Man, so much has happened in the past three weeks. These past three weeks was filled with finals, snow, losing friends, stressful moments, but also included happiness, fun and plenty of fun times with friends. But what I'm going to talk to you about is nothing that I mentioned in the above sentences, well maybe the snow a little bit because that was a fun story.
Anyway, my plan for next semester was to stay in Rexburg, although I'm off track, and just work. For the apartment complex I live in, if you come back the following semester, you just leave stuff on your bed until you come back. I had already put most of the stuff on my bed by last Sunday, and I decided to sleep on the floor for the rest of the week. Well, Tuesday comes around, and I just get a feeling that I need to go home and serve my mission. Now we believe that when we get those abrupt, out of no where feelings that it is promptings from the Holy Ghost and that the Lord is in a way trying to communicate with you and tell you something. It's not as weird as it sounds. But I knew that this feeling was that Lord needed me to go home and that he wanted me to start my mission papers. Well, that totally sucks. At this point, I already had everything on my bed and now I had to put everything in storage. But the story gets better.
I had messaged my parents on Facebook (since I lost my phone and never found it) to tell them about my prompting. They had said ok but now they are going to have to lose money by cancelling my mom's flight home from when she was going to drop off my sister, so that was a problem. But my parents were willing to do that because of me. So, thankfully they are amazing and did that for me.
Well, Wednesday, I decided to go the temple. For members of the LDS church, whenever we have questions that we want/need answers for, we go to the temple because we believe that the Holy Ghost will confirm those feelings to us. I decided that I wanted to go get a firm answer about whether or not I should go home so I went to do baptisms for the dead. Baptisms for the dead are when we get the records of deceased people not baptized in the church and we get baptized for them and we believe that in heaven there is a Spirit Paradise and Spirit Prison. The Spirit Prison is where those go who have died not members of the church but it's not really a prison. Those members of the church just go there and teach them of the church and they have the option of finally choosing to convert. I know it sounds totally weird the way I teach it but PLEASE GO AND HAVE A LESSON FROM THE MISSIONARIES AND THEY WILL EXPLAIN MORE CLEARLY OR READ THE BOOK OF MORMON. So I did those baptisms. While I was waiting, I opened up the Book of Mormon, specifically to Doctrine of Covenants (138 or so chapters of revelation given to Joseph Smith after he translated the Book of Mormon) and opened up to D & C 99 where it spoke of two men getting called on a mission. And at that point, it hit me that I needed to go home. I then was able to sit on a freezing bench for a couple minutes outside and pray while looking at the temple. Man, it's so peaceful up there and I love going there. I wish I had gone more often this semester.
So that is my new decision. I know that the Lord had prompted me to do this and that this is the right thing to do. I know that I will receive many blessings my serving the Lord and bringing others unto Christ. I'm so grateful for this opportunity to serve. I will hopefully leave around April.
So who wants to hear a fun story?? Ok, everyone. So Friday night I drove down to Idaho Falls for a flight that was supposed to leave to SLC at 6:30. I get there and it has been delayed, not cancelled, until 9:30 am on Saturday. My parents booked me a hotel room with my two friends to stay in since their flight got cancelled, too. So I head to the airport Saturday morning and my flight takes off. I had 40 minutes to get to my connecting flight to San Diego. Well, that flight was delayed until 12:58 and then 1:30 and it kept going up until 3 o'clock. Our plane was there but the flight crew was stuck in Denver because it was too cold for them to leave Denver since it was so cold. My flight took off four hours later and I made it home to my family 17 hours after I was supposed to be there.
Anyway, sorry this blog post seemed so out of the place and not as organized as the past ones. The next one will be better. Thanks to everyone for reading. It means a lot. I love you all.
Sunday, December 18, 2016
Saturday, November 26, 2016
God controls everything
I was going to write about something else for this post but an unexpected event this morning changed that all and I am going to make sure this post gets out today... no procrastination on this post.
It all began a couple months ago. I had called up my sister and said, "Hey Jen, you know what? We haven't had a Thanksgiving as a family together in three years and we won't have one for at least another three years. I wanna come home and surprise the family but wanted to get you in on it." As we talked, we both came to the solution that I couldn't afford it and it wasn't going to happen. Well, she went ahead and bought tickets for my birthday to surprise my family. She wasn't really good at hiding it and was really obvious with it and when she told me on my birthday, I was like, "Jen, I knew a long time ago, you made it so obvious." At the time, I thought she bought the tickets so that I could have a Thanksgiving with my family... Little did I know the Lord wanted me to come home for a different reason.
So I arrive home Tuesday/Wednesday morning at 1 AM and surprise my parents while they are fast asleep and they had no idea what was going on. They were confused out of their minds and really wanted to know what I was doing there. Anyway, Wednesday consisted of a fun day filled with family. I started off playing video games with my brother because I've been looking forward to it for a while and really wanted to play with him. I continued to go to lunch with my family and then went to the movies. While they saw another movie, my brother and I saw Fantastic Beasts. That is such a good movie, I strongly suggest it. Anyway, then my sister took me home while my parents ran errands and my brother went to play tennis. I decided to be the good son and pull some weeds because our hillside was disgustingly covered in weeds. Later on that night, I had the opportunity to see two of my best friends. I went to Jersey Mike's and Yogurtland with my best friend Brennen Eisenhut and his mother Sister Eisenhut. From there, I got to see my other best friend Evelyn Hunter and her parents, George and Julie, and her sister, Miranda. While there, I saw Sam Hostetter, Grace Warren, Kian Khadir, Alexis Guyer, and Alex Villar. So you could say that it was a pretty successful night. I saw more people than I was planning on seeing this break. And it was great seeing those extra faces considering I was supposed to see Alexis before I left over summer but it never worked out. Anyway, all in all, it was a great night and I was so happy to see friends.
Thanksgiving morning was amazing. I woke up and went to play Turkey Bowl with the members of my ward. This is when we get together and play football with all the dudes. It was a fun morning and it was a great time. Anyway, we ran some errands and then came back for Thanksgiving dinner. Well, my cousin Tim, my Uncle Mark and my Grandma Susan, who has terminal cancer, showed up. It was great being able to see them all. I could tell that my grandma was not in good shape and that she wasn't feeling very well. Well, we had our dinner and we hung out and then I said goodbye to all of them. Then later on we went to Orange County to see my Grandma Skaggs. It was a great night visiting with her and then going Black Friday shopping with my mother. It turned out to be a great night and I loved spending my Thanksgiving that way.
