Random Thoughts: June 2015

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Packets of Light

I gave my bedroom a little twist so I could have my antique desk right by the window. I love it. It feels so great to study and ponder by a window during the day. Very inspiring. Also, during the night I can see the moon and the stars.

"Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds and give place to guidance and inspiration from on high." - Richard G. Scott

Friday, June 19, 2015

I Love the Temple

The more I understand the temple, the better the experience I have. I can really say I love the temple.

I don't understand all the things but I believe everything. As I keep searching for the answers to my questions, I will receive them little by little.

The temple truly is the house of the Lord. I have felt a stronger connection with God inside the temple. That's why temples have been so important ever since the ancient times.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

5 Important Things I Could Learn From Serving a Mission

As the pages of the calendar keep turning away... I cannot stop treasuring the things I could learn from serving a mission. I am so glad I decided to go. Some people may not need to go on a mission to learn what I learned but a mission truly teaches/reminds you great things.

I learned to love God. I didn't know before how to show Heavenly Father my love besides keeping the commandments. I learned to love God by forgetting myself.
I learned to love those who hurt me. It's easy to love people who do good to you but it requires a lot of humility to love those who hurt you.
My commitment is with the Lord, not with world.
I must trust Him and I should not doubt.
I learned to be more like Christ. I wanna love, serve and care like he did. When I acted like Him, I felt so close to Him. I felt that I got to know Him better.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

What Does It Feel Like to Die?

"Do you fear death?," asked Davy Jones.

Well... Dying can be easy and hard. I had mixed feelings but mostly I just couldn't believe it was over. Don't get scared, I'm not writing from the dust. I just died as a missionary. Or better said, I died as a "full-time missionary."

I'm amazed... I'm amazed of how fast time went by. I can't believe my days as a missionary are over. I feel like it was just like one of those dreams you have at night. You wake up and... Everything was just a dream. I miss the mission so much. I miss talking with new people. I miss sharing the love and showing some love. When you die you miss everything, specially the things you used to do with your companions.

Also, when you die you feel you know what to do after but you don't really know anything. Well, at least that's how it was for me. I thought I had everything figured out but real life has other things for you too. Things I had not seriously considered before. At my released, my stake president told me that I should let the Lord govern my life over my plans. He knows better.

The mission was something really hard for me. Although I had been away from home and had an independent life before, it still was hard but so full of joy and happiness. I don't know how that works for every missionary but it really is a joyful/hard experience. When you die you feel that you want to learn more from the mish but it's over. I wanted to learn more because I came to know better how to apply it. However, right when I felt that I knew how to fulfill my purpose as a missionary... I started to run out of time. The wife of my first mission president wrote me the following: "Isn't it always true that just when we figure something out we have to move on to a new challenge? I certainly felt that way as we finished our mission."

It's right. After you die, you are ready for a new challenge. I feel ready to have a better life. I feel ready to move on. I feel ready to serve my fellowman with more devotion. I feel ready to believe more in Christ. I feel ready to be more like Christ and love like He did. I feel ready to doubt my doubts before doubting my faith. I feel ready to invite everyone to come unto Christ. I feel ready to honor what I was as a missionary.

Dead was not the end.

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..::About Claudia by Michelle A,. 2010::..

“If I don’t do something, it is not because I can’t, but because I don’t want to.” Have you felt blessed to know someone who has left a positive mark in your life? In summer 2009, I had the opportunity to meet Claudia Recinos, a young pretty girl.I’ve known her now for over a year and yet every single day she surprises me even more. Claudia has been and still is an example for me of what we are able to do in this life. She makes me feel like I can do it too or at least I should try. Everyone that has the opportunity to meet her can realize the kind of person she is. With one single smile she illuminates everything around her and cheers me up. What else makes Claudia a different person from everyone else? She is a multitask girl. Very impressive I might say. I’ve always thought that Clau does too much in her daily life. Claudia is a bright student. However, working and studying is not all she does. Claudia finds the time to have some fun as well. She likes to party and loves dancing. She even made time to invite me to lunch for my birthday last Friday and is planning her own birthday party this coming week. In addition, she goes to the gym as much as possible. She always talks with her parents and relatives that are in El Salvador and here. Claudia was born in El Salvador almost 20 years ago. Clau, as I call her, came to The U.S.A in April 2009 to start studying English as a Second Language (ESL) at Utah Valley University (UVU). Her desire for becoming someone successful made her fight for her dream of learning English and getting a degree from abroad so that when she grows up more, she will have better opportunities to work, serve, and make a difference. The best part is that she is a devout Latter-day Saint. Clau prays every morning and every night. She reads the scriptures and writes in her journal. “I want my children to know everything that has happened in my life, I don’t want them to miss anything.” Every Sunday she goes to church, and after the meetings she stays to practice with the choir. On Sunday nights she participates in ward prayer. Claudia enjoys going to family home evening and any other church activity. She loves going to the temple as well. Whenever the opportunity comes, she volunteers at the MTC in Provo. “The Gospel has changed my heart and my life.” Believe it or not, Claudia finds the time to listen to her friends when they need to talk or want some advice. When someone asks for a ride, she is willing to serve. Like most of girls, she enjoys dating. Traveling is one of her favorite hobbies. Her most beloved places to go are California, St. George, and Las Vegas. As Ken Duvall said in a devotional given at LDSBC on June 15, 2010, “Organization guides you to developing righteous habits.” I’ve always admired Clau for having her room very organized and clean. She suggests that everyone should have a “to do list, to buy list, and a grocery list.” In that way she establishes her priorities. “First things first,” she repeats to herself. At my last job, there was a sign right in front of the employees’ door that says, “Being busy doesn’t mean you’re being productive,” and Claudia is the kind of person who likes to feel productive. She says, “I like to feel efficient with everything I do.” She likes following the apostles’ example of education and management of time. “We deserve time for resting too!” are some of Clau’s words. When I asked Claudia what helps her to fulfill her expectations and goals, she told me that her parents trust her so much that she wants them to feel proud of her, “They are truly my best friends ever.” For Clau, to be recognized by the world doesn’t really matter. As long as she gets where she wants to get and accomplishes what she wants to accomplish, she is satisfied and feels complete; “That’s enough for me.” What motivates her to do all the things she does? “Life is full of opportunities. Doors are open for everyone, but it is our choice to do it.” All of us face trials and bad experiences and she is not the exception. She has challenges, adversities and sad moments too. No one is perfect. She has made mistakes and she still does, but they help her to progress and become a better person. “We gotta learn from them.” Claudia actually has a motto in her life that she tells to herself all the time, “Everything is gonna be OK; we ought to have faith.” - Michelle A.

