Welp, I'm back! And have been for about 3 months. It's been a little rough.
Every single day I miss the mission and serving and being sleep-deprived and slammed doors and my people and Spanish - especially those last two. Sin embargo, slowly but surely I'm figuring out how to acclimate in this super weird transition phase and still keep the things I learned the past 18 months. And it's harder than I thought it would be; there are so many things vying for our attention, that if you get complacent for even a second, the day is gone! One thing my mission president, President Lewis, told me before I came home, was to make scripture study and temple attendance a priority. Like the TOP priority. And let me tell you, it has saved me. Going to the temple every week is like hitting the reset button for me, it clears my head, gives me perspective, and helps me feel like I'm still doing something that matters. Which is huge, because compared to the work you're used to doing as a missionary, losing those opportunities makes you feel like a useless pile...heh heh.
The GOOD NEWS though...
....is that it's still okay! It's supposed to be like this. (Or so they tell me). The amount of change that comes at the end of a full-time mission is so huge that there is no way to avoid collateral damage. But you know that message missionaries share with everyone? Time to apply it personally. The Atonement is real, it's not just a nice idea. James E. Faust said that "the unfailing source of our hope is that we are sons and daughters of God, and that His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, saved us from death."
Unfailing. What else on this earth can we really truly classify as unfailing? Nothing. And I'll be a monkey's uncle if that ain't true. I know that it is. I have seen it change lives, and felt it change mine. He has a plan for us, and that's what it's all about. Some would say that because there's no proof, it's not worth it to put the effort in.
But really, what do we have to lose?
Nothing.
And we have EVERYTHING to gain.
The Kingdoms