Friday we woke up and drove up to Six Flags. It was such a fun day. I was able to ride every ride that I wanted to and we had wristbands that got us in the front of every line on every ride. I was able to spend the day with my family and we had such a blast together. I love spending time with them. We went on almost every ride together and we managed to have fun. We ate at Marie Calendars and boy did it taste good. Then we went back to the park (free shuttle from the hotel) and continued our fun until the park closed. It was a great end to my Thanksgiving break... or so I thought. My flight was supposed to leave today at 1:00 PM and I wasn't supposed to get back into Rexburg until 11 PM. Well... that changed quickly, hence why I got back to Rexburg at 4.
This morning, at 3:30, I was awoken by the frantic sounds of my mother on the phone. Her brother had called her and said that my grandma Susan had passed away. He was there with her as it happened and he was now on his way to the hospital. Not getting into detail, but I will say, it was hard to see my mom the way she was. So we left our hotel room early and headed off to the airport at 5:30 AM. I got to the airport at around 6:15... 7 hours before my flight. My mom had to race down to San Escondido to be able to see her mom. Doing what my parents asked me to do, I walked up to the special services and asked if I could get on an earlier flight. Well, I love Delta airlines because they were able to get me on a 7:20 flight which means I had to quickly get through security and grab breakfast which wasn't too long but because of the situation they didn't charge me extra. That was a huge blessing in my life because I was able to get to SLC earlier. In addition, my parents were able to get me on an earlier shuttle back to Rexburg. So here I am now.
So what is the overall reason for the name of this blog. Well, God does in fact control everything. Back in September, I thought I was going home for Thanksgiving to see my family, but that was not the case. I was going back because the Lord knew that it was time for my grandma to go and he wanted me there to say goodbye. You can call this a coincidence if you want but I know it was the hand of the Lord. My sister didn't know this would happen, I didn't know this would happen, but the Lord knew that this would happen and wanted to give me a chance to say goodbye to a great woman. A woman who every year would buy me the Guinness World Record Book for Christmas. A woman who drove me to so many place. A woman who I could talk to when I needed someone to talk to. A woman that although I fought with and argued with when I was younger, was still always there for me and always loved me. A woman who loved and cared for me all of my life. I am forever grateful that the Lord prompted me to bring up the idea of coming home and prompted my sister to bring me home. I know that this was the plan all along for the Lord. It was also miraculous that it happened the day after Magic Mountain. Although it is heart breaking for my family, the Lord timed it perfectly. He allowed us to enjoy our family time and knew that we needed to have fun as a family before I left. I am forever grateful that families can be together forever and that I will see my grandmother again. I love her so much and can't wait to see her again. Remember that the Lord is in control and he knows what to do with your life.
In loving memory of Lottie Susan Memmott 4/22/45 - 11/26/16
In loving memory of Lottie Susan Memmott 4/22/45 - 11/26/16
Love you all,
Michael Skaggs
Monday, November 7, 2016
God makes things work out
Hey guys, sorry it's been forever since I've written. First off, college has been amazing and I'm loving it. Actually, I will write about that in this blog. Umm, everything is going great. There is so much to write about in this blog post. I don't even know what to write but like always I'm just going to go for it. Anyway, thanks again for reading.
To start, since this is Michael's Journey to Serving a Mission I want to update everyone that I am 95% sure that I will leave on my mission in April right after Winter semester. I can leave earlier because I'm not planning on taking any classes and just working up in Rexburg but I want to mature a little bit more and get more life experience.
First part in "God makes things work out" is roommates. So over summer, don't get me wrong I liked my roommates but I didn't have too many friends, I didn't always get along with them, and I wasn't always hanging out with them. I was concerned for Fall semester. However, everything worked out. My roommates Eric Keller, Michael Pierce, Matt Budden, and David Shannon are great people. I love talking to them and they are such great people. But, most importantly, my room roommate Adam Smith is such a genuinely caring and great guy. Every time he walks into the room after a long day of not seeing him, just makes me happy. Kinda like when you haven't seen the girl you like in a couple days and you finally see her again, same feeling except in a no homo way. He is always super kind and we LITERALLY TALK about everything going on in our lives and give each other advice.
Another thing that God has made things work out is friends. So I have managed to hang out with friends almost every night. My sister's best friend is up here and I am able to hang out with them. Ellen Logan is my second sister and she is so nice, forever grateful she met my sister. Then there's Eliza and Savannah who are their roommates and they are amazing girls who are super kind. Laurie I don't know as well but she's super kind. Then there's Tara Pope, who is really sweet. I knew her in my cousins ward back in 2011 and here we are, we meet again. Then there's her friend Veronica who is super nice. From there we have Jenny Walker, who I met my first Wednesday here and we've been close friends since then. I love her to death and don't know what I would do without a friend like her. I absolutely love Julia and Chyna who are also roommates with Jenny, they are such kind people. Chyna is super sweet and is always happy to see me and Julia is one of the funniest people I know and it's always fun to be around her. Apartment 602 is one of my favorite apartments which consist of Summer and Carlie Evans, Brooklin Larsen, Katie O' Donnel, Aubree Nish, and Megan Genmlich. I'm over there literally every single night and they are so kind and nice to hang around. They always make me feel good about myself and are always nice. More friends include Elliot Powers who drives me to Walmart whenever I need a ride and is always there to uplift me; Fernando Nunez or something like that who drove me to the hotel my family stayed at so that I could grab something that I left there; Gavin Olsen by far one of the funniest and craziest people that I have met up here man I love that dude; Angel Gonzalez let me just say his laugh is the greatest thing that you will ever hear; Nefi - he's super nice too and I love being around him; Houston who has also given me rides to Walmart and has driven me to school, he's really funny too; and Brianna Haroldsen, who I met about a month or two ago and she's super sweet, she is also a huge fan of Al Fox, a great convert to the LDS church and a great example. Anyway I want to move on to some more spiritual experiences.
IMMA GIVE GAVIN BROWN HIS OWN PARAGRAPH BECAUSE HE IS A BEAST IN HIS OWN WAYS!! This dude I forgot to add in my blog and so I told him I would include him. He's pretty awesome and super funny. He hurt his knee the other day and still manages to not let it affect him. I heard he's a pretty beast photographer too. Anyway, love you Gavin!!!
God is actually sensitive to your wants and if he wants it to happen he will make your schedule work out. A couple weeks ago, I was coming up on two events in the same night. I was in charge of getting volunteers for an elementary school Halloween Carnival and then I was going to a concert. I was very disappointed because I really wanted to help with the carnival but I had my concert. I was stressed out but you know I knew the Lord had things in store for me. Right when I got to the point that it wasn't going to work out, I found out that they needed help from 3:30 to 7. The concert wasn't until 7:30 so I was able to go to the concert and the Halloween Carnival. I was so happy that the Lord made it work out. He was watching out for me the whole time. I was also stressed out about finding volunteers but I had the perfect amount. You know the Lord just makes things work out.
