What I'm Doing Here...

So it's official...I'm now a resident of New Mexico once again. Why, you may ask, would a girl who is so obviously a Cougar and has so lovingly come to call Provo her home, nestled up against the mountains and the temple and the Missionary Training Center, would she return to that "desert wasteland." First of all, it is no wasteland, it is a Land of Enchantment, thank you very much! And secondly, I'm quite sick, and have been for a while, and I need time and a place to recover and heal before I can respond to the rigors of university life. It's nothing life-threatening and can be treated and helped...but for now, the place where this best happens is here, with my family, in New Mexico.

So what exactly will I be doing here?

1) Healing, getting the treatment I need, where I need to receive it.
2) Reading...already finished 4 books on my "To Read" List and I've only been here a week!
3) Spending Time with my Family
4) Getting to know my ancestral family (Lots and lots of genelogy and family history work)
5) Preparing for a Mission (Best case scenario, I'll be able to go out next winter, if the Lord wills it)
6) Finally having time to apprendar Espanol!!! (I just ordered the new LDS version of the Santa Biblia, which is so amazing!)
7) Missing my Friends, but knowing that even with the separation, our "heartstrings are double-knotted around" (phrase courtesy of Miss Josephine, a true wordsmith), and our friendship cannot be quelled)
8) Making new Friends here in the Santa Fe Ward, and doing as much missionary work as I can, now that I'm out of "the bubble"
9) Keeping the Albuquerque Temple busy with the names I'm finding and the baptisms that need to be done.

So really, what am I doing here? Exactly what the Lord requires of me right now. As my Mom has often told me based on her life experience, "Life does not always turn out the way we plan it, but in the end, we receive all that we ever wanted, just not in the way we expect it.

So last on this list would have to be:

10) Trusting in the Lord, with all my heart, and pressing forward with a perfect brightness of hope to see the salvation of God, and for His arm to be revealed.

An Extra bonus, I get to go to the Balloon Fiesta next weekend, for the first time in many many years...An International October event for which Albuquerque is famous! YAY! (Check in Next Week for pictures from the great event!)