Looking Back

So I'm taking a few minutes to breath and get people updated. Sadly I'd love to talk to most of you one on one but alas, I do not have the time to do that.

After my last post, Wendy returned from her sojourn overseas. We enjoyed being reunited. We'd both grown closer to one another during her absence. Wendy was happy to spend good quality time with both her parents. A couple days after she got back, we came back to Idaho. Classes have started and we both have kind of crazy schedules. Plus, I started back to work this week so that's made life that much more hectic. The last couple of weeks have been good but a bit difficult getting back into the swing of things. I should mention that Wendy and I have one class together which is nice because it means we have a least two times a week that we're guaranteed to see each other. This semester, I have all new roommates which is cool. We're all chill which is nice. I'm currently reading two books "The Power of Six" which is from the sequel of "I Am Number Four" and the fifth book of Fablehaven. The latter series Wendy recommended to me and I really like it.

Wendy and I got to hang out with a couple of my friends from my freshman orientation. They meet in my group and later started dating. They are now married and they are living in the apartment complex that Wendy and I are hoping to live in next year. We threw around a Frisbee, and had a small game night with dessert. I'm sorry, I don't have photos of that.

Lately, I've been thinking about the past and where I was a year ago or two or however many. I guess, I've thought about this because of reading over my journal and just the events happening all around me. I thought about all the dating that I've done here at BYU-Idaho. I know I haven't dated tons of girls but I will say that I tend to get really attached to people. In the past, it's always made breakups a bit more rough for me. Having reread some of my journal entries from those times, it made feel kinda sad but also made me want to reach out to my past self to tell him that everything will be okay and this is just part of Heavenly Father's plan for us. Saying that reminds me of a video that I love from Elder Holland that you can see if you click here. I watched this video after most of my breakups to help remind that the future would be better. But I digress, if I could go back, I would tell myself to keep going even though it's hard. I would tell myself to that it will get better even if there's another breakup down the road. I would tell him that God has the situation firmly in hand and that He's guiding you even if you don't see it yet; I'll promise him that one day he will see it and it'll be awesome beyond his imagination. And I'll answer his question, the question he was always too timid to ask. I would tell him that all the heartache and sacrifices he went through we were worth it. I'd let him know that he was trading small copper nuggets for a treasury of gold. I want to conclude by saying to those going through hard times right now: keep going! It will get better. If you feel like the Lord wants you to sacrifice something or a relationship with someone, do it. I promise that it will be worth it. I promise that you will be blessed for your sacrifice even if like Abraham, you can't see how God will make it work. I hope that y'all have a good week. May the Lord watch over you and bless you.

Retrospect Clarification

So yesterday I went on a date with a good friend of my mine who's been my friend since my first semester up here in 2006. We talked about the past and the things we'd learned from those experiences. I also had dinner with my cool sister Megan and my cousin Stephanie and her husband and we again talked a little about our pasts.

I've thought about that quiet a bit these last few days. I remember many experiences on my mission and after my mission that have been what I deemed at the time incredibly hard. Often times I felt like the currant bush from the BYU Devotional by Hugh B. Brown. I was bitter, hurt and confused as to what I'd done wrong. I've written a poem about my view as the currant bush. I wrote in my journal originally as a way to vent; later when I looked back at it, I found that it was a poem.

So back to my original thought... Sometimes we go through hard experiences and we don't understand WHY we have to go through some pain, suffering, or frustration. I remember one such experience on my mission when I went through a hard time with one of my companions. He was going through a very hard time and often vented to me. This was compounded by the fact that he was also ill some days and we unable to go out. So I became depressed, and discouraged. At the time I saw no reason for having to live this tortuous experience. Then about a year and a half later I was dating a girl and she had very difficult experience. I was inspired to remember how I had dealt with my companion and the things that I had learned from that experience; I told my then girlfriend what I had learned and she learned a lesson that was critical for her to learn at that time. I realized that day the WHY I had needed to go through that rough time on my mission; I needed it to help some else.

Sometimes we go through experiences to learn something from which we need to draw on later. I have found that from many of the experiences I have had.

One of my teachers once proposed an idea that I feel is true to some extent. He said that he believes that God has certain major points or events that He wants us to live through. I believe that this is true but I would add that I think the Lord wants us to live through these events in order for us learn something unique from them because we need it to develop our eternal character.

I hope that if you get time that you'll reflect on something from your past that may have or still does puzzle you. Ponder over it and pray over it. I believe that as you do so the Lord will open your understanding and help you see what unique lesson you can learn from that experience.