.::Fly and Touch the Sky::.

There comes a time when you must stand alone. You must feel confident enough within yourself to follow your own dreams. You must be willing to make sacrifices. You must be capable of changing and rearranging your priorities so that your final goal can be achieved. Sometimes, familiarity and comfort need to be challenged. There are times when you must take a few extra chances and create your own realities. Be strong enough to at least try to make your life better. Be confident enough that you won't settle for a compromise just to get by. Appreciate yourself by allowing yourself the opportunities to grow, develop, and find your true sense of purpose in this life. Don't stand in someone else's shadow when it's your sunlight that should lead the way.

.::Claudia's Short Biography By Casana Macapaar::.. July 2009

Claudia Recinos is 19 years old and the daughter of Jose Ricardo Recinos and Maria Delia Recinos. She was born in June 17, 1990, in San Salvador, El Salvador. She has two sisters and one brother. She is genuine, simple, loving, understanding, fun to be with, approachable, friendly, sweet, fashionable, loves to wear accessories, very open to diversity and very open to people in general, she likes to listen different opinions and is very open to different thoughts. She loves sports and has participated in many national competitions of basket ball, tennis, track, badminton and volleyball. She lives in Salt Lake City for now and she loves it and feels very passionate about living there. She loves to play piano and viola. She played for the Youth Symphony Orchestra of El Salvador in 2008 and has participated and several events by either playing the piano or the viola. She loves listening to music, especially classical songs when she wants to feel high and inspired. She loves pretty much all kinds of music and loves listening to the guitar in her favorite songs. Her favorite band is The Beatles, and she also likes Michael Jackson. She also loves to dance and attend parties. She likes to hang out with her friends. She enjoys playing music, making music, admire the little things around her, helping her friends, listening to her friends. She is a very unique girl that never feels bored, she always finds something to do, she says: "I never get bored, if I look bored is probably because I’m tired but I always find something to do or to think about.” She enjoys reading drama and love stories. She graduated from high school when she was 16 (2006) and went straight to college. She studied economics for two years (2007-2008) in her country at UCA and decided to move to the USA to study English in April 2009. She attended LDS Business College for a professional sales certificate and a business management degree (Fall Semester 2009) Shortly after graduating she becomes part of the workforce in the business/accounting field to get a good work experience and then she is going to Brigham Young University to keep studying Business with emphasis in either strategy, finance or marketing with minors in Music/Photography and Portuguese. She would like to work for her country and help them by putting up non-profit organizations in the future. She wants to help the poor or less fortunate children in her country. She says that El Salvador lacks of well-prepared people. That’s why she set her mind to be a productive and good citizen in her country wherever she can be. She plans on going to grad school too. She’s single and looking for a boy right now. She wants to marry an awesome and loving guy and get married in Salt Lake Temple and be blessed with wonderful kids. Nevertheless, serving a full time mission (18 months) for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints has always been her great desire and she would not like to miss out on that experience, she is just waiting for the right time to either get married or serve a mission. She doesn’t like to start something and never finish it so she plans on doing things in order and keep her plans where they are right now and when she is done with that and has no plans for marriage by that time, she will definitely go on a mission. Claudia loves adventures (backpacking, traveling, exploring, roadtrips, big cities) and living life up to the max and she would do anything she can to have fun, be happy and make others happy.

..::Claudia's Interview by Kenard Beckford::.. Sept. 2009

Claudia Recinos is from one of the smallest countries in Central America, El Salvador. She is from a family of six, which includes two sisters and one brother. She and her family converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day-Saints about seven years ago (2002). Claudia seems like a very spiritual person, with a great desire to live the gospel. Yesterday as she shared her account with me of the most spiritual experience she has had in her life, I felt the Spirit strongly. This is from her account of the most spiritual experience she has had. She said “ever since I was baptized I had a strong desire to get sealed to my family, but it did not happen right away, because my dad had struggles that he had to overcome.” She then said when the time came for them to get sealed in the temple, "it was a great spiritual experience." She remembered the great spirit that she felt in the temple that day; she said “my testimony grew because I went to the temple to get sealed to my family.” Claudia likes music and sports for her hobbies. In elementary and secondary school she earned 13 medals in tennis and track. She earned three of the medals from, playing tennis and the other 10 from running track, where she participated in two kilometer run. For music, she plays the viola and the piano. Currently, she is in Salt Lake City, Utah to attend LDS Business College, majoring in Business Management and Professional Sales. She said “I chose LDS Business College because I want to be in an environment surrounded by LDS people, improve my second language (English), and be better prepared for life.” Her most frightening experience happened recently, while she was driving on the freeway from Santa Cruz to San Jose in California, the car lost its brakes. She said: "I was so tense.” She thought she was going to die or have a car accident but finally she could make it home safely. Driving had never been so scary for her.