2016: Year in Review

A bit late this year (not surprising since I’ve neglected this blog in favor of Mormon Geeks for a lot of last year), but despite the “tragedy” that was 2016, I had a good year. So it’s worth going back over.

Neatest Place You were in 2016

I had a lot of great adventures this year. Disneyland was amazing of course, especially with my little niece and nephew. I also always love the Sacred Grove. As far as new places, I went to Oregon/Washington for a retreat and that was wonderful. Granted, I didn’t see a lot outside that retreat, but that was good. I also took a spur of the moment trip out to Virginia/DC which was thrilling for me. Great to see some amazing friends and visit the DC temple, where my parents were married 33.5 years ago.

Biggest Surprise of the Year

I had many big surprises this year that were a bit too personal to share online. One that I will share is how I surprised myself by taking a spur of the moment trip (only buying my plane ticket nine days beforehand) to visit some great friends (one of them didn’t know I was coming until he showed up).

Dan (on the left) didn't know I was coming. hehehe.

Best Movie/TV Show You Watched

I watched some great stuff this year. “Jessica Jones” was great (though I could have done without the three gratuitous sex scenes… had to take my headphones off for that); it was engaging and suspenseful. “Moana” was wonderful in challenging me to test my limits and stretch myself to be more myself. I also watched “My Name is Khan” and “Temple Grandin” as research for my final research paper at BYU on how autism is portrayed in the media. Of all the things I watched, those two were the most accurate in my opinion.

Goal for next Disneyland trip: Meet Moana

Saddest Day/Time in 2016

Saddest time was just all the goodbyes I went through. After the retreat I went on, it was hard to say goodbye to new friends. After Virginia, it was hard to say goodbye to my buddies. Sucks to live so far away from good friends.

Saying goodbye to these two is always hard.

Happiest Day/Time in 2016

Happiest time this year had to do with the spiritual environments I was in. The Sacred Grove is always a wonderful place for me. This year I got to go with my friend Greg while he and his family were in Palmyra for Pageant. I also was blessed to be able to attend multiple Christian music concerts. My favorites were Matthew West performing “Grace Wins” (one of my favorite songs ever right now) live and being able to sing along.

I got to meet Matthew West and thank him for "Grace Wins"

Best Book/Magazine You’ve Read

I’ll be honest… I don’t know if I read any new books. Definitely nothing of significance. I did however finish the Book of Mormon again at least once this year. Always great to keep going through the word of God.

Things you will remember from the news

More like things I wish I could forget from the news. So much fuss over celebrity deaths. Don’t get me wrong; it’s always sad when someone dies, but celebrities rarely have a personal impact on my life. Also there’s all the election stuff… I feel like Facebook has gotten much more political. Maybe I’m just noticing it now.

Even more annoying now after the fact.

What would you like to do in 2017?

Lots I’d like to do. I want to travel lots. Being out of school now I want to take advantage of my singleness to visit friends, see new places, and have quality time with family. Canada, DC, and NYC are all on my list.

Maybe Disney again this year too? Probably not but I can wish

Changed for the Better

It’s that time of year again. December 14… about half way through the final month of the year… finals are over, people are heading home for Christmas, and some people won’t be coming back next semester (whether for mission, because they graduated, or for other reason). However, the imprint they leave on our lives is irreversible. So today, I just wanted to talk about five people I am grateful for… their presence and influence in my life has changed me so much (if you are not one of the five, trust me, I’m sure your presence in my life has affected me too).

First, I want to start out with a little snippet from the Broadway play “Wicked” (SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t seen/read Wicked, and you don’t want to be spoiled, skip to the next paragraph). Near the end of the play, Glinda finds Elfaba and they reconnect after the death of Nessa and the presumed death of Fiyero. Elfaba gives the Grimmerie to Glinda and asks her to take on her cause, because she knows that with her own reputation, she will not be able to change things. However, Glinda has the influence and power to make good things happen in Oz. After this encounter, Elfaba and Glinda never expect to see each other again (which they don’t). In the play, their goodbye is in the song entitled “For Good”. Reflecting back on their relationship and their friendship—and themselves—they realize that their friendship has influenced who they have become.

The first person I want to talk about is my friend Eric. I met Eric in October 2010. A month before I met him, I had returned from my mission in Toronto and I was still having a very hard time with it. I was confused about what I was to do. Why had I come home? Was I supposed to go back? Was I supposed to look toward marriage instead? How did my same-sex attraction play into that, whether my next step was to go on my mission again or if I was to look toward marriage?

