Top Ten

I have been thinking lately about the things that I have learned over the course of my mission so far. I came up with all sorts of things from: How to make the same wardrobe look different every week to painstakingly color coordinating maps. The exact science of where to place my alarm clock so I can hit snooze before I have to open my eyes to the perfect way to fry yummy fish for lunch. The fact is, you learn a lot on a mission. I could go on and on but I decided to share with you my top ten so far in the last ten months I have been out.

God Doesn't Do Random Even when it is hard. Even when you don't understand. Things happen for a reason.

Agency Is so important. There is power in choosing for ourselves. It is what Heavenly Father's plan for us is all about. Us choosing to follow Him. 

Have Fun It is important to take time to breathe and there is a balance in all things. A favorite saying of mine is "Have Fun while doing missionary work, but don't play around with missionary work"

VISION If you don't know where your headed, you won't know when you get there. Don't set impossible goals but set lofty goals and then work like crazy!

 How to be an Adult or in other words how to do hard things. You have to work hard and be obedient to rules because that is when you receive blessings

Change is bound to happen. As Marvin J. Ashton said "There is nothings so unchanging, so inevitable as change itself." I have learned that it can be hard but can be for the best.

Actions speak louder than words I have learned that you can't just say something but that you need to prove it by what you do.

You know Enough "What we do know will always triumph what we do not know" - Elder Holland. 

Love Everyone Then show them that you do in a way that they will understand.

Journals are Important I have learned often times through the hard way that I will forget things. Memories written down will last forever.

I am so grateful for the things that I have learned so far. I am also grateful for the people who have taught me these things. 

Someone in His Eyes

I have met all sorts of people as a missionary. Everyday you meet someone new, someone different, or sometimes you meet someone that looks just like the person you met yesterday... Hmm...That's weird...

Some rich, some poor, some happy, some sad. 

Some have a lot and some have nothing at all.

There are people in a hurry and people who take it slow. 

People working and people vacationing

Locals and Tourists

Business Men and Beach Bums

Old school Seniors and Single Mothers

They are all different, and yet the same. You may wonder what they all have in common. Well you see:

 Me and You

She and He

They and We

Are ALL Children of our Heavenly Father. No matter where we live, how we dress or what we look like, we are all equally loved by Him. He is mindful of all of us, meaning He knows our name, our needs, and what will help each of us learn and grow to become like Him. HE KNOWS US.

"God sees you not only as a mortal being on a small planet who lives for a brief season- He sees you as His child. He sees you as the being you are capable and designed to become. He wants you to know that
YOU MATTER TO HIM" - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

How wealthy you are DOES NOT MATTER. What kind of car you drive, especially when compared to your neighbor DOES NOT MATTER. Where you live or even what kind of job you have DOES NOT MATTER. What MATTERS is that you are happy where you are with what you have. That you don't take the people in your life for granted, and that you are trying your best to be like Christ. That is what is important. That is what I have learned on my mission. It is hard to remember your worth in a world full of billions of people but never forget that you are Someone in His Eyes.

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock

9 Months

39 Weeks

274 Days

6,576 Hours

394,560 Minutes

23,673,600 Seconds

That is time spent waking up every morning at six-thirty, exercising, and getting ready for the day. Time studying the scriptures, knocking on doors, and teaching people about the Gospel. That is time being used all day focusing on others and the Savior. That is the life of a missionary.

Everyday. Everyday. Everyday.

And no matter how you want to look at the numbers, it adds up to half of my mission. That means I only have: 9 MORE months to testify of Christ, 39 MORE weeks to share the Book of Mormon, 274 MORE days to go door to door, 6,576 MORE hours to help people apply the Atonement, 394,560 MORE minutes to teach people about the Restoration, and only 23,673,600 MORE seconds to represent Christ with a name tag on, and a companion by my side. And don't think for a second that I will waste any of that precious time I have left, I won't, because I simply love it too much, to do that.

The more I think about it the more 9 months seems like not enough time. Because it isn't. Thank goodness Heavenly Father knows that and allows us to be missionaries for the rest of our lives and all of eternity. I am grateful for that. Especially when my time on a mission is limited, it is great to know as President Uchtdorf put it "We are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the almighty God, whose name is Endless and who promises eternal blessings without number." That missionary work doesn't have a time limit.  So time can continue to tick, tock, on because I know "He hath made everything beautiful in His time..." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

That's What Friends are For

I have been meaning to write this blog post for over a month now and every time I tried to, it just never felt right. Until now. This is something that I thought I understood but in reality I didn't. At least not to the extent that I have learned it during the course of my mission. What I have learned is what it truly means to be a FRIEND. 

