seriously sunday stuff

For those of you who know me and have been following the blog know that I am pretty just lax about life and I like to joke around but sometimes I am serious...and people don't ever quite know what to do...eeekkk...so who knows how you all will take this post. It is Sunday today so I have spent a lot of the day at church and so I am going to keep it low key and be a little more serious. I was reviewing some of my mission stuff this morning and well...I learned a lot from the mission. I feel like I had a "pre-testimony" of Jesus Christ's gospel before the mission. I am so grateful for the knowledge I gained. I love the mission with all my heart. I love life now and the things I am spiritually learning now...so here is some top tenness from the mission.... (as recored in my journals/random papers). No worries...I am sure I'll be back to sarcastic blogging soon enough! :)
As a sidenote...I did this for me. It is important for me to remember these things. I don't do this to be like "look at me." I am just a beginner in my knowledge/testimony of the Gospel. I strive to become better...but I gained a lot of life lessons from the mission and I want to remember them. I did this for me. You don't have to read about it or care about it...but I do. So here it be...just a few tidbits...

1.) This is a quote from my journal...June 6th, 2007. "The moment you recognize you're humble you've lost your humility." That was a quote from someone...then I followed it up with this amazing wisdom..."PRIDE is a fatty sin! Don't look at what man thinks, focus on what God thinks." Wow....crack me up. But I learn that the proud can't accept authority of God and can't accept God's counsel easily. "Be ye humble" is not merely advice.
2.) Here is a quote I learned well from on the mish..."A wise man learns to fall forward like a good ball carrier in football...to make the most of every failure." I love that. I fail at things...but do I learn? Am I making the most of every situation? I learned on the mission that sometimes things don't work out perfectly...in fact sometimes they just fail, but what on the journey did I learn...what was the take home message. There is always a take home message.
3.) This is from my study journal on May 24th, 2007..."Finished the Book of Mormon again! Yay! It's true, it does nothing but give guidance and answers. It strengthens me and helps me become better! I know of its power and that's why I'm here! Because it teaches something great, something that saves. It is a light for dark eyes or dark days! We need the Book of Mormon because the Lord needs/wants us. El Libro De Mormon can and has changed lives. It is working in my own! Feel the power!" I would say I still love the Bible and Book of Mormon that much. And yes...yes I did write "El Libro de Mormon." Call me crazy for thinking I knew some Spanish. Oh man.
4.) John H. Groberg once said, "Sometimes the Lord calms the storm, and sometimes he lets the storm rage and calms his child...he learns lessons from storms he cannot learn from calm seas." I remember I was having kind of a rough time on the mission and we went to the church library to make a copy and someone had left this quote just sitting out (inspiration?...I think yes.) I quickly wrote it on a sticky note and put it in my study journal. I learned that day about the tender mercy of the Lord. I learned that the Lord knows me individually. He knew that the storm would continue to rage as I continued on in the mission but that He could and would calm me.
5.) A quote from Elder Steuer, "When our desire to receive instruction is a greater force than our comfort in remaining as we are, we become teachable." This is something I had to learn as well. I am not a goal oriented person...I do not have much aim (maybe because of the lazy eye)...but I am easily content in life. So...I had to learn to not take comfort in remaining as I am and really push myself and test myself to see how I could/can improve. I just love this because I have seen many great examples of this....esp on the mission. I saw people who were living comfortable lives change everything to receive instruction that will bless their lives and really just forever bless them. They became teachable and they became great students of the Lord. What more could I really desire? That is what I learned...I want to sit at the Masters feet and learn...so uncomfortableness here I come.
6.) Sometimes at the missionary conferences the nurse lady would speak and I have this written down as her words of wisdom..."Floss only the teeth you want to keep." That makes me think of Sister Tate (my first comp...my trainer...my mission mama) and I had a saying..."A companionship that flosses together blossoms together." I learned on the mission that the Lord blessed me with my health...I don't think I have ever been so healthy...even the small things are important to the Lord.
7.) This is written in my study notes..."Alma 20:26...love is the message we should all convey." That is something that I was blessed to learn on my mission...love for anyone and everyone...it was cool to be able to see God's perspective on people and feel His perfect love for them often times as we served them on the mission. I was able to understand that God just wants us to love everyone and not worry about if it is the right thing or not...if it is cool or not...if we have time or not...just do it. Just love with a pure and simple heart. I want to strive to remember that...love is the message we should convey one to another.
8.) Here is another quote that had an influence on me..."To lie in bed after one has awakened, indulging in ease and reverie is a habit fatal to promptness, resolution of character, and purity of mind." To me that meant get up and work when I first heard it. The mission changed me as to a full day...I like to busy busy busy now. (Don't get me wrong...I like down time as well sometimes). But after the mission I just want to be out doing something...working, serving, bugging my friends...just keeping busy. And the mission taught me that the Spirit will be the best guide on how to keep busy in a positive and productive way. The mission will forever have an impact on my attitude towards work and the love of work.
9.) I guess going along with number 8...I learned a huge lesson....to rely on the Spirit we must have the Spirit...that seems pretty obvious (I never said I was a deep thinker)...but I learned I must be living my life the way the Lord has set to receive the Spirit the way the Lord wants to give it so freely to us. That's all...we have to do do our part...we have to make and keep those promises to God...I just gained a strong testimony of living up to my end of the bargain because when I started doing that on the mission I saw the power of the Spirit come into my life and it changed everything in my life for the better...and when I say everything...I mean everything.
10.) On the mission I once sprayed pomegranate juice on my shirt...my white shirt. I knew it was never going to come out. I was mad/upset...that was the first thing I actually was upset about on the mission. (Only because I knew I should have changed my shirt before eating it). Anyway...my companion said "Sister Starr...if it is important to you...then it is important to the Lord." I have carried that with me ever since....The Lord knows we can be frivolous in our worries sometimes, but He still cares. He still wants to help us out and be there for us. I learned that we need to do this for other people.... And yes...the stains came out of the shirt...prayer works, miracles happen. "you gotta have faith..da faith...da faith."
11.) I learned that Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. I learned that He knows me and He loves me. I learned that the atonement can free the sinner and allow them to come back to Christ. I learned that because Christ lives, we can live as well. I learned there would be no Christmas if there were no Easter. I became grateful for my Savior on the mission...not just knowledgeable about the Savior. I came to see the Savior in my life daily...not just in my life at church on Sunday. I came to see Him change my life and clean my life. I came to see....in general.

President Hinckley once asked "Does the testimony of Jesus Christ still burn in your bosom as it did when you were a young missionary?" That is a question near and dear to my heart. It is something I must remember. It is something I will continually work for. It is something I cherish...that fire I felt as I was a young missionary knowing and feeling the truth in a whole new way. I think each of us can recall as we gained a strong testimony of Christ and I hope each one of us can still feel it.

That's all.
-Theresa