The first memory I have of Eric is at a mix and mingle (we called it “Sweet Swap”) after ward prayer one week. Having heard that I was looking for a job, Eric offered to drive me to a job interview if I needed it. Knowing that I had to be able to walk to the job anyway, I declined his offer. However, that was not where things ended with Eric by any means. A couple weeks later, I was in the Rec Room because I needed a break from my apartment. As I was reading my novel, Eric and two girls came in to watch Star Trek. Graciously, Eric invited me to join them. As days and weeks progressed, I hung out with this group more: movie nights, game nights (Take-Over-the-World Tuesdays), temple square, etc.).

One thing that really affected my relationship with Eric is that he believed in me from Day 1 that I could get back on my mission. In fact, mid-November 2010, he gave me a blessing that told me I was going to be a missionary again. It took about eight and a half months for that prophecy to come true, but in the hard times that I had leading up to my mission in Calgary, it gave me something to hold on to.

Eric has become one of my most trusted friends and a big brother to me (to the point where I call his daughter, Rachel, my niece—side note: she is the CUTEST little girl EVER). I know I can always go to him for advice and for support. Eric, because I knew you, I have been changed for the better… because I knew you, I have been changed for good.

With Eric and Emalee (his wife) before I left for Calgary

My old roommate Justin would have to be another one on this list. I lived with him for a short three months, but before and since then, he has been a great friend and a great influence for me. The first time I met Justin was the first Sunday in my new ward in October 2010. I was taken by the bishop (who I’d met earlier in the week) from sacrament meeting to the mission prep class, where Justin was the teacher. Being in a mission prep class with primarily future sister missionaries, the only men in the room were me and Justin. So, after Sunday school hour, Justin showed me where Priesthood was held. In doing so, we realized that Justin was my home teacher. Funny coincidence how the mission prep teacher was my home teacher, huh?

In the three months that Justin was my home teacher, he only taught me a lesson once. Yet, he still remains one of my favorite home teachers that I’ve had down here at BYU. Why? Because I wasn’t a chore and I wasn’t a check-mark to get every month. Justin came to give a message once, but he was available to give me help at any time while he was my home teacher, after assignments got changed, while we were roommates, and even now that he’s married.

Justin was also the first roommate that I’d ever told about my same-sex attraction. Something in regards to SSA was bothering me (I think I was attracted to some guy and I felt ashamed of it, even though I didn’t choose it) and I felt I needed to tell someone. I pulled Justin aside at the apartment (this is while we were roommates) and told him about my SSA. He just chuckled a little and said, “Spencer, I think we were supposed to be roommates.” I was confused, but he expanded on that thought. To say the least, Justin had had a trying mission. In addition to his own trials, he’d also had companions and investigators who had dealt with Aspergers, anxiety, depression, and same-sex attraction (not all at once, necessarily, but he’d known several people who had one or several of these).

Justin taught me a lot about following the Spirit, being willing and ready to help others, having a good positive attitude, and being a good friend. To me, Justin is/was a great example of charity, caring about me even if he didn’t understand exactly what I was dealing with. Justin, because I knew you, I have been changed for the better… because I knew you, I have been changed for good.

With Justin at his wedding reception

Third is Elder Call. I’ve talked about Elder Call a lot. He was my celestial, charitable, Christ-like trainer on my mission, who has potentially changed my life more than anyone else I know. We were paired together at the mission home in Toronto by President Middleton (only a week before the Middletons came home). Previous to being paired up, we (the greenies and the trainers) had done some role playing. As President Middleton told us who our trainers were, Elder Call jumped up and shouted, “We were already companions!” And then he came over and gave me a big hug. It was true… during role playing, Elder Call had chosen me as his companion.

Elder Call (now more commonly known as Jared) taught me about my worth. He pushed me further on all occasions when doing missionary work, because he believed I had so much more potentially than I could see. He taught me about faith and obedience. Elder Call talked to every person he met, just like the mission president taught. In fact, he was heartbroken on the occasions that he had to pass someone up because we were already fifteen minutes late for an appointment and we had ten minutes left to ride on our bikes (those numbers might be slightly exaggerated, but I don’t think so).