The last thing has to do with the concert itself. I had a date, then didn't have a date, had a date, no date, had a date, then no date. So here we are a WEEK BEFORE THE CONCERT with no date. Well then here we hit it. Monday evening, in someone's apartment in my ward, and I don't exactly remember how the convo went down but I got myself a date. And I had a blast with her. I think God made everything not work out because quite frankly, he might've wanted me to meet new people. Whatever the reason, I'm glad he made everything work out.
There is a reason to everything!! Nothing is a coincidence. The people you meet, the route you take to school, the family you have, the friends you have, the decisions you make, everything is done by the Lord!!! I know a lot of my friends are not LDS or Christian in any sense so this might be more of a sensitive topic for you. However, I believe that nothing is brought up to you for no reason. And everything you need to work out, I promise that if you spend the time to pray even if you have never prayed before, I do promise you though that with faith and trust that the higher being will help you, you can ask for help for him to make something work out. Not all the time will it work out the way you want it to work out but it will work out somehow.
Thank you all for reading this!!! It means a lot that people actually take time out of their day to read my blog and actually enjoy it. You guys are all the best. Thanks for everything. I love you all
Michael Skaggs
To start, since this is Michael's Journey to Serving a Mission I want to update everyone that I am 95% sure that I will leave on my mission in April right after Winter semester. I can leave earlier because I'm not planning on taking any classes and just working up in Rexburg but I want to mature a little bit more and get more life experience.
First part in "God makes things work out" is roommates. So over summer, don't get me wrong I liked my roommates but I didn't have too many friends, I didn't always get along with them, and I wasn't always hanging out with them. I was concerned for Fall semester. However, everything worked out. My roommates Eric Keller, Michael Pierce, Matt Budden, and David Shannon are great people. I love talking to them and they are such great people. But, most importantly, my room roommate Adam Smith is such a genuinely caring and great guy. Every time he walks into the room after a long day of not seeing him, just makes me happy. Kinda like when you haven't seen the girl you like in a couple days and you finally see her again, same feeling except in a no homo way. He is always super kind and we LITERALLY TALK about everything going on in our lives and give each other advice.
Another thing that God has made things work out is friends. So I have managed to hang out with friends almost every night. My sister's best friend is up here and I am able to hang out with them. Ellen Logan is my second sister and she is so nice, forever grateful she met my sister. Then there's Eliza and Savannah who are their roommates and they are amazing girls who are super kind. Laurie I don't know as well but she's super kind. Then there's Tara Pope, who is really sweet. I knew her in my cousins ward back in 2011 and here we are, we meet again. Then there's her friend Veronica who is super nice. From there we have Jenny Walker, who I met my first Wednesday here and we've been close friends since then. I love her to death and don't know what I would do without a friend like her. I absolutely love Julia and Chyna who are also roommates with Jenny, they are such kind people. Chyna is super sweet and is always happy to see me and Julia is one of the funniest people I know and it's always fun to be around her. Apartment 602 is one of my favorite apartments which consist of Summer and Carlie Evans, Brooklin Larsen, Katie O' Donnel, Aubree Nish, and Megan Genmlich. I'm over there literally every single night and they are so kind and nice to hang around. They always make me feel good about myself and are always nice. More friends include Elliot Powers who drives me to Walmart whenever I need a ride and is always there to uplift me; Fernando Nunez or something like that who drove me to the hotel my family stayed at so that I could grab something that I left there; Gavin Olsen by far one of the funniest and craziest people that I have met up here man I love that dude; Angel Gonzalez let me just say his laugh is the greatest thing that you will ever hear; Nefi - he's super nice too and I love being around him; Houston who has also given me rides to Walmart and has driven me to school, he's really funny too; and Brianna Haroldsen, who I met about a month or two ago and she's super sweet, she is also a huge fan of Al Fox, a great convert to the LDS church and a great example. Anyway I want to move on to some more spiritual experiences.
IMMA GIVE GAVIN BROWN HIS OWN PARAGRAPH BECAUSE HE IS A BEAST IN HIS OWN WAYS!! This dude I forgot to add in my blog and so I told him I would include him. He's pretty awesome and super funny. He hurt his knee the other day and still manages to not let it affect him. I heard he's a pretty beast photographer too. Anyway, love you Gavin!!!
God is actually sensitive to your wants and if he wants it to happen he will make your schedule work out. A couple weeks ago, I was coming up on two events in the same night. I was in charge of getting volunteers for an elementary school Halloween Carnival and then I was going to a concert. I was very disappointed because I really wanted to help with the carnival but I had my concert. I was stressed out but you know I knew the Lord had things in store for me. Right when I got to the point that it wasn't going to work out, I found out that they needed help from 3:30 to 7. The concert wasn't until 7:30 so I was able to go to the concert and the Halloween Carnival. I was so happy that the Lord made it work out. He was watching out for me the whole time. I was also stressed out about finding volunteers but I had the perfect amount. You know the Lord just makes things work out.
The last thing has to do with the concert itself. I had a date, then didn't have a date, had a date, no date, had a date, then no date. So here we are a WEEK BEFORE THE CONCERT with no date. Well then here we hit it. Monday evening, in someone's apartment in my ward, and I don't exactly remember how the convo went down but I got myself a date. And I had a blast with her. I think God made everything not work out because quite frankly, he might've wanted me to meet new people. Whatever the reason, I'm glad he made everything work out.
There is a reason to everything!! Nothing is a coincidence. The people you meet, the route you take to school, the family you have, the friends you have, the decisions you make, everything is done by the Lord!!! I know a lot of my friends are not LDS or Christian in any sense so this might be more of a sensitive topic for you. However, I believe that nothing is brought up to you for no reason. And everything you need to work out, I promise that if you spend the time to pray even if you have never prayed before, I do promise you though that with faith and trust that the higher being will help you, you can ask for help for him to make something work out. Not all the time will it work out the way you want it to work out but it will work out somehow.
Thank you all for reading this!!! It means a lot that people actually take time out of their day to read my blog and actually enjoy it. You guys are all the best. Thanks for everything. I love you all
Michael Skaggs
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
College life has begun
You know the saying "Life gets better after high school"? Well you know what, it sure as heck does. I can relate to that and sure can agree. Why? Well, lets backtrack to a couple weeks ago, because don't get me wrong, high school was great, but it gets better.
