My Works

Here are some of my works that I have written since being back at school. Enjoy :)

MORMON MISSIONARIES STUCK IN THE MIDDLE

SIPALAY CITY, Philippines—A 20-year-old sister missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and her companion were caught up to their knees in trouble while traveling to the nearby island, Nauhang, last Wednesday night.

Megan Wallace, and her companion, Philippine native 23-year-old, Lorna Vargas, were headed to the island on what natives refer to as a “baroto” or a small wooden boat that carries them across the river that flows into the ocean, in order to teach families there about Jesus Christ. Once on the water they realized that the low-tide had already come in, therefore revealing the small patch of land that peaked through the water. “Even as a normal sized American, I am still a lot larger than these Filipinos, these things are not made for larger body structures like mine,” Wallace explained, “I knew that I needed to get out of the boat and help push. There was no way I was going to let these tiny people use all their force just to push me across.”

And that is exactly what she did. Wallace told her companion, Vargas, to stay inside the boat as she helped the rower, Virginia Pelinggon, Nauhang native, lift up the boat over the patch of land in order to return once again to deeper waters. Vargas said of this experience, “Sister Wallace was fearless. She didn’t care that she was wearing a skirt, that she would get soaking wet, or that I wasn’t helping. She just went for it and helped Virginia get us back on the water.”

“It was an unbelievable experience! I mean for sure nothing you would ever see me doing in Arizona,” Wallace said with a chuckle, “I believe in once-in-a-lifetime experiences and that’s exactly what happened to me. I may have been soaking wet from not jumping into the boat as soon as we hit water, but I was still just giddy thinking of how I was going to tell my family about it!”

Wallace and Vargas voluntarily leave home for a period of 18 months to serve in a certain mission, or place, wherever they are assigned in the world to teach others about Jesus Christ and His gospel. Wallace, originally from Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A. and Vargas, from Bataan, Luzon, both shared their excitement and enthusiasm for helping others come closer to Christ and feel of His love. They stated that, “being a missionary is unlike anything else. We wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Wallace and Vargas will both be returning home after their 18 months in August 2014. If interested in learning more about the LDS or Mormon Church, visit Mormon.org or visit the chapel on Mambaroto heading to Hinoba-an.
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The Nametag

In July of this year, on a normal preparation day as a full-time missionary in the Philippines, my companion and I were bringing our laundry to a member that washed it for us, since they hand wash clothes here, before we went to email. It was a rainy day, which created a problem for us to walk with our laundry bags as we normally did, so we rode a few tricycles (a form of public transportation that is a motorcycle attached to a metal sidecar) to the member’s house and then from their house, before we finally showed up at the internet shop. The only problem was that when we finally showed up I came to the startling realization that my nametag was gone! The magnet had fallen off my shirt onto the tile and made a clink sort of sound which attracted my attention and as I reached for where the front part of my nametag should have been on my shirt, I realized that the black part of my nametag with my name on it was nowhere to be found! I freaked out and tried to control my emotions, but it was admittedly hard considering that I had worn that nametag since day one of the mission and now suddenly it was gone.

 I couldn't find it so finally we just resolved to go all the way back to our apartment to get my other nametag that the MTC had provided. I really did have to hold myself back from crying because of the sentimental value that had come through months of hard work while wearing it. My initially white engraved name had turned slightly yellow from the hours walking in the sun and from all the dirt, a small chip had been taken out of the upper right hand corner when it had accidently smacked against the ground, the name of the Church was slowly beginning to fade and if you held the nametag up in different angles to the light you could see hairspray spots from when I could actually style my hair and use hairspray to make it stay curly or straight, all evidence to me of the many moments, experiences and trials I had been through in the 16 months I had been in the service of God. This was more than a just a normal black nametag.

So of course I resorted to the only possible and probable thing to do at that time. I prayed. I prayed that it would be found and properly returned to me. But I also prayed that for whatever reason, if it was not to be given back to me, that I would be able to accept it and be ok with His will. Probably about a week and half to two weeks went by and still, nothing. I just resolved to the fact that it wasn't going to be found after all and that I just needed to move on.

 Then two Saturdays after the incident we were sitting at a baptism for the elders and one of the members asked me, "Sister Wallace, is that a new nametag?" I told him that sadly it was, since my other one was lost. He then quite shockingly said to me that he knew, because the old one was at his house! According to him, a tricycle driver found it in his tricycle the same day that I lost it. He knew a guy that was a member so he gave it to him. That member happened to be the one that talked to me the day of the baptism and informed me of the good news.

