SLC

LIFE OH LIFE.  IT IS GOOD TO BE ALIVE.- KPH

I've been thinking of making the voyage to Salt Lake for a while.  The last time I was here, it was a hectic weekend saying goodbye before I put in my time at the MTC & ultimately in Russia.  Can I just tell you how beyond beautiful it is here?  There is still gorgeous white snow on the mountains and even still, the weather was warm enough.
Why did I go to SLC?  That is a great question.  Russia calls to me.  Ever since I left, I have dreamed of going back.  I don't even understand this obsession I have to it's fullest extent but it calls me.  If I think about it too much I could even become tearful over it.  What does this have to do with SLC?  It's my ticket to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Saratov, Izhevsk & Penza.  I went through the interview process to become a SkyWest Flight Attendant.  Who knows what will come of it.  Either way it was a good experience.  I will be hearing back in a week.  Cross your fingers & pray I get based somewhere awesome!
My trip was glorious.  I somehow managed to finally see my mission president and his wife!  I've missed them so much.  The experiences we were able to share as a mission are paramount and continually bless my life.  Most of this great experience is due to their leadership.  Not a day goes by that I am not affected by my mission.  I constantly think about it.
Being back I was able to see others who served with me.  I was astounded by how long it had been since we had seen each other, yet how much we were the same and to hear what everyone does to keep their language up.  I found that we do some of the same things.  I talk to myself in the car and I was surprised to hear that others do as well.
The reason why my visit with the Bennetts was so special was because of what I gained from it.  We went back together sharing insights into what we were going through at the time.
Bearing my testimony on Sunday put me over the edge for this trip.  I was filled with love and gratitude ... it was overwelming.  I was able to walk to the temple and sit in the visitors center...chitchat with the temple square sisters and bathe in the beautiful LDS culture.  I felt a sense of home and warmth... there was so much peace in that holy place.  It was palpable.
I guess something you might be able to say for any returned missionary...their mission is their mecca.  It is a place that is symbolic and a holy ground for them personally because the streets of their areas are paved with their hard earned testimony.  The refiners fire takes place in every apartment building that they knocked.  It's where you brutally learn the simple pleasures and comfort you once enjoyed in your cushy home. You discover how you can live and what you can actually get by on... how many steps you can walk in a day, how many times you can be rejected and told no before you want to crawl into a fetal position and guess what... each day you are stronger and stronger and more and more in tune with what the Lord's wants and wishes are rather than going by what you know.
How eternally grateful I am for my life, all of it's experiences and the people I have met on the way.  That's what it's all about!