A little over a year ago I had hip surgery. I had been going through all the medical tests you could think of and was in constant pain for 9 months. I want to express how grateful I am, not only for the fact that I can walk again, but also for the pain. I believe God gave me that experience so that I would know how it feels and then gave me my strength back so I could understand a little of what others go through.
I have three beautiful, miraculous angels in my life that I call sisters. (My brothers are great too, but they'll get their own tribute some other day.)
Mary lost her chance at the finals in a big tournament in high school because she messed up her ankle. She had countless doctor visits to fix her ankle, but after a long, grueling recovery, she can now walk and play with her wonderful kids. I saw how she was incredibly tough in her recovery and I always admired how she dealt with the pain and worked through it, especially with two younger siblings that always accidentally bumped her.
Lindsay has been through so much I can't even understand and has had problems with stress fractures, taking away her ability to run. She taught me how to run when I was a little girl and how to keep pace so I wouldn't lose my breath. I remember supporting her during a run after she had beaten back her cancer again. She was a little disappointed that she had run so slow, but she just looked so beautiful and I was so proud. Lindsay has always been an example of perseverance and faith in the face of overwhelming trials. I love her so much for that, because without her example, I don't think I could have made it through my own pain and surgery.
Jaymie has had so many medical problems and injuries that I can't even keep track of them. And yet, when she can't find a silver lining, she makes one. She decorates her casts, crutches, wheelchair, and leg brace with bright colours and sparkles. Whenever I call her or see her she is smiling, laughing, telling jokes, and being overly flirtatious with her husband, even when you know how much pain she is in. Whenever I was/am discouraged, I could/can talk to her and she will brighten my day. It's one of her many talents. She keeps pressing forward.
I love them so much for the rock solid examples they have been for me. I don't think I truly understood how great they were until I suffered a fraction of similar pain.
I don't know why I can run now. I don't know why Mary and I were healed and they still have to suffer. But I do know that God's love doesn't mean that we get an easy solution every time. We might not always be physically healed every time, but we can still be whole, valuable, and fantastic wives/sisters/mothers/people.
Vessels in the Hands of the Potter
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Reconciliation with Coming Home Early: My Story and Miracles
If I
would have stayed out on my mission, I would have come home two days ago. Three
days ago I was able to report to the high council (the people in charge of the
whole area) and say that I completed a full mission.
I felt like I needed to share how I managed to make peace with my early homecoming, which was without doubt the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Ever since I was a little girl I always wanted to serve a mission. When the announcement was made I had just barely turned 19 and I started my papers that day and finished them within the week. I reported to the Missionary Training Center in January and everyone told me that missions were supposed to be ridiculously hard, but rewarding. For me it had brief hard moments, but about 90% of the time I found it the easiest, most natural thing to do. I LOVED my mission more than just about anything. Last September, after weeks of collapsing and being hospitalized without any progress made on what was causing the debilitating pain, my beloved mission president, President Bowen, spoke with me and my parents and we all decided that I should consider going home. He didn't leave much choice up to me because I had been irresponsible with past choices and had forced myself onward and refused to tell people about the pain so that I could stay out on my mission. One of the sisters that I respected most spoke to me and told me that I needed to address the little nagging voice in the back of my head and get healed up so that I could someday play with my future children.
That hit me incredibly hard. I realized that I could be stupidly selfish and destroy my body by ignoring the pain, or I could figure it out and have more of a chance that I could be there fully for my children someday. I let down my wall of pride and prayed about it and knew that I was supposed to come home. I was sent home on my birthday and, at the airport where many are greeted by flowers and signs, I was greeted only by my beautiful mother and we cried and cried. I would continue to feel bad for myself, especially when it seemed like I was doing horrific medical test after horrific medical test without any significant results, until I received a call from my Stake Patriarch who told me that, if we are following God’s commandments, whatever happens is a step forward. That became my motto and I tried to be as happy as possible with God’s plan for me.
I felt like I needed to share how I managed to make peace with my early homecoming, which was without doubt the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Ever since I was a little girl I always wanted to serve a mission. When the announcement was made I had just barely turned 19 and I started my papers that day and finished them within the week. I reported to the Missionary Training Center in January and everyone told me that missions were supposed to be ridiculously hard, but rewarding. For me it had brief hard moments, but about 90% of the time I found it the easiest, most natural thing to do. I LOVED my mission more than just about anything. Last September, after weeks of collapsing and being hospitalized without any progress made on what was causing the debilitating pain, my beloved mission president, President Bowen, spoke with me and my parents and we all decided that I should consider going home. He didn't leave much choice up to me because I had been irresponsible with past choices and had forced myself onward and refused to tell people about the pain so that I could stay out on my mission. One of the sisters that I respected most spoke to me and told me that I needed to address the little nagging voice in the back of my head and get healed up so that I could someday play with my future children.
