I did it again :(

Obviously I didn't do very well with keeping my goal. Luckily I didn't even make it out of my parking garage this time. Thank goodness for a roommate with a car who got me to work on time. And to whoever wrote on my dirty car that I don't know how to park: I'd like to see you try to push a car straight into a parking spot with no help. Jerks.

Biggest Loser style...

So a few Sundays ago, I taught a lesson in Relief Society based on the talk from April's General Conference by President Packer in which he talked about the importance of the name of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and our status and responsibilities as members of the Church. One of the questions that I asked was, "What should a Latter-day Saint be like?" This question echoes those that we often hear about the expectations of living as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. I thought of all those people out there who think that the Church lays all these stringent demands, all these unrealistic or unattainable expectations upon us, but I think those people forget that it's not the Church that asks those things of us: it's God. And with God, all things are possible.

For the student journal that I'm working on this semester, we recently did a first edit of the pieces that will be in the journal. One of the articles I read was by a young woman who expressed her internal struggle and her coming to grips with all the expectations that "the Church" had heaped on her though her life. She felt that she could never live up to what was expected of her, and the bitterness that resulted made her angry at herself and at the Church.

As I drove home that Sunday, I was meditating on all of these things, when suddenly an analogy popped into my head. Granted, this analogy is most likely The Biggest Loser-induced, but I still think it applies.

What do you think of when you think of the word "membership"? Not in the context of the Church, but just in general. For me, I think of a gym membership (thank you, Biggest Loser). So what does that mean, to have a gym membership? Let's say that Ramon (my favorite person on The Biggest Loser right now) gets a gym membership. What is he hoping to get out of it? I think it means first of all that Ramon wants to get in shape; he wants to be healthy and fit and enjoy all the advantages of a healthy lifestyle. What happens when Ramon actually goes to the gym? Do people make fun of him for not being able to do all that they can do? Are the guys over by the weights yelling at him and telling him that he's fat and that he's not good enough and that he ought to just give up? Probably not. Why not? Because the other people in the gym are there for the exact same reason as Ramon is--to be in shape, and to have a healthy lifestyle (except for the creepos who just go to the gym to hit on people)--so of course they're not going to make fun of him (ideally. Granted, some people are just jerks no matter what). Chances are, they're going to encourage him. They're going to say, "Ramon, you can do this. Here, let me show you a good leg exercise that you can do on this machine." Maybe Ramon or even the others who go the gym aren't always constant in their quest for a healthy lifestyle. They might eat one too many pieces of Halloween candy, or they might decide to spend an entire afternoon watching TV and eating potato chips. But they still are striving for that healthy lifestyle. They are still going to try and go to the gym and make time to exercise as well as making better choices in what they eat or how they spend their time.

Now if Ramon is really dedicated, he will not only go to the gym, but he will also get a personal trainer. His trainer isn't going to say, "Okay, Ramon, this is going to pretty much be impossible because you're so fat, and you're probably not going to be able to do it. There's just too much to be done and you're not good enough." Au contraire, the trainer is going to do all he can to motivate and uplift Ramon and help him believe that his weight-loss goals and healthy lifestyle goals are attainable. The trainer is probably going to be really tough on Ramon--he's going to make him work harder than he ever has in his whole life. Ramon is going to want to quit, to take the easy path of his old life. But the trainer isn't going to let him give up because he sees Ramon's potential and knows what the results will be if he holds out strong and finishes what he started. The trainer knows from experience that people can change and that they can lose weight, so now he just has to make Ramon believe that. In exchange, Ramon has to trust his trainer and trust that all the crazy things he makes him do are going to be worth it in the end. And after weeks and weeks of sweat and tears and pain, Ramon finally catches a glimpse of the potential that the trainer saw in him from the beginning. With that glimpse, Ramon has the strength to continue on his journal of becoming healthy, and he can finally achieve all his goals.