So the day before I left for college was a great day. I started out in the morning packing and stuff and then two friends arrived. I hung out with Lauren and Evelyn for about an hour. These two girls, as I have talked about in my blog before, have been close friends for about a year and a half. Now originally, I considered them best friends, however, I realized my flaw in that. It started junior year as a joke on Twitter and I called them my BFF's. That sounds alright, but I realized that I tried turning it into reality. I was so in need for a best friend I kinda forced it into existence. So two problems, I was two years older and I was a boy. As I reached senior year, I came to a realization. They may not be my best friends but they are my BFF's. "What's the difference?" you may ask. I thought BFF although usually seen as super close best friends was different in my case. I soon started considering it as close friends who aren't best friends but still need a title. I was jealous when one would tweet, I love my best friend or My best friend is everything to me, usually referring to the other person. I came to know that they are two girls, the same age, who literally are best friends. How can I expect to be two years older and be best friends, that's just awkward. But I knew that they saw me as a close friend and it was ok to not be best friends. And I still love them as friends and think they are amazing people. Anyway, that friendship has seen a lot of ups and downs but in the end we have endured through all of our fights and struggles. They are amazing friends.
Now that was besides the point. Lets continue onto the rest of my day.
That was my last time seeing them, for now. I soon left after that for lunch with my friend Ashlynn. She has been like a second sister to me since 6th grade. Always there for me even when she hates me or is mad at me. I don't think I would ever have survived high school without her, I probably won't survive college unless I am always talking or texting her. It was a great lunch, as I got my last time to hang out with someone who has pretty much been my person for 7 years. Wow, this makes me sad. I'm starting to miss her now. Love you Ashlynn, if you're reading this. Anyway, moving onto the rest of my day. Now I had time to relax for a couple hours until I had lunch AGAIN. This time I went to Jersey Mike's with my best friend BRENNEN EISENHUT, who just returned home from his mission in Texas. I have talked about how amazing he is so many times, so I won't even bother talking about it now. I love him so much. After I spent my afternoon with him, I finished packing. I was probably most excited for that evening to see three more of my friends for the last time. Friends that have just recently become close friends but have left a huge impact on my life.
That night I hung out with Tyler, Hannah, and Joelle. Now Tyler I have known since sophomore year and she is amazing. She's the one who got me to join yearbook and she has always been there when I'm feeling down. I love the influence she has had on me. Hannah, I just met this year in yearbook and she is so funny and I love her to death. She's always super sweet towards me and always a great friend. Joelle, well... umm... Joelle I met this year, and as she already knows, I have a major crush on her. She is so nice to me and such a great friend. Although, I sometimes give off that creepy vibe, she is always there for me. Ugh, why is this making me miss everyone. Anyway, I love all three of them and they were the last ones I saw before I left Temecula. That night was a perfect ending to the childhood chapter in my life and a great way to start the next chapter in life.
So, Wednesday morning we got up and drove. By Wednesday night we had arrived in northern Salt Lake City, Utah. Thursday we got up and drove three hours to Rexburg, Idaho, my new home. I got to see my sister and spend the afternoon with her. Which reminds me, Monday morning was a very sentimental morning. I woke up at 5 am to say goodbye to my brother as he was leaving for a campout at Lake Powell and wouldn't be back until I got home. It was sad saying goodbye to him and I really do miss him. Anyway, I met one of my roommates Kade, from Canada. He is super fun to be around and super cool. The next day I said farewell to my parents and said bye to them for the next few months. I met another roommate, Chazz, from California. Later on that day, Bentley, from Texas, arrived.
Now I know what everyone is thinking, "Can you get to the part where life gets better after high school?" Well, yes. Ok. So that night, I went to play spikeball with my roommates and my sisters close friend just so happened to be out there with some girls he knew. These two random girls, Heidi and Dimani, invited us to go to the lake with them. We didn't know them for even five minutes and they already invited us to go somewhere. It was a great feeling to finally get invited somewhere. My first weekend and I already have friends. So the next day we went and partied at this river, where we went tubing and bridge jumping. That Monday, Katie, one of their roommates, took us to this little lake/river, place after class which was really cool. A couple days later, I went to the caves with Heidi and Chazz. Oh and EVERYNIGHT, they play volleyball on the center lawn at our apartment building. Man, within my first week of college I had more of a social life than I did all of senior year. I play basketball sometimes with people at the gym, I have met so many new people, and I just am able to be myself. No one judges each other here, IT'S FANTASTIC.
So you see, that's why I said it gets better after high school. HOWEVER, your results will vary. You can't just expect people to automatically befriend you, you gotta try yourself. But no matter who you are, you will fit in somewhere, you will find your group of friends, THERE WILL BE PEOPLE THERE. You just gotta find those people. Sure, I miss my friends back home. Heck, I miss Lauren, Evelyn, Ashlynn, Brennen, Hannah, Tyler, and Joelle so much. But I have started a new chapter in life and can't keep flipping back to other chapters. I have talked to them a little bit and still keep in contact but I sure do love it here. About an hour ago, I had the opportunity to spend half an hour on the phone talking to some of my high school friends who are still in high school because they were at the beach for a leadership retreat with my dad. It was phenomenal to catch up with them and hear everyone's voices. Anyway, that's pretty much it.
Remember everyone, HIGH SCHOOL SUCKS BUT COLLEGE WILL GET BETTER. I wish everyone the best of luck in life right now. Whether you're starting senior year, you're preparing for a mission, getting married, having your first baby or maybe your 8th, becoming empty nesters, retiring, whatever it may be, I wish you the best of luck. Keep pushing on. Once again, I love you all and thanks for reading.
So the day before I left for college was a great day. I started out in the morning packing and stuff and then two friends arrived. I hung out with Lauren and Evelyn for about an hour. These two girls, as I have talked about in my blog before, have been close friends for about a year and a half. Now originally, I considered them best friends, however, I realized my flaw in that. It started junior year as a joke on Twitter and I called them my BFF's. That sounds alright, but I realized that I tried turning it into reality. I was so in need for a best friend I kinda forced it into existence. So two problems, I was two years older and I was a boy. As I reached senior year, I came to a realization. They may not be my best friends but they are my BFF's. "What's the difference?" you may ask. I thought BFF although usually seen as super close best friends was different in my case. I soon started considering it as close friends who aren't best friends but still need a title. I was jealous when one would tweet, I love my best friend or My best friend is everything to me, usually referring to the other person. I came to know that they are two girls, the same age, who literally are best friends. How can I expect to be two years older and be best friends, that's just awkward. But I knew that they saw me as a close friend and it was ok to not be best friends. And I still love them as friends and think they are amazing people. Anyway, that friendship has seen a lot of ups and downs but in the end we have endured through all of our fights and struggles. They are amazing friends.
Now that was besides the point. Lets continue onto the rest of my day.