That hit me incredibly hard. I realized that I could be stupidly selfish and destroy my body by ignoring the pain, or I could figure it out and have more of a chance that I could be there fully for my children someday. I let down my wall of pride and prayed about it and knew that I was supposed to come home. I was sent home on my birthday and, at the airport where many are greeted by flowers and signs, I was greeted only by my beautiful mother and we cried and cried. I would continue to feel bad for myself, especially when it seemed like I was doing horrific medical test after horrific medical test without any significant results, until I received a call from my Stake Patriarch who told me that, if we are following God’s commandments, whatever happens is a step forward. That became my motto and I tried to be as happy as possible with God’s plan for me.
I would
continue through 8 months of agony and frustrating helplessness and mission trunkiness
before the problem was diagnosed. The problem has since been fixed, but what I
want to draw attention to is not the misery and the woe, but rather that God does
not forget his children. I have seen countless miracles and I want to share
some of them with you.
1. God opened up
doors. During the tests I asked for a priesthood blessing from my father
and during it, I felt impressed to have a particular test done that the doctor
didn’t think was warranted. I insisted and the nurse was checking for openings.
She told me that there wouldn’t be another opening for another two months. I
politely insisted that she check again, and a spot had opened up in the next
three days. This test did not tell us the main source of the problem, but we
were able to identify a different medical complication that was contributing to the issue and that could have been disastrous to find out later.
2. The Lord provides
a way for us to accomplish His commandments. I prayed and felt like I
needed to go back to college even though I could barely walk. The Lord provides
a way and I soon found an apartment right next to campus with incredibly
supportive roommates. So many people chipped in to help me, which was difficult
for me because I hardly ever accepted help. I realize now that it may have seemed
like I couldn't do anything for myself, but it genuinely took great patience to allow others
to help me at all. I am stubborn to a fault, but I am so grateful to all the miraculous
people who helped me, especially my parents. I somehow managed to go a whole
semester with a lot of limitations, but I still got the best grades that I have
yet to get in college thus far. I know that it was impossible, but God made it
a possibility.
3. He spared me.
I had only been home for a short time when I found out that my old companions
had been in a car accident and had been hit on the side where I normally sat. I
cannot fully say that I know for sure that I would have been hurt, but the car
was totaled, and I definitely think that there was a chance.
4. He put people in
my path. A while after I had been diagnosed with a problem with the hip
joint, my parents took a trip to Central America, and while searching for a
church to attend they ran into another woman visiting. My mother talked to her
and mentioned me. The woman told her that she had a daughter who had been a
dancer when the same thing happened to her. Her first surgery had made the
problem worse, so they visited a second surgeon and he completely fixed her up.
She gave my mom the information of the better surgeon, and his office happened to be about an hour
away from my house and, magically, he took my insurance. Because my parents
took the time to go to church while on vacation, they were ready for the person
that God placed there to help me get the care I needed.
5. He fulfilled his
promise. I was given a blessing on the mission that I wouldn’t be healed
until I understood the Atonement, or sacrifice, of Christ. I thought that that
meant I needed to repent and really try my very hardest to study the
Atonement. When I didn’t get better I decided that the blessing might have been
too complicated for me to get. However, right when I had my surgery and my
recovery I was still at the point when I would cry every time the mission was
brought up and I felt sad and bitter at times. It was brought to my attention
by a very wise person that it shouldn’t be that way. I realized that
understanding the Atonement meant that we needed to put our will in line with
God’s. It was at that point that I tried to start to do that, and I started
healing not only physically, but also that gaping hole in my heart that formed
when I was ripped away from what I loved has slowly started to heal. This has
been a MAJOR turning point in my life.
6. My favourite
miracle of all. When I came home I had no intention of dating. I was going
to go right back on my mission and no silly boy was going to stand in the way.
However, my zone leader from the mission started visiting me and after A FEW
WEEKS (I didn’t even think he liked me in the mission) we decided that we would
start dating even though we knew that I was planning on going back. He
patiently encouraged me to make the decision that God wanted me to make whatever it might have been, but I
mostly needed to focus on getting better before I could make any decisions. He was there for me when I broke down
and when I couldn't do things myself. He helped me more than I can possibly say
and I can never thank him enough for that. I began to realize that this might
be the path that God wanted me to go down: being with this wonderful man. This
was confirmed over and over again, and when we visited Anaheim, President Bowen
looked me in the eye and told me “He is the reason you served a mission.” If I
had come home at this time, we would only have had a few days before his family
moved to Wyoming and who knows if it would ever have worked out. Instead, I got to
probably be one of the very first girls to report their mission to High Council
with an engagement ring on their finger and I can honestly say that I’m with
God on this one, and I would never have it any other way for me.
