Words from the Best/Wisest Little Brother Ever...

"We'll beat this thing together and you will be prepared for whatever lies in store for you.  He will lift you up until you can stand.  Then He will be your crutch until you can walk.  Then He will be your Coach who will run alongside you pushing you to never give up.  You're the best.  I'll do all I can but that is hardly anything so just rely on Him."

22 Things I've Realized

This post is a follow-up to a post that I posted over a year ago.  It's kind of the post-mission version.  So, I've changed and added a few things.  Basically, it's the same thing, but with a different/better perspective.  That's why it's called "22 Things I've Realized" vs. "21 Things I've Learned."  There is one addition at the end.  :)

1. Life always goes how Heavenly Father plans it; therefore is goes perfectly.

2. Our time on this earth is precious and short, but just long enough to complete the divine mission that our Heavenly Father sent us here to complete.

3. Everyone is struggling in some way or another, even the people who seem to have it all together, including myself. Our job is to always be reaching out to each other, so that we keep each other on the path, meaning not just you, but me too.  Because nothing is guaranteed, including your exaltation and mine.

4. We don't owe it to our fathers to keep their false traditions. We owe it to them to remove them.  We have the responsibility to break the pride cycle and start the humble one, influencing future generations to follow Jesus Christ and not Satan.

5. Parents are there to parent their children, and sometimes children are there to parent their parents.  More importantly, parents are there to help their children receive exaltation.  But sometimes children are there to help their parents receive exaltation.

6. Commandments are meant to be obeyed.  Our obedience provides us with safety and freedom and happiness that we can get from no other source.

7. Often, we learn best from our own experiences, but only if we change because of them.  That doesn't mean we have to experience every hard thing imaginable.  But sometimes we have to experience it ourselves to really change and be better.

8. It's only important to know to know and teach the basic principles of the gospel, which is simply the path to once again live with our Heavenly Father.  It's what we do, and we don't need anything extra. 

9. You already know why you have to do that something: because God commanded it; and that doesn't require any further explanation.

10. Communication-speaking, teaching, listening-is one of the gifts I've been blessed with, and I realize that it is something that not everyone has.  This will be key in my success in whatever whether it's school, a job, a career, etc.

11. Happiness is a choice, which not everyone chooses or has the freedom/ability to choose.  (All are agents to themselves unless something has happened which would no longer enable them to be an agent for themselves.)

12. Depression is not merely a choice, but a real emotional illness/condition, which may never be understood by many.

13. It's impossible to maintain the relationships with everyone that I once had.  I keep the ones that keep me, and the others I let break my heart for two seconds and I let go and take off running.

14. Everything happens for a divine purpose, which Heavenly Father knows.  His planning and timing are perfect.  We just have to trust, understand, and accept that.

15. The only thing we really have, that is ours, is our will.  But really we want for our will to become His.  So that in the end we can inherit all He has for us and live happily ever after.

16. Serving others brings pure joy that nothing else can bring.

17. TV is the A root of all evil. (Well, in my house anyway.  In EVERY house.)

18. You aren't a complete product when you leave your parents at 18.  That's just the start of a never-ending process or molding, shaping, and growing into the person Heavenly Father intended you to be.

19. It takes more than a village to raise a child.  AKA... In my case, it's taken 10 wards (7 stakes), 6 schools, over 33 cities... basically thousands and thousands of people.  The count is endless.

20. I've learned more from my brother in the past 22 months than his last almost 21 years put together.

21. People come into your life, right when you need them to. They only stay as long as you need them to (not want them to), and then somebody else comes along. But sometimes they stay forever. I've only met a few who've stayed, and those are the people who really shape your life. Although, those who are in and out, can change you in those specific moments for the rest of your life.

New:

22. Everything we do is for one purpose... to return to live with Heavenly Father. If it doesn't enable us to do that, maybe we should reconsider doing that thing.

As a RM, you think you know everything, and then you realize you really still know nothing. ;)

FINALLY, I have a job!

Yay! So I finally have a job! It's a miracle! Honestly, I wasn't too on top of the whole job search thing since I've been home. So, it serves me right that it took a little over 2 months to find a job.

I found it online through craigslist. The title of the ad was something like starting at $20/hr. I think that would catch anyone's attention. The company is PhotoBin (check it out at www.photobin.com). They are a photo scanning company based here in San Diego, specifically Mira Mesa. I interviewed last Wednesday. There were 5 of us. Steve interviewed each of us just for a couple of minutes. Then he did a presentation on the company and what we'd be doing, to all of us as a group. He told us if we were still interested to e-mail him that night.

Of course, I e-mailed him. I was not only interested, I was SUPER interested. The more he talked about what they do and how they do it, it got me more excited. There was nothing that made me question or not like this position. Over the weekend while I was in Utah, Steve e-mailed me asking if I could come in for an interview on Monday at 3pm. The dilemma was that I wasn't going to be back in San Diego until Monday night. I talked to Stephanie about it, and we left Sunday for her grandma's house in Vegas. We stayed the night there so we could be home in time on Monday.

Monday I actually showed up late to my interview, which is SO not like me. I was mortified! I felt SO badly! Basically, if I would have played my cards right, I would have left my house early allowing time for me to be dumb and take the wrong freeway. Long story short, I took the 15 instead of the 805. Had I taken the 805 I would have been on time. Yeah, dumb. Despite that, Steve offered me a position. He said he was impressed with me. I was SO excited!

I walked out of the office and texted a bunch of people saying, I got the job. Then I came home and upgraded my texting plan from 500/mo. to unlimited in celebration of my sweet new job. And as a result, my dad now has unlimited texting too. (Pretty funny because he's never texted in his life.)

I train Thursday and Friday, and after training on Friday I can start. I wish I could start right now! I'm SO excited! Then we have advanced training next Monday, and then probably the following week (after Thanksgiving) we'll have our last day of advanced training.

You're all probably wondering what exactly it is that I'll be doing. So, I'll explain. I'm a sales rep, and so my job is simply off of a appointment and referral basis only. (Which is pretty exciting I don't have to go "tracting" - door to door.) I provide my own list of names or "referrals" to start out. Then I call those people and set up appointments. I get a base pay per appointment, and then I get commission on top of that. I'm way excited! One of my friends from the mission was like, so basically you're a missionary for PhotoBin. Haha! Yeah, kind of. Except we all know that missionary work is far more rewarding and important than any other job I'll ever have. Anyway...

So, now I'm Christina - sales rep for PhotoBin. :)

Going Private...

I've decided to make my blog private. If you'd like an invite just let me know.

Thanks!

Christina

A year ago today I left the MTC and arrived in Oklahoma...

I really miss the mission today. Some days are worse than others. But today was worse. I just thought about how this time last year I was leaving the MTC, arriving in Oklahoma, and embracing a new adventure. How new it was to me then. How I didn't have the slightest clue what I was doing or what I would learn. How I would change lives and help people come unto Christ. How I would build eternal friendships. How I would finally come to understand how simple our Heavenly Father's plan really is and what is most important in this life. How my perspective of my mom and dad would change and I would feel a greater love and appreciation for them. I could go and on on.

The point is that my mission has changed me forever. I will never be the same as I was when I stepped off that plane in Oklahoma City a year ago. I really feel like in so many ways I exponentially progressed while I was in Oklahoma. I learned so many things that have changed my life. And now I am responsible for all of that knowledge.

I truly am grateful for the opportunity I had to serve a mission. It was something I think about every day, and I continue to grow and learn from that incredible experience.