Home

     I did not expect to have one of the greatest birthdays of my life while away from home here on my mission. I am overwhelmed by the amount of love and support I received from everyone back home. I don't know how my mom did it, but she gathered messages from many people I have not heard from on my mission, with expressions of faith and inspiration. She also wrote me the sweetest card that I've ever gotten, just expressing that she is grateful that I'm a part of our family. That strengthened me so much! In the middle of the day I got a phone call from President Cooke wishing me happy birthday, and the Sisters in my district called and sang for me! Then we had the most amazing dinner at the McComb's home, somehow she found out what my favorite birthday meal is! Brother McCombs was just coming home from a 15 hour flight from Japan! Even so, they still decorated the house and had a birthday celebration for me. It struck me how one year ago on my last birthday, I didn't know any of these people. I didn't know anyone in my district, I didn't know my mission president, and I didn't know the families of the Patuxent Ward. Yet they have become the dearest friends to me. When I was in the missionary training center, we were trying to figure out how to comfort the missionaries in our zone that were dealing with homesickness. I heard a quote during that conversation that has stuck with me my entire mission. "Home is where the people you love are." That inspires me to learn to love the people that I am around, no matter what part of the world I am in. I certainly love the people I am serving with here in Maryland, and I feel like I'm home.
     My testimony of the priesthood of God was strengthened this week. Elder Thorpe and I have participated in 8 priesthood blessings within the last few weeks. Some of which are the most powerful spiritual experiences I have yet had. The Sisters in our area said that they had a strange feeling in their home, and had a hard time feeling the spirit while they were there. One of the Sisters has been haunted by bad dreams. We accompanied a member of the Bishopric to go bless the home. It is difficult to describe how I felt, but when I walked in, I felt like something really was amiss. It felt more like a public place rather than a home. Brother Coleman gave a powerful blessing on the home, and when he closed in the name of our master Jesus Christ, I felt the air lift in the room, and I felt the glow of home. Afterwards Brother Coleman taught us that the power contained in one worthy priesthood bearer is more powerful than all the powers of wickedness in the world, I believe that is true. I think the real meaning of Zion is my idea of home. As we seek to build Zion, and be a Zion like people, we will feel like we are home. We're not just getting to heaven, we're learning heaven.