjoying)!

I like: TOMS shoes(whoot for all of us!), playing music, playing crazy games that we make up at camp, being creative, fruit, vegetables, hummus, decaf coffee(is that weird?), candles, facebook, reading(speaking of which, have you guys read Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis?  If not, you need to before the trip!), making up skits, cooking, chill time with friends, dressing up sometimes, dreadlocks, having penpals, and that perfect day of the year when Spring comes.  I do not like: selfishness, sinus infections, lima beans, human trafficking, poverty,the focus put on money in life, parking tickets, or the sound of a clock ticking.

I've been to both Mexico and Canda, but not for missions.  As for mission trips, I've been to Chicago with my youth group, and will be heading out for Denver on Saturday for a spring break mission trip! I've been a part of a lot of volunteering in the city(especially after last summer's flood), but have never been out of the country for missions. and now I AM GOING!  WE ARE ALL GOING! Wow, glorious! I REALLY tried finding a trip to go on last summer- to Africa- but, as God timing makes it, I just could not find one. This school year has had the most amazing influence on my spiritual life - as far as leading worship, being baptized in the Holy Spirit, being healed, getting into the Word, having encouragers and mentors around, and just having a much bigger vision of who the Lord is. (which I'm sure is still just miniscule, but I've learned so much!)  I see and understand now why the Lord made me wait- and I am SO THANKFUL for that! He knows. and it amazes me every time. :)  Actually, it was only a week or two ago that I officially switched to this trip! I had originally signed up for the World Race Exposure trip, but was just feeling constantly pushed towards giving my WHOLE summer for this. I hit a new goal as far as fundraising went, and finally just said YES to the Expeditions Trip!  I am SO GLAD because I get to know you all now, which is incredible, along with giving the Lord that much more time to work in and through me. 

His goodness blows me away.  I love you all so much already, and am so grateful for your obedience in missions!  ahhhhh, this summer will be one for the books, eh?  (yes, I just said eh? because my roommate is Canadian. Laugh it up. haha) :)  Who knows maybe someday we'll be headed off on the WOrld Race together ;)  All I know is for now, I feel so blessed by each and every one of you and SO STOKED to head off to Africa.  Please let me know if there's any way I can pray for you, add me on facebook, and know that I am trusting the LOrd to provide in full for ALL OF US! He will do it.  

Peace, Love, and Blessings,

Sierra

PS- I just spent quite a while trying to figure out how to upload a picture. So, I hope this one uploads!   Normally I'm not that glammed up, but took this the night of a banquet and figured you all would appreciate the background! :)