Three Years on The Path

Back L-R: Robert Duke, me, David Armstrong, Jence Kofoed. Front Andrew Petersen

Disclaimer: This is a more personal/spiritual/reflective post. Also there may be a lot of pics.

I remember vividly waking up on the floor of my friends dorm at BYU, not having slept very well the night before, fully aware that today was the first step of a series of more steps than I would like to know, all of which would have a profound impact on my life. It is the day I entered the Missionary Training Center, the day that I officially started my mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A huge discrepancy of emotions welled within me as I showered, shaved, and suited up, knowing this would be my routine every day for the next two years. A dear group of friends met together to drive me, and warm goodbyes were said. Three years later, I'm still waiting to be reunited with a few of them, who have themselves volunteered to serve. Trying in vain to hold back the tears, I turned away from them and walked into the maze of orange buildings that makes of the complex. 

Donetsk, Ukraine

Tears flowed not only because I turned my back on my family, friends, and home for a long while. I was scared because I was turning my back on the path that I was on, and turning onto another whose route I did not know. I was turning my back on the person who I was, and was allowing The Lord to shape me into the person that he wanted me to be. Walking into the unknown that was the MTC was one of the hardest walks of my life, only to be rivaled by the walk onto the airplane to come back home. 

I will not deny that said path has been difficult at times.While I never doubted I was where I was supposed to be and doing what I needed to be doing, the weight of the burden and the tax of the trials wore me down both physically and spiritually. Yet the sorrows that came only enlarged my capacity to experience true eternal joy. God gave me tastes of what that joy would be, whose taste cannot be described, but must be experienced. Those memories inspire me to become a better disciple. 

Getting a drink in Makyevka, Ukraine.

My mission means more to me than I can probably understand at this time. Ukraine was a school, whose education, while expensive in terms of sacrifice, pain, and effort, is without invaluable. The people I met and the lessons I learned will stay with me for the entirety of my life. Gratitude as well as the twinge of guilt dwell in my soul as I realize that my mission may have meant more for me than the people I served. Yet said gratitude can only be expressed by continuing on the path that I set out on three years ago, the path of discipleship. 

The mission has altered my life in so many ways. It has changed the way I view things, and approach different issues and problems. It has altered the course of my study, and very possibly my professional path. Thanks to my mission I met a girl who I love very much. I met people who were complete strangers  and now are dear friends. My cup runneth over. 

Not a day has gone by where I haven't thought of my mission, and am so glad I went, and am grateful to be on the path I am on. I'll end with a scripture that has served as a comfort and guide for many years, and that I think holds true for all of us. 

On the path, with Adam Rallison

1st Nephi 17:13

"And I will also be your alight in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led."    

Well, lets try this again/ From Russia with Love

Hey! Its been awhile...

Seriously. It has been a long time since I have touched this guy. A good amount of life experience has come and gone in between these posts, and I am not even going to attempt to try to consolidate them into a lame, unsatisfactory to read or write piece that would'nt do any of those experiences or lessons justice. So I figure I'll just pick up where I am right now. 

My latest adventure has taken me to the seemingly endless city of Moscow. When I look outside my window, I see twenty-plus story apartment buildings stretch into the distance well past the horizon. There are millions of people hustling and bustling to wherever they have to go, working their way through the web of alleys, streets, and metro tunnels. It is overwhelming to an extent, yet I am excited to embark on this new opportunity. 

On the banks of the Yysk-Koi lake, Kyrgyzstan.

I have been here for a week, and am currently ripping through the red tape that wraps my future employment opportunity. Doing so has given me a lot of time to wander the city, and think about what life is like for a Muscovite.  The city never seems to sleep or calm down. It's pulse continuously, rapidly beats forward without regard to the inhabitants that give it life. The opportunity to change and progress according the worlds standards are everywhere, everything is new and exciting, with an eye focused on the future. While you are surrounded by people, it seems that loneliness is a persons only company. Yet, the fast paced race goes on in this colorful and cultured city. 

Moscow

Right before I came to Moscow, I was in a completely different world in the Tian-Shan mountains which go through China and Kyrgyzstan. There I saw about ten times more sheep than people. Standing on the peaks, looking into the distance, you saw nothing but the weathered summits of mountains seemingly older than time.  I dont think there could be a starker difference between my two circumstances.

Yet through all of my travels and experiences one constant remains. The people. All of us, regardless of whether we live in Texas, Moscow, or Naryn are the same. Family is still a priority, nurturing those relationships and providing for them. Kids still think farts are funny, (ok lets be honest, everyone does right?). The loneliness felt by the old babushka sitting on the metro on her way to the grocery store is just as real as the loneliness felt by the lone shepherd guiding his flocks through the rugged landscape. We all have an instinctive, innate desire to love and be loved. 

While the walls that divide culture can be as real and as firm as the walls of the Kremlin, once those walls are penetrated we see we are all alike, with our own fears, hopes, desires, and aspirations. We all have the same limitless potential. The only thing that is limited is our own perspective, which we dam ourselves. So let's open it up a little bit. As we learn more about each other, it is inevitable that we will learn more about ourselves.