It's a Monday morning and I'm happily working to the sound of Imagine Dragon's Radioactive. Music makes or break a day. And shout out to Creed for sending me his playlist, I'm in heaven. I'm two weeks away from home and my impatience is nearing a record high. I want to see my family so bad, they sent me pics from Telluride this weekend, riding scooters and hiking. I wanted to be there. It seems so funny to me that I still have so far to come...my parents are easing into the empty-nester life while I haven't even started my own family. All in due time, right?
A couple things made this past week. I made an online purchase (no not one of those infomercials) that I was So Excited about. There's a seminary student manual for the book of mormon, complete with learning activities for each chapter. There's even a page at the front that lets your record your progress and breaks down the reading into a chapter a day. This is just the kind of organization I needed to get back on track with my scripture studying. The Best part is, (ok Now I sound like an infomercial), it's ONLY $3.50 and FREE shipping! Throw your hands in the air if you love lds pricing. It arrived on Tuesday and I practically danced to the elevator when I got the mail. Already, I'm getting so much more out of my scripture reading, but more importantly, my retention has increased dramatically. Which really, is what I was going for.
One of my favorite quotes from institute this week: "Self-reliance is a prerequisite to service. Without self-reliance one cannot exercise these innate desires to serve. How can we give if there is nothing there? Food for the hungry cannot come from empty shelves. Money to assist the needy cannot come from an empty purse. Support and understanding cannot come from the emotionally starved. Teaching cannot come from the unlearned. And most important of all, spiritual guidance cannot come from the spiritually weak. We are all self-reliant in some areas and dependent in others. Therefore, each of us should strive to help others in areas where we have strengths. At the same time, pride should not prevent us from graciously accepting the helping hand of another when we have a real need. To do so denies another person the opportunity to participate in a sanctifying experience." -Marion G. Romney.
Something I'm inherently grateful for is the incredible amount of people that I have around me that are self-reliant in such powerful ways. Tuesday was another hard day. I was nearing the end of the day and just about ready to cry. I had a pounding headache. I opened a blank email, typed in my mom's address, and for 30 minutes I poured my thoughts into this letter. It was this list, of everything I was stressed about, upset about, and why. It was my innermost secrets- feelings of inadequacy, worries and fears. When I had nothing left to say, I told her how much I loved her, and thanked her for letting me spill my thoughts to her. It's never been more true than that moment, confessing your fears, releases them. Rather than feeling defeated, that one simple exercise got rid of my worries. James Harden tweeted this week "I can always depend on my mama." Mothers are incredibly special that way, there for you at every moment in life.
It's august, which means almost the end of summer. Couldn't be more sad. How do you sum up 3 months of warm weather, beach days, beach volleyball and football, movies on the roof, summer institute, barbecues, incessant sweating, tennis on the water, and dance parties? Pretty easily actually. It was the summer of love. I gained a love for so many things, one of which was meeting new people. I made so many great friends this summer, and realized that I love hearing people's stories, how they got where they are. Maybe it's the east coast, but there are So Many interesting people! So much diversity, and inspiring personalities and stories. I learned a ton from every person I met and am loving these opportunities to get to know people.
Before I end this week's recap, I have to give a shout out to my little brother Pete. I bore my testimony yesterday on the importance of missionary work. If you're going to share yourself with those around you, you should probably make sure it's the biggest and most important part of you. While you can have many friends, across many areas of your life, make sure the person they know is consistent and true to who you are, and not just pieces of you. I'm more interested in my friends' differences than in my friends' similarities, so missionary work is often sharing what makes you different...it can be as easy as that.
Love,
Lo
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