Having a mission call has changed my perspective on so many things around me. As I study my scriptures and come closer to my Savior, the feelings and the promptings of the Holy Ghost have also gotten stronger. These past few weeks I have come to the realization of a lot of important things that I wish I could have realized sooner.
1. The Atonement is one amazing blessing in all of our lives.
Jesus suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane for our sins, our wrong doings, our pain, our sickness, our afflictions. I have realized that if I don't use the Atonement by asking for forgiveness then I am wasting the power to be renewed. If I don't ask for help in my trials then they are only going to get harder. The power of the Atonement is incomprehensible. Having the ability to repent of something I have done and feeling that guilt be taken from me is such an amazing feeling. Knowing that Christ has forgiven you and has forgotten what I have done give me peace and lets me know that I am loved by my Savior.
2. I love the temple!
I had the opportunity to go through the Ogden Utah temple to receive my endowment on June 11. What an awesome experience. I absolutely loved it. The spirit in the temple is so strong and the veil is so thin. I felt the love and happiness of my dear Grandma McMinn who is in Heaven. I know she is proud of me and the decisions that I am making and that is exactly what I needed to feel especially from her.
The temple helped build my testimony of the Plan of Salvation. That plan is perfect. There is a reason for everything. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much that He made a way for us to return to live with Him again and also to be with our families forever. I don't think that heaven would really be heaven at all without our families. It was so cool going to the temple and having so many members of my extended family there and knowing that they loved and supported me. I am so grateful for the family that I have been blessed with.
3. Working has helped me realized how much I just want to be a stay at home mom.
I love my job so much. I am a pharmacy technician and I have not had a job that I enjoy going to everyday until now. It has helped me realized that I want to go into pharmacy when I get back from my mission. The amount of schooling that comes with pharmacy does not excite me at all but being able to help people to get better without having to see blood and bones does. More importantly I have realized that I just really want to be a mom. When I have thought about careers that I want to go into the first thing that I think about is am I going to be able to be a mom at the same time. I never had a set idea on what I wanted to be when I grew up but I have always know that I want to be a mom so bad. Too bad I can't get a degree in being a mom... actually I wouldn't be surprised if BYU had that!
4. Having cousins and best friends on missions is the greatest blessing.
Monday is honestly my favorite day of the week. Being able to hear from all of my favorite people who are being such great examples to me, their siblings, and everyone they come in contact with is so awesome. I am lucky and have a lot of friends out and soon to be out.
Elder Tanner McMinn - Guayaquil Ecuador North
Elder Kayden Maughan - Guayaquil Ecuador West
Elder Josh Stott - San Jose Costa Rica
Elder Alex Bailey - Stockholm Sweden
Elder Devin Despain - Ghana Africa
Sister Shannon Pugh - Guayaquil Ecuador West
And soon to be missionaries...
Elder Eron Bates - Orlando Florida Spanish speaking
Sister Camry Erickson - Las Vegas Nevada
When I told all of the guys who were on missions that I was going to LA on my mission and speaking Spanish they got about as excited as I was. The Elders who are currently speaking Spanish said they would help me learn. My best friend/cousin Tanner now only emails me in Spanish and sometimes I really am not in the mood to try and figure out what he is saying to me but honestly it has helped. The best part, though, is knowing that all these amazing Elders and Sisters support me 100%.
5. Lastly, Happiness is a choice.
Lately I have been struggling with being happy with myself, I am not going to lie. I constantly put myself down and make my self feel worse. Being surrounded by people who are "perfect," I always comparing myself to them and say, 'I wish I had there legs,' or 'Why can't I be like them?' Social media does not help at all either. As much as I wish I could say that small things like that don't affect me, they do. The littlest things make such a huge impact on my life mainly what others think of me. I rarely think about how I am feeling about myself but more about what do others think of me when I walk by or do they like me.
Heavenly Father did not want us to feel this way. He loves us each individually and has made us so unique from each other. What a boring world it would be if we all looked the same. Sadly the words and thoughts of others have more of an influence on me that the most important people: myself and my Heavenly Father.
This week I have decided that I am going to wake up every morning and think about what makes me happy and how I can stay happy for the rest of the day. If a negative thought comes into my head I will immediately think of something or someone I love. I am deciding now that I am gong to be happy. I know, easier said than done but I know that as I try to be happier and ask Christ for help I can do it.
Well, 46 days til I leave to Mexico and then to LA. I am so excited to teach the people about what I have learned recently and also to bring happiness to their lives.
I love the temple. I love missionary work. I love the Atonement.
Love,
Kali
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