This last week has been a bit interesting. I left my home in Oro Valley again after only a few short weeks to begin my college adventure again up at BYU-Idaho. I saw my best friends the night before, got my stuff all packed, said my goodbyes on Wed. morning and we were out the door by 6:30 am. It was hard leaving my family again, but thankfully I now have the privilege of communicating every day with them still and I put it all into perspective that it truly wouldn't be that long before I would see them again. I mean what's 2 or 3 months to a year and a half, right? In realizing that, it made it easier to walk away yet again, and get excited about coming back to school.
The trip itself was pretty nice since Caleb, the one I rode with, and I were able to share stories, experiences, etc. from our missions. I miss the mission and especially all of the amazing people I met and so it's always a wonderful experience for me to share those things with others. It was also cool to see the evidence that we were assigned to our missions for a reason through the things that we shared with each other.
We drove all the way to the Lehi/Orem, UT area on Wed. making it in about 11 hours, which was really nice since I was able to go over earlier to Alan, Annette and their family's house. It was such a blessing to see them again and just to catch up. I was so happy that all my cousins were as excited to see me as I was to see them. They asked me a million and one questions, wanted me to jump on the trampoline, etc. etc., but I just loved being with them again.
Thurs. morning we headed out around 9:30 am to make our final stretch to Rexburg. We were like little kids again at Christmas, we were so excited when we crossed the Idaho boarder...ok, maybe that was just me! But still, I couldn't contain my excitement! I was so excited to finally be heading back and to feel the reassurance, once again, that I was headed exactly where I was supposed to be. What an incredible feeling that is!
When I finally got into Rexburg I got to spend most of the day with one of my best friends, Rachel. It was so good to see her and catch up with her personally, then later her husband, Eric, and sister, Audrey. We've all been friends pretty much since I moved to Texas and it was way funny to finally see Rachel and Eric married after all the years Rachel and I talked about how it was going to happen. Since I was not here not witness their wedding personally, I also got the inside scoop on how everything went and came together and it was just so much fun! I have really missed them. I also have to add that I am also so grateful for them, especially Rachel because even after everything else she had already done for me, she also helped move me in and took me grocery shopping. I am so thankful for her!
The rest of Friday was jam packed after that as I met my boss, finished unpacking everything, went to the farmer's market with the Crawfords, visited with Tory and Ferry, and bonded with my roommates over the tv show Sherlock (Which by the way, is FANTASTIC in case you're wondering). All in all, it was a good day and after meeting most of my roommates and spending some time with them, I have pre-determined that this is going to be a great semester.
I slept in a little bit on Saturday, but I also needed to get up for my first day at my new job. Nicely enough, instead of letting me walk all the way up hill to my job, my roommate Nicole, offered to drive me there so I made it perfectly on time. I'm working for this family that is really being affected by their mom's sickness right now. Crystal, the mom, has some unidentified illness, so far, that has left her bed ridden at the moment and they are in desperate need of my help as their mom is unable to function and do the things that she used to do for them. Yesterday we switched furniture in two different rooms, and also rearranged two other rooms in their house to make it more accessible to for her to see her girls if they were outside playing or eating in the dining room, and I did some cleaning as well. It was hard work and 4 hours later I was dead tired, but I left feeling so gratified that I was able to help this family at such a hard time in their lives. Although they are paying me, I do feel that Heavenly Father has given me a wonderful opportunity to serve and I am very grateful for that.
This morning was really nice as we attended our first Sunday meetings in the BYUI 73rd ward! Haha, that just goes to show you how many of us there are. But it was nice to be back in a YSA ward, and I really enjoyed the discussions and lessons we had. I also loved the talks in sacrament meeting. All the meetings had different topics, but I also feel that they connected so well with each other at the same time. In Relief Society we talked a lot about how sometimes Heavenly Father doesn't give us blessings right away if we're just going through the motions. He expects us to do more and show Him that we really desire the promised blessings. Then Whitney, the teacher, said something I hadn't really thought of before. She explained, "we can't give Heavenly Father pennies and expect to receive dollars in return." And she's right! Heavenly Father DOES love us, more than we will ever know or comprehend in this mortal life, but that doesn't mean that He will continually hand out blessings that we are not worthy to receive. It goes down to the basic and simple phrase, "if you want something, you work for it." We can't accomplish any of our passions and dreams if we are not willing to work hard despite the set-backs that come our way, and it the SAME for the gospel and God's plan for us. We cannot just expect that through mundane, half-hearted efforts, He is going to reward us with all the blessings that He has ever promised us. We have to show a willingness and a desire to not only receive those blessings, but also return to Him. As we become continually converted, every single day of our lives, we will recognize the need to "do a little more and be a little better". We will ensure that the "motions" of the gospel are done with emotion, and that they have a purpose in our lives. As we do these things we will better recognize the blessings and receive more than we have ever imagined. That's His promise to us, and as stated in D&C 82:10, He is "bound when [we] do what [He] says".
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