Ten Things I'm Grateful For

"Live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which God doth bestow upon you" (Alma 34:38).

     As a Native American prophet Amulek (am-you-lick) put it, we should do exactly that.  It not only brings satisfaction to one's life, but it also brings optimism, happiness, better relationships, better mood, better relationships with others, and a feeling of worth.

     The exclusively American rendition of the Autumn Thanksgiving holiday is just right around the corner!  There are a few things I want to put down that I know I'm blessed to have!  I'm pretty sure, though, most people have many, MANY things that they're thankful for too-- feel free to contribute!  Of course, I won't be writing down everything I'm grateful for here, but I'll put down ten of the most important things of which I am thankful for.

1) Family - When all may abandon me, when all may betray me, and when all may simply vanish from my hands that has molded such bonds, there will stand my mother and father-- supporting me in whatever course of action I take.  They are my parents-- they have an unconditional love for me no matter how hard I may think that they plot my misery.  This fact wasn't quite acknowledged until I started my mission.  My parents have sacrificed a great deal to raise me to where I am now.  Remember that you can go to your own parents with any problem you have and they will, in all their power and wisdom, help you out.  You are their biggest priority.

2) Friends - The people whom I have developed such fond memories with are perhaps one of the biggest blessings God has bestowed unto me.  These people have molded me to be the person I am today and without their influence, I don't know what I would have become.  They promoted love and charity.  They taught me more about the world than any institution of learning would by itself.

You have the whole world on your shoulders

3) Trials - This isn't the most obvious thing to be grateful for, but it certainly has been for me.  Although challenges and adversity aren't the funnest things to experience, one thing I've learned on my mission is that looking back on it, I was able to learn so much out of it.  Life challenges and struggles have definitely made me look at how good it can be with it; it puts a completely new pair of glasses to view life in.  Arguments with parents, fights with miss
ionary companions, deaths of loved ones, regret, remorse, sorrow, sin, pains, pressures, and more, they've all shaped me to be who I am and will be.  "All these things will give thee experience" (D&C 122:7).

4) Haters - Seriously, without them, we wouldn't be as good as we are now.  They made us.  They shaped us.  Their acerbic tongues and their agonizing attitudes have given us a better way to cope and overcome such people. 

We aren't!

5) Identity - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes that we were all spirit children of God and that we were sent here to grow and develop in maturity and wisdom so that we may be better prepared to meet our Father in Heaven.  In doing so, we are all different, woven from different threads and experiences.  I believe in that.  I am thankful for being different from the person next to me.  The fact that I am who I make myself to be is probably the best thing that God has given me.  I can exercise my life and put it to use here on this Earth at this time.  The introverted, crazy kid that I am could never have been without the hand of God, giving it to me.

Seasonal

6) Literature - Without books, culture would have been disseminated rather slowly.  Through these media, we are able to look into what people thought about back in the day and what people did back in the day.  Without literature, we would never have understood the depth of religion.  Church doctrine would have been more ambiguous than ever.  We wouldn't even have known the nature of God!  Without the Bible and the Book of Mormon, I don't even believe that Christianity would stand as it does today.  Hindus wouldn't have been without the Bhagavad Gita; Moslems would still be descendants of Quraysh without the Qu'ran; and the Jews would not have had the law to govern themselves without the Torah.  Thank you Oscar Wilde, Francois Arouet, Roald Dahl, and countless others, too, for enlightening our minds to the wonders of a differing perception of the world.

Lots of learning.

7) Teachers - They built the foundation of my-- and our-- intellectuality.  They shaped the unorganized mass in our heads and molded them to become the bright, shiny objects they are now.  Before parents, these are the people you see, hear, and learn from the most during your childhood years and even beyond to tertiary education. Without them, 74+26 wouldn't have an answer; a lizard wouldn't be a reptile; oxygen wouldn't be breathable; The Civil War wouldn't have existed; and "synecdoche" would have been some sort of potty language.

Dear...

8) Correspondence - Letters.  These have been my life essence as a missionary.  More than any other material thing on Earth, I have loved and appreciated these things.  They're just like words spoken by another human soul-- just written down on paper.

Bittersweet.

9) Missionaries - These people-- man, I have a lot to say about these people.  These people ages 18-twenty-something go out to preach the gospel in whatever condition they may be in, mature or otherwise.  They each have sacrificed something and have to deal with that sacrifice for a period of 18-24 months.  Sometimes, many don't take it well, especially if you have to work alongside with one.  Each one of these people make you think about your own self and your own dedication to the cause in which you're in.  Being with them emulates marriage.  Sometimes raising a child.  It's a wonderful, enriching experience where so much can be learned and applied in the real world.

Cathedral Rock

10) The Eye Can See -  There's just so much about the world around us.  Natural beauty can make the eyes a bit sore; the elegance and the exquisiteness is a bit much to behold.  To be in it is to find greater peace than anything else you can do by yourself.  Every now and then, I go to this place past the I-17 called Cococino National Park.  Wandering its Ponderosa trails, it definitely makes you realize how awesome nature is and how much you can learn and unwind from it.  There's also the Occoquan Bayside, Silverado, Zion, Shenandoah, and a ton of other places just perfect to get away from everything!

Pandemic!

     With the whole ebola spiele still going strong, many have become paranoid even at the slightest of coughs and minimal of sneezes.  As missionaries aren't supposed to keep up with "worldly media," I'm rather left in the dark about what seems to be unfolding before the world.  However, here's a test for those who talk to missionaries a lot: ask a missionary if he (or she) knows any other location other than Africa where Ebola has been documented.  Chances are, they're probably not very obedient.

Beware, beware!

     Anywho, as we talk about disease and illnesses, I wanted to bring up chicken pox.  Back in the day, a parent of a child would arrange sleepovers with that child's friends, one having had the chicken pox recently.  This was a short-sighted yet somewhat effective measure to "innoculate" chicken pox to the children so they don't run the risk of catching shingles as adults.  So as the children sleeps over at the home of the afflicted child, they are exposed to the germs (viruses) and poor sanitation of that said child.  Lo and behold, all the children now have chicken pox!


     We can see here an interesting parallel with our own spirituality, too.  No matter who you are, the world is filled with filth and infection that'll give you many a malady.  Unlike chicken pox or even ebola, spiritual diseases can afflict and maim even the most protected and sheltered one of us.  If we're exposed to too much spiritual disease, we may end up where no oatmeal baths and chicken noodle soup can cure!  We are at risk of catching this infectious thing wherever we are-- it's up to us to protect ourselves from such.

     Now you wonder, what would be a spiritual chicken pox?  Take a moment to think about that-- what is out there that can hinder our ability to find peace, impair our judgement, and otherwise backward society person by person?  Hopefully by now, your noggin is cranking a few gears.  If we're surrounded and exposed and put in to these toxic situations, objects, and what say you, how do you think we can be the good Christians/Jews/Buddhists we could possibly be?

     It ain't happening.

Better safe than sorry

     Diseased carriers are are everywhere-- they can come in the forms of pornography, narcotic substances, vicious words, peer pressure, and many, many more.  Exposure to even the slightest of these things can pose a great risk to our spiritual health, jeopardizing the health that we've been endowed with.  It's a miserable experience being ensnared in those nets and escape is no easy task.  Although we can come out of these ordeals, like many viral and bacterial diseases of now, it leaves a bit of itself that could have been avoided.  Sooooooo, get vaccinated!  Practice proper spiritual hygiene!  Do all you can to avoid such things so that you aren't left to pain and suffering!  Don't hang out with someone infected too-- you might catch it!