"Go forward in life with A TWINKLE in your eyes and A SMILE on your face, but WITH GREAT PURPOSE in heart." -Gordon B. Hinckley

Monday, July 14, 2014

No One Likes A Backseat Driver (6/23/2014)

The World Cup has officially taken over the world down here in Chile. It is so crazy to me how obsessed everyone is with it (Maybe I wqould be too if we were allowed to watch it). Due to the crazy fans and Chile winning all of the time….we are not allowed to leave our house on the days that Chile has games. Aka: today. We actually only have permission to leave our house to send our loves from back home a quick note, and then back to lock down. Luckily for us, we live next door to Bishop and his wifey, Katy, knows how to paint nails. So we are going to take advantage of that and enjoy the day there.  
I came to a scary, weird, crazy realization this week- I haven’t even experienced half of my life yet. Being on the mission and doing missionary things, helping people see the light out of their life problems and all of that fun stuff, it gives one the illusion that they have experienced a lot and knows a lot about life. When really that’s not reality; I still have so much MORE to experience; MORE to face; MORE to change…and the list goes on. My life is yet beginning, even though now at the end of my mission I feel that it’s just the opposite, and that’s an equally scary and tiring thought to think about. As I had this oh so very trunky thought, fear set into my heart and I agreed with the lost kids from Peter Pan in saying that, “I don’t want to grow up!” It has been fun and all BUT if I have learned anything about growing up and gaining experience it is that it all comes though going though hard things. And maybe I’m not so down to do more hard things. Ha ha. So maybe I haven’t learned anything from all of my trials…but wait, I’ll get to my point. It’s just kind of scary to think about all of the hard experiences that I have yet to face. They always say that we have to go through hard things to be prepared for harder things down the road. But what harder things? I don’t want them! (There is still a little girl inside of me- Dad you were right in saying that I’ll always be your little girl).
But then the Lord enlightened me with a more optimistic and better perspective on this subject (Thank heavens for Him!)-THIS IS WHY WE HAVE THE GOSPEL! The reason that I have been able to help so many people with their life problems, most of which I have never experienced before, is because of the reality of Jesus Christ. He can fix and heal any problem and the medicine is the same for everyone. I came to a realization this week that the only experience we need in life is following Gods will- it’s keeping covenants with Him. As we make and keep promised with God, we are letting him drive us though an to our destination- a happily ever after. So why fear the future when Christ, our perfect and loving Savior, is driving? I thought to myself, “Don’t be a backseat driver!” We can all agree in saying that No one likes a backseat driver, and that really is what we become as we fear the future or try and consult God in telling Him what we think would be best for us (for example: Me saying that I don’t want to grow up or experience hard things). Yeah, life is hard but hard things help us move forward as we follow the Lord’s oh so simple gospel. To help me understand this better, I read a talk from General Conference where President Eyring perfectly explained it. He reminded us of the importance to keep the promises that we make with God and gives us a reason for why, when he said:
Each covenant brings with it duties and promises…those duties are sometimes simple but are often difficult. But remember, the duties must sometimes be difficult because their purpose is to move us along the path to live forever with Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, in families.
So even though I haven’t experienced a whole lot, I have just what I need. And it’s my choice to obey. As I obey, I am letting Christ drive and even though there are potholes on the path, the ride is a whole lot smoother as He drives. 
Maybe I'm the only one who thinks about things like this and maybe not. But I hope that these thoughts could help in any way. I love you guys so much! Thanks for all of the love. I dont know what I'd do without it.
xoxoxox, Hermana North

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