So Much to Be Thankful for

"In everything give thanks." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

For those who don't know, I am LDS or a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I was born into it two religions but ultimately made a choice, which is a long and complicated story for another time. I bring that up because back in 2020, the Prophet of my church, (Russell M. Nelson), gave a talk called, "The Healing Power of Gratitude". It was a beautiful message that inspired the masses during the COVID-19 pandemic. This message came in time for the holiday season and especially during a difficult time for many. His message inspired hope and gave comfort to those who were struggling during that year and even just during the season. I would love to share the highlights with you all...

In his talk he gave some very powerful points about the positive effects of living gratefully and gives us three ways of practicing and incorporating gratitude into our daily lives... and here are my highlights!

1. President Nelson is a man of science and of faith: He equates medical treatments for physical/earthly plagues to the healing power of gratitude for spiritual plagues.

2. Read these beautiful scriptures and ponder them: Psalm 92:1, 136:1 & 95:2.

3. Jesus Christ is the example; Christ is ALWAYS expressing gratitude to His Father through his prayers & teachings.

4. "Counting our blessings is far better than recounting our problems. No matter our situation, showing gratitude for our privileges is a unique, fast-acting, and long-lasting spiritual prescription." Russell M. Nelson

5. Practicing gratitude does not fix or prevent our problems but instead provides us with a more joyful and hopeful perspective of life so President Nelson gave us 3 ways to further reflect on our gratitude: 1) Use social media as your gratitude journal (using #GiveThanks), 2) Say prayers of gratitude, 3) Build your relationship with Jesus Christ.

I admit my recap is short and it could never capture even a fragment of the love and spirit that he has when he speaks...

So here is the video if you want to watch it ;)

So I'm home from college for the break and my mom instantly knew that I would work with her at Macy's of course I'm not going to say no because 1) I'm a broke college student, I need money, 2) It's my mom and 3) I actually like working at Macy's. However, if you work retail, you know that from August to December it's complete and total chaos. Especially Black Friday week. Don't get me wrong, it's super fun but it also triggers this hatred for the human race.

Picture this! It's Black Friday, your running around the store looking for an item that there is only one of left, you have to pee really badly, it's super loud so which triggers a headache, customers are constantly stopping to ask you questions, the entire store is fighting over who grabbed what first, and other petty things, you're trying to make it to the bathroom, your manager keeps texting you about needing your help, the head honcho came to tour the store and is chatting with you, your dehydrated, your hungry all the while everyone and their mother are being so rude.

Not that fun. Because of that, it was so easy to get lost in thoughts like "I hate this job", "I could be doing x,y,z.", "These people are annoying", "screw this", "I hate people", etc., etc. But after I snapped at my poor mom who only came to check on me, I had a little epiphany...

As I stood in the middle of the store, I realized that my thinking this negatively will only make it worse. So instead I chose to focus on the positive things, small things. For example, taking a break and getting ice cream with my mom, having a fun conversation with my coworkers, jamming out to the limited songs that I like on the Macy's Christmas soundtrack, or meeting a new team member.

And just like that my day got a little bit better! At the end of a 14-hour day, I definitely still had my moments of exhaustion and aggravation but reminding myself of those little things made me appreciate that I always have a stable job back home, a great team of coworkers and friends, and I get to spend some more time with my mom... plus the shopping is half bad either haha!

So in the spirit of the Thanksgiving season, the words of the prophet, and my desire to practice gratitude... here's my summary of my #GiveThanks journal.

I'm so blessed to be at the place that I am in life, regardless of the hardships. Life is hard and I often find myself in the thick of some kind of problem but there are things that make it all so worth it...

As I said at the very beginning, I was born into both the Catholic & LDS churches. I have learned a great deal from both of them but I chose to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am so blessed and incredibly grateful for the family that I was given because they all know and love God. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to be able to know and learn about the Atonement, the gospel of Jesus Christ & to be able to grow a relationship with my Heavenly Parents. My faith wasn't always this strong but ever since I allowed myself the chance to love and grow, it has been my biggest blessing. I'm blessed every day that an old Bishop, Bishop Baxter, saw me at my worst and yet did not see me as anything less than a child of God. He reminded me of who I am and how loved I am. He believed in me so much that he helped me progress in my faith and helped me to finally go through the temple after two years of not being able to let myself. Grateful to my seminary teacher, Sister Clegg, that even after having graduated from seminary she kept in touch with me. Grateful that she was my escort into the temple because without her I would not know about the significance of the temple or how to prepare for it. Blessed that my current Bishop, Bishop Olsen, asked me to be a temple worker at the Rexburg Temple. Grateful to my school counselor, Brother Stoddard, that he heard everything that I had been through and helped me. When I went through the temple for the first time in Rexburg, he was there and he told me with a smile, "You made it". I have not only grown in my own testimony and understanding of the gospel but I have had the opportunity to help others grow and participate in temple work. I have so much love for the temple, the scriptures, and the people who have taught me.

