The Return

It's strange to think that it has been almost five weeks since I came home from my mission in Oregon. For two years my entire life had been dedicated to getting up at six thirty in the morning, studying my scriptures for two hours, and then spending the entire day talking to everyone that I could. Then at the end of that day it was back to my apartment to get some rest so that I could go out and repeat the day over and over. Now I'm not living on that same schedule. Most mornings I wake up at around eight o'clock (which is only a half hour later than waking up at 6:30 in Oregon), studying my scriptures has gone from two hours a day to about half an hour, and instead of teaching random people about the Gospel anymore I spend most of my time talking to my friends.

My family at the airport.

As a missionary I would often hear church members comment about how weird missionaries were when they got home. The members would talk about how these return missionaries didn't know how to interact with people of the opposite sex, couldn't tolerate mainstream music, or acted as if the whole world was weird. As a missionary comments like these seemed strange to me. Even though I was living with rules that seemed pretty "strict" for two years it didn't seem to me that a transition to home would be difficult. I was already socially awkward before I had left on my mission and I figured that when I got home that there was no way that I would be able to be more "weird" than when I left. Life after my mission was not going to be difficult or hard for me.

When I got off of the plane at the Salt Lake International Airport I was excited, I was about to go back to life as it had been before I left on my mission. When I came down the escalator and approached my family I came to see that things were not going to be the same as when I had left. The first couple of weeks after I got home I kept waking up at 6:30 am. This ruined my plan about sleeping in all the time when I got home. I was so tired of getting up early, but now I wasn't able to even sleep past the magical time of 6:30. That was very disappointing to me.

Plus on top of the sleeping in problem I found myself trying to listen to music that I had listened to before my mission. About two songs into an old playlist I found myself skipping through certain songs that I had listened to a lot. I asked myself the question, "Wow how did I listen to this stuff?" Soon I had a list of songs that I was no longer willing to listen to. As a missionary I had never thought that I would have said that about my music. I had been so excited to get home and listen to songs by Kesha and Pitbull. Now they weren't as exciting to me anymore.

Returning home for me has been hard. Finding things to do has been really hard as I've waited for the school year to start. Hugging girls has also been a little awkward for me, because I haven't been allowed to hug girls for the last two years. Certain things that I had found fairly easy to do have become hard for me and I never thought that they would be hard. The stories that I had heard from members were true, post-mission life is awkward.

Even though the transition has been tough I've come to see that the transition is necessary. I can't go out and do all of the things that I did as a missionary anymore. I can't go out knocking on doors, wear a white shirt and tie all the time, or go about not interacting with females anymore. It just can't happen anymore and to be honest I'm glad not to have to deal with those things. 

Of course there are certain things that I miss like all my scripture study. But I know that life has to go on and that the Lord has more things required of me in my life. Things that I can't do as a full-time missionary. Things like getting an education, getting married, having a family, and getting a job. Those are things that I can't do as a missionary. Plus many other things await me in my life and I will have to seek them out as I continue to live my life and strive to put the Gospel first.

Just like the transition to being a missionary was tough going back to normal life will always be hard, but it's alright. The Lord requires hard things from us and those hard things help to build us into what we need to be. Right now I'm starting to see what I can become, but the end is still along way off. But for now I'll be thankful with the hard things I had to do as a missionary and what my mission has already helped me to become.

Me and my Dad after two years.

You Served Where?

Lakeview, Grants Pass, Junction City, Winston, and Newport. Those are all of the towns that I have served in as a missionary here in Oregon. It's funny for me to see the reactions on people's faces when I tell them the areas that I have served in. The comments that I hear a lot are, "Where is that?", "I've never heard of that town", "Wow you served there?" or "Well at least you're in a better place now."

There have been times on my mission where I have agreed with the negative comments that have been made about my areas. Every time that I would get transferred to a new area in Oregon I would hear stories about how terrible the place was. When I went to Lakeview all I heard about the area was how small it was and that it was two hours away from the nearest Walmart. I remember that I was terrified of this small town and scared that I was going to go crazy talking to the same people over and over again. It turns out that in the four and a half months I spent in Lakeview that I always found new people to talk to everyday. I also found the friendliest people on earth and made lots of good friends.

Lakeview

When I left Lakeview to go to Grants Pass, I was nervous and depressed. I had heard stories about how crime rates were high in the town. I heard that I was likely to meet a lot of people, who could use some change in their lives, but wouldn't be willing to make those changes at all. It seemed like I was going to be in for a lot of challenges. I honestly don't think that I have ever been happier in my life than the during the time I spent in Grants Pass. It seemed that everyone I talked to was willing to learn about the Gospel, learning to try something out, and willing to change for the better. I saw lots of people grow closer to the Savior and I felt so good about myself and the work that I was doing for Jesus. 

Grants Pass

After a wonderful seven and a half months in Grants Pass I moved onto Junction City. I found out once again that I was going to another small town in Oregon. Several people told me that there wasn't going to be a single person to talk to and that I would want out of town by the end of six weeks. But once again things turned out to be a lot better than I expected them to be. Even though I could walk from one side of the town to the other in twenty minutes I was able to go out into the countryside and enjoy the beauty of nature, plus on top of that I had an awesome companion and found lots of people to teach. Lots of people who got baptized too. It was a fun couple of transfers.