He hadn’t brought it to the baptism that day, but promised that the following morning at church, he would bring it. Sure enough, as promised, when the member saw my companion and I upon entering the chapel, he reminded his daughter that she had my nametag and told her to give it to me. I felt so relieved and happy as I finally received once again, something that had become so valuable to me. I was happy beyond words and felt again that Heavenly Father truly had heard and answered my prayers. I expressed my gratitude to them and told them that I felt like I was going to cry. They laughed at me, but I was literally almost in tears because of the excitement I felt. My nametag had become a treasured possession and a sentimental part of my mission experience, one that I still have displayed today to remind me all of the wonderful lessons I learned and the trials and blessings I received to learn them.

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 Creations

As I stepped outside I noticed the gentle breeze moving swiftly and fluidly without interruption or interference. Stronger gusts of wind would rise and hit me with a gentle force and then return to its calm nature again. It was late afternoon, mid-evening and I had just finished work. The 30 minute walk back and forth from campus to work and then from work to my apartment was always a calming experience for me as I truly experienced the serenity and peacefulness of the calm and quiet movements of God’s creations. I was often drawn to think about other things only to have a whiff of some familiar or unfamiliar smell, or a bird’s cawing catch my attention again and bring me back into reality.

            Cars filled with people whizzed past me, some noticing me and others not taking the time. I pitied them. For as I was beholding the remarkableness of a universe and earth that day by day simply moved through the motions seemingly without a master to do everything for them, they just simply moved along. Unaffected by the soft singing in the trees, the light that caught the fields making it appear as if honey was being spread all over the land, the leaves that were falling, sure evidence that the seasons were changing and another season of pumpkins and leaves changing from a forest green to auburn reds, sunset yellows, and burnt oranges.

            The swiftness of the wind caught my attention again once again pulling me from my thoughts. This time the wind had a slight crisp to it. As if it knew what I was thinking and was reassuring me, that indeed, the shortened fall of Rexburg would soon turn into a blizzardy, winter solstice in such a short amount of time. Although there was a slight crisp it was only evident as the end of the gusts caught hold of my arms, as if reaching its fidgeting fingers to grasp me, not wanting to continue on its way. As it drifted from me I was again felt the familiar warmth return to the hanging air around me and felt the familiarness of what I had been soaking in since arriving.

            As I neared the temple grounds my focus and attention shifted. I was used to looking for opportunities to capture its natural beauty with God’s perfect landscape of design in the background. I was not disappointed as I stepped closer and closer, searching for the perfect moment, and then something caught my eye.

            I noticed the sky seemed different today. The sun wasn’t quite setting yet, as it had been in other days past, so the vivid pinks, oranges, and purples were not amidst. But the sky was radiating a cobalt lighting blue peeking through the contrasting white and gray clouds that seemed to envelop the entirety of the atmosphere. It was as if the gods were having a pillow fight, scattering the goose feathers across the heavens as the atmosphere here on earth so gently caught them and placed them in our view.

            As much as the colors seemed to dance in front of my vision, I saw something else peeking through the clouds. They gradually departed as I saw golden beams stretching forth, as if waking up from a restful sleep. These beams stretched farther than I could see, but filled the sky as if God was stretching forth His arms out to me. As the golden honey sunbeams peaked more and more from their hiding place I was witnessing a beautiful testament and a reassurance that God was there. The clouds continued to move, as if in formation, as I reached my destination filled with hope and a new sense of appreciation for the creations from God’s hands.

 

The Differences

So since I'm a super slaker and didn't post last week, this week's going to be an extra long recap of the last two weeks...how lucky are you guys?! Are you ready? Cause I sure am!

Well I feel like last week was already so long ago! Time is just flying by and it's hard to believe I've almost been here for a "transfer" already (Once a missionary, always a missionary)! I had the amazing and absolutely wonderful privilege of playing hooky at school and skipping work to road trip it down to Utah to see some of my most favorite people in the whole world. I don't know what it is about the mission life, but I think it is absolutely amazing how fast two complete strangers can become best friends over a short, 6 week period! Alora Davis was my MTC comp and we were only together for the first 6 weeks of the mish. In fact, we were pretty much on opposite ends of the island as I traveled all over Negros and she stayed close to Bacolod. The only times we saw each other regularly were when we both became Sister Training Leaders and had to travel to Bacolod once a month. It was as clear then though, as it is now, that no matter how short amount of time our companionship was, a beautiful friendship was born.