If I were, to sum up, how my Latino culture understands family it would have to be, "What God has united cannot be separated by man". I know that when God was putting together my family he knew exactly how much I would love them. He know how much we needed each other to learn and grow. I have been taught much by them and I can tell that they have learned just as much from me. I'm blessed that I have a family that loves God and worships them in their own ways. I am blessed that, even though I have a different family situation, I am and will always be glad for the additions to my family. My family has their quirks, we have multiple cultures blending together, many different languages flying around, and occasionally some difference of opinions... but they have always been there to pick me up when I fall, cheer me on, and support me in all of my endeavors and vice versa. God blessed me with a beautiful family and I couldn't imagine my life any different.

I have always been a woman who prefers a close circle of friends rather than a bunch of acquaintances. This is still true but it just so happens that I have met a ton of people this year that little did I know would become so important in my life. This year has not been easy, but I have realized that when a door has been slammed in my face, God always opened a new one. That's where I found my friends, my second family. I am beyond grateful for all the amazing people I have met along the way. These people have shaped me, taught me, and loved me. God knew who I needed and put people in my life who would be with me through thick and thin. I have been blessed to have friendships that have lasted since childhood, middle school, high school, and the beginning of college. But even so, I have been blessed to have met some amazing people this year, who I know could turn into lifetime friendships. My life wouldn't be complete without the pure love and light that these wonderful people have shared with me.

From my last post, I think it’s obvious I have a love for art. Art is the “physical manifestation of the human mind” and many things fall into that category, especially music. I love music so much. It’s been a huge part of my life: Bonding with people, performing in show choir, singing in church, etc. It helps me express my feelings when my words fail to express them. I can write how I feel just fine but I have a tough time expressing myself to people. It’s so vulnerable, so real and raw but I’m working on that. I’m working on having those hard conversations. It’s not easy and it terrifies me but that’s why I love music. It helps me process my emotions, it helps me express myself. Honestly, music has helped me discover myself. It's the reason why I became more social, the reason why I met so many wonderful people, and the reason that I can process my own emotions.

For about 8 months this year, I worked as a caregiver at The Homestead Assisted Living. This job came at the perfect time. I was at the tail end of a relationship and this job was just what I needed to get me through it. After all, Mosiah 2:17 states, "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God". I felt that if I forgot myself and threw myself into the service of others it would make the transition easier... and it did. I found amazing friends and coworkers. People who I admire and can't wait to work with again this upcoming winter semester. I fell in love with the job even though it was messy and chaotic at times. I learned a whole new set of skills and furthered myself in my pursuit of a future doctorate degree. I learned better problem-solving skills, solidified topics I had studied in classes, learned additional people skills, saw the fragility of life, and most of all, I gained over a hundred new friends (old and young). I'm grateful for the timing of when I got this job and I'm even more grateful to have been able to serve and love these elderly. They have given me unconditional love, advice, and support even though that was my job towards them. Additionally, I'm blessed that I always have a job at my beloved Macy's. I love working at that store because I get the opportunity to work with my mom and be around people who have known me since I was little. To be in a work environment that is fun and rewarding is the best feeling and God blessed me with two opportunities.

Lastly, I'm grateful for my body. I know this is a vain topic to talk about, but it's so important to me. It has taken me years to appreciate the body that I have. Growing up, I was a good kid, but the way that I processed stuff was stress eating/ binge eating. I was a slightly obese child and although I was a cute kid when you start hitting middle school your body starts changing. You're growing taller, you're growing some new curves... you're growing. And so is everyone else, but that's also when insecurity starts growing. That's when other kids start noticing that you're different. That's when you start thinking you're different. You start comparing. Anyways, middle school and high school were difficult times to practice self-love. I started growing symptoms of some eating disorders & self-harm - starving myself, only eating salad with vinegar and oil, skipping meals, binge eating, and even forcing myself to regurgitate what I ate. It never got to the point where I needed to be hospitalized but my friends and family definitely had to do an intervention. Even when I fixed my mentality, fixed the way I cared for my body, and leaned out because I grew taller or because I started eating healthier, I had horrible body dysmorphia and I still do. I regret the way I treated my body, I regret the hatred I had. I changed the way I treated my body because someone told me, "If you don't love yourself, you're not loving the Lord's work". I'm blessed to have the body that I have, it's a temple. It's perfect the way it is. I am perfect the way I am. I'm grateful to God every day that he sent people to me to help me understand the value of my person, to understand His perspective. It's a work in progress but it gets better every day.

I could go on for pages, upon pages, upon pages of things that I'm so grateful and blessed to have, to experience, and to know but that would take me an entire lifetime to write. I just wanted to say that life is chaotic. There are a lot of uncertainties, but for every scary uncertainty, there are ten moments of joy. Life goes by quickly and there is zero point in wasting it on the negative. Take inventory of the good and count those blessings. It makes life a lot more enjoyable.

Live gratefully. There's so much to be thankful for ;)

Love,

Lauren