Jared Call also taught me about revelation. As I’ve mentioned before, Elder Call was the first person I ever told about my same-sex attraction. That night is still mostly a blur (partly because of how surreal it was, partly because of the two years that have passed since, and partly because of how late at night it was—we were up until 3AM). However, I have been able to recall some details. As we were falling asleep in our respective beds, in a conversation that began with something to do with the law of chastity, the Spirit directed it toward same-sex attraction. Finally, the Spirit gave me a little push that said, “You can trust him.” And the rest is pretty much history. What I didn’t know at the time, but soon learned, was that Elder Call had figured out my secret weeks before. Between impressions from the Spirit and his own “gaydar”, he figured it out.

Though you refuse to accept compliments… though you believe more in me than I could ever believe in myself… though you sometimes tease me endlessly… Jared, because I knew you, I have been changed for the better… because I knew you, I have been changed for good.

With Jared at the Toronto Mission Reunion

Next is Garrett. I’ve talked about Garrett a lot on here. He is my best friend. He is my brother. He is one of my strongest and most supportive allies. I first met Garrett at the end of August 2009. My first recollection of Garrett is actually from the first week in our ward that year, where he introduced himself and told the ward that he loved grammar (you’re still never going to live that down, buddy). The next day, I ran into Garrett on campus and we learned that we had a class together. After that, it wasn’t long before we became good friends. Now that’s the short version of the story (and I promise you the long version is LONG).

Garrett has taught me that I have worth. I am worth loving and I am a friend worth having. Some of you might be saying to yourself, “Duh, Spencer!” but before I met Garrett, I had never had a friend (especially a guy friend) stick around. They all either seemed to move on, seemingly abandoning me, or they moved too far away for a deep friendship to continue to flourish. However, time and time again, Garrett has shown me that he’s in it for the long haul and that we will be great friends for about forever (… now we just need to find girls to marry who can put up with our quirky friendship and who can get alone with each other like we do).

One of the most Christ-like things I’ve experienced with Garrett was this past summer as we were on a road trip together. Maybe it wasn’t the best time to bring it up… but it had been on my mind. So far on our trip we had driven from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Brampton, Ontario to visit members and converts there. After spending a couple days in Brampton, we drove down to Niagara Falls. The night that we got there, we walked up to the falls lit up. On the way back, something had been on my mind… I knew Garrett would be living with me again this fall and I was pretty sure I wanted to tell him about my SSA (note: this was before I had the prompting to start blogging about my SSA)… but I was scared to tell him… what if he reacted badly? I couldn’t lose my best friend over this…

Finally, on our way back to our hotel, things had gone quiet and we didn’t have anything to talk about and I felt that familiar push to talk about it… I told Garrett about my SSA and (while he didn’t see it coming) he couldn’t have reacted better. And in the months that have followed, I have felt his love through his efforts to learn about this issue alongside me. Garrett, because I knew you, I have been changed for the better… because I knew you, I have been changed for good.

With Garrett in Niagara Falls

Finally, I want to talk about my friend “John”. A few months ago, I met John for the first time in person (I’d previously talked to him through Facebook after we connected on North Star). I was in a very dark, depressed place in regards to my same-sex attraction and a mess it had caused for me near the beginning of the semester. Needing help and support from someone who experienced same-sex attraction, I reached out to John over Facebook. We talked and talked. The next time, I met him in person at the Evergreen conference fireside. In the months that have followed, he has been an amazing support for me. He has been there for me to talk to on a near-daily basis. He has hugged me and held me in that embrace when I needed it so desperately. And he has introduced me to so many spiritually strong men with SSA who are committed to living the gospel. I don’t want to give too many details about John on here (in order to keep his identity safe), but I’ve reflecting on this today, because John is leaving to finish his education east of Utah. He’ll be back as soon as he can (because he loves Utah) but I do know that I will miss him. Being older than him slightly, I call him my little brother… and I’m going to miss my little brother a lot. John, because I knew you, I have been changed for the better… because I knew you, I have been changed for good.

Of course, it wouldn’t be my blog if I didn’t bring the Atonement into it… especially with such a serious post. So here it is… Yes, each of these men (Eric, Justin, Jared, Garrett, and John) has made a huge impact on my life… However, if it wasn’t for the Atonement of Jesus Christ, they would not make a lasting impression. I am grateful to know that I have a Savior who is eager for me to improve and become better. And I’m grateful to know that through the Atonement, it gets better.

I'll Make a Man Out of You

This blog post has been coming for a long time. It’s just been hard to put it into words. Many of my friends from Hill Cumorah Pageant will remember belting out “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” during karaoke on Hobart Day. There is also a Youtube video that Garrett showed me of him belting out this song (big mistake, buddy, haha). I also have memories of my friend, Michele Smith (who is now on her mission in Japan), playing this song whenever we (me, her, Melissa, and Eric) were going somewhere in Eric’s car. I absolutely love this song. It is such a goofy, weird, and strangely spiritually inspirational song.

