In these past two weeks preparing for my mission,
I have been so overwhelmed with happiness! My family has seemed even more special than usual and my friends have been even greater than always. Even the normally extremely hot and humid Texas weather has transitioned into cooler temperatures and the Texas rain I love. So tonight, I was reading some quotes about happiness and found this one "“Rules for Happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for.” I couldn't help but think how this is fitting my life so perfectly at this moment! I decided my blog post will be broken down in those three parts this week .
"Something to do",
In these last two weeks, I've started to get to have farewell festivities!Thus giving me "something to do." Last Sunday, the 13th, I got to give my farewell talk in my ward. Thank you so much to those who came! It meant the world to me. (Special thank you to the Madsens and Tiff who both drive quite some distance to come! Love y'all.) Here's some pictures from after.
Tiff and I. Basically describes us.
This photo also was very candid.
My wonderful brother! (left)
The topic was obedience brings blessings. The talk was primarily based off President Monson's general conference April 2013 talk named that. What an amazing talk for me to get the privilege to talk on! ( Read President Monson's talk now!) When I talk in church or anywhere, I always write bullet points instead of writing it out. (I got in the habit of that from high school speech and debate and haven't been able to break it! haha.) So here was some of the points I shared. As I read the talk, I wondered what can I do to be obedient? I broke it down to 3 points:
- Know what the Lord wants us to do. -By this I mean, know the commandments, be aware of the standards, and constantly read the scriptures. By searching the tools the Lord gives us, we will constantly be aware of what it us he wants from us! This quote from President Monson's talk sums it up: “There is no need for you or for me, in this enlightened age when the fulness of the gospel has been restored, to sail uncharted seas or to travel unmarked roads in search of truth. A loving Heavenly Father has plotted our course and provided an unfailing guide—even obedience. A knowledge of truth and the answers to our greatest questions come to us as we are obedient to the commandments of God.”
- Seek specific direction from the Lord for our individual lives. -President Gordon B. Hinckley, said “The happiness of the Latter-day Saints, the peace of the Latter-day Saints, the progress of the Latter-day Saints, the prosperity of the Latter-day Saints, and the eternal salvation and exaltation of this people lie in walking in obedience to the counsels of … God.” This is so perfect! We need to find out what the Lord wants us specifically to do in our individual days. We discover this through temple attendance, reading our patriarchal blessings, and SOOOOO much prayer and humility.
- DO IT- Knowing what the Lord wants us to do and actually doing it are much much different. Once we discover what we need to do, we must act on it! Only that will bring us continuance help. In doing what we need to do, the most important thing is turning to the Lord and doing the most we can do.
Also as a random sideline, when I first saw people take "mission pictures" I was not crazy about the idea. After careful thinking, I decided I wouldn't have anything to lose! Any future sisters, reading, I would for sure take them! So much fun.
"Someone to love"
I am so blessed with my amazing family and friends! Especially lately, I've really noticed all the hard work my amazing mom does for me! How lucky am I? I will miss her so much while I'm gone but I'll try to make her proud! My dad is a great as an example as always. Luis& Mimi are so cute and funny and I'm so excited to watch them grow.
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| Mimi and I at her very 1st concert! (Imagine Dragons) |
Little girl is so grown up and beautiful.
I know the Lord sends us to our specific family for a reason. They teach us and are patient with us and are truly the perfect fit for us.
I am also so grateful for my dear friends. My mom being awesome as she is, insisted I have an open house for leaving. Although at first hesitant, I'm so glad we had one! Getting to see my dear friends and chat was absolutely amazing.
"Something to hope for"
I can't believe that what I've been planning for for literally over half a year, will finally be here next week! I hope to be able to bring to so many what brings me my happiness, which is the gospel and all that comes with it. I know that as we follow the Lord's will, he makes more of us than we could of our self! I can't wait to be a sister missionary and am so happy for the opportunity I have to serve the people of Monterrey.
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