Peace

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: 

not as the world giveth, give I unto you. 

Let not your heart be troubled, 

neither let it be afraid."

John 14:27

"My son, peace be unto thy soul; 

thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment."

D&C 121:7

"These things I have spoken unto you,

 that in me ye might have peace.

In the world ye shall have tribulation: 

but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

John 16:33

For some reason my brain feels fried today! So if you're looking for clever or entertaining, I hate to say it, but I got nothin'...

But today I want to talk about peace. Peace is something we all look for; many people spend their lives searching for it, and every Miss America mentions it in her list of goals and dreams.

I remember that this was a quality I searched for and prayed for every single day in every single prayer at the beginning of my mission. I wanted it desperately, and honestly I wasn't quite sure where to attain what I was looking for.

This morning in my personal study, I was reading a talk from this last conference about "personal peace" and it really struck me. It pointed out that even in this crazy world amidst tragedy and confusion we can have an inner peace through the gospel. We can find peace and hope that lasts. The Savior suffered and sacraficed His life so that we would be able to repent and grow and progress and one day return to live with our loving Heavenly Father once again. There is so much hope in this knowledge and so much joy. When we feel that we are following His perfect example (in our own imperfect way) to the best of our ability, we recieve the gift of His peace - not as the world gives it - but a more lasting, permanent peace.

What an important concept to understand - that in a world full of bombs and wars, there is a constant source of beauty and peace through it all.

I absolutely love the words of the hymn "Where Can I Turn for Peace."

It's such a beautiful song and I remember it coming into my head in the CCM one day and I immediately looked up the words, I had found my answer --

Where can I turn for peace?

Where is my solace

When other sources cease to make me whole?

When with a wounded heart, anger, or malice,

I draw myself apart,

Searching my soul?

Where, when my aching grows,

Where, when I languish,

Where, in my need to know, where can I run?

Where is the quiet hand to calm my anguish?

Who, who can understand?

He, only One.

He answers privately,

Reaches my reaching

In my Gethsemane, Savior and Friend.

Gently the peace he finds for my beseeching.

Constant he is and kind,

Love, without end.

I'm grateful to have been blessed with the peace that comes from knowing I am where I am supposed to be, doing what I am suppose to be doing. I'm grateful for the knowledge that this life is not the end, that the authority of God that the prophets of old had, is on the earth today. And, that through that power, I can be with my family forever. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Funny notes, and comments from hna laughlin, I wrote in my planner from this week:

1. Someone thought hna laughlin and I were from Puerto Rico!! Wooo

2. Yesterday the office elders were driving by and yelled "Happy Mothers Day" and waved at us, (it was mothers day here). Everyone was staring at us and we were cracking up, I guess it's not every day americans are yelling greetings at each other on the street.

3. Had three people in the last three days ask me if I was married, such a weird unnecessary question. Then I learned that they wear wedding bands on either ring finger, so it was my CTR ring that was throwing them off... slightly less random and creepy ... but only slightly.

4. Someone asked how old I was and then said, "oh I thought you were 17.

5. I am obsessed with the rocking chairs here, everyone has them and they are so comfy.

(Apparently I'm a weird mix of 17-yr-old and old woman, based on #4 & 5)

6. I learned I do a pretty terrible Nickelback impression, it comes out more like Ray Charles...

7. Today at the printing shop, the man said I looked like I was from Jerusalem because of my hair. I don't even know what that means?

8. We were trying to contact a woman that we had recieved as a reference. We were calling her, and we were both were frustrated that we could never understand what she was saying... turns out she only speaks French...

9. "Nicholas Cage is the Nickelback of movies"

10. Peepholes here, are sometimes just holes in the door.

11. Mangos are SO GOOD. I'm also developing an obsession with bananas that they sell for 5 pesos on every corner