A Baptism in Junction City.

At the time I transferred from Junction City I learned I was going to yet another small town that was a distance from the closest city. The town I was going to was Winston. When I asked the people in Junction City what they knew about Winston all they could tell me was that it was near Roseburg and that there was an animal safari. The missionaries I talked to said that there wasn't that much potential for the area and that I would want out after six weeks. But with past experience I decided that I would try to make the best of Winston and Winston turned into my favorite area of my whole mission. I met one of my best friends in the whole world in Winston. Enjoyed talking to friendly polite people. And even saw a baptism.

The farmland of Winston

When I left Winston I was sad to go I loved the area and the people so much and I was afraid of my next area. I was headed off to the dreadful coast for a probable couple of months. I didn't want to go to the coast. I wasn't excited for cold winter storms with howling rains. I didn't want to meet lots of tourists, who didn't live anywhere near Newport. And on top of all of that I felt like the ocean was going to be a wall that would stop me from going to the edges of the earth. But once again the area has turned out to be a lot better than I expected it to be. I love seeing the coast everyday, listening to the wind come in off the coast, and I get to meet people from all over the United States. I wouldn't have been able to experience any of these things in any of my other areas.

Newport Coast

Despite all of the negative things that I have heard about my areas I have loved every single one of them. Some of them have been more successful than others, but there was always something to enjoy, something to love. Whatever it was that I loved it showed me that the area wasn't bad like people had told me. The same thing is true about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lots of people can say all kinds of  mean and hurtful things about the Church and about the Gospel. But they are emphasizing the negatives instead of the positive. There are so many positives about the Gospel and all it takes to find out about those positives is to go and to find out about them for ourselves. Because people will say all kinds of things, but until we find out for ourselves we will never know if they're telling the truth. So check out the Church and the Gospel and find out for yourself if it's good or bad.

Links to learn more about the Church and the Gospel

Find a local LDS Chapel

Basic Mormon beliefs

Visit with Mormon Missionaries

Order a free Book of Mormon

Small Growth

Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

Alma 37:6

My favorite place in the world is the Grand Canyon. It is a place that I love to visit and hike. I have vivid memories of the many trips I have made to the canyon. From the rims I have seen miles of side canyons and the mighty Colorado. Within the walls of the canyon I have dipped my feet into the water of falls and creeks that run through the desert environment. But the most impressive thing to me was standing on the edge of the Colorado River and staring up at the South Rim and realizing how far down I was, the entire thing was amazing.

On that day when I stood and stared up at the horizon I remembered a principle that I had been taught in every geology class that I had ever taken, that principle was erosion. Erosion is the process of wearing away the landscape by forces of nature such as wind or water. It was through the process of erosion that the Grand Canyon was formed. For millions and millions and millions of years the Colorado River made its course through Northern Arizona and cut through the landscape. As the years passed the river had carried away bits and pieces of the rocks that it flowed through. At first the sediment that was carried away wasn't all that impressive, but as the years went by the Canyon was slowly formed, until it became the most impressive canyon on the planet.

In my life I have had experiences that have changed me dramatically, but those changes have sometimes taken months and even years before I have seen the end result. A lot of those changes have taken place here on my mission. But the interesting thing about most of those changes is that it has taken me a long time to even notice that they have happened. But looking back on where I've come from to where I am now I am better able to put into perspective the changes that have been made in my life. All of those changes have resulted in me being a better person than when I left on my mission.

Me at the beginning of my mission.

For instance when I left on my mission I felt pretty confident about the challenges that laid ahead of me. I had just finished a year of college and felt as if I could handle anything that came at me. Within one week of being at the Missionary Training Center I realized just how wrong I was. I found myself incompetent at studying. Not very observant of those around me. And most importantly I shrunk from social interactions. I honestly felt that there was no way that I could survive a mission at all at that point in my life. If I didn't know the Gospel very well, couldn't listen to people very well, and couldn't even get the courage to talk to people how was I expected to go and be a missionary?

When I got into the mission field none of those things were resolved. I still felt like I was a bad missionary, but I decided to trek onward. So for eight months I trudged through my mission just trying to make it from one day to the next. At the end of each day I would comeback to my apartment and review what had happened that day. Most days felt about the same and at the end of most days I really didn't feel all that different from the way I had felt before.  

The interesting thing to me was that the longer I stayed out on my mission the more I was able to get a better perspective of myself. Though at the end of each day I still felt like the same person and still felt like nothing had changed there was a large change happening inside of me. By the time that I had been out for eight months I wasn't as depressed about my prospects of the mission, I felt confident and I felt like I was finally able to listen to people and help them. Then by the time I hit my yearmark I felt a lot more confident in my knowledge of the Gospel and I felt as if every time I studied something from the Scriptures that I was learning something new and uplifting. Then at around eighteen months I thought back on my mission and realized that I now wasn't too afraid to talk to people anymore. 

All of these changes that have happened to me have been amazing to me. But the most amazing thing about these changes is how they came about. I didn't become a good listener during one lesson, it took many lessons and many times of talking to people. Being confident in my Gospel knowledge didn't come from one major study session in the MTC or one morning on my mission, it came from constant study of the scriptures. Being able to talk to people didn't come from just one conversation, but from many awkward conversations, that eventually weren't as awkward as they had been before. All of these changes had come through time lots of time and lots of practice.

When it comes to seeing changes in our lives the principle is the same as it was for me. Oftentimes we get discouraged when it seems that we are not changing, if we don't have the testimony we want, or aren't the person we want to be. All of those things are understandable, but they shouldn't get us down. Building a testimony and changing into a better person takes time. So let us press forward, let us study the scriptures, let us try every day to be a little bit better and let us all rely on our Savior. Eventually we will be able to look back on our lives and see changes that are just as visible as the Grand Canyon.

Me now.

A Strong Finish

During the four years I spent running cross country I ran a lot of different races. Now when I refer to different races I am not referring to the course alone, but to how I ran the race. Because as I found out no matter how many times I ran a course my experiences were always different than they had been the time before. In fact the first cross country meet I ran I did very poorly at and had to hobble along to the finish line. The second year I ran the race I finished second place. Then the third year I ran the course I had a terrible time. From running that one race three times I was able to find out that there would be times when I could run a race easily and times where it would be a struggle just to finish.

Every single race was absolutely different regardless of time of year, the amount of experience I had under my belt, or how the last race I had run went. But no matter how the race went I knew two things every single time I ran. The first was I would be done running in at least twenty minutes if not faster. The second was that no matter how I started the race the most important part was that I finished the race and that I try to finish strong.

Some of the races that I had in high school were pretty terrible. In some of my races I wanted to give up within the first mile. But I always hung on and never gave up on the race no matter how tough the first couple of miles went. By the time I hit the last mile and half or the last quarter mile I would try my best to run my hardest and to finish strong. I knew that if I could sprint in down the homestretch that I would feel good about my race and would be willing to go out and run my next meet with a little less apprehension.

From my experiences with cross country I learned to liken mortality to a race. There are some racers who float along with ease and post really good times. These people could be likened to those who have the Gospel in their lives and have somehow always made the right decisions. Some people have started out the race slowly, but are gaining speed as they learn the Gospel and start living its principles in their lives. Yet there are some who maybe started the race strong and given up on the Gospel or maybe even those who have never heard the Gospel in their lives and feel like they are failing. There are many different racers in this life just like there are many different runners in a 5k.

Now a cross country 5k is relatively short race and takes a small amount of time to run. Life is the same way and just like a 5k it can be discouraging. As we run this race of life we will oftentimes seem as if people are passing us by. We flounder at the back of the pack trying to keep pace while others move on ahead as if they are Olympic marathoners. At times like this it can seem as if it might be better to just drop out of the race and say "Well I tried, but it just wasn't for me."

When the race gets tough it is best to remember that unlike a real 5K we are never truly out of the race and that we can finish strong. The Gospel of Jesus Christ allows us to use the enabling power of Christ's Atonement to receive the extra boost that we need to finish the race. As we build our efforts upon faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end we will be more confident in our lives and in the things we are doing. We will know that at the end of this race we will not be ashamed by our "finishing place".

Rely on Christ and He will help you to overcome the obstacles and challenges that you face in this life. He will not let you down and when you get to the end of this life you will be satisfied with your experience. For in the end we will all receive the same reward and it matters not how we started, but how we finished.

Not Forsaken in Lakeview

On my mission there are a lot of things that I have learned to go without. Two of those things are friends and family. For two years I don't get to see them or really talk to them. Of course there is the weekly email home and the occasional letter. But mostly there is very little contact with the people I knew before my mission. At the beginning of my mission there were times where I felt lonely and sometimes even abandoned.

One of the times when I felt almost completely helpless was a gloomy September day in the town of Lakeview. I had just received my second missionary companion and the two of us were at very low lows. We had spent most of the previous week trying to talk with and visit people. Unfortunately we did not see very much success during that time. I can remember feeling frustrated and upset. Because of how upset I was I missed my home and my friends. I knew that if I could just see some of my friends that everything would be better. But being in Lakeview, Oregon I knew that there was no way I could see my friends.

So my companion and I trudged along through the day just trying to make the best of our situation. That night we went to some ward members' house for dinner. When we showed up my companion and I were greeted by the members who were watching the Women's session of General Conference.The wife apologized for having the TV on, but said that since she couldn't make it into Klamath Falls to watch the session with the stake that the only way she could watch it was on TV. She asked us if it was okay to leave the TV running and my companion and I consented.

So the four of us sat down to dinner while the session of General Conference played. As the session progressed we listened to some very good speakers. Then the choir arose to sing and I paid special attention to the choir as it was announced that the choir was made up of Sister missionaries from the Missionary Training Center. To my great joy I saw one of my best friends in the choir. It had been several months since I had seen her. I was so excited because I had missed her a lot and here I was watching her on TV. All of the depression and sadness I had been feeling that day just melted away. I felt good and at the moment I felt as if I could make it through the rest of my mission.

