Possibly Insightful Ramblings

Two years ago today, I received the best and most life-changing letter that has ever entered my hands. I'll never forget those feelings I had as I sat in my living room surrounded by family and friends and broke the seal on that white envelope. Those were moments of pure happiness. I've learned a few things since that day. For one thing, I sound much less American now when I say "Dnepropetrovsk" than that first valiant attempt. But one of the sweetest lessons I learned on and after my mission was what great a gift that was packaged up in that white envelope. While serving a mission was the hardest thing I'd done up to that point, each day taught me what a great gift it was to be a servant of the Lord. I keenly felt the responsibility and the power of the mantle of missionary as I labored in the Lord's vineyard. I relished that calling. I felt much like Mormon said to his brethren: "it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ . . . be...

This evening I spent a few hours in one of my favorite buildings on campus. Isn't it pretty? It's even prettier when the line goes outside and wraps around a couple other buildings. Although the imposing walls of the Heber J. Grant building instill a feeling of dread in the hearts of many students as they anticipate with trepidation the impending mental taxation that will be placed upon them and the subsequent negative ramifications on their grade, that building has become a sanctuary for me. Now, don’t get me wrong, I worry about my exams just as much as the next neurotic college student. I do the requisite amount of fretting, fearing, with of course a bit of studying thrown in there before I hand my ID card to the friendly student behind the desk and take my cover sheet into the big open room of testing. But once the pre-test worry draws to its conclusion and I walk up the broad staircase into the pink-ceilinged elegance of the testing center, my dread slips away. ...