Sometimes events unfold in your life or suddenly come up that cause unhappiness. Loved ones pass away, jobs are lost, best friends move, any number of unpleasant or heartbreaking events. What can I say? Sometimes the plan we have for our lives, is not the one that Heavenly Father has. But we have His promise that it is for our good and for our experience. I am going through one of these events RIGHT NOW in my life, that has caused me to feel very unhappy. I have however learned many valuable lessons from it already and hope that my explanation of it will help you with any unhappiness you may feel at life right now.
While on a Mormon mission, you always have a companion. The Lord commanded them that they go forth two by two. And I mean you ALWAYS go forth with this companion. Imagine an invisible cord was tied between you and another person that is about 15 feet long...that is missionary companionships for ya!
My mission is 18 months long and every 6 weeks, which is called a transfer, it is possible that I will be paired up with a new companion. I have been on my mission for a year, and during that time I have had many companions. Some I get along with great, others...not so great.
My current companion, I absolutely love!! Her name is Sister Spence, and this is not the first time we have been companions. Turn the clock back one year ago, when I first started my mission, can you guess who my companion was? You nailed it, you genius you, it was Sister Spence! We work hard, laugh, talk, play, and tell stories! It has been the happiest time so far on my mission!
Sister Spence and I were sure and reassured that we would be working together for another 6 weeks...but we found out on Thursday that Heavenly Father had something else in mind. Sister Spence will be leaving this area Anaheim Hills and go into my previous area in Garden Grove. When we received the phone call that informed us of the coming transfer and impending separation, we were...let's just say, unhappy, VERY, unhappy, and we were both heartbroken.
As we were trying to understand why this event was unfolding in our lives, I thought of a video our church has produced based on a talk given by one of the 12 apostles named Elder Christofferson. The video is titled, can you guess? That's right, "The Will of God." I invite you to definitely watch it, for it gives clarity and understanding to the seemingly unpleasant and unfair situations we sometimes feel God gives to us, or in some cases the happy situations we feel He has unjustly taken away.
http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1839005837001
I told Sister Spence that we should have seen this coming because we were too happy! That God is telling us that we are supposed to be miserable out here on our missions, (which is just so untrue but I was upset OK!) In that state of unhappiness and border line anger while we cried on her bed, I adapted a quote from the video that I felt was more appropriate to our situation. I said "This is a real 'Will of God' moment, God is saying to us: "I am the gardener here, I don't want you to be happy trees, I want you to be miserable bushes!!!"
As the days have counted down to transfers when we get our new companions and say goodbye for a time, (cause we are totally going to hang after the mission!) I have slowly come to accept Gods will over mine. I feel in my heart that He loves me, and I have a personal witness that everything that happens in my life is for my good. Sometimes I can't see that because my perspective is so limited, and with my sight impaired, instead of stepping up and over the situation I stub my toes on them instead, which hurts!! If I will instead gain an ETERNAL perspective, put on my "eternal glasses" and see with His eyes, then everything that happens in my life is purposed to direct me back to God and my ETERNAL happiness. Even just writing about this experience, I feel a new found peace in my heart, "the bitterness has left my soul" so to speak, and I believe that I can trust in my Heavenly Father, His love, and His plan.
Sent from my iPad
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