The day my district left the MTC for Toronto, we were walking across the MTC campus in the early morning, this song was going through my head. Maybe it was because we were up so early… maybe it was because we’d spent three weeks straight trying to train ourselves to think spiritually… maybe it’s just because I’m weird… I started to analyze this song spiritually, in regards to a mission, so here we go:

The biggest point of this song, spiritually, that I saw came from a conversation I’d once had with Juliana about guys and missions. The point of the conversation had been that missions turn boys into men. In other words, the mission will “make a man out of you.” Get it? ;) A mission (hopefully) will teach a young man to follow the Spirit, to learn the gospel, and what is most important. Even after only the three and a half months I was out, people could see this in me.

I’m sure I could break down most of the lines of this song to have some spiritual meaning, but there’s one part that means something to me particularly right now as I come closer to finding out about returning to my mission (even if I don’t know exactly when I will find out): “You’re unsuited for the rage of war. So, pack up, go home. You’re through. How could I make a man out of you?” I mentioned the spiritual application of this part to Garrett in one of my letters. Oddly enough (or not oddly, for anyone who knows me and him) he had been thinking of a spiritual application to this song too and he’d gotten stuck on this line. My spiritual application that I told him was this: the line is Satan telling us we’re no good, we can’t make it the rest of the way, and we can’t do it. If you remember from the movie, though, this line in the song is said and Mulan is about to leave. She turns around, sees the pole, arrow, and medals from the original challenge that Shang had given them. She goes back and makes it up the pole.

Life seems to get hard just before something good happens (so I’m expecting something good pretty quick). Satan tells us we’re not good enough or strong enough to make it through the trial. If we give up when he tells us to though, we’ll miss out on the prize that our Heavenly Father has in store for us.  He will never ask us to do more than we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Nephi 3:7). When Joseph Smith was in the Sacred Grove, the adversary attacked him. By his own account, Joseph Smith was just about to give up, when the light of Heaven began to appear (JS-H 1:16). He will rescue us in our darkest hour. That I know for certain.

--Spencer

What About

The world gives us every reason to be sad. The gospel, however, gives us every reason so rejoice. That's what this song is about, to me. The pictures are just anything that makes me happy. :) The song is "What About" by Peter Breinholt from the EFY 2000 CD. :)

Forward with Faith

This song is from the EFY 2000 CD. This song is called Forward with Faith (hence the title of this post). I first heard this song while I was on my mission and I love it! There are some specific words from the chorus that I love: "Fear is like the clouds that veil the Earth from the sun. Faith is like the morning rays that break when night is done. And though the fear inside me says that all my hope is gone, faith in Heaven lifts me up and shouts "I've just begun!""

For those who don't know, I am fully fledged on getting back on my mission, though I don't know exactly when or how that's going to happen. It's definitely not happening before next May (I'm going to a semester of school first) but I'm positive it's going to happen. However, sometimes the adversary will get at me and try to get me to doubt my ability to serve again. To that, my faith lifts me and shouts "I've just begun!" I still have a lot of work to do, and I'm not giving up!!! I will keep fighting until this war against sin is over!

Be Still and Know

Today was a little bit of a hard day for me (for some reason). I think it was because I didn't sleep very well last night. Regardless, it's just after 10 PM now and I felt about as worn out as I could possibly feel and the noise at my apartment was suddenly too much. I closed my computer, turned on a specific song on my iPod and really took in the words. They touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes. Here they are:

Be still and know that He is God.

Be still and know that He is holy.

Be still, oh restless soul of mine,

Bow before the prince of peace

And let the noise and clamber cease

Be still and know that He is God.

Be still and know that He is faithful.

Consider all that He has done.

Stand in awe and be amazed.

Know that He will never change.

Be still.

Be still and know that He is God.

Be still and know that He is God.

Be still and know that He is God.

Be still.

Be speechless.

Be still and know that He is God.

Be still and know He is our Father.

Come rest your head upon His breast.

Listen to the rhythm of

His unfailing heart of love

Beating for the little ones

Bidding each of us to come

Be still.

The imagery of that last part... "Come rest your head upon His breast. Listen to the rhythm of His unfailing heart of love"... that's what I needed, I think. The image in my mind of being held in the arms of my Heavenly Father in my times of trial... It's what I desire the most right now... I know that as I follow His will, I'll make it to where I will be able to be held in His arms one day.

