"What you share with the world is what it keeps of you"

Lately I've been getting questions about why I have chosen to serve a mission.
 I had always thought that if I was going to set aside 18 months to totally dedicate myself to serving the Lord I would pick a time in my life where I didn't know what I was doing and needed a break from school, or was approaching spinsterhood. Generous, aren't I?

Precious.

However, that is nothing like life is now. I'm busy with school (finally chose a major), work, had the perfect apartment, and am dating a really great guy. Go figure. 

I think it's not only that I feel like it will be a very formative experience for me, but also because my past travels, recent events in the news, and my friends made me realize that the world could use a little love. And by that I don't mean like this:

But something more that: charity, the pure love of Christ. 

I'm not perfect, but I have found that the closer I try to become to God, the better person I have become. It becomes easier to accept others' faults, to try to help people, and to desire peace and happiness for all.  

Going to South Africa was amazing, but I saw much more acutely how hate and selfishness can tear lives, nations, and countries apart. Then all of the shootings happened this year and I have become more and more saddened about the impact that mental illness, hate, and lack of moral grounding can bring. 

I believe that the only solution that will permanently change the makeup of social expectation and interaction is to come to Christ and to try to be like Him. The two greatest commandments are: 

1. Love God 

2. Love your neighbor as yourself (so love yourself too-- you're a beautiful being!)

Every other commandment falls under these two. So, basically all I'm saying is all we need is love. Unselfish, and selfless love. So that's what I'm going to do. Share the love that God has for His children with the people of France, and everywhere else I go. Naive? maybe. Hopeful? always. 

If you know are loved, you seek to love that person back, and by doing so gain the skill to apply that love to other people. 1 John 4

"Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction. Only the gospel will unite men of all races and nationalities in peace. Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness, and salvation to the human family" (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 167). 

There you go, that's the main reason I'm going on a mission. 18 months of only trying to spread happiness....mostly to people who think they don't want it. It will be great. 

Here's a cheesy but touching video to a great song: