Same, But Different
"Nevertheless, my life is in flux. Though it's going in the direction that it was meant to go, I just can't grasp how anything will ever be like it was not so long ago.” I wrote that in a blog post the summer I turned 21. It was a momentous year: I was waiting for a mission call, I had felt reassured and found joy in pursuing my journalism degree, the singles ward was a fun and engaging place for me, etc. But even among those good things, it didn’t exempt me from the happenings of life. I felt discomfort in confronting the ambiguities before me, including worry about how my relationships would change as I left friends and family for two years. I was so anxious about exiting what might have been the prime of my life to never be able to reclaim it. I look back at that person, now nine years younger than me, and I think, “You have no idea what’s in store.” My mission experience would be incredible, and I’d go on to finish my degree and love it. I came home from my miss...