That was my last time seeing them, for now. I soon left after that for lunch with my friend Ashlynn. She has been like a second sister to me since 6th grade. Always there for me even when she hates me or is mad at me. I don't think I would ever have survived high school without her, I probably won't survive college unless I am always talking or texting her. It was a great lunch, as I got my last time to hang out with someone who has pretty much been my person for 7 years. Wow, this makes me sad. I'm starting to miss her now. Love you Ashlynn, if you're reading this. Anyway, moving onto the rest of my day. Now I had time to relax for a couple hours until I had lunch AGAIN. This time I went to Jersey Mike's with my best friend BRENNEN EISENHUT, who just returned home from his mission in Texas. I have talked about how amazing he is so many times, so I won't even bother talking about it now. I love him so much. After I spent my afternoon with him, I finished packing. I was probably most excited for that evening to see three more of my friends for the last time. Friends that have just recently become close friends but have left a huge impact on my life.
That night I hung out with Tyler, Hannah, and Joelle. Now Tyler I have known since sophomore year and she is amazing. She's the one who got me to join yearbook and she has always been there when I'm feeling down. I love the influence she has had on me. Hannah, I just met this year in yearbook and she is so funny and I love her to death. She's always super sweet towards me and always a great friend. Joelle, well... umm... Joelle I met this year, and as she already knows, I have a major crush on her. She is so nice to me and such a great friend. Although, I sometimes give off that creepy vibe, she is always there for me. Ugh, why is this making me miss everyone. Anyway, I love all three of them and they were the last ones I saw before I left Temecula. That night was a perfect ending to the childhood chapter in my life and a great way to start the next chapter in life.
So, Wednesday morning we got up and drove. By Wednesday night we had arrived in northern Salt Lake City, Utah. Thursday we got up and drove three hours to Rexburg, Idaho, my new home. I got to see my sister and spend the afternoon with her. Which reminds me, Monday morning was a very sentimental morning. I woke up at 5 am to say goodbye to my brother as he was leaving for a campout at Lake Powell and wouldn't be back until I got home. It was sad saying goodbye to him and I really do miss him. Anyway, I met one of my roommates Kade, from Canada. He is super fun to be around and super cool. The next day I said farewell to my parents and said bye to them for the next few months. I met another roommate, Chazz, from California. Later on that day, Bentley, from Texas, arrived.
Now I know what everyone is thinking, "Can you get to the part where life gets better after high school?" Well, yes. Ok. So that night, I went to play spikeball with my roommates and my sisters close friend just so happened to be out there with some girls he knew. These two random girls, Heidi and Dimani, invited us to go to the lake with them. We didn't know them for even five minutes and they already invited us to go somewhere. It was a great feeling to finally get invited somewhere. My first weekend and I already have friends. So the next day we went and partied at this river, where we went tubing and bridge jumping. That Monday, Katie, one of their roommates, took us to this little lake/river, place after class which was really cool. A couple days later, I went to the caves with Heidi and Chazz. Oh and EVERYNIGHT, they play volleyball on the center lawn at our apartment building. Man, within my first week of college I had more of a social life than I did all of senior year. I play basketball sometimes with people at the gym, I have met so many new people, and I just am able to be myself. No one judges each other here, IT'S FANTASTIC.
So you see, that's why I said it gets better after high school. HOWEVER, your results will vary. You can't just expect people to automatically befriend you, you gotta try yourself. But no matter who you are, you will fit in somewhere, you will find your group of friends, THERE WILL BE PEOPLE THERE. You just gotta find those people. Sure, I miss my friends back home. Heck, I miss Lauren, Evelyn, Ashlynn, Brennen, Hannah, Tyler, and Joelle so much. But I have started a new chapter in life and can't keep flipping back to other chapters. I have talked to them a little bit and still keep in contact but I sure do love it here. About an hour ago, I had the opportunity to spend half an hour on the phone talking to some of my high school friends who are still in high school because they were at the beach for a leadership retreat with my dad. It was phenomenal to catch up with them and hear everyone's voices. Anyway, that's pretty much it.
Remember everyone, HIGH SCHOOL SUCKS BUT COLLEGE WILL GET BETTER. I wish everyone the best of luck in life right now. Whether you're starting senior year, you're preparing for a mission, getting married, having your first baby or maybe your 8th, becoming empty nesters, retiring, whatever it may be, I wish you the best of luck. Keep pushing on. Once again, I love you all and thanks for reading.
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Peruvian lifestyle
It was a hot smoggy afternoon in LA. We drove to the airport hotel that my parents were staying in that night and I got prepared. We had dinner, took a shower, went through my whole suitcase again to make sure I was good, and then just relaxed.
At that time Rick text me "Michael, what time will you be arriving at the airport?" I replied "I'll be there around 10." Then we had a few more text about where to meet him. I was 2 hours out and couldn't contain my excitement. In 12 hours, I was going to be in Peru. At 9:30 PM we raced down with my stuff and headed to the airport.
Even at 9:45 at night, LAX is bumbling with cars and the traffic is bumper to bumper, I was nervous we weren't going to make it even though we had 3 hours. However, we finally pulled up to Tom Bradley International Airport at LAX. My parents were with me as I text Rick to see where he was to greet me. At that time, I see a bright, happy, smiling young adult in a lime green shirt coming my way. "Are you in Fiji or Peru?" he asked. "Peru," I replied. He was super excited by that response and I realized it was Rick.
Anyway, so he checked me in and then Solomon (Utah) and Hayden (Temecula) arrived followed by Lucas (Utah) and then Maya and Sabina (Virginia) arrived finishing with Hannah (California). After we had checked in and I said goodbye to my parents, the 7 of us decided to go to security. Rick had to wait for the final guy. We made it through security and met the rest of the group. Cassidy, Payton, Maycie, Kyra, Isabel, Ashley, Ryan, Diana, Jessica, Kallee, and then the parent coaches Krista and Gregg. Rick arrived with David around 11:15 and we got to know each other before our flight.
Now I will switch out of detailed story mode and quickly get through the days.
Thursday: Our flight left LAX and we had an 8 1/2 hour flight to Lima, Peru. After we had gone through customs and everything, we met McKinlee, our other trip leader. We had put our main luggage into a car to take to our hotel. Then we went back into the airport to make our flight to Cusco. One hour flight. Then we had a 2 hour bus ride to the train station followed by a 2 hour train ride to Aguas Calientes (the base of Machu Picchu).
Friday: We awoke at 5:15 to wait in line for the bus up to Machu Picchu. We hiked a steep incline up Huayana Picchu to a beautiful view. Then we toured Machu Picchu. From there, we went down to town and ate dinner then left for Cusco. We arrived in Cusco around 11.
Saturday: At this point, Eliza, who missed her flight to LAX and had to take a later one, finally arrived with us in Cusco. We walked to an old Incan Temple and toured it then walked to the market and bought souvenirs. After we had finished our souvenir shopping, we ate lunch and then left for the airport. We landed pretty late and then took two big vans to our hotel.
