Changes

hello helloooooooo!!!!!
sorry its been a minute since I have written!

Crazy to believe that we are halfway done with July. Sometimes I sit in the car with C and say, "C SUMMER IS GOING TO BE GONE AND THEN I HAVE TO GO BACK TO SCHOOLLLL............." and in reality its true, and I don't know if I am 100% ready, luckily we are only halfway done with summer and that means we have half of it left and I couldn't be happier.

This past weekend C and I had the amazing opportunity to go up to Idaho to listen to our Mission Presidents (they were the couple who were over our entire mission and helped us and guided us through our missionary service). They spent 3 years watching over 120-150 missionaries every day with no breaks. I am so so so grateful for all that they taught me. And taught C too (we are so fortunate to have the same mission president). They both gave fantastic talks about what they learned and how they personally came to know the Savior. It was seriously such a beautiful meeting. There were over 500 people in attendance and over 70 missionaries came to show their support. My heart was so full and I couldn't help reminiscing over all the things I learned in Canada under their loving direction.

President and Sister Phillips with C and I

Got to see some of my best friends from the Mission

I met these individuals and 7 more as a scared 19 year old who had no idea how to be a missionary

All of the Canada Montreal Mission returned missionaries (missing a few)

However, now that era is over. C and I were talking about going back to visit the good ol' Canada Montreal Mission but realized that we wouldn't have a mission president there to visit anymore. And that made me kind of sad. (In fact at this moment I had to go wipe some tears away in order to continue to be able to see my computer screen.)

This has caused me to reflect a lot about changes. Changes that are for the better as life is not always the same old same old but that are not always what we envision. My sister is serving a mission in Chile at the moment and life down there is full of changes and she has had to learn how to adapt to those as she has not always been a great fan of changes. But who am I kidding, neither have I. I remember being 16 years old when my parents told me (and my other sisters too) that we would be leaving our beloved ocean home to go back to the very hot, very dusty, very not wanted desert home that we had left two years previous. I was devastated. I was mad. I was very much in a Miley Cyrus stage and I think I listened to "Two More Lonely People" on repeat for that entire summer as I bawled. Change has not been easy for this one right here. But I have learned to embrace it. (for when you don't I think it makes it even more difficult.)

Changes are a natural part of life that means that you are alive. And man am I glad I am alive. I wish sometimes I could go around to all of the many people I have met in my life and just hold them and keep them with me for the rest of my existence but unfortunately life evolves and changes and everyone goes in different directions. Sister Michelle Phillips (my mission president's wife) said something interesting yesterday about all the people that were in attendance at that church service, she said, "looking out on the crowd right now with all our missionaries and our church family and family has me thinking that heaven is going to look something like this. And that makes me very happy".

I know that life moves on, friends change, relationships change, you marry the love of your life and become anti-social for two months (sorry friends! lets get together soon), people pass on, and soon the life you thought you knew changes. IT ALL CHANGES. And that's okay. We learn and grow and those changes help shape us for the next set of changes that will come. It doesn't mean that all the times before didn't matter or that those people you cared about don't matter. However, in fact as Sister Michelle Phillips said that all the people we will come to love and admire in this life will be able to with us there in heaven. And man, what a place that will be! I am so grateful that I will be able to hug my Grandpa Don again, that those friendships that were so dear to me will be able to continue, and that most importantly that my family will be together, ALL OF THEM INCLUDED. what a blessing it is to love people! And then to continue to love them.

I am so grateful for changes, even those that feel painful. For that means that the reunion will be even more sweet!

xoxo,

M