The Pain in Adjusting Back
Hola Padre!!
I am soo glad that you all are doing well :) I went to the temple again this past week and I have made a commitment to my self that I will always be a regular temple attender. I will have time when I go home to go once a week, but then throughout the rest of my life I will go at least once a month. I know this will be a sacrifice, but it is one of my top priorities so I will make it happen :) The temple is such a special place! I had a neat experience. As I was waiting in the little chapel I picked up the Bible and said a little prayer. Lately I haven't necessarily known what I personally need, but I have been praying that The Lord will direct me and help me receive the peace and comfort that i will need to continue to progress on my path. Anyways I open the Bible and there is a marked in Matthew 5. I have read that soooo may times so I flipped a few pages and read somewhere else. Later on at the end of the session I picked up the Bible again in the celestial room. Once again I prayed to know what I need and I opened it up to a random page. I was shocked when AGAIN it opened up right to Matthew 5. I gave in and studied the chapter. The spirit taught me to continue to live the higher law as taught by Jesus Christ. I have been studying some talks about being a returned missionary and one of them said that the pain in adjusting back is that we try to go back to our old ways after we have become something new and better. I don't have
to feel sadness, I can feel joy! I felt that strongly in the endowment that God wants us to go forward with faith and feel joy in all that we do. I have no reason to feel sad or bad. I have served The Lord witall my heart. Sure I didn't have a million baptisms, nor hold all the leadership positions, but I loved The Lord and I did my very best to serve Him- and that is all that Heavenly Father expects of us. This is what has changed me. I understand that the fulfillment of a mission- of a life time comes through consistently choosing to love and honor The Lord. This is what changes us and helps us to become more like Him. It has changed me- maybe not physically or temporally, but I can honestly say that my heart has been changed and the things that I once desired no longer seem appealing to me. I know The Lord will continue to hold me to that standard and He expects me to add to it.
This Sunday we had the wonderful opportunity of attending the GIlbert Temple open house. What a sacred experience that was! That was the 2nd dedication of my mission. I feel such a special connection to temples now and I hope to always be near one. I think that may be one of the hardest things for me when I go home because literally 15 months out of my mission I have been on temple grounds. What a blessing that has been. But anyways at the dedication I received personal revelation from the Prophet himself. Such a tender experience. He said something in relation to the experiences of the day, but I took it in terms of the experience of my mission. He said, "Are you ready? During this experience we have learned something about love, sacrifice,
revelation, God, and oursleves. We are all better for having been here." I am better for having been here on my mission. I have learned so much about all those things and even more. He closed his thoughts by inviting us all to rededicate our lives to serving The Lord. My desire is to forever be obedient. I love how The Lord speaks to us. He is helping me to prepare for this huge and scary adjustment, but I know that He will always be with me.
Love you sooo much Papa!!! I forgot to write about the temple and
everything in my other email so feel free to share with the familia :)
Love,
Kelsey
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