Sunday: This was a really humbling day and a really nice day. We had walked to church where we met the wonderful Peruvian members and how kind they were. From there, we traveled to the work site and first went to the top of one of the hills to overlook the valley that they lived in to see how much poverty they live in. Then we went down to the work site which was also a school to see a ceremony get put on for us. They spent two hours glorifying us and celebrating our presence. They gave a 5 minute prayer just thanking God for sending us. It was really neat. That night, we had a fireside with the youth of the ward.
Monday: I won't describe every work day because it would just be repetitive. Every workday consisted of shoveling, cement mixing, moving bricks, pulling nails out of wood, and moving wood. Monday night was Family Home Evening.
Tuesday: That night we had sports night. It was super fun and we had a blast.
Wednesday: This was a late work day. We had to race to the hotel to quickly shower and get ready. We left and went to Bembos which is a fast food place. Then we left for the fountains. The fountains were really pretty and super fun. That was a late night for us all and we pretty much went straight to bed.
Thursday: That night we had mutual and just played some games.
Friday: We had a stake dance. It was so much fun. I love the Peruvian music, its so cool. The dance was so much fun.
Saturday: We walked to the MTC, about a 15 minute walk, and had an amazing tour. We had to race back to get ready for sandboarding. It took about an hour to get to the place and then another 30 minutes to get to the actual dunes. Sandboarding was a blast. I wiped out a few times and Gregg took a few sick pictures. That night we went grocery shopping for some good Peruvian snacks.
Sunday: Church, scripture study, and walking through the streets of the outskirts of Lima with one other American and a 13 year old and a 15 year old Peruvian. That was cool. Then a fireside. That night we did stuff as a group at the hotel. We had a very spiritual night which involved all of us being really open about our personal lives.
Monday: Family home evening. Lunch we had a traditional Peruvian meal at Robert's house.
Tuesday: More mutual activities.
Wednesday: We had the talent show and we said our final goodbyes to the ward. It was a sad night.
Thursday: This was another sad day. We said farewell to Rick that morning as he went off to meet his next group. It was also our last workday. That night we had testimony meeting. Very funny moment. So a few kids were ordering pizza and I got in on it but not everyone was supposed to know. McKinlee found out but didn't mind. While we're in our spiritual moment, Krista starts singing "I Need Thee Every Hour", she didn't even finish the first line when there's a knock at the door. The front desk lady opens "The pizza man is downstairs." Everyone is laughing and it was hilarious. We had a fun night eating pizza.
Friday: We went to the work site where a few of the teachers made us chicken, rice, and potatoes. In addition, they gave us these cool picture frames, sang to us, and gave us candy. Then we all headed up to the preschool where they put on a small celebration. We took a picture on the wood roof that we had started and then left. It was about an hour bus ride to the catacombs at an old Incan/Spanish church. That was a fun tour. We walked around the equivalent of the White House to Peru then headed to the hotel. We had around three hours until we were leaving for the airport so we watched Harry Potter in the one remaining room cramming all of us in there. However, it was playing in Spanish, so Lucas gave us a hilarious translation in a Mexican accent. The bus ride over there was fun as we were all singing. We checked in and quickly got through security and customs then waited at our gate. Around 1:00 we said goodbye to McKinlee because she was heading off to Argentina. We boarded our plane which was a really nice Boeing 787 Dreamliner and we headed home.
Saturday morning we got to LAX, went through customs, met together outside, and said our final goodbyes.
Being in Peru taught me so many wonderful things. First off, that first Sunday really humbled me. I saw that they didn't have much but were still smiling at every moment. They were grateful for what they had. They may not have a floor but that doesn't stop them from living happily. Second, don't take things for granted. Here, whenever there is an addition to our schools, we think whatever and don't mind much. But there, they were so grateful that we were giving them two additional classrooms that were much needed. Third, the happiness of a child is the most precious thing in the world. Working with those preschool children twice a week, showed their happiness and love they had towards us and in general. It was so nice to see them and work with them. Lastly, the gospel is strong no matter where you go. The members there had such strong testimonies of Christ and the gospel. It was neat seeing them and how much they loved the gospel. The church has truly spread across the world and it is stronger than ever. Service can really strengthen yourself and your testimony. "When ye are in the service of your fellow being, ye are only in the service of your God." - Mosiah 2:17.
If you ever have the opportunity to do HEFY, DO IT. I wasn't going to do it because of price but decided that it didn't matter and I was just going to do it and I'm so grateful that I did. It will create lasting friendships and will transform you into a new person.
At that time Rick text me "Michael, what time will you be arriving at the airport?" I replied "I'll be there around 10." Then we had a few more text about where to meet him. I was 2 hours out and couldn't contain my excitement. In 12 hours, I was going to be in Peru. At 9:30 PM we raced down with my stuff and headed to the airport.
Even at 9:45 at night, LAX is bumbling with cars and the traffic is bumper to bumper, I was nervous we weren't going to make it even though we had 3 hours. However, we finally pulled up to Tom Bradley International Airport at LAX. My parents were with me as I text Rick to see where he was to greet me. At that time, I see a bright, happy, smiling young adult in a lime green shirt coming my way. "Are you in Fiji or Peru?" he asked. "Peru," I replied. He was super excited by that response and I realized it was Rick.
Anyway, so he checked me in and then Solomon (Utah) and Hayden (Temecula) arrived followed by Lucas (Utah) and then Maya and Sabina (Virginia) arrived finishing with Hannah (California). After we had checked in and I said goodbye to my parents, the 7 of us decided to go to security. Rick had to wait for the final guy. We made it through security and met the rest of the group. Cassidy, Payton, Maycie, Kyra, Isabel, Ashley, Ryan, Diana, Jessica, Kallee, and then the parent coaches Krista and Gregg. Rick arrived with David around 11:15 and we got to know each other before our flight.
Now I will switch out of detailed story mode and quickly get through the days.
Thursday: Our flight left LAX and we had an 8 1/2 hour flight to Lima, Peru. After we had gone through customs and everything, we met McKinlee, our other trip leader. We had put our main luggage into a car to take to our hotel. Then we went back into the airport to make our flight to Cusco. One hour flight. Then we had a 2 hour bus ride to the train station followed by a 2 hour train ride to Aguas Calientes (the base of Machu Picchu).
Friday: We awoke at 5:15 to wait in line for the bus up to Machu Picchu. We hiked a steep incline up Huayana Picchu to a beautiful view. Then we toured Machu Picchu. From there, we went down to town and ate dinner then left for Cusco. We arrived in Cusco around 11.
Saturday: At this point, Eliza, who missed her flight to LAX and had to take a later one, finally arrived with us in Cusco. We walked to an old Incan Temple and toured it then walked to the market and bought souvenirs. After we had finished our souvenir shopping, we ate lunch and then left for the airport. We landed pretty late and then took two big vans to our hotel.