I soon wrote my friend and told her of this experience. She wrote back and shared with me that she had felt as if getting into the choir had been a small miracle. She had been an alternate in the choir and hadn't expected to be able to go and participate in the session. But at the last minute a seat had opened up and my friend had been allowed to go. I was amazed when she told me this and I began to see how much of a miracle my whole experience was.

I thought to myself how could all of these things have fallen into place so perfectly? What were the chances that a member from Lakeview would not be able to make it to Klamath, especially on the night the missionaries were coming over for dinner? Then what were the chances that out of the thousands of Sister missionaries at the MTC that my friend would make the choir? Then what were the chances that even as an alternate that she would make it? The chance of all these things happening all on the same day in such a short span of time isn't very good. Yet they all happened and that is because they were all orchestrated by a loving Heavenly Father.

From this experience I really came to see that God is mindful of His children. That even with all of His concerns and problems He has He took the time to help out one of His sons who was in Lakeview, Oregon. I now know that God will move Heaven and Earth to make us happy and to show His love to us. So if times are dark remember your Father and keep strong in your faith in Him. He will not forsake you, but will deliver you from your trials.

Me and my companion.

Growing Pains In Lakeview

It has now been a very long since I served as a missionary in the small town of Lakeview. It seems though as if it was only a few weeks ago that me and my companion were walking the streets of the "tallest town" in Oregon. Those were fun times. Times at which I exuded confidence every pore, times when I wasn't too sure of myself, and times where I knew serving a mission was the greatest thing for my life. There was a lot of growing that I did in Lakeview.

When I arrived in Lakeview I was fresh out of Utah. A kid who was only nineteen years old, who was so shy that I had been known in college to drop classes just to avoid people. I was not too sure of myself. Plus on top of that I was in a town of 2,500 people that was two hours away from the closest city. As absurd as it seems this little town in the middle of nowhere intimidated me to no end.

I can remember those first few weeks in Lakeview being tough. I tried my hardest to figure out just what I was doing as a missionary.Talking to people did not come easily for me. To make things worse people were polite, but "not interested". I often wondered why was I out on a mission? Why hadn't I waited until I was more mature and sure of myself to come out and tackle such a great work? I wanted to go back to my home in Utah so bad. But I decided to push on trusting that things would get better for me.

As it turned out things did start to get better. Everyday I prayed for help to overcome my weaknesses as a missionary, I studied my scriptures, and then I went out and worked. At first I noticed no improvement and so I was frustrated with what seemed to be my ineptitude to get better. I was still lousy at everything that I was doing. But the more the weeks progressed the more I began to see changes. Now these changes I was experiencing were really small. So small that I didn't see them come. So small that if I hadn't looked back on the first few days of my mission I would not have able to see any difference.

Some of these small changes that I saw were that I didn't fumble around with my words as much. I had the courage to knock on a door even if I was afraid to do so. I had just a little more confidence in everything I did. All of this happened within the first few weeks of my mission.These changes were an absolute miracle for me. For nineteen years I had been trying to grow up. To see some kind of change in my life that would let me know that I was finally maturing and becoming a new person. Finally in Lakeview I was starting to see real growth.

The secret to this growth as I found out was the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Because of Christ's suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and upon the cross I am able to change. He suffered all things, He felt all things. My sorrows and my griefs are included in everything that He felt. Because He felt all of those things He has perfect empathy and knows how to help and strengthen me. In return all He asks me to do is believe in Him, to go to church, to read my scriptures, be baptized, and continue to be a good person. It isn't much that He asks for and in return I have received strength and maturity.

Ever since I took my first few steps in Lakeview towards growing I have continued to grow and I've grown a lot. That growth has been in small steps, but I wouldn't have been able to make those steps if it wasn't for my Savior Jesus Christ and the time I spent in Lakeview. I know that anyone can change through Christ that through His Atonement people can grow and become better. Come unto Christ by keeping the commandments and being baptized. Be strengthened by Him. " For [His] yoke is easy and [His] burden is light." (Matthew 11:30)

Lakeview from above.

God's Love Conquers all Distance

On my mission I have met a lot of fantastic people. I've met people who own cars worth over a quarter of a million dollars, people who own restaurants, people who live in small trailers, and people who barely make it by. In this huge range of of people I've met I have made many friends, friends that I've come to love dearly. Friends who in the end have changed my life and shaped me into who I am now.

Unfortunately as a missionary my time with all the people I meet isn't very long. Sometimes I may be able to spend as long as six or seven months working in an area or I might spend only six weeks. As a missionary though you come to learn that the time spent with these people is always pretty short and ends pretty unexpectedly. I know from personal experience that it can be hard leaving, but every time I'm moved I promise my new friends that I will be back.

