My Book of Mormon Superhero

This morning I was reading in the Book of Mormon (as usual) and I was really excited when I came upon my Book of Mormon Superhero.

We leave a lot behind, but we bring home even more.

“A missionary, called to serve for a period of 18 to 24 months as a representative of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, returns home with well-used clothes, a hole or two in the soles of the shoes and a set of well-studied scriptures.

“Returning missionaries carry home a wealth of knowledge and experiences that set the course of their life: firm faith in God; an increased knowledge of the teachings of Jesus Christ and the restored gospel; an exposure to cultural diversity, even when serving in their homeland; a new language competence, possibly with a foreign language, but often with an improvement in their communication skills; an increase in confidence; and an overwhelming love for the people with whom they have served.”

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I live in Newcastle… It’s always cold. Even in the summer.

Sorry it’s been so long! Mission life is just crazy sometimes. So, to make up for it, here’s a video! Her name is Sarah. She’s from England. She’s awesome.

Everything I Need to Know… (part 7)

Watch your step!

This is a lesson I had to learn early in life. They called me “Crash” for a little while thanks to my adventures in knocking out my three front teeth by falling down the stairs and breaking my arm not long after. I looked a bit like this little girl on the left…

Everything I Need to Know… (part 6)

I get it from my dad.

Until I’d been a missionary for some time, I never quite realized just how much I have in common with my dad. My ridiculous sense of humor? Yeah. I get it from my dad… And I love it.

Cecile Pelous

What an incredible woman! How much I wish I could be like her…

Feast Upon the Word.

Everything I Need to Know… (part 5)

Put a little windex on it!

It may have started off as a quote from a movie, but when your dad (who doesn’t like movies) quotes My Big Fat Greek Wedding at you, there’s got to be something else behind it.

There can’t be one giant fix-all for your problems… Can there?

Everything I Need to Know… (part 4)

“It’s part of growing up.”

I’ve got three words for you:

Life. Is. Hard.

If you’re anywhere from 8 to 888 years old, you’re probably well aware of this fact. And if you’re not yet, you will be soon.

Everything I Need to Know… (part 3)

Be yourself!

So this one isn’t exactly a direct quote from Mom and Dad, but it’s a combination of many things that all add together into one. In my own words, I’ve always been sort of an odd duck. The whole belonging thing is one I couldn’t really wrap my head around. I mean, I understood why belonging is important, but how the popularity thing worked has always been a bit beyond me. That made life in school a little bit difficult for me.

College wasn’t any different. I tried making friends and being who I thought I needed to be to make friends. I wasn’t happy but I didn’t know that, hey, it might actually be ok to be myself. Until I finally decided that I was tired of trying to be someone I really wasn’t and just stopped. I decided to do what I wanted to do and liked to do, even if it was a bit different from what everyone else was doing, and hope I found someone to join me along the way.

Fortunately, I did. I found my best friend. And though my parents don’t always agree with my choices in what movies I watch, I’ve explained my thinking and the way I see it, and they’ve accepted it and accept me for the way I am. I can feel their love for me and their desire that I reach the dreams that are so important to me.