Look Up!

A little gem I found while studying tonight. This quote comes from a talk Elder Russell M. Nelson gave in General Conference April 1996.)

Welcome to Holland

This analogy (written by Emily Perl Kingsley) was read in Relief Society today. I LOVE it. The author was talking about having a child with down syndrome, but I think it can be applied to anyone's life. Life never goes the way we plan, but we should enjoy where we end up!

"...It's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland."

Onward, Ever Onward!

I couldn't let today go by without mentioning the fact that six years ago this very day I entered the missionary training center to become a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (for a year and a half). It was the day that I embarked on a journey that would change my life.

I may be slightly more (ok, ok, a lot) obsessed with my mission than most who have served. But, missions really are sacred, personal, and special. 

I came to know and rely on The Lord more than I had ever done before. I remember knocking on doors in the bitter cold and getting rejections almost as cold as the weather. I had a precious message to share, but sadly many people didn't want to hear it. But those who did, those are the ones who made it all worth it.

I can't possibly sum up what my mission taught me and means to me in just a few short paragraphs, but know this - my mission changed me and means the world to me.

I feel blessed and lucky (in a way) that a mission was "in the cards" for me. I know there are people who want to serve, but aren't able to for one reason or another. Serving The Lord for 18 months as His representative was an honor. I will always cherish the experiences I had as I served Him.

Joy In Life

From a talk given by Richard G. Scott. Great reminder.

He Will Multiply It

I was reading in Mark chapter 8 tonight (verses 1-8) about Jesus feeding 4,000 from a few loaves of bread and a few fishes. The passage says,

5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.

6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people.

7 And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them.

8 So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.

So, these people gave Jesus all that they had-which was small- and he multiplied it. I've always seen this story as a great miracle and evidence of Christ's power (and it is). But, this time, while reading those verses, it hit me- Jesus just asks me to bring all that I have- even if it is small, (which it always is) and He will multiply it. He will make it even something greater.

If I bring my Faith to Him, He'll grow it. If I give him my small amount of tithing, he's going to give me blessings. If I come to him with my problems having done all that I can do, He will turn my problems into blessings. If I give Him a little bit of time (going to church, serving, etc.), He'll give me great blessings.

I had never looked at those verses that way before. Pretty awesome to think about! 

Blessed, Honored Pioneer!

Today is Pioneer Day (observed in Utah) - an important day in the history of the LDS church. On this day in 1847 the first group of pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley. This day is especially near and dear to my heart, as I have pioneer ancestors.

I have so much respect and admiration for these pioneers. They pulled handcarts and pushed wagons. They suffered through brutal winters without food. I don't know if I could have done what they did. They suffered so much. But, they remained faithful and steadfast. They deserve a day to be remembered. They deserve to be remembered many days.

I am proud of my heritage and so grateful for these wonderful people!

God Will Remember You

I came across this talk recently (given by Spencer J. Condie in the October 2007 General Conference). I really liked it (basically, if I post something about a talk on here, that means I like it. :) )

My favorite part of the talk was this: "In this age of one-hour dry cleaning and one-minute fast-food franchises, it may at times seem to us as though a loving Heavenly Father has misplaced our precious promises or He has put them on hold or filed them under the wrong name." Love it. I can SO relate to that. I've definitely felt that way.

Elder Condie goes on to mention that that's how Rachel of old felt. Rachel was barren for many years. Elder Condie says, "But with the passage of time, we encounter four of the most beautiful words in holy writ: “And God remembered Rachel” (Genesis 30:22)." "When heaven’s promises sometimes seem afar off, I pray that each of us will embrace these exceeding great and precious promises and never let go. And just as God remembered Rachel, God will remember you."

I love that! We are children of God. He will not and has not forgotten us. I've been on a quest lately to come to a better understanding of who I am, my relationship with my Father and most importantly right now in my life - how my Father sees me and feels about me. It's a process. As I've written before, I don't know if anyone reads this blog, but if you're reading this I want you to know that God does love you and has not forgotten you.