Mission Series: Choices

So I'm about to get a bit honest. 

My mission taught me so much.

But it's crazy how fast I have forgotten those lessons. 

My mission president told me that would happen. 

That would be Satan's ultimate goal, to make me forget. 

Before I left on a mission, I had 4 classes and an internship left.

Essentially a semester left.  

I would be graduating with a degree in Healthcare Administration.

About a few months into my mission, I didn't really feel like I wanted to do that anymore. 

I put it off, I'll worry about it when I get home. 

Well, I am now home and it's been hard. 

I feel behind in life compared to others. 

I feel a bit lost. 

Unsure of what I want to do with my life. 

Everyone told me that it would be ok, I have time, no return missionary knows what they want when they come home. 

Which I knew it would be fine.
It's all in God's hands.
Does that make it easier?
But maybe, I was starting to use it as a crutch. 

To go backwards instead of forwards.  

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend Power to Become Conference.  

This conference was great! 

I learned so much and took tons of notes.  

It was both informative, inspirational, fun, and powerful. 

But the main message that I learned was this:

Don't be paralyzed by indecision.

I remembered learning this as a missionary. 

 God can't move a parked car.

As you are moving, course correction will happen.  

~Linz

Series: Book Of Mormon

Tonight we had dinner with the Sister Missionaries and we talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon.
How it is the keystone of our religion.  

I have been working on this post and felt impressed that I needed to finish it and share it.
So here it goes:
I Love the Book of Mormon. 

It was one of the few books that I could read the past 18 months.
I am so grateful I had the opportunity to be immersed in this divine book.  

The power that comes from this book changes lives.

I love to hear people's conversion stories that come from this book.
There are countless conversion stories I could tell, including the one about me.
How it brought me peace in a troubled time. 

It teaches one to become better. 

The stories in  the Book of Mormon aren't just stories, they happened to real people. 

They are written for us to learn from, to grow, to understand. 

It can heal a wounded soul. 

Comfort a worried heart. 

Calm a frantic mind. 

It will bring you closer to God, more than any other book can. 

It's another testament of Christ. 

It has His teachings in it.

If you haven't read the Book of Mormon, I would invite you to do so.
Take Moroni's challenge and find out for yourself. 

Let it change your life!

"For 179 years this book has been examined and attacked, denied and deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other book in modern religious history—perhaps like no other book in any religious history. And still it stands" -Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

~Linz

Series: On being Grateful

Something I learned early on in my mission is that I need to be grateful. 

I was going through a hard time. 

In those hard times we tend to look at everything negative and question where are our blessings are. 

I was advised to look for miracles and blessings that happened that day.
Every night as I wrote in my journal, I would write something that happened that day that I was grateful for. 

Sometimes it was small, sometimes I had to search really hard. 

But there is something always there.  

And something changed, my attitude and outlook did. 

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Today I am grateful for a loving dad. 

When I was having a rough patch, he could tell. 

He put his busy work time on hold and listened. 

Then he told me what I needed to hear. 

It may seem small to others, but it was huge for me. 

I am grateful for a dad who always believes in me. 

"The choice is ours. We can choose to limit our gratitude, based on the blessings we feel we lack. When we are grateful to God in our circumstances, we can experience gentle peace in the midst of tribulation. In grief, we can still lift up our hearts in praise. In pain, we can glory in Christ’s Atonement. In the cold of bitter sorrow, we can experience the closeness and warmth of heaven’s embrace."

~Linz

Series: A New Chapter

Its weird being back. 

I guess I didn't realize how being a missionary became so apart of me. 

The name tag, the skirt. Constantly being "on stage"

I went to the store today, someone looked at me, I looked to where my tag would be, it wasn't there. oh. 

Sometimes, I feel like a stranger. People look different. Taller, older looking. 

It's weird how a mission is so simple, so hard, so difficult, so good. 

Somethings have been easy to handle coming home, others not. 

Things that were once "important" aren't anymore. 

Do I jump into "normal" life or cautiously stick my toe in.  

Things that were clear, became muddied, confusing. 

My testimony has grown, the gospel is simple, the atonement is real!

The effects I saw that it had on people. Astounding. 

My beliefs were mocked, laughed at, challenged. 

It made me stronger, more sure of everything.

The gospel is really so simple.

These people will be apart of my life forever.

That makes me happy.  

I'm writing a series of what I learned from my mission. It's more for me than it is you. I can't be selfish though and keep what I learned to myself.  That would go against everything that I learned these past 18 months.  I gotta keep being a missionary :)

~Linz

Announcement

It never was in my plan, desires, or options. 

I wanted to finish school and get started in a career.  

The Lord had a different idea. 

I woke up one day in June and the thought was so strong. 

It caused me much grief, anxiety, and stress. 

Weeks of no sleeping, heart pounding, hard to breathe.  

I kept pushing it out of mind.  

NO! This is not for me.  

Then General Conference came, no it wasn't the big announcement that did it.  

It was these two phrases:

"Leave all this and serve me."- Holland

"We can't insist on our timetable, when God has his own."-Eyring. 

It's interesting how when we choose to do something right, it becomes that much harder.
Doubts filled my mind everyday.
But I knew I could no longer deny these feelings.

"If we are not willing to grapple with the frustration that comes from honestly and bravely facing the uncertainties we encounter, we may never develop the kind of spiritual maturity that is necessary for our ultimate preparations."

So it is with much anticipation, nervousness, and excitement that I announce:

 I have been called to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for the next year and a half. I'm going to the Denver Colorado North Mission, leaving February 20th.

~Linz