Now, not all people are as lucky as I am when they come home
early from their missions. I realize that I am incredibly blessed, but the
point that I want to make is that there IS LIFE after hard things and even during
hard things. There is life during and after coming home from a mission early.
There is life during and after pain. There is life during and after when everything
you know changes. As I read in a pretty awesome kitchen, “It will all be okay
in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.” God loves you. He knows your
difficulties and knows exactly what you need if you can bring yourself to align
your will to His and ask for help. This is not the end and there is nothing you
can’t do without your Heavenly Father backing you up. Never give up hope and
never stop smiling, because He knows EXACTLY what He’s doing. I can testify of
miracles and the love of God for each of His children, and I say this in the
name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Monday, March 24, 2014
7 Ways to Deal With Coming Home Early from Your Mission
Ways to deal with coming home early from your mission
I don’t profess to be an expert on dealing with coming home
from a mission even though I did it, but I have talked to a lot of people like
me, and prayed about it a lot. I am combining the awesome knowledge of God,
Jesus, other amazing returned missionaries, so anything that seems stupid or
incorrect should be blamed on me, not on them. Here are some of the things that
these stellar people have come up with to help those coming home early from
their missions:
1. Come unto Christ – No matter what
reason caused you to come home, Christ can help you solve it. The Atonement
allows us to heal in ways that we never even knew we were broken. It is not
just for repentance. It is for solace and understanding. No matter what reason
you came home, Christ has suffered for it so that you don’t have to feel nearly
as much pain if you just let him in to heal your heart.
2. Remember that it
is always a step forward – Sin is the only way we can step backward, and if
we are trying our best to avoid sin and do good things, we will be going
forward in God’s plan for us. Remember the words of “Lead, Kindly Light” -- “Keep
thou my feet; I do not ask to see the distant scene – one step enough for me.” As long as we are living worthy of the Spirit
and are doing our best to be our best, anything that might seem a setback or a
stumbling block is just a platform to climb to somewhere higher that God has in
store for you.
3. Keep up your
scripture habits – Recently one of the people I visit teach told me that
she highlighted everything in her scriptures that brought her comfort. God
speaks to us through the Holy Ghost, which can be accessed through the sincere
study and application of the scriptures. God loves you and He has whole
chapters written just to bring you comfort at this very time, no matter what
state you are in. He wants to help you, so keep reading!
4. Keep busy! –
You have just been coming from one of the most tasking jobs on all levels that have
ever been created. If you attempt to transition from a super busy lifestyle to
doing nothing, you will probably find yourself with a lot of downtime to mope
and feel down. Satan is the being that is in charge of making us feel
inadequate or sad. God wants us to smile and be happy. Tell the devil to go to
hell, and do your very best to find productive things to do.
5. Pray – We learn
from President Thomas Monson that God’s love is there whether we deserve it or
not. He is waiting with innumerable blessings of comfort and guidance, and all
we have to do is ask. This is not something you can get through without heavy,
intense relying on the Lord.
6. Give people the
doubt – I have found that if I am looking to be offended, I am very
persuasive and often end up offended. Chances are that people really do care
about you, but they don’t know how to handle themselves or are very far from
sensitive. There will always be some haters, but luckily their salvation is not
dependent on you, so just try to keep the attitude that no one is judging you,
and those that don’t are awesome, true friends and those that do are going to
have their own kind of judging reserved for them after this life.
7. Never be ashamed
– God loves you and He is the only one who matters. If God has given you a
concrete answer to your prayers, you trust in that relationship without being “ashamed
of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” and NO ONE ELSE’S OPINION MATTERS! You are a
child of God, no matter what illnesses (spiritual, mental, physical) that you
may go through and nothing will ever change that. Never be ashamed of who you
are.
To be quite honest, coming home early from my mission is one of the most bitter-sweet, horrible, amazing blessings that has ever happened to me. There is nothing else that has been able to test my mission skills and help me to apply my faith so much. It was also the hardest time of my entire life, which is how most of us feel. You feel abandoned, worthless, weak, and you constantly have people probing and prying at open wounds. Good! So many times we have to be humbled in order for God to have easy access to our hearts. So many times we cannot see more than one step ahead of us, but we trust in God's promises and keep His commandments, we will end up happy. God loves you! You are a powerful child of God! There IS hope! Keep up the good work and don't you dare give up on yourself. He would never give up on you.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
5 Ways to Help Missionaries Who Come Home Early
5 Ways to Help
Missionaries Who Come Home Early
I have found that
since the lowering of the age requirements to serve a mission, that many, many
missionaries have had to come home early from their missions for some reason or
another. I am one of these early-returned missionaries and I have found that
many people have a hard time adjusting to coming home after making a great
decision to serve the Lord. Not only do you have to deal with the reason that
you came home alongside with the normal, awkward, barely returned missionary
stage, but you also have to deal with people who might not complete understand
your situation. I have noticed that a lot of returned missionaries that feel
like they are going to be judged for coming home early, do in fact focus on the
negative reactions to their homecoming. I’m
sure that the amount of judgment varies from place to place and from situation to
situation; but, at least for me, the main problem wasn’t being judged, but
rather having good, caring people try to make things better and somehow make
them worse.
