So, what are your goals for the new year? I have some good ones.
I'm really excited actually. 1st off, I am going to train to run a 5k. At one point
on my mission, I could run apx. a mile and half. Which for me is EPIC, because before
my mission, I was never able to run more than a 1/4 mile, maybe a little more than
that. Needless to say, I improved. So, I am going to need some help in the form
of a running buddy? Anyone interested in filling that position? Hahahahaha But really.
Also, I am going to keep studying my scriptures for at least 20 minutes a day. Now,
that may seem like a lot, or maybe not enough. But win, lose, or draw, I am going
to spend that much time in the Book of Mormon every day. Gotta keep up those spiritual
habits. And I am going to keep learning who I am, and who God wants me to be.
This past week was a long one, and I've said that before. I got
sick the day after Christmas...fun huh? Anyway, by New Year's Eve, I had a fever
and chills and a stomach that was driven with the wind, and tossed (10 pts to anyone
who can name that reference). Although, I did not throw up. Good for me. Anyway,
we had to come in early that night anyway, so it was ok. But when we came in, we
had a packet from our Mission President and his wife, and in it there were a whole
bunch of questions of the soul. He wanted us to listen to a talk, and to read some
talks, and to review some trainings, all the while asking us these questions that
helped us identify what we are, were, and what we want to become. It was really
long, especially because I felt about as good as the south end of a north bound
cow. But in the end, when I finished it, I learned some really cool things about
myself that help me set some goals. Now, some of my goals are not clear things,
like the 5k, they are more like a state of being that I want to end up at. One of
my mantras recently is Help me stay the person I have become so I can become the
person I need to be. Meaning that this past 18 months, I have become someone, and
every day, I don't want to go back to who I was before that. Instead, I want to
stand my ground, and then push forward a little more.
One of the questions I was asked was what I have come to cherish
on my mission. The answer is simple, and yet so far reaching. I have come to cherish
repentance. Without it, I'd be up the Colorado River, with no life-jacket, raft,
and for sure no paddle. But I have come to love that every day, I get to get up
and repent. I get to change. I get to become new and free. Every day. That is why
I love the Atonement. I love that even when I mess up, I have the option of turning
to my Savior, and begging for forgiveness, and then He can help me be free of that
burden.
I looked back on my mission, and there have been bad times, sometimes
at my own fault. But I don't feel the pain anymore. And that is because the Savior
has helped me forget that. He has healed me, and helped me to learn from it. I have
never been so whole, and so free, and honestly, I am sad that I am leaving this
pressure cooker called the Ohio Cincinnati Mission. Yes, I want to go home and sleep
and watch movies, and blah blah blah. But I will never be able to do this again.
I will never have the chance of being who I am right now, Sister Worthen. When I
take off my badge, I take off a lot more than that.
"I am called of God. My authority is above that of the kings
of the earth. By revelation, I have been selected as the personal representative
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my master, and He has chosen me to represent Him.
To stand in His place, to say and do what He Himself would say and do if He personally
were ministering among the very people to whom He has sent me. My voice is His voice,
and my words are His words....my commission is to do what He wants done, to say
what he wants said. To be a living, modern witness, in word and deed, of the divinity
of His great and marvelous Latter-day Work. And he that receiveth me, receiveth
Him. While he that rejecteth me rejecteth Him that sent me. How great is my calling!"
Ok, so that is a quote called, "My Commission" which
we were asked to memorize. I have it memorized, just not in typable form. Hahahaha.
I messed up a little. But you get the gist. When I take off my tag, I take this
all off. I am going to miss it.
Speaking of which, I know I told y'all when I report, but I said
wrong. I report on January 25th
and then February the 8th. Originally, I said it was the 25th,
and the 1st. Not so. Sorry for my bad dating abilities. Hahahaha
Well, I love you! I know that this year is going to be FANTASTIC,
mostly because I am alive, and things can only go up from there. J
I know that the Savior lives, and every day, we can become like
Him just a little bit more. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
Love, Sister Short-timer Worthen