As missionaries that is what we are called to be.

A Friend.

Twenty four hours a day

Seven days a week.

We are called to be a friend to others.

Our companion

The people we teach

Even the people that slam the door in our faces

Everyone needs a friend

Everyone

One of my best friends that I have met on my mission was serving as an ASL (American Sign Language) Sister. In the Deaf culture because she is hard of hearing, she can give people name signs and so she gave me one. Now I'm not sure how familiar you are with the Deaf culture but name signs usually are descriptive or have a meaning behind it. The sign she associated with my name came from the sign meaning best friend. It has become something that I reflect on often. Something that I strive to be everyday. What does it mean to be a best friend, a true friend? How often can I truthfully say I was a friend?

Being a friend means being there for others, to listen, love and care. To me it means having someone that you can laugh with, lean on during the hard times, and enjoy the good times together.  Friends take you how you are but as Marvin J. Ashton suggests "that we are something less than a real friend if we leave a person the same way we find him."

Yesterday, we had a "Specialized Sister Training Meeting" where all the sisters in the mission met together. We were able to see old friends and meet new ones as we learned from each other and strengthened one another. It is an amazing feeling to be surrounded by the other sister missionaries and to feel of their love for the gospel. "To be sisters implies that there is an unbreakable bond between us. Sisters take care of each other, watch out for each other, comfort each other, and are there for each other through thick and thin" -Bonnie L. Oscarson.

All of our friends were there, except for one. A dear Sister was missing from our gathering. Sister Lierley was about to be released from being in the hospital due to an infection from a root canal, however we received the news during part of the meeting that she was no longer with us and had passed away. Now I didn't know her very well but I DO know she was an amazing missionary, and left the most incredible legacy in the mission. The heartache from EVERYONE in the room was so real, so tangible. Not a soul moved. Then I watched with tear filled eyes as Sisters comforted Sisters. Hugs were given. Hymns were sung. Prayers were said. Testimonies were borne. In that moment I witnessed the MOST Christlike love as friends were being every sense of the word FRIENDS.

"At no time will we be more Christlike than when we are a friend." -Marlin K. Jensen. In fact, the Best Friend you could ever ask for is Jesus Christ. He is always there for you, ALWAYS no matter what. He understands what you are going through and wants to help carry your load. He listens, He cares. He loves you, yes YOU. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down His life for His FRIENDS" (John 15:13)  I know without a shadow of doubt that He died for us, AND that He LIVES and because of that we will be with our loved ones AGAIN. The Savior is always there for us, after all, that is what friends are for.

Mountains to Climb

Last week we went on a hike as a zone. It was fun climbing this!!

Okay so we didn't really climb Mt. Hood, we actually hiked up Beacon Rock and the view was amazing!

I learned several things from our hike. The first one being that I am very out of shape. The second one being tourists climb really slow but the most important thing I learned is how the Lord moves mountains in our lives.

They always say you have to have faith to move mountains and I never really understood what that meant. I thought that you would just have to believe and ask for Heavenly Father's help and He would take care of it and your mountain would go away. That is partly true, you have to have faith and praying always helps but I realized moving mountains isn't Him moving them for you but helping you to climb them. The mountains don't move then, but you move past them. Why if He is all powerful would He make you climb? Because He wants us to become like Him and to be able to move our own mountains. That is how you use faith to really move mountains. And besides if someone just did everything for you would you really appreciate it or take it for granted? Would you be as happy or excited when it was accomplished?

It is tough going to climb mountains but it is supposed to be, however it is so worth it. "Know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good" (D&C 122:7) If you are anything like me, you get tired and want to quit because sometimes we look up ahead and we get discouraged, sometimes we look down and we become afraid of heights so to speak. Or even become proud of what we have done so far and decide you have gone far enough. And sometimes we are doing our best but there are rocks falling down all around us.

But the most important thing is that we keep going. Everything in this gospel is about moving forward. It is all about moving, becoming, changing, growing. It is about not being stagnant and sitting still watching life pass you by but savoring each moment in the moment.

I have learned this for myself and then I have had to relearn it again and again because I am a slow learner. But I know that Heavenly Father is patient with us and wants us to succeed and feel of the happiness, excitement when we overcome our limitations. Because when we do, we get a taste of the View from the top and my oh my it is breath taking!!

 "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph..." (D&C 121:7-8)

A Back flip Lesson

A few weeks ago we went to a trampoline place for part of our Pday, (Preparation day) and while we were there one of the Elders asked if we wanted to learn how to do a back flip. Of course the adventurous side of me readily agreed. I'm up for a challenge. I've gone skydiving and I plan on going bungee jumping, what's a measly back flip compared to that? Plus I used to be able to do lots of things on a trampoline when I was a kid, this was going to be a piece of cake. So not true!

He then explains the motions... Jump, toss your head back, a simple tuck of the knees, spot your landing and the rest takes care of itself. And then demonstrates it for me. Simple. Easy. Now it is your turn.

My turn!! Say what!?! You lost me after jump! But I obediently got into the middle of the trampoline and I started to jump... and jump... and jump. With each jump I went into more and more of a panic mode. Toss my head back, tuck my knees, toss my head back and tuck my knees, wait hold the phone. It just occurred to me this is crazy, why did I say yes!?! Eventually I stopped I can't do this.

Why not he said, you've got a good height when you jump, the worst that can happen is that you'll belly flop.

Um yeah that's the point, that will hurt. A lot!

You can do this. I believe in you. You got this.

I tried again and again but I just couldn't bring myself to go for it.

I know that you can do this. I have faith in you! He repeated over and over.

Finally I decided I had to take that leap of Faith and go for it. I counted to 3 (ok so it was more like 10 or 15 but still) I took a deep breath and went for it. Success!! I did a back flip and I didn't belly flop! It wasn't perfect but it didn't have to be all that mattered was that I made it. That day I learned so much more than how to do a back flip.

FAITH

that is what I learned from this experience.

What is faith?

Faith is defined as having a complete confidence and trust in something.

I had to trust that everything would work out, I had to have complete confidence in myself and in what he said to do. Also it taught me more about the Savior. He has that faith in us, He knows what we are capable of doing and He is there every second along the way cheering us on and encouraging us. Helping us reach our potential and becoming even as He is. I am so grateful for Him. My faith isn't perfect but as I know as I continue to grow it and act on my faith that I will see mountains moved in my life. I know that faith is where it all begins, and that the Savior won't ever let us belly flop.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

This week my thoughts kept coming back to one of our greatest gifts that Heavenly Father has given us. Agency.

What is agency you might ask?

Agency is the ability to choose for ourselves.

Why is the gift of agency so important?

It is important because it allows us to fully choose for ourselves and to be ourselves. Nobody can force us to do anything or to choose anything.

But you see sometimes that is my problem, because I never seem to be able to make up my mind and choose one way or the other. Do I want to eat chicken nuggets or a yummy quesadilla for lunch? Should I wear my tan skirt today or my black one? It is a good thing that I only have one pair of boots or I would have to make a decision about those too! Now are these important life changing decisions? Probably not UNLESS... Ok I got nothing, they are still not very important.

So if I have a hard enough time deciding between things that aren't important, how am I supposed to decide between things that are? I have to know where I want to end up, that's how! President Monson talked about this very thing in a general conference talk. In it he gave a good example:

"Let us not find ourselves as indecisive as is Alice in Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. You will remember that she comes to a crossroads with two paths before her, each stretching onward but in opposite directions. She is confronted by the Cheshire cat, of whom Alice asks, “Which path shall I follow?”

The cat answers, “That depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn’t matter which path you take.”

Unlike Alice, we all know where we want to go, and it does matter which way we go, for by choosing our path, we choose our destination.

Decisions are constantly before us. To make them wisely, courage is needed—the courage to say no, the courage to say yes. Decisions do determine destiny."

Decisions do determine destiny but they aren't the only thing in the equation that equals destiny. Once you decide on your destiny you have to put in the hard work to get there. Simply put:

Decisions + Discipline = Destiny.

So where is it that we want to go? What is our Destiny? It is to return to our Heavenly Father, and to become like Him. That is our destination.

Basically in other words: "happiness is the destination, but it’s also the path. “Peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” D&C 59:23" So what then brings us happiness? It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news, and the joyful way of a disciple of Christ. It is the commandments and example given to us by our Advocate and Mentor, who knows the way because He is the way. And His way is found in the scriptures, in the words of prophets and apostles, and through personal revelation from the Holy Ghost.-President Uchtdorf

 So the question to ask then is are you on the right course? Are you becoming the person you were designed to be and wanted to become? Are you making choices that will help you to return to your Father in Heaven? If not, are you willing to make the choice to change? I know that He wants us to return to Him and to Choose the Right! I know He loves us and wants the best for us. I know that He has given us help when we choose the wrong through His Son's INFINITE Atonement. I know I this is what I want. This is what I choose. What do you Choose?