Alright. Compare that to our membership in the Church. Yeah, maybe a lot is expected of us as members of the Church. But it's our choice to live up to those expectations or not. It's up to us to go to the gym, as it were--go to Church, be a member of the Church for the right reasons. Compared with the healthy lifestyle that the gym can bring, what are the results that solid membership in the Church can bring? Well, happiness, for one thing; the reassurance of the plan of salvation, the safety of keeping the commandments, the eternity of families, the hope of eternal life. These are goals worth working for! And if can just look at our membership in the Church as a means to accomplish our eternal goals, I think that a lot fewer people would look at the so-called demands and requirements of the Church with more appreciation and less resentment. Gym-goers don't resent the equipment at the gym--the barbells, the treadmills, the machines; we are chuch-goers should not resent the equipment that we have either. And we have the best personal trainer of all--Jesus Christ. He is there every step of the way with us because he's been through all our pains, sorrows, and heartaches. He knows how to mold us into the people we need to become: His people.

I also came across this quote from Elder Wirthlin that I think applies:

"Some mistake the Church for a place where perfect people gather to say perfect things, think perfect thoughts, and feel perfect feelings. May I quickly dispel such a thought? The Church is a place where imperfect people gather to help and strengthen each other as we strive to return to our Heavenly Father. Ever one of us will travel a different road in mortality. We will each progress at different rates."

I for one am so grateful for the Church and how it helps me on my "road." I would certainly have fallen off the path and been eaten by bears by now if I didn't have it. I love the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (. . . and The Biggest Loser :) ) and how it helps me become better, even though I still have a long way to go.

How time flies.

One year ago today.

A Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief

I love this picture of Christ. The first time I saw it was in my Branch President's office during a time in my life when I really needed it. I love how Christ is depicted in this painting with a smile on His face. You can just see the love and the hope on His face.

There was a devotional a few months ago where the speaker talked about the judgment day. He talked about all of our preconceived notions-- jokingly saying how he's going to have to beg to be allowed into the Kingdom of God. But then he became serious and said that in all honestly, he believes that the person who is going to be begging will be Jesus Christ. He's going to be begging us to just repent of our sins and accept Him as our Savoir. He's going to be pleading with us to apply His sacrifice, His Atonement, so that we may be cleansed from our sins and have a place with Him and the Father throughout all eternity.

This week I had an interesting insight. In my religion class, we watched this Mormon Message about this guy, Chris Williams, who was able to forgive a drunk driver for killing his pregnant wife and two children. It's not the first time I've seen that particular Mormon Message, but it just really touched me once again. I love how at the end, he talks about Christ, calling Him "a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:4). I thought about that all day. Why was Christ a Man of sorrows, acquainted with grief? It's not like He was super sad all the time. I mean, He was sad when people didn't believe in Him and didn't accept Him, but I wouldn't say that that was what defined Him. So I turned to the scripture and read the rest of what it said of Christ, that He was:

"a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief...

Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows."

I love this. I love how this scripture teaches us that Christ is described such because He has taken upon Himself our sorrow and our grief. Sometimes that's the most important part of His Atonement. I think this idea also helps us become more compassionate for other people and their sorrow and grief. As Chris explains it, we all go through trials, we all have to come to know this Man of sorrows, but by so doing, we learn to love. In his words:

"I'm grateful that God allows tragedies and trials to occur in our lives. Not because they're easy or because they're desired, but because they help us love. And that too is a wonderful blessing. . . . Coming to know a Man of sorrow and One who is acquainted with grief as I've now come to understand, it is really why I was sent here, and it has been incredibly difficult to have to learn those lessons in the way that I've learned them. But I've always ended those episodes of grief with an assurance and a hope that one day, perhaps I will 'see Him as He is.' One day, hopefully, I will be like Him."

So, what I get out of this whole thing is this: Christ is our Savoir. He saves us from sin, from sorrow, from grief.

And I think I have a lot of trials left to go, because I'm so far from perfect and so far from being charitable and all those things that I need to become, but that's okay. Because that's how I'll become like Him and be able, one day, to see Him as He is.

