It is Wonderful: Rebirth

So today was the 7^th anniversary of my confirmation as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Yesterday I celebrated the renewal of my baptismal covenant as I do each week when I get to take the sacrament, and I celebrated my re-birthday too! My lovely roommate gave me a necklace to remind me of the tree of life, enduring to the end, and continuing to find peace and balance in life. Today, overall was pretty spectacular, but not super eventful, which made me reflect upon the talk Bishop Causse gave in conference two weeks ago…

As I’ve been contemplating where I am right now in my young life, I’ve been reflective about where I’ve come from. I remember how wonderful and sweet the gospel was when it first came into my life in the form of a couple exceptionally good friends in high school. One of which, had the courage to invite me to come to church… even though she knew I didn’t share her standards or believe in her deity, she gave the invitation, and I was able to attend!

That was wonderful. It was so wonderful to me to experience a love that I had never before felt, like the average teenager, I struggled with some pretty catastrophic ups and downs, but some of them were a little more rocky than average, and this first experience I had of love in that cute little church building was just the beginning of my understanding of a power that would literally save my life. So I kept attending, and then, after a couple months I met the missionaries.

That was wonderful. I remember the two boys with the same first name, their faces changed on occasion, but they were always really tall (I’m pretty short, so that’s not unexpected ;), always wearing suits, and always named Elder! They taught me some things about the church, about my relationship with my Father in Heaven, things I’d talked with those exceptionally good friends about, but didn’t put a whole lot of thought into… but the most important thing I learned was how to pray.

Now that, at first, wasn’t so wonderful. My heart was being opened by the spirit, and something inside of me was being stirred by the things I was learning in church and the tall guys with name tags, but every time I tried to talk to the “man upstairs” I just felt like my words were bouncing off the ceiling… until one night in frustration I put away my usual relief of stress, and got on my knees instead.

That was wonderful! The simple knowledge that God loves me personally, and that He was listening to my words, that changed my life. God loves me! The Spirit that testified of that truth to me was the same Spirit that was there when the missionaries were teaching me, the same Spirit that was in the building I’d spent 3 hours in every single Sunday, and the same Spirit that I felt when I’d heard truth and felt love in my life… that simple knowledge had such a profound effect on me that I could not even comprehend the things that had been set in motion.

That was wonderful, and over the next year I slowly made some changes in my life, almost losing it at one point… but those changes were made, and seven years and one day ago I was reborn, baptized by water just like my Savior. And the next day, the day I celebrate today, I was baptized by fire when I received the gift of the Holy Ghost, so that wonderful Spirit that I felt when I entered into that church building the first time, when I met with those missionaries, and when I received a witness for myself that there is a True and Living God; that wonderful Spirit could be my constant companion as I continue throughout my life.

Now that, that was truly wonderful.

I continued to have my ups and downs, and I still have them, but there is that anchor of peace in my life that I know is there, and that I seek out every day… yesterday was one of those days when the seas were a little rougher than usual, and the desire to get out of bed was minimal, one of those days when the darkness that is in the world seemed greater than the light for a little more than a minute… but you know what?

It is still wonderful.

I was blessed enough to be able to truly understand what life is at a young age, and circumstances permitted me enter into covenants to anchor my faith. I’ve been so blessed throughout the entirety of my life, through trials and strengths I’ve grown. But in these last 7 beautiful years of rebirth, I’ve understood better the meaning of “everybody dies, but not everybody lives.” I’ve understood what it is to be bold and valiant in my faith, and the strength that comes from keeping my covenants. I’ve understood what it is like to see light fade in my life as I become casual in my relationship with God and His simple steps He’s given me to stay on the right path. I’ve learned what it is to be not just active, but proactive in the gospel, and in my life.

God has made more of me than I could ever have made of myself, and it is my humble declaration that I will allow Him to continue to mold me in my life! Just as 

I know that it won't be easy, but it will be wonderful!

(And this will be my theme song for the trip :)

With all of my heart,

Heather Ann Lagrosa

Light and Balance

This is my song of the day: Light by the Rocket Summer:

All I needed was a light in the darkest place

 I've ever been in all my life, as I try to find my way 

And the changing season of my life and my eyes don't see

The things I love have run their course, are they done?