 And that was extremely evident as soon as we were reunited again last weekend! I stayed with her and her family Thurs-Sat morning and it was so much fun! Alora's mom sent me stuff almost every week while we were MTC, but finally being able to meet her and the rest of the clan confirmed what I had felt through the gifts and notes, that I was already a part of their family. I felt right at home! They took me in right away and it was just fun being around them. The funniest and coolest part too was being able to talk in Ilonggo with Alora knowing that no one else understood us (That actually worked out really well on our double date Fri. night too, but I'll get to that).

Before getting to that whole date thing, I'll do a quick Thurs. recap. I got to Lehi around 3:30pm where Alora picked me up. We went to lunch at one of her favorite places,Shaun's Smokehouse, and I ordered a 6 oz. teriakyi burger by recommendation! It was delish, but man, was I full after that! We then went home to just hang out before heading to Cambria's wedding reception. Alora's younger sister, Breanna, went with us and we headed up to Syracuse. When we got there we saw my trainer, Lydia Bushman and fellow batchmates Alyssa Shakespear and Kaitlin Potter, with their men, which was fun! Then a little later some elders from the mish, Curtis Eagen and Landon Garner showed up. We chatted and after the going through the line (Cambria looked gorgeous!), we decided we were hungry so we went to dinner. It was hilarious catching up and reminiscing about the mish. Man, those were some crazy times...

Friday we stayed busy pretty much the entire day! We got up in the morning and had super healthy pancakes with blueberries (these people are health nuts...that's the only thing doesn't mix well with us (;) and then headed to the hospital. We went to the hospital to see Amber, Alora's sister-in-law, and also to get her niece, Skylie. I got to play aunt for the rest of the day when she finally warmed up to me! It was fantastic! Amber wasn't feeling well at all so we left pretty soon after we got there. I got some cute snapshots of Sky and Alora though...cute, cute.

When we came back to Alora's house we decided that we wanted to on a shopping spree so we headed out again...with Sky! Can I just tell you how crazy it is to take a two year old shopping with you?! Man, that was a hilarious experience for sure! We got some cute clothes for our date though, so well worth it.

The date. Oh, the date. Haha :) Let's just say there were a lot of firsts! First blind date, first date to a haunted house, first time my date kinda got stolen (we'll save that for another time :p), and my first date after the mish. It was interesting for sure and a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing! So long story short, we went to eat at Cafe Rio in Draper and just kept adding to our group. By the time we all headed to the haunted circus we were a group of 11! We already had our tickets so we just went right in, but the problem was that the line to get in the actual haunted part was ridiculously long and we ended up waiting to get in there for over an hour! But let me tell you, it was worth it! Now I'm not usually scared concerning stuff like that, but this one was actually a little frightening! I was pleasantly surprised, honestly! The costumes and makeup were pretty impressive, but mostly all the other stuff freaked me out like the strobe lights, smoke and spinning walkways. Haha, but either way, I enjoyed it a lot.

Saturday we slept in a little and then once we got up I got ready to leave. We headed over to Rue 21 so I could return a ripped shirt I bought and to meet Alan and Annette since I stayed with them Saturday night. It was hard saying goodbye to Alora again. I feel like that weekend really strengthened our relationship and reaffirmed to me that she was put in my life for a reason! I love that girl!

We pretty much just hung out at Alan's house until Ashlan and I went to see Meet the Mormons. I told her I would come down from Rexburg to go with her so she had to wait for me and she did! We had fun just bonding and laughing our heads off over stupid things. I'm blessed to be close with her! And I'm blessed to live so close to Alan and Annette now that I can go down and visit whenever! Every time I have to leave Logan (10) always says, "Wait, you're leaving?!" with a horribly sad look on his face. It makes me laugh, but it also makes me feel happy, especially when he ends with, "But I don't want you to leave! I want you to stay forever!" I love that whole family! So many fun memories!