Too much to do, too little Mindy

Two jobs, two majors... too much? Yes, yes it is. Working forty hours a week while trying to keep up with fifteen credits just isn't working for me-- I'm tired of always being tired! I'm going to do something about this today, I hope. So please wish me luck. And pray for me that I can get all my homework done this weekend with the ten hours of work I still have before Sunday.

Oh, Cyrano

I like you a lot.

"I have led thee in right paths"

This week I had somewhat of a tender mercy. I was walking out of the MTC with one of my couples, the Metcalfes, when we ran into my friend Mary, now known as Sister Teichert. Mary and I had a Polynesian dance class together over winter semester, and we also participated in the New Zealand section of the Lu'au together. Mary also knows the Metcalfes because they're from the same city in Montana, where Brother Metcalfe was actually her teacher. Small world! Anyways, so we were just chatting and I was asking her how the MTC is going (three weeks in!), etc. I remember getting a text from her a few months ago announcing her mission call, and I just thought it was so awesome because I hadn't even known that she was thinking about going. I mentioned this to her, and she responded with something along the lines of, "Well I was thinking about going on a mission when I met you and Laurel (my BF who was in our dance class and the Lu'au with us too), and I just thought, 'they are so great: I want to be like that.'" Now, I'm not repeating this to say how great someone thinks I am, but I was just so touched that I had influenced her to serve a mission. I love knowing that in some little tiny way, I was instrumental in helping her make that ever-so-important decision. And now the people in Rome get to have this amazing sister come and teach them.

This experience really took me back... to about 3 years ago. It was 2008, and I was thinking about going on a mission. Or rather, the Spirit was making me think about going on a mission; but I wasn't sure. It was at this same time that I had a phonetics class with two returned sister missionaries: Rebecca and Amanda. Rebecca and I become friends right away, and I remember many a conversation with her about how her mission had changed her life for the better and how wonderful it had been. That semester passed, and going into Spring term, I was happy to find out that Amanda and I were in the same French class. We spent a lot of time together that Spring, attempting to speak in French together, watching French movies, eating crepes, etc., and again, I remember many a conversation with her about how much her mission changed her life and was just the best thing. I also remember the talks that she suggested I read that really helped me make up my mind about going.

Fast forward three years, and here I am: a returned missionary. It was definitely the best decision that I have ever made, and I am so grateful for everything I learned, all the wonderful people I now know and love, and for the way that experience has set the tone for the rest of my life. I'm especially grateful for the way the Lord goes about to accomplish His purposes, especially when it comes to guiding our lives. I know He does, and I am so grateful for that because I know that His plans are infinitely better than my own. I'm grateful that he put those two wonderful girls in my path to make it so much better than I ever could have imagined.

And I'm grateful that I maybe was that girl for someone else.

Laurel (or rather, Soeur Cummins at the time) and I in New Caledonia:

Mary (Sorella Teichert), her sister Celinda, me and Laurel at the Lu'au:

I was so happy and excited to find out that my old friend Rebecca was coming on the study abroad to Senegal with me over the Spring. Here we are in Senegal, filthy, with Rebecca and her wonderful husband, Andrew. (Can I just say how cute they are? Rebecca learned French because he served his mission in France, and he learned Spanish because she served her mission in Chile. Love it!)

Yes, I stole this picture off of her facebook, but here is Amanda and her husband in front of the Hawaii temple (where she served her mission).

Hooray for sister missionaries!

"And from thence, whosoever I will shall go forth among all nations, and it shall be told them what they shall do; for I have a great work laid up in store, for Israel shall be saved, and I will lead them whithersoever I will, and no power shall stay my hand." -d&c 38:33

"I have led thee in right paths" -Proverbs 4:11

"And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not." - Isaiah 58:11 (although I didn't really appreciate being made fat in New Cal, I'll take it in exchange for the wonderful mission I had :) )

This also reiterated something that President Uchtdorf talked about during the Relief Society Broadcast:

Love it.