His Plan

I had the opportunity to share my conversion story tonight. I secretly wish it would happen more. Each time I share it I realize the love my Heavenly Father has for me. What I realized tonight was how aware He was of me. The Gospel is what I needed at that exact moment. Not six months before or two weeks later. It was no happenstance, coincidence, or luck. It was all part of His plan. Besides the unfortunate set of circumstances I was in, Heavenly Father knew what I needed in that time and blessed me with this wonderful Gospel. A couple years ago I took the opportunity to share my conversion on my blog as well. I broke it up into the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. It was a fun way to share my story. Go check it out if you want to.

I was going to blog yesterday but I was still brainstorming. I guess I needed to add that tidbit along with what I learned in Church. Without question, I know that we receive revelation for ourselves as we attend our meetings each Sunday. Sacrament meeting was accompanied by two Elders from the area who rekindled the most joyous times on my mission. It caused me to reflect on the many relationships I have made by serving a mission. From as short as 12 days to 18 months; making friendships with ward members, fellow missionaries and the great people of Oregon. I am grateful for those eternal friendships. Some stronger than others (I wish some of them were finer) but nonetheless, friendships that I will always be grateful for. We stood and sang Called To Serve and it felt like I was right back in Zone Conference. Which evidently made me happy.

On a completely different subject now but one I take to heart. One funny thing about Provo is that your family, superiors, and peers expect you to be dating someone. Which honestly slightly annoys me. My ward offers a dating class. Yes, you can laugh. I did when I heard that this was an actual thing. Did I attend yesterday? I did. Yes, I give you permission to laugh again. Let's first discuss that I was terrified to go in there. I wasn't going in there to snatch up a date or to figure out what I was doing wrong but rather, I went in there to see what the Spirit had to say about "dating." I'm happy I chose to go. The pressure that creates the image that we need to be married and have three kids by the age of 25 is not for all people and quite frankly starts at a young age. Praise to those who were and are given that opportunity. Again, Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us. I have encountered so many young women in my life that think something is wrong with them, or that they aren't attractive enough, or simply not good enough. I would like to say that that those reasons are completely unrelated to why you haven't been given the "chance." What I learned from the spirit in this class is of course everyone wants to feel loved, wanted and appreciated. When you don't experience such things you feel the complete opposite and you get discouraged. Both are completely logical. One thing I have learned is that we are among the noble and great. We deserve only the best. Heavenly Father is only going to give us the best. No less than. We shouldn't be looking for the worlds approval. Heavenly Father has set an expectation for each one of us. He sends us down wrong roads so we have confidence in the right ones. Sometimes we are tempted with the idea to think the wrong road was the right road. Sometimes we are tempted with the idea that it wasn't the wrong road. Send those temptations back to where they came from. Heavenly Father knows best. Like I said, this image is being created at a very young age. Girls think that they need to have the best of the best. Since they don't look like the popular pretty girls, they aren't worth it. That if they haven't been asked on a date they will never get married. Sometimes they are given a taste of what others are experiencing but unfortunately it doesn't last. Don't think you have to explain yourself. You learned, now move on. Now, will I go back to this so called dating class? Probably not. I think I'll stick to Gospel Doctrine. However, the Spirit whispered things to me that I needed to hear. I'm not the dating expert but I know the reasons for everything that I had to experience and it's okay that way. I know that we are all worth it and to trust in Heavenly Father and be content with the love He has given us. His love is perfect and will never fail us.

I hope that this all makes sense. What this blog goes into are two things I am very passionate about. The relationships I have made on my mission are some of the most important friendships to me. The self-worth of a women is a delicate thing to tamper with (especially in this corrupt world) and I believe women have a powerful role in the world and when that self-worth is messed with it's shattering. So if I could sum this up and give young women one piece of advice it would be to not seek for the worlds expectation, but for the Lord's. I could go for days on this topic but for your sake, I will end here.