On a more spiritual note, lately it seems as if my life has been getting a little out of hand. I've been getting so caught up in other non important things that it seems as if my priorities have been taking a backseat. I keep saying that I'm trying to get into a routine and have a schedule like the one I had on my mission where I was always doing something meaningful, which allowed the spirit to always be with me, but for some reason I'm not working hard enough to get there. I've noticed a huge difference in this last week compared to the other ones. My prayers were becoming less sincere, my scripture study was almost nonexistent and my temple attendance really was nonexistent. I could blame it on my schedule or the fact that I'm trying to be a good student and keep good grades, but you all know me. And since you know me and my experiences, then you know that I recognized right away that I needed to stop any sort of excuses and not start blaming other things, but that I really needed to change. I was sitting in sacrament meeting with Alan and Annette's family last week while pondering all of these thoughts. I knew I needed to change something and I knew it needed to be immediately. So after packing up all my stuff on Sunday and saying goodbye, I left with the resolve to "try a little harder to be a little better" in the upcoming week.

Starting Monday and continuing today, I wake up about a half hour to an hour earlier to make sure I have time to read my scriptures before doing more homework or getting ready for class. It's rough sometimes, to pull myself out of bed, but it's been one of the biggest blessings that has happened to me since I've been home. I have become more thoughtful in my prayers, especially concerning letting the Lord lead me to wherever He needs me to go, doing whatever He needs me to do. AND I went to the temple! I was tired and it was hard to stay awake, but I felt the Lord's spirit and I felt rejuvenated. Each day hasn't been incredibly easy and I'm not feeling super energized all the time; my attention span regarding homework hasn't magically gotten longer nor am I suddenly excelling at everything, but I can tell the difference. I can see the difference in my attitude, my problem solving skills, my drive, and most of all, in my increase in strength and ability to handle all of the things I go through every day. It's been incredible to feel like I am finally living the gospel of Jesus Christ, that I fought so hard for others to understand and live. I am a living testimony that these things are true. I can see the differences and they are changing my life.

Which Way Do You Face?

Once again, here we are, already more than halfway through the week and this is the first time I've sat down long enough without something else to do. 

As of this moment, I am on my way to Utah for the reception of a dear friend of mine, Cambria Bitter. Cambria and I met in the MTC almost 20 months ago and we have been close ever since. I am so beyond excited that I get to celebrate this big step in her life with her this weekend. And of course I am super stoked to be with my other mission friends who mean the world to me!

Last week was busy as normal, but good. I think I'm finally starting to get into a routine at work and I am happy to say that the girls are also starting to love me a little more ,and mine and Crystal's relationship grows stronger and stronger every day. It's getting harder emotionally for me when she struggles, but at the same time her optimism and outlook on her life and the time that God has given her has been a huge testimony builder for  me. It also is helping me to be better about looking at the bright side of things in order to comfort her and help her remember the progress she makes day by day. 

I also found it interesting enough that we are now having assignments to have a blog, so now my posting will always help me in school! Woot woot! It's been really cool to see my writing skills improve and see that there are tons of different ways to stretch myself. I've always enjoyed writing, even growing up, and I've always wanted to be an author and write my own books, so it's been a fun journey. In the past I was always scared of stretching myself too much. I liked being comfortable in the things I was good at. I've learned a lot recently about how to be better about that, to recognize that stretching myself is actually a good thing and that its part of learning and growing. 

This last weekend when I was in Utah too, I attended my mission reunion hosted by my trainer, who I haven't seen in over a year, and attended by some of my other really good friends from the mish. We got stuck in traffic from north of Salt Lake all the way down to Orem and what should have taken us about 4 hours took us more than 5. By the time we actually showed up to the reunion all my batchmates had already left so we were pretty bummed, but we decided later that it was so worth it! I'm grateful I got to see some of them again!

I also stayed with my aunt and uncle and their family, which was so fun! Watching conference with them and hanging out with them and my grandparents was so wonderful! I have missed them dearly so being with them was just fantastic! And I'm stoked to see them again this weekend! 

This last weekend of conference was such a testimony builder for me. Nothing pleased me more than their straightforwardness concerning the commandments and picking which side we're on. Their particular focus on that and on prophets really reemphazied to me that there really is no gray area any longer. We are either on the prophet's and Lord's side, or Satan's. It's that's clear. We need to decide which way we face and whose side we're on and then stay there! I know which way I face, do you?

P.S. I am loving fall in Rexburg right now!!! Enjoy the pics :)