To those of you who know me, this is not a critique of your
behaviour, but I thought that it would be a fantastic thing if people knew how
to help early-returned missionaries. So here you go! From the perspective of a
recently early-returning missionary - the guide to how to deal with us.
1. Judge not lest
ye be judged– “Medical release” in Mormon culture today seems to signify that
it is “acceptable” for the missionary to be released in such circumstances. I’m
going to let you in on a secret - every missionary that comes home early, comes
home for “medical reasons.” There is more than one way to be sick. Some come
home due to physical illness, some because of mental illness, some because of
spiritual illness, some due to emotional illness, some due to a family illness,
and some due to illnesses of other sorts. It is a common, and frankly quite
stupid, fault with our society that physical illness is considered to be so
much more “normal” than any other kind. If someone tears their meniscus, people
feel bad for them and when they’re on crutches, no one judges. On the other
hand, if they have been diagnosed with a mental disorder or if they have committed
a sin, you should treat them with the same amount of care and kindness. Leave
the judgment to God and be kind. To those who have a problem with this, consider
Christ’s words, but I will change the word “sin” so that it fits the rest of
the categories here. He said, “he who is without [illness] among you, let him be the first to throw a stone.”
2. Ditch the interviews – While it is
genuinely nice to have people show that they care by inquiring after you,
probing questions rope a person back into thinking about what they’ve been
trying not to think about. Do your best to treat the returned missionary like
they are a person. Ask to help them, but a room full of people asking how you
are doing when you’re in physical, mental, or emotional pain simply reminds you
of said pain. Show your love, but not by interrogating them, even if it is done
out of kindness.
3. Keep them busy – One of the most
difficult things is adjusting from a lifestyle where every detail is planned
and you are constantly moving, to just sitting there. Help them find
productive, fun, and wholesome things to do. Study the scriptures with them,
pray with them, and help them to heal in everyway possible.
4. Let them consult the Lord –
Occasionally there are speedy recoveries and the early-returned missionary has a
second chance to head out to the mission field. Whether or not they choose to
go back is entirely between them and the Lord. It is not your place to tell
them what their Heavenly Father has in store for them. Encourage them to seek
heavenly counsel, but you cannot receive revelation in place of them. If they choose to
return and serve, more power to them. If they choose to follow the Lord’s path
for them in a different way, an equal amount of respect is required. If they choose to start falling away from the Church, then is the time to pull them into the rescue boat. But it still up to them to receive their own answers.
5. Be a friend – More often than not,
this time in a person’s life will be one of the most difficult things they have
come across in their twenty or so years of living. Most likely they will break
down. Most likely they will at one point become bitter and frustrated and have
their faith severely challenged. That doesn't mean that they cannot be happy or
progress, but they need a friend who is willing to encourage them to be better
at their best, and mourn with them (and also encourage them to be better… that
should be a pretty much constant thing) when they are at their worst.
People who come home early are in the
process of healing or fixing something, whether it is their foot, or their heart, or their spirit, or their family, or their mind. There is one more optional step that I would
like to throw in there… If they want to, allow them to ramble about their
missions. I don’t know if you’ve ever hung out with a freshly returned
missionary, but all they seem to want to talk about is that one time when they
went tracting and a wild pack of raccoons (animal may change based on section
of the world) chased them away from the door of a golden investigator and they had to outrun them while carrying a broken bike and twenty copies of the Book
of Mormon. This makes perfect sense because the mission was their whole life
for a long time. If this makes them feel better, sit and listen. Listen and
learn so that you can love even more fully.
I’m going to step off my soap box
and let you all return to your busy lives, but before I go I wanted to give a
shout out to all those who are struggling with coming home early from their
missions. You are children of God and He and I love you very much. I’m here if
you need anyone to talk to. I’m also going to be posting one of these with
steps for my fellow ERMs, so keep an eye out and hopefully it will help. I’m
not claiming to cure anything, but I do know that Christ took upon himself all
of our infirmities of every kind and through Him we can get over anything. Chin
up and keep smiling!
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