Here it is! My blog that I’ll have for the next 18 months! I
can’t believe this is where life has taken me. I am so grateful for this opportunity
to serve the Lord. When I say I never thought this is where I’d be, it’s the
honest truth! I am currently going to school at Brigham Young University-Idaho.
My plan was to plow through school, get my degree, do humanitarian work abroad,
come home, get my masters, get my dream job, and so on. So that’s what was happening,
but something felt off. I was just starting my second year of college and my
dream plan was missing something. I couldn’t figure out what it was. Without
getting into details, the end of the semester was coming and I was faced with
two decisions. A big old fork in the road of my life. To go on a mission or
continue on the path that I was already on. So I prayed about which decision
was best, and nothing happened. No answer. No promptings. No light bulb. SO frustrating!
Then I realized that God isn’t there to tell us word for word what we should do
with our life. He doesn’t give us a map and say here you go, this is the
college you need to go to, what degree you need to get, what guy you need to
marry, and look here’s an opening for your dream job! I wish that was how it
worked! One HUGE reason why we are here on earth is so that we could have the
opportunity to make decisions and choices. Life is full of em’ and Heavenly
Father wants to leave it up to us. Of course he wants us to make righteous
choices that will lead us back to Him, but he can’t force us.
(Hiking a trail called "Little Gnarly", one that was full of many forks in the road. Kinda sounds familiar doesn't it?)
Here I am again, on my knees. This time instead of asking
which option is best, I just settled with the attitude, “Well since you aren’t
going to tell me I’ll just keep going on with school”. I continued with my
semester, everything felt “okay” until I started organizing my schedule and
looking into classes for the next semester. Once more it didn’t feel right, I
was missing the mark. After evaluating everything that I’ve done and studied
the thought of going on a mission in my mind, I approached my Father in Heaven
with a much more humble attitude. Then I got my answer. In conclusion, there
are multiple things I learned from this experience:
1 1. Heavenly Father loves us, that’s a fact.
2 2. He is there to HELP you with your decision, but
he isn't going to choose for you. Sometimes we have to learn that the hard way.
No matter what choices you have in life there are always consequences that will
lead towards Him or away from Him. Occasionally we slip up and that’s okay
because our Savior has paid the ultimate price and has given us the gift of
repentance. And remember if you don’t like your consequences change your
actions!
3 3. Last and most important is that His plan for our
life is WAY better than our plan will ever be. He can see the beginning from
the end, where we can only see what is in front of us.
It’s our CHOICE to
put trust in Him. And it’s the best choice you will ever make. Make sure you
have a plan for your life, but just remember, life is full of choices and plans
change. Be open to those changes and talk to your Father in Heaven. He’ll help
you out!
(Here is a video that I found that relates to my situation SO MUCH, but
a video we can all relate to in whatever part of life we are in right now)
As I
said before, my prayers were answered and I made that decision. I’m going to
the Dominican Republic, Santiago mission. I’ll report October, 22 2014 to the
Dominican Republic MTC. This is the blog that my family will be posting my
letters on. You are welcome to read them, and I would LOVE to hear from ya’ll!