Are they just beginning?

And I'm old enough to know that time doesn't move slow enough,

And young enough to know that I can't ever be too old enough to trust You!

Higher and higher I wanna go there with you,

Some say your fire, your fire is through...

And I don't wanna think that way.

     So it's been about 2 and a half months since I've been home from the mission, and there's been a LOT of adjustment happening up in here! On the mission the weeks felt like days, and the days felt like weeks; now the weeks still feel like days, but the days feel like minutes! I feel blessed with work, direction, and most importantly a considerable amount of love in my life... it has been incredible to experience the changes that I underwent out in the mission field! I knew I was changing, heck, anyone who read my e-mails home knew it, and boy oh boy how I grew! ...and how I continue to grow! It's been interesting to face similar life situations that I had in the past, and see them differently because of who I have become!

     It's made me ponder a lot on how to keep this going:

     Finding balance on this road I travel is a task for sure... it's like I have a book on my head and I'm trying to walk on a balance beam with it: the book is all my tasks I need to complete coupled with the everyday routine I need to be involved in; and the balance beam is spinning over a river that turns into that waterfall on Emperor's New Groove! haha, but for real, there's a new balance to be found every day, and there's an elegant peace that comes with that new accomplishment.

     Of the many activities of daily life that I've become acquainted with since I've been able to expand the ways in which I can consecrate my life unto the Lord has been working at the temple!

     It has by FAR been the best calling I have ever received! I really love the perspective it gives me on how short this time is here on earth, while reminding me of the importance of this blink of an eye that is my mortal life. The work I do, the work I could not do without my Savior's help... it's urgent, and it has eternal consequence; however, it's not the focus of my life... neither should it be. He is the ultimate and exclusive focus of my life, and I need to continue to allow him to light my steps. Christ is the word made flesh, and the word of God is truly a lamp unto my feet (Psalm 119:105).



     Another place that has helped me to gain perspective has been at institute class, where I'm learning more about God's word in a class on the book of Revelation and the book of Isaiah! :D It's basically foolproof, when you open the scriptures to have the Spirit speak to you and relate it to your life in some way, but in a classroom setting (and taking away the grading part of it), there's conversation and revelation that comes in very few other fashions... we spoke about balance in my Isaiah class, and my teacher explained this to us:

     This little picture shows a person's heart being weighed with a feather... now I'm no scriptorian or Egyptian historian, but in common man's term's I'll explain my understanding of this, and how that understanding has helped me obtain a little more light and truth in my life.
     So they had a belief that your heart would be balanced with a feather... in the scriptures it often talks about "hardened hearts" and how as we go through this life we have an opportunity to receive literal spiritual heart transplants, where we trade in our "stony" heart, to receive a lighter heart of sorts (Ezekiel 11 and 36). When we are baptized, we are reborn in Christ, our hearts change, the scriptures have many references of changing hearts paralleling lives coming in line with God's will. And the Egyptians had some partial truths in their faith (I mean, the children of Israel were in bondage there for a couple generations right?), and so, at that last day when you were judged (the balance representing justice), a light heart would balance out with a feather.
     I remember our teacher drawing another parallel my mind loves with the word light, it's very flexible in its meaning! It's not only a weight, but it's also a source of sight right? When we say the room is light, we generally aren't talking about its weight right? :D Anyway, as our hearts change, and those stony hearts are removed from our spiritual chests, and we receive the word of God, which is literally Christ (because everything testifies of Him), and He is truth and light personified; our hearts are filled with His light, and balancing out with a feather is perfect imagery for that do you not agree?

     Anyway, it makes me happy to think about... our time here is short! My time is short, but each moment is a blessing, each soul I am able to become acquainted with, each child of God I am able to assist on the path back to our Father, each one that is able to help me... it can seem a little stressful and chaotic, but at that one perfectly balanced perspective... from that angle there is an angelic beauty that can only be understood through the Spirit's impression.

With all my heart,
Heather Ann Lagrosa