Sunday: This was a really humbling day and a really nice day. We had walked to church where we met the wonderful Peruvian members and how kind they were. From there, we traveled to the work site and first went to the top of one of the hills to overlook the valley that they lived in to see how much poverty they live in. Then we went down to the work site which was also a school to see a ceremony get put on for us. They spent two hours glorifying us and celebrating our presence. They gave a 5 minute prayer just thanking God for sending us. It was really neat. That night, we had a fireside with the youth of the ward.
Monday: I won't describe every work day because it would just be repetitive. Every workday consisted of shoveling, cement mixing, moving bricks, pulling nails out of wood, and moving wood. Monday night was Family Home Evening.
Tuesday: That night we had sports night. It was super fun and we had a blast.
Wednesday: This was a late work day. We had to race to the hotel to quickly shower and get ready. We left and went to Bembos which is a fast food place. Then we left for the fountains. The fountains were really pretty and super fun. That was a late night for us all and we pretty much went straight to bed.
Thursday: That night we had mutual and just played some games.
Friday: We had a stake dance. It was so much fun. I love the Peruvian music, its so cool. The dance was so much fun.
Saturday: We walked to the MTC, about a 15 minute walk, and had an amazing tour. We had to race back to get ready for sandboarding. It took about an hour to get to the place and then another 30 minutes to get to the actual dunes. Sandboarding was a blast. I wiped out a few times and Gregg took a few sick pictures. That night we went grocery shopping for some good Peruvian snacks.
Sunday: Church, scripture study, and walking through the streets of the outskirts of Lima with one other American and a 13 year old and a 15 year old Peruvian. That was cool. Then a fireside. That night we did stuff as a group at the hotel. We had a very spiritual night which involved all of us being really open about our personal lives.
Monday: Family home evening. Lunch we had a traditional Peruvian meal at Robert's house.
Tuesday: More mutual activities.
Wednesday: We had the talent show and we said our final goodbyes to the ward. It was a sad night.
Thursday: This was another sad day. We said farewell to Rick that morning as he went off to meet his next group. It was also our last workday. That night we had testimony meeting. Very funny moment. So a few kids were ordering pizza and I got in on it but not everyone was supposed to know. McKinlee found out but didn't mind. While we're in our spiritual moment, Krista starts singing "I Need Thee Every Hour", she didn't even finish the first line when there's a knock at the door. The front desk lady opens "The pizza man is downstairs." Everyone is laughing and it was hilarious. We had a fun night eating pizza.
Friday: We went to the work site where a few of the teachers made us chicken, rice, and potatoes. In addition, they gave us these cool picture frames, sang to us, and gave us candy. Then we all headed up to the preschool where they put on a small celebration. We took a picture on the wood roof that we had started and then left. It was about an hour bus ride to the catacombs at an old Incan/Spanish church. That was a fun tour. We walked around the equivalent of the White House to Peru then headed to the hotel. We had around three hours until we were leaving for the airport so we watched Harry Potter in the one remaining room cramming all of us in there. However, it was playing in Spanish, so Lucas gave us a hilarious translation in a Mexican accent. The bus ride over there was fun as we were all singing. We checked in and quickly got through security and customs then waited at our gate. Around 1:00 we said goodbye to McKinlee because she was heading off to Argentina. We boarded our plane which was a really nice Boeing 787 Dreamliner and we headed home.
Saturday morning we got to LAX, went through customs, met together outside, and said our final goodbyes.
Being in Peru taught me so many wonderful things. First off, that first Sunday really humbled me. I saw that they didn't have much but were still smiling at every moment. They were grateful for what they had. They may not have a floor but that doesn't stop them from living happily. Second, don't take things for granted. Here, whenever there is an addition to our schools, we think whatever and don't mind much. But there, they were so grateful that we were giving them two additional classrooms that were much needed. Third, the happiness of a child is the most precious thing in the world. Working with those preschool children twice a week, showed their happiness and love they had towards us and in general. It was so nice to see them and work with them. Lastly, the gospel is strong no matter where you go. The members there had such strong testimonies of Christ and the gospel. It was neat seeing them and how much they loved the gospel. The church has truly spread across the world and it is stronger than ever. Service can really strengthen yourself and your testimony. "When ye are in the service of your fellow being, ye are only in the service of your God." - Mosiah 2:17.
If you ever have the opportunity to do HEFY, DO IT. I wasn't going to do it because of price but decided that it didn't matter and I was just going to do it and I'm so grateful that I did. It will create lasting friendships and will transform you into a new person.
Another mission and life update
This is a little late but here is another update. I am writing another one right now.
So I figured I'd make an update about life and my mission papers. So let's start from a few weeks ago.
So a few weeks ago, I finished my papers and interviewed with my bishop waiting for a few medical papers to finish. I then went to get an interview with my stake president however he said I had to get an assessment done because of my Aspergers and ADD. So I left for vacation and when I came back had an interview right away. Fast forward to today (June 26th, 2016) I meet with my stake president but still need one more medical thing and Salt Lake still needs to review my assessment. While I am frustrated and want to finally get my papers in, I know that Lord is doing this on purpose, teaching me patience and to have all my work done. So, I hope to have that all done by Wednesday.
Onto life.
Well, life is going great. I graduated from Great Oak earlier this month. I finished my job in Old Town and most excitedly, I leave Wednesday for a humanitarian aid trip in Peru. That's the reason I need everything to be completed by Wednesday, if not I'll be waiting a couple months. So that Peru trip - I'll be gone for 2 1/2 weeks and will be building school classrooms outside of Lima, Peru. In addition, I'll be hiking Machu Picchu the first weekend. I'm so grateful to be able to serve the people of Lima, Peru. From there, I leave for BYU Idaho's summer session for 7 weeks. That will be very exciting. Other than that, life has just been filled with relaxation with a little bit of stress due to my messy bedroom that I haven't cleaned yet, and hanging out with family. Packing for a foreign country is way harder than it seems and does put stress on you but it's worth it.
Once again, keep your head up everyone and don't let people tear you down. Thank you all for reading my blog, even if it's short, it means a lot. Love you all. I'll make sure to post about Peru when I get home.
Michael Skaggs
So I figured I'd make an update about life and my mission papers. So let's start from a few weeks ago.
So a few weeks ago, I finished my papers and interviewed with my bishop waiting for a few medical papers to finish. I then went to get an interview with my stake president however he said I had to get an assessment done because of my Aspergers and ADD. So I left for vacation and when I came back had an interview right away. Fast forward to today (June 26th, 2016) I meet with my stake president but still need one more medical thing and Salt Lake still needs to review my assessment. While I am frustrated and want to finally get my papers in, I know that Lord is doing this on purpose, teaching me patience and to have all my work done. So, I hope to have that all done by Wednesday.
Onto life.
