a good sunday.

I woke up this morning with my mind feeling very heavy. Last night my thoughts were just all over the place and everything just felt like a dream. However, when I remembered that today was the Sabbath, I quickly fell to my knees with gratitude and could not wait to begin this day. Church was great. The lessons were all about service and how to be more unified. I'm grateful that my knowledge of the gospel has grown since my mission because I feel like I'm able to be more engaged in the lessons and the talks given. I was set apart today for a church calling, to be in the publicity committee. I was the last person to be set apart and I anticipated on the counsel I would receive for my calling. When the brethren laid their hands upon my head, I felt immediate love from my Heavenly Father. I was reminded of the talent/gift that the Lord has given me to love other people. It was actually mentioned about 4-5 times while I was being set apart. I was invited to continue setting appropriate priorities in my life which was something that stood out to me the most. When it was all done, I turned around with tears in my eyes, thanking them and telling them that the words in the setting apart were exactly what I needed to hear. I'm so grateful for worthy priesthood holders and to know that my Heavenly Father truly is mindful of me. 

When we came home, I decided to read my Old Testament readings that are due on Tuesday. I've set the goal that the only homework I would do on the Sabbath would be any sort of scripture readings/talks/church videos for my religion class. I got through the assigned readings in Genesis but before I knew it, I woke up to my face on my scriptures with drool on the verge of dripping on them (don't worry, my scriptures stayed in good condition!). I then merged over to my bedroom where I took my first, legit nap since being home. IT FELT SO GOOD! Later I made some phone calls to my recent converts and my mom (sister cole aka kiersten...) came to see me. She's seriously so amazing. I'm grateful that she's willing to drop whatever it is she's doing just to see me. 

In one of my readings that I had to do, I read this quote by Elder Bruce C. Hafen where he says, "Elder Maxwell once taught a group of people who lived with really hard daily challenges.  He had been watching the Olympic diving competition, where he had learned that the judges grade a dive not just by how graceful it looks to the public, but by how difficult the dive is—which only the judges can understand enough to measure. Elder Maxwell told this group that the Lord will judge their lives by the difficulty of their dive, which He understands in every detail." It brought such strength to me to be reminded that only Heavenly Father knows exactly the challenges we go through and only He will be able to "measure" them and "judge" them accordingly. As long as I face each challenge with hope, I know I can get through them. 

Tonight I decided to "socialize" more at ward prayer. I'm still pretty anti-social...I just like to be alone, people! Which is weird because I was with someone every single day 24/7 for 18 months but...maybe that's the exact reason why I like to be alone again :) I still miss my mission every day. I still haven't had my huge breakdown moment of missing it but there isn't a day that goes by where I am not reminded of the mission. Life is so good! God loves me ;)

love,

Liv