Even though all of these good byes are hard for me to say I know it has to be done. I know that I have work to do in a new area. An area where I will make new friends and come to love even more people. But before I leave I always promise those I've come in contact with that  I will be back to see them again someday. I don't know when this reuniting will happen, but I know that someday at the conclusion of my mission I will come back to Oregon and visit it with all the people that I have come to know so well.

And this promise that I make to those I meet applies to more than just them. It also applies to all of my loved ones who have passed on to the other side. One of the things that being on a mission has helped me to see is that separation is not an end, but merely a short time away from loved ones. Because during my life I have lost family members and friends. In fact out here on my mission I lost my Grandma and that loss hit me pretty hard and I still miss my Grandma.

Yet I know that I will see my Grandma again. I know that I have a loving Heavenly Father who has created a plan for all of His children. This plan called the Plan of Salvation shows God's love to each and everyone of us.Central to this plan is the family. God has taught us that families are important in this life and that they will continue on in the next life. There is no way to hear that families are forever and not know how valid this is because love does not end and Christ Himself said, "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." (Mark 10:9)

So just like I know that I'll be able to return and visit all the special people I've met in Oregon I also know I will see all of my family members again and all of my loved ones. I know this is true for everyone. I know that if anyone is to take the time and learn more about God's plan for us that they will come know that families our forever, that God loves us, and that He has provided hope for us through His Son Jesus Christ. I know this all in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Wornout Shoes

While growing up I went through a lot of shoes. I would put a lot of wear and tear on shoes just because of how much I moved. Plus on top of that I grew a lot which meant I could never wear any pair of shoes for an extended period of time.

I can remember these times pretty well. Every month it seemed like I was getting another pair of shoes to wear. As a child I never thought too much about how many pairs I went through. It was unimportant to me because all I really cared about was running until I dropped.

To my parents the shoes were a pretty big deal. They knew how much good shoes cost. They also had a mortgage to pay, gas to buy, and had four mouths to feed off of the salary of a middle school English teacher. My mom and my dad were often under a lot of stress. How could they realistically afford to keep buying new shoes for me and my younger brother who were growing up so fast?

Yet during these times my parents were always able to get me new shoes to wear. My mom can remember taking me and my brother to a local thrift store to look for shoes. Every time we went there was always a pair of shoes that fit me or my brother and had been lightly worn.My mother always rejoiced over this miracle while I just figured that this store just always had a good selection of shoes.

It wasn't until much later in my life that my mom told me why it was so amazing to find good shoes at the thrift store. That store had a very limited selection and the shoes that were there usually were in bad condition. So it was an absolute miracle that every time I needed a new pair of shoes that there was always a good new pair of shoes that just happened to fit me perfectly.

When my mom told this I could see that indeed it was a miracle about the shoes. But there was a reason why the miracle happened. Every month when my dad's paycheck came in my parents would take out ten percent for tithing to pay to the Lord. This ten percent could have easily covered the cost of new shoes and a few other things. But my parents always made sure that the tithing was paid.

My parents knew that if their tithing was given to the Lord every month that they would be taken care of. They had read in Malachi Chapter 3 verse 10:

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pout you out a blessings, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

So every month this sacrifice was made and my parents have never regretted paying tithing as they have truly received great blessings from the Lord.

Because of my parents' example I have come to know the value of sacrifice. Any sacrifice we are commanded to make to the Lord will lead to blessings and none of us can live without those blessings.

To learn more about the blessings of paying tithing checkout this talk by Elder Bednar.https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/the-windows-of-heaven?lang=eng

Rules

When it has come to rules I have always been one who has followed the rules, but there have been many times that I have done so grudgingly.In school there were many rules to follow and I often found myself thinking, "Why can't I do that?" or "That's a dumb rule." Despite these thoughts though I still followed the rules because that was what I had been taught to do by my parents.

When I came on my mission I found out that there were a lot of rules for missionaries. Simple things like when to get up, when to go to bed, and what to wear were all things that were decided for me. Plus on top of those things there was a rule book that is 82 pages long and does nothing but tell us what to do as missionaries. I remember looking at this rule book and thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?" Plus on top of that there were also tons of other rules that were given to us missionaries by our mission president. I personally thought that having this many rules was just insane.

There have been many days where I have rolled out of bed when the alarm goes off at 6:30 a.m. and I am just not happy. I will often grumble during these times and wish that I wasn't on a mission. Because if I weren't on a mission I could sleep as long as I wanted to.

The longer I've been out though the more my attitude towards the rules has started to change. I realized at one point that I'm was going to have to live by these rules for two years of my life which at the age of twenty is a really long time. I was to going to have to learn to appreciate the rules or else I was in for a very long two years.

So I started looking at the rules and instead of thinking "What are these stopping me from doing? I began to ask "How are these helping me?" As I did this I began to see that the rules weren't there to make my life miserable they were there to help keep me safe. Sure the rules could seem a little extreme at times, but  they always had my safety and my happiness at heart. Once I started looking at the rules in this way it became easier to live them.

God also gives us rules to follow. These rules are called commandments. These commandments include reading our scriptures, praying, loving our neighbor, and loving God. Sometimes these commandments can seem restrictive and hard to follow. Studying the scriptures can be a time consuming process, loving our neighbor can be hard especially when we don't like them. But these commandments are not give to restrict us, but to make us happier.