Well, life is going great. I graduated from Great Oak earlier this month. I finished my job in Old Town and most excitedly, I leave Wednesday for a humanitarian aid trip in Peru. That's the reason I need everything to be completed by Wednesday, if not I'll be waiting a couple months. So that Peru trip - I'll be gone for 2 1/2 weeks and will be building school classrooms outside of Lima, Peru. In addition, I'll be hiking Machu Picchu the first weekend. I'm so grateful to be able to serve the people of Lima, Peru. From there, I leave for BYU Idaho's summer session for 7 weeks. That will be very exciting. Other than that, life has just been filled with relaxation with a little bit of stress due to my messy bedroom that I haven't cleaned yet, and hanging out with family. Packing for a foreign country is way harder than it seems and does put stress on you but it's worth it.
Once again, keep your head up everyone and don't let people tear you down. Thank you all for reading my blog, even if it's short, it means a lot. Love you all. I'll make sure to post about Peru when I get home.
Michael Skaggs
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Trust in your friends and family: a post lost in time
Before you read, this is an event that happened to me back in February and I wrote this blog but didn't feel comfortable sharing until now. I will write the update at the end of this blog post right now.
I have a story to share right now about choices, parents, and friends. Currently happening right now but it's teaching me life lessons.
I'm sitting in my room yesterday when my mom comes in and wants to talk to me. She expresses that she feels that there's something wrong with me. As she shares her concerns I try to assure her that there was nothing wrong and everything was fine. But she insisted that she had a feeling with her mother's instinct that something was wrong. After a few awkward minutes I had confessed to something I did, nothing seriously bad (maybe I'll talk about it in the future if I feel necessary), but it was enough to make her disappointed. She knows who I always hang out with and assumed who else did it and asked. I then explained everything to her, since she knew who I was with and who I always hang out with. She explained that she feels that their parents should know, too. Knowing that they might get in trouble, I pleaded to not talk to their parents but they insisted and said that I can talk to my friends first.
I then called my friends and told them I needed to talk to them. Before I talked to them I was worried. I knew that they would be mad and as much as I can't live without them, I knew that I needed to be honest with my parents and I was preparing to have to live without them for however long I have to. Now keep in mind, I confessed to what I did and never told my mom about them and she just figured it out. We went to pick up my friend to take her to her to my other friends house to talk.
Before we started our chat I expressed to them how much I love them, how much I care for them, I told them that I would do anything for them. We've had so many great memories and I couldn't afford to lose them. I went on to explain to them the chat I had with my parents. And their response was exactly what I predicted. They were mad that I had told my parents and thought that I had snitched on them. I attempted to save my friendship with everything I had but I knew that what I had done was right for me and I was going to have to accept the outcome. My mom was able to explain to them in more detail as we drove to a church broadcast. I expressed for the last time how much I cared for them and let them go on their way.
Now I tell this because I want everyone to learn from this. I haven't been able to concentrate at all today. I left school early today because I couldn't handle being at school with all the stress and thoughts. But I've learned a few things from this.
1. No matter what happens always have faith in your friends. Don't ever let them go. You may think that they have left but NO, they are always there and you just can't give up. Right now they're gone but I am not losing hope. I care about them so much that I will stay and try to keep them.
2. Let God take control. He will help you through your trials and will guide you. He is there for a reason. Jesus atoned for our sins. He died for us. And he knows what we are going through. You're not going through it alone. God is there to answer our prayers. Don't ever give up.
And one last thing. Don't always wish bad upon them. I would rather my two best friends who are closer with each other keep their friendship and me not be allowed to hang out with them than to ruin their friendship. I see how much they cherish their friendship and understand that their friendship is more important. I care about them so much that I'm willing to give up my friendship so they can keep theirs. Who knows how long it will be until things are resolved but for now all I gotta do is hope for the best in their future and just trust God.
Three months later: so I didn't know how things would go. I was worried for weeks to come that they wouldn't talk to me forever. It was about a week or two later and after a few long text of apologizing, they started accepting my apology and recognizing that we all did something wrong. We have now hung out a few time's and I have been there for them whenever they needed someone. In fact, I might be hanging out with one of them tonight if things work out. So in the end, what God wants for us is what he'll give us and if he wants things to work out for us he will make it work out. "Trust in the Lord" Proverbs 3:5-6 because he will help you and guide you if you have faith that he will help you. Michael Skaggs
I have a story to share right now about choices, parents, and friends. Currently happening right now but it's teaching me life lessons.
I'm sitting in my room yesterday when my mom comes in and wants to talk to me. She expresses that she feels that there's something wrong with me. As she shares her concerns I try to assure her that there was nothing wrong and everything was fine. But she insisted that she had a feeling with her mother's instinct that something was wrong. After a few awkward minutes I had confessed to something I did, nothing seriously bad (maybe I'll talk about it in the future if I feel necessary), but it was enough to make her disappointed. She knows who I always hang out with and assumed who else did it and asked. I then explained everything to her, since she knew who I was with and who I always hang out with. She explained that she feels that their parents should know, too. Knowing that they might get in trouble, I pleaded to not talk to their parents but they insisted and said that I can talk to my friends first.
I then called my friends and told them I needed to talk to them. Before I talked to them I was worried. I knew that they would be mad and as much as I can't live without them, I knew that I needed to be honest with my parents and I was preparing to have to live without them for however long I have to. Now keep in mind, I confessed to what I did and never told my mom about them and she just figured it out. We went to pick up my friend to take her to her to my other friends house to talk.
Before we started our chat I expressed to them how much I love them, how much I care for them, I told them that I would do anything for them. We've had so many great memories and I couldn't afford to lose them. I went on to explain to them the chat I had with my parents. And their response was exactly what I predicted. They were mad that I had told my parents and thought that I had snitched on them. I attempted to save my friendship with everything I had but I knew that what I had done was right for me and I was going to have to accept the outcome. My mom was able to explain to them in more detail as we drove to a church broadcast. I expressed for the last time how much I cared for them and let them go on their way.
Now I tell this because I want everyone to learn from this. I haven't been able to concentrate at all today. I left school early today because I couldn't handle being at school with all the stress and thoughts. But I've learned a few things from this.
1. No matter what happens always have faith in your friends. Don't ever let them go. You may think that they have left but NO, they are always there and you just can't give up. Right now they're gone but I am not losing hope. I care about them so much that I will stay and try to keep them.
2. Let God take control. He will help you through your trials and will guide you. He is there for a reason. Jesus atoned for our sins. He died for us. And he knows what we are going through. You're not going through it alone. God is there to answer our prayers. Don't ever give up.
And one last thing. Don't always wish bad upon them. I would rather my two best friends who are closer with each other keep their friendship and me not be allowed to hang out with them than to ruin their friendship. I see how much they cherish their friendship and understand that their friendship is more important. I care about