Benefits of Unemployment...

On my way to Institute tonight, I passed by the Temple – my immediate thought was, “It’s been forever since I’ve been to the temple.” In reality, it’s been four days – but it feels like forever! One of the benefits of being unemployed has been that I’ve been able to go to the temple four days a week – it has been amazing! It’s so peaceful and relaxing and I always feel like everything will be okay when I leave. Because of work and Institute I couldn’t go today but tomorrow is my ward temple trip and I am so excited! If I finagle my schedule right I should still be able to go three nights a week – while up at school I only went a couple times a semester but since I’ve been here in Utah, I go a couple times every week and have noticed the difference when I haven’t gone.

At the beginning of Institute I was flipping through my scriptures trying to find the scripture that we’re suppose to be memorizing and found another one in the process, I flipped back to it afterwards and it spoke to me. Doctrine and Covenants 63:47, “He that is faithful and endureth shall overcome the world.” That is what I need to do – be faithful and endure. So simple.

The class I went to for Institute was “Teachings of the Living Prophets” and we were talking about President’s Monson’s talk about gratitude in the November 2010 Ensign. A couple different thoughts came to me during our discussion. At the beginning of Fall semester, things were financially really tight – I had roughly 20 dollars to my name and was waiting for a paycheck to come that was stuck somewhere between Colorado and Idaho. I don’t really trust the postal service simply because I’ve had too many letters and packages either be weeks delayed, not arrive at all or arrive in pieces – the longer I had to wait the more nervous I was getting. It finally came - not the point. It was during these couple weeks of anxiety and worry that I realized that a lot of people have it a lot worse than I do and that I have been given so much. After I realized that, nothing seemed to matter anymore because I knew it would be okay.

My teacher made a really interesting comment – he said that blessings are withheld simply because we do not ask for them, which leads me to wonder what exactly the Lord has in mind for me and hasn’t blessed me with because I haven’t asked for it and am not ready?

He also said that we should thank God for our health and strength and use it to further His kingdom and work along – having just gotten over a cold, two and a half weeks in the making, I am definitely thankful for my health and strength especially after experiencing the lack of it.

My teacher closed the lesson by having us watch a short film on John Tanner – I had never seen if before but it was amazing. The message and overall feeling was so incredibly sweet and peaceful, words can’t even begin to describe it. I’ve been telling myself all along that the Lord has something in mind for me and that He will provide but tonight during the movie, the Spirit was so strong and confirmed that what I was telling myself was true - I know that the Lord will provide a way and that it will be okay, I just don’t know how or when.

By the way - I'm on a month long temp assignment and am still looking for full time employment.