God loves us and He knows what is best for us. So He provides us with commandments that keep us away from harm and that strengthen us and bring us joy. As Christ said:

If ye love me, keep my commandments

John 14:15

Let us show our love to God by being obedient to His commandments.

One Year

It has been 365 days sine I left my home in Utah and came on my mission to Oregon. Some of those days have been very long. Others have passed quickly and I can hardly remember them. Some days contain great memories that I never want to lose and yet other days I wish could be forgotten.

A mission I have found is the greatest preparation for life that I have ever had. Up until the point I left on my mission I had not really experienced what the real world was like. Sure before I had left I had had a job, I had gone off to college for a year, and I had even had a small group of friends. But until I left I had no idea what real life was like.

I can remember being trained to be a missionary and realizing that I had to be working every hour of everyday for two years. There was no break from preaching the Gospel. There would be no naps or any rest from 6:30 in the morning until 10:30 at night. This realization was scary to me because I loved just doing nothing, but now that wasn't an option.

Then when I got to Oregon my first companion handed me the cellphone that we shared and told me to call a local church member. This made me super scared because I have always hated calling people. At home I did everything I could to avoid getting on the phone. I would pickup calls, I would text, or I would find some way to work around dialing that phone. And now here I was making a call to someone that I had never met before. It was terrifying.

The mission contained even more challenges than making phone calls and constantly working. Every single one of these challenges took me out of my comfort zone. I can remember how each time I talked to a person on a doorstep or on the street that I was nervous and how I was always drenched in sweat when we were done talking. At times I wondered if I could make it through.

But so far I have made it. The reason being that even though the work is hard and I always feel tired at the end of the day I have been able to witness miracles. I have met with people who have lived hard lives that have been plagued by all kinds of problems. People who have hit rock bottom and thought they couldn't change. But as these people learned about the Gospel they began to be happy and their lives began to be changed. They were filled with a light that could only come from Christ.

The fact that I have been able to see people change has been the greatest blessing, but the person that I have noticed change the most is me. Because when I came out here on my mission I didn't have the strongest testimony of the Gospel. Out here my testimony has taken a beating as I've been faced with problems that made me question whether any of this was real and whether there was really a God above who loved me. But every time it felt like my testimony was about to break and my faith lost I got the reassurance that can only come from God that the Gospel is true and I am loved. Every time this has happened my testimony has grown and I have become stronger.

As I start the second year of my mission I realize that I still have a long way to go. But I know that things will be for my best no matter what happens and there will be a day when I will be home. It's up to me to just make the best of the time I have and to enjoy the short time I have on my mission. It'll be a lesson I can take into the rest of my life because life is to be enjoyed not just endured. In the end we will return to our Heavenly Home where we will be stronger than we ever dreamed of and our Father will say welcome home. But until then enjoy the journey

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Service

The first area I served in on my mission was the tiny town of Lakeview, Oregon. When I arrived in Eugene and was told that I was going to Lakeview the first question I asked was if there was a lake near the town. The answer I found out was no.

The drive to Lakeview from Eugene was a two day affair. My companion and I spent the first night of my mission in Klamath Falls and then went on to Lakeview the next day. My first thoughts when I showed up in Lakeview was that it was super small and that it was super far away from everything.

My companion took no time to stop when we arrived and took me straight to a house where we started to build a playground. For the next few weeks the two of us would go back to this house and work on the playground. We toiled in the hot Sun and drank tons of water. Yet I didn't feel bad about working and I didn't feel bad about being in Lakeview either. It felt so good to work with my hands and to help someone out.

I spent about four moths in Lakeview and the entire time I was there I always tried to help out where I could. I stacked a lot of wood, cut a lot of grass, helped put on siding, and pruned a lot of trees.

Even if someone wasn't interested in hearing the message of the Restoration my companion and I tried to do what we could to help people out. I remember once being asked why were we so willing to help out without any thought of payment. When I was asked this a scripture from the Book of Mormon came to my mind.

And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of you fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

Mosiah 2:17

This scripture spoke a lot of truth to me. The reason I felt good about serving people was because that was what I needed to be doing to those around me. I needed to serve God by serving others.

And as my mission has gone I have found that the best way to serve people is to share the Restored Gospel with them. To let them know that God does love us and does care about our daily lives. Oftentimes He does that through other people. So I will do my best to serve those around me and share the Gospel with them.

So if there is anyone out there who wants to learn more about the Restored Gospel please message me on Facebook or visit mormon.org. I promise that you will never regret learning more.

My Dad

One of the most influential people in my life has been my Dad. He held me when I was a baby, taught me how to ride a bike, how to drive, and how to shop for apartments. He has always been there for me and to me he is the source of all truth and knowledge. Whenever I have a question or a concern I ask him to help me solve it.

When I was at home my Dad had never been too far away. If I needed to fix something on my bike or if I just needed life advice my Dad was only a shout or a phone call away. Out here in Oregon though he's several states away and I'm not allowed to call him.