--Spencer

My Heavenly Father Loves Me

A week or so ago, I called Juliana to talk to her. If I remember correctly, her brother picked up the phone. I asked to speak to her, but she was busy playing the piano, so he left the phone near the piano for her to pick up after she was done. The song she was playing was “My Heavenly Father Loves Me” (page 228-229 in the Children’s Songbook). I’d forgotten how beautiful this song was and how much I’d loved it. To me, it proves that Heavenly Father does love us, because of all the things He’s given us. I’d like to show you (with the lyrics, some pictures, and some commentary) what some of those things are.

“Whenever I hear the song of a bird…”

This picture was taken by Garrett on the BYU campus. He’d heard a bird chirping and finally found the little bird at the top of a big tree. To me, the chirping of a bird (especially in early spring) says something special to me. During winter, the birds are all gone, so as the birds return, they start chirping throughout the day and the beautiful noise they make is kind of a sign from Heavenly Father to me that winter is ending and that the happy warmth of the spring sun is almost back.

“…Or look at the blue, blue sky…”

This picture was taken in front of the Idaho Falls temple, two days after I got endowed. It was also Easter Sunday. My family was getting together for Easter in Idaho Falls and my parents invited Garrett to come with me. The blue sky in this picture is just so beautiful to me. It makes me think of how pure I felt… there was something about me getting endowed that my friends even noticed. Garrett noticed it after I came out of the temple that Friday (which happened to be Good Friday), but he didn’t mention it to me until Monday as we were getting ready for school. He told me that after I came out of the temple, I looked “changed”. Later that day, on our way to a class, Juliana mentioned to me that I looked “older”. This is a testimony to me of the power of God and the holiness of his temples. It wasn’t just a ritual that I went through, when I got my endowment. There was a change in me. Now, I feel more pure, just like that blue, blue sky.

“…Whenever I feel the rain on my face…”

This picture was taken the Sunday of conference back in October. Courtesy of Becca and her parents (she wasn't going to BYU at the time), we got to go to Sunday afternoon session of conference. It was a rainy day, but we wanted to take pictures around Temple Square regardless (after conference). The thought of rain, in relation to this picture and this song, make me think of the primary song “When I Am Baptized”. The first verse of that song talks about how the Earth is washed clean after it rains. Personally, I love the smell of the air after it rains. It smells so fresh and clean.

“…Or the wind as it rushes by…”

This picture was taken back in September (wow that seems so long ago…) during the first trip I took to the temple with Garrett and Juliana (though I think they might have been too full that day, so maybe it wasn’t our first real temple trip). I remember that I had Garrett take a picture of me by the temple, because I wanted a new picture for my Facebook profile and I wanted the picture to be by the temple. As we were taking the picture, the wind kept blowing my tie all around (as you can see in the picture). I love the wind though. On hot summer days, the cool breeze feels amazing. To me, this is like a gift from Heavenly Father, a cool breeze to keep us cool when it gets too hot.

“…Whenever I touch a velvet rose, or walk by a lilac tree…”

This picture was taken just yesterday, outside the Cardston Temple. I went there with my little brother and three of my friends to do baptisms (actually, I did the baptizing). I know this isn’t a rose or a lilac, like the song says, but I had some thoughts on these two flowers. They were planted in a patch of dirt that was along the pathway to the baptistry at the temple. They were the only flowers along that path. Whether other flowers merely hadn’t grown yet, or if they hadn’t been planted, I don’t know, but I found it odd that only two flowers were there in a patch of dirt about two or three square feet in size. These two flowers had to be beautiful on their own, just like we have to be beautiful (or righteous) relatively on our own in a world that is ugly and wicked.

“…I’m glad that I live in this beautiful world Heavenly Father created for me.”

This picture was taken on the very last day that I got to spend with my friends in Utah. We had to be out of our apartments by ten o’clock that morning. So afterwards, we went to Garrett’s grandparents’ house in Orem, where we hung out for a few hours, since my dad was at a conference in Provo and Becca and Juliana could spare the extra time. Before Becca and Juliana left, we took pictures together in pairs and in a group. This was one of our group pictures. The majority of the pictures we took that day, we took by a bench that was by a flower garden that Garrett’s grandparents had. Their house (both inside and outside) was so peaceful. Thinking back to that day, the flowers in the garden, which are in a lot of our group pictures, relate quite well to this song. They are one of the beautiful creations that Heavenly Father made just for us.

