El Buen Viaje

4th of July weekend some friends from BYU-I stayed with me at my parent's house for the weekend to attend a wedding. they couldn't hold themselves back from going to Mexico when they learned how close it is to Phoenix. So we rented a car (I knew taking my parents car wouldn't go over well when they found out) and drove down for a day and spent the night in Rocky Point. This was my first time back in Mexico since my mission.

When I came home from my mission a lot of the details became blurry and the memories faded only a little to resemble dreams more than reality.  For the first several weeks I listened to reggaeton, ate tacos and preferred Spanish over english. All of this was done hoping to combine two worlds. As weeks turned to months and now years the details began to fade.

Our trip down taught me a simple lesson. Mexico was always in the details.  I couldn't recreate the culture by eating a taco or speaking spanish. It was the sum of the details that made the experience. Mexico is still there. The corner stores, desert landscape, box houses and thick accents still exist.

The past three months have been ones of accelerated growth as I've made decisions to grow up and move on. I've spent weeks praying, fasting and studying to become better and my lesson learned in Mexico is a principle that has marked my recent experiences. Moving on doesn't erase what happened in the past or make it any less real. The things I learned in Mexico both as a missionary and a civilian are guideposts for my future.

I learned about love, service, sacrifice and joy. Life is full of challenges but "if it so be that [we] keep the commandments of God he doth nourish [us], and strengthen [us], and provide means whereby [we] can accomplish the thing which he has commanded [us]" (1 Nephi 17:3).

Create

Whoop-dee-do we graduated!

I'm hoping to write an update that doesn't sound too philosophic but still offers more than a play by play of my life. One month ago I moved home. Sometimes dreams come true but right now it appears dreams come  back at you chewed up and spit out like when projectile vomit on a roller-coaster (sorry fr the visual- even more sorry that if you weren't imagining it you are now).

I went to school determined to prove wrong unemployment statistics and negative opinions of communication majors. I would graduate and be employed. Yet here I am unemployed living in my parents house. Jokes on me.

Now people like to tell me what to do with my life. They think they know the key to get a job, find a wife or just be better than me. Likely they're right but the way they say it makes me more inclined to close the bedroom door, get under the covers and ignore my blaring alarm clock. If I hide long enough one day problems will go away. Right?

Wrong.

It turns out the key is doing something. Apply for jobs. Date. Spend time with people. Actively seeking for the things I want doesn't always offer what I had hoped but it appears to offer a different sort of contentment and joy.

So I fill my time listening to friends, playing with my niece and nephew, applying for jobs here and there, attending institute, reading books and today I even spent time cleaning my room (Now there is something you won't here me say often).

When I was a missionary Mexico my companion and I taught a girl named Jackie. She had great desires and dreams but allowed others to control her life. My companion found a talk to share with her about our abilities to create:

"Everyone can create."

Creation begins as we seek out simple opportunities to focus on things we can control and make them something better. I find my best days are those where I do something worthwhile that can be checked off (even if I cannot do-- or create-- everything I would like).

So go ahead. Create.