Often times I miss my Dad. Because now when something goes wrong with my thirty year-old yellow bike I can't just call him up and ask him for help on how to fix it. Also when I feel down I can't just call him up and ask for advice.

The only way that I can communicate with my Dad now is via letter and email. It's a pretty slow process to receive an answer. But every letter that he sends me become an instant treasure. I store them away so that whenever I feel down I can read his advice to me. My Dad's advice to me always comes just when I need it. As I read my Dad's letters I can feel the love and concern that he has for me and how he really does care. The letters that he's sent me has helped me to appreciate my relationship with my father more.

Through the letters that my Dad has sent to me I have been able to see that even though we are far away from each other that he still loves me. Because of this I have been able to see how my Heavenly Father must feel about all of us. He like my Dad has sent his children away from home for a short amount of time. During this period of time each of us learns and grows and even though we are unable to see our Heavenly Father He is able to communicate with us and give us advice.

Our Heavenly Father knows that our time here on earth is short no matter how long it may seem to us. Eventually we will be able to go home and Live with Him forever. But for now we can rely on His advice and use this time to become the Men and Women that He knows we can be.

Just like our earthly parents love and care for us so does our Heavenly Father. So remember that whenever things are hard we can turn to Him and ask for advice just like we ask our parents and because He loves us He will answer. He loves each and everyone of us. Look to Him in prayer and you will receive comfort.

Faith With Works

On my mission I've learned to see the importance of work. Before I came to Oregon I had been kind of lazy. I always did my chores at home, but it usually took a lot of prodding from my parents. I just didn't see the point in making my bed, pulling weeds, or mowing the lawn. The weeds and the grass would soon grow again and when I went to bed at night I would quickly mess up my bed sheets. I didn't like to work on things that didn't show results.

When I came out on my mission I was soon involved with a task that I thought was pointless and produced no results. This task was called tracting and involved knocking door after door on a street. I quickly came to not like tracting. Doors were often closed in our faces and people always had excuses to not talk to us.

After several weeks of knocking doors I had not seen anything come from our efforts. No one we had met was willing to let us us come in and teach them about the Restored Gospel. I was little depressed because of this.

Like making my bed or weeding I thought that tracting was a waste of time. I voiced my reservations to my companion, who said we need to have faith and that we needed to just keep going. I took his advice hoping that something would eventually come.

Even after my companion had told me to keep going we still didn't see anything come from our efforts. It wasn't until several weeks later that we were walking down the street that we had a lady pull up alongside us in her car. I immediately recognized that we had knocked on her door a couple of days earlier and that she had told us that she was not interested in listening to us. The woman started talking to us and told us that she now wanted to listen and to learn more.

From that time on my companion and I were able to teach this lady. Our hours and hours of tracting had finally paid off. As I reflected on this experience later I was reminded of a scripture:

Even so faith if it hath no works, is dead, being alone.

James 2:17

As my companion and I had gone out each day and tracted we had faith that we would find someone to teach. It had taken a long time, but because of our persistence we had been blessed. If I had told my companion that I didn't want to tract and that we should just walked around then we wouldn't met the lady in the car and she wouldn't have stopped us on the street.

Even though the tracting had produced little success it eventually brought forth a brief, but great reward. Just like the grass of a lawn would soon grow back there would be many more hours of tracting with little success. But I grew to realize the joy of the work. The work led us to small brief successes that don't last, but are so worth the effort to get to. That's why we mow lawns, weed, make our beds or do anything. It's for the end result.

I came to realize that our Heavenly Father wants us to work. Like my parents He knows that work is important. When we work it lets us appreciate the things that He has given us. Because of He gave us everything then we would take His gifts for granted.

God makes us work so our faith means something. If we believe then it should inspire us to do something. So if we have a problems we need helps with let us put our faith in God. Let us get down and pray and then go do something to solve the problem. As we act God will help us and miracles will occur.

May we look for these miracles as we continue to work and seek for answers.

What is the Atonement?

Atonement Definition: Because of Him we can change and live again.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have a peculiar vocabulary. Phrases like "Choose the right", "Return Missionary", and "Oh my heck!" pepper our language and set us apart as a people.

To members of the church this terminology seems commonplace. We often forget that those not of our faith often have no idea what we mean when we talk of Priesthood Quorum and Relief Society. As cool as Relief Society and Priesthood Quorums are there is one word often used by Latter-Day Saints that stands above the rest and that is the word Atonement. This word has deep meaning and shows just how much God loves us.

The word Atonement was something that I had heard growing up and truly didn't understand until I reached the mission field. I had always skipped over the meaning of the word because I wasn't very good at paying attention in Seminary and Primary.

When I arrived in Oregon my first missionary companion was always talking about the Atonement and how it was the most important event in history and how everyone needed it. Hearing my companion's sincere love of the Atonement made me want to learn more. The reason being I wanted to know why it was so important and figure out how it could be important in my life.

One day as my companion and I were preparing for a lesson I looked at my companion and asked, "What is the Atonement?" He looked at me, a surprised look on his face. The surprise wasn't because he hadn't heard this question before, but because it was coming from me, a teenage boy who had been a member of the Church all of his life. He asked me if I was serious? I nodded yes.

My companion then turned in the scriptures to Alma chapter 7. He told me to look at verses eleven through thirteen, which said:

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and affliction and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

As I read these verses I began to understand how vitally important the Atonement could be in my life. I had always heard that Christ had died for us and that He rose again, but as I pondered the scriptures I had just read I began to see what He had done for us.

I began to see why Christ had suffered every pain, affliction, and temptation that I had ever been through and why He had borne my sicknesses. It made it possible for Him to know what I was feeling when I was down or when I just didn't feel like moving on. This gave comfort to me to know that there was someone who knew how I felt. That I wasn't alone in my sufferings.

The scripture also explained that Christ had also broken the bands of death. Meaning that because He died and rose again that I and all people could live again. That death was a temporary thing. This brought great comfort to me because a week before my Grandmother had passed away. Being on my mission I was unable to attend her funeral. But because of Christ I knew I would be able to see her again and my time spent away from her wouldn't last.

But the most important thing I learned from these scriptures was that He could blot out my sins. Because of Him I didn't have to let the things I had done in the past define who I am and who I can become. I wasn't trapped by old habits and that I could always grow and continue to get better.

Ever since that day I came to see what the Atonement is and how it has helped me to grow and to become a better person. Through prayer and constant repenting I have been able to see myself change and become a better person. I'm still me, I'm just a better me.

The Atonement is the greatest thing to ever happen and is the message that missionaries teach people about. We teach the simple message that Because of Him we can be made perfect and that we never have to give up hope. We can always overcome.

May we follow the example of Paul who taught that because of Christ's Atonement:

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Phillipians 4:13

Let us all be strengthened through Christ.

The Thirteenth Article of Faith

When I started my service as a missionary I found out just how important my example could be. The way I acted around people could affect their view of Latter-Day Saints for years. This was a concept that I really hadn't thought about before my mission. Before coming to Oregon I had never thought that anyone's opinion of the Church could be changed based on my behavior. I quickly realized that things in Oregon were a little bit different than they were in Utah.

In Utah I had been surrounded by Latter-Day Saints and no matter what I did or said people's view there couldn't be changed that easily. But in Oregon I found that there were many people in Oregon who had never heard of the Church and only knew the Latter-Day Saints as Mormons. These people were ready to make their decisions based on how I and my companion acted around them. It was a daunting task to show through our example what we believed.

At this time I was given some advice from my father who told me to remember the Church's Articles of Faith. Specifically the Thirteenth Article of Faith. As I read the Thirteenth Article of Faith I found the pattern that I needed to follow to show how Latter-Day Saints acted.

As member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints:

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.
-The Thirteenth Article of Faith

This is the way that we as Latter-Day Saints believe in acting and in treating those around us. As a missionary I've done my best and see many Church members to their best to follow the admonition of Paul and be true followers of Christ. Because as member of His Church we have all promised him that we "are willing to mourn with those that mourn" and "comfort those that stand in need of comfort".

It can be a tough promise to keep sometimes, but it's always worth keeping. I have seen the blessings in my life and in my mission as I've helped those around me and always hoped for the best things in this life. I know that as we all do our best to follow the Admonition of Paul and remember the promise that we make at baptism that we will be blessed. May we all continue to endure all things.

Marathoner Mentality

Early on in my mission I found that I just wasn't all that happy. I missed my family, my friends, school, and my home. For the first time in my life I really felt as if there was no support for me. I was homesick and it was almost more than I could bear at that point.

There were many nights that me and my companion would come in from working and I would just feel as if I wanted to give up on my mission. I just didn't think that I could keep going. I knew that I was doing the right thing by going on a mission. I knew that I needed to spread the Gospel, but I just didn't feel as if I was made out of strong enough material to keep on going.

It was at this point in my mission that I drew on two strengths to keep myself going. I had grown up a distance runner. Running was one of my true loves and one of the few things that brought comfort to me when I was upset. At this time I remembered an important lesson that I had learned from years and years of running, that no matter how hard difficult a run got that I would always finish. I decided to look at my mission as a race that no matter how tough the race got I would always keep going until I did reach the end. The mission I realized like any race had its times when I could easily run along with confidence and strength, but there would also be times where it would be hard and I would want to quit. In the end though there would be a finish line as long as I kept going.

The thing that helped me the most though was the scripture 1 Corinthians 10:13:

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be temped above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

After reading this scripture I knew that no matter what I faced in this life that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ I could survive the hard times and that good times waited ahead. Someday I would see all of my friends and family again. All I needed to do was to endure and rely on Christ. Since that time there have still been rough patches on my mission, but I've also see many happy times and there are still many happy times ahead.

We can all find these happy times in our lives. As we do they will help us to endure and to remember all that our Savior Jesus Christ does for us. Keep relying on Him and never give up. Keep the mentality of the marathon runner who never gives up. Remember the end goal. Endure and finish!