“He gave me my eyes that I might see the color of butterfly wings…”

I took this picture back in 2007 when I went to New York with my mom and with my brother Brian. We were visiting one of her uncles and happened to go for a walk through the forest that was (partly) on his property. Though I didn’t do a lot of photography of nature back then, I saw this butterfly on this flower and thought it would be cool picture to take. Though this butterfly isn’t very colorful, it is beautiful. I love seeing the colors on the wings of butterflies. The designs and colors on the wings of butterflies are so beautiful. It reminds me so much about how great an artist Heavenly Father is to design each butterfly, each snowflake, and each of us to make us unique and beautiful.

“He gave me my ears that I might hear the magical sound of things…”

This is a picture that Becca took early in Winter Semester of Garrett playing his clarinet (sorry, Garrett. I didn’t have another picture of you actually playing your clarinet and I have no pictures of anyone else playing an instrument). Throughout Winter Semester, I got to listen to Garrett play his clarinet nearly every day, until his band class and his clarinet class finished. I don’t know if I loved it at first, but I definitely grew to love it more and more throughout the semester. Though I’m not musical, I really love music. All of my best friends (it seems) are musical. Sometimes I wish I was more musical so that I would understand better what they’re talking about, but usually I just feel really grateful for their musical talents that they are able to share with me to enrich my life. Music really is one of those things that, though you don’t need it to live, makes life worth living. Truly, music is a tender mercy from our Heavenly Father that He has given us to make us happy.

“He gave me my life, my mind, my heart. I thank Him reverently for all his creations of which I’m a part.”

These pictures match the three things that that line of the song mentions. The first picture is my mom holding me on the day I was born. Heavenly Father gave me my life that day. He allowed me to come into this mortal world to be tested. He sent me out, having faith that I would prove faithful, thus returning home to Him someday. Each day since, He has blessed me with continued life. Each day, through his mercy, He grants me life by providing food to eat, water to drink, and air to breathe. The second picture is a picture of me at my high school graduation. Heavenly Father gave me my mind, my ability to learn. I truly believe that it was with His help that I was able to get through high school, with all the challenges I had. It was with His help that I was able to complete a year of university already and with grades that my dad says he didn’t get all throughout university (or at least his freshman year). The third picture is of me with my best friends: Garrett, Juliana, Becca, and Braden. This was two days before we left Provo. The fourth picture is of my family, this past Easter in Idaho. These two pictures, I feel, represent my heart. My heart is filled with love for my friends and my family. I wish I could have put more pictures here to show all of my best friends, but I don’t have room for each of my best friends to be on here. Heavenly Father gave me my heart. To me, this means He gave me the people that I love: my friends and my family. I thank my Heavenly Father every day for the many blessings He has given me. He truly has blessed me beyond what I can say.

“Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.”

This picture is from when I opened my mission call. The cell phones have my family (and Braden) on speaker phone, listening. On the left, Cami is holding Garrett’s phone, which had Jared on the line. Next to her, Melissa is holding her phone, which, I think, has my parents, Tyler, and Brett on the line. Next to her, Juliana is holding two phones. In her left hand, she’s holding Becca’s phone, which has Jen on the line (who I believe was at my nephew’s soccer game when I called). In Juliana’s right hand is her phone, which has Braden on the line. This was a very special day for me. After all the delays and waiting, I finally got my mission call. During the wait, I longed for the chance to serve a mission. I wanted them to just stop the analyzing and give me my call. Finally, after a month and a half of wait, it came! The day I opened my call, I had seven of my friends in my apartment. Becca, Garrett, and Juliana were there, but I knew they would be. I also had three friends from my Fall Semester chemistry class there too: Kaycy, Melissa, and Cami. Finally, there was Kaitlyn, a friend of mine from Pageant who was staying with a sibling during Winter Semester, before going back to BYU-I. That night, I could tell so strongly that my Heavenly Father loves me. First of all, He granted my request, letting me serve a mission. Second, He gave me my a wonderful immediate family (nearly all of whom were on the phone) in addition to a great extended family. Thirdly, He gave me great friends who wanted nothing more than to share that night with me as I opened my mission call.

I know that Heavenly Father loves each of us. His love for each of us, individually, is perfect and He wants to do all He can to help us come safely home to Him. I remember once hearing someone say something to the effect of “We don’t want to go home nearly as much as Heavenly Father wants us to come home.” I know this is true. I know that He has blessed me beyond my understanding and far beyond what I deserve.

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.