Two Months Down

We have now been on our mission for two months.  We have 21 more months to go.

It has been a powerful experience.  We've had our highs and we've had our lows.  There is so much about mission life that we absolutely love and feel privileged to be experiencing.  Yet there are other times when we get hit with great waves of overwhelming longing for home and all that is familiar.  We work hard at staying focused on the present, allowing ourselves to fully immerse ourselves in our current surroundings.  We try to live by the mantra of "Be Here Now".   Still, there are times when our hearts crumble with thoughts of all we have left behind.

There is a lot of sacrifice in taking on a full time mission - particularly a foreign one.  This is very different from simply choosing to go expatriate for a grand adventure.  We have chosen to submit our own preferences and desires to go where ever Heavenly Father wants us to be and do whatever it is He would have us do.  

Our testimonies are growing.  The love we are feeling for the people we are with has been amazing.   The reason I keep writing these blog entries is to help us hold on to these memories.  Already in the short time we have been here some of the details have slipped away in the swirl of new events.  I'm beginning to understand more than ever why it was so important to Lehi's family to go get the Brass Plates that Laban had.  Human memory simply will not hold on to even the most sacred instructions over time.  We need the truly important stuff written down.

That's why we have the scriptures.  That's why we are counseled to keep journals.  That's why we record our family history.   I'm sure there will be gaps from time to time.  But I hope I can keep this record going for the full duration of this mission.  It feels important.  I don't ever want to forget what is happening to us and more importantly IN us during this season of our lives.