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.

Five Friends

When I was attending my first year at Southern Utah University I had five friends. That is no lie I really only had five friends. I can remember joking with my family that I went off to college and only met five people.

I have just never been a social person so the group of friends that I had at school seemed pretty large to me. It was a miracle that I even met my friends at all. I met three of my friends on my first day of chemistry class. I can remember sitting down in a random spot and having three people come and sit down next to me and like always I didn't even think about talking to them. But luckily the girl who sat next just started talking and from that point I was friends with her and the two other kids that were sitting next to me.

I can remember how the friends that I met in chemistry class helped get me through the school year. Since I wasn't very good at chemistry they helped pull me through and tried to help me understand what was being taught. I still have no idea how to do any of the stuff from that chemistry class, but I did pass because of my friends.

As the school year went along I made two other friends that joined my group of friends and brought the number up to five.Those friends were always there for me no matter whether I was dealing with academic problems, girl problems, or if I just needed someone to hangout with. Those five friends were always there to hangout with me and to talk to me. They helped me to stay on the right path. I can remember one of my friends who every Sunday would text me and make sure that I made it to Church. Though sometimes I went grudgingly  I was thankful for her invitation. My friends just always helped me to remember the small things that I could do to grow closer to my Heavenly Father.

When I left on my mission I figured that there probably wouldn't be that much contact with those friends from school. But I was wrong about that. As I struggled through the first part of my mission my friends made sure to write me and to let me know that they would support me in anyway that was possible. Which I found on numerous occasions that they did even if they didn't realize it.

I would oftentimes find myself praying for something it would seem like there was no answer from God. So I would begin to doubt and to think that there was no God or that if there was He didn't care about me. It was at these times that letters from my friends would show up and those letters would always contain what I was looking for. I would never ask my friends for answers, but they always were inspired on what to write me or when they would write me.

Those five friends are some of the greatest gifts that my Heavenly Father has given me. I'm so thankful for them and the influence that they have been to me. The way that they lived their lives by attending church each week, by reading their scriptures, and by the fact that they never gave up on me no matter how many stupid things that I did.

I hope that we can all be good friends to those around us and help them out in anyway possible. Let us seek to remain worthy of divine guidance that helps us to help others. May we continue to read and study our scriptures and to go about doing good so that we can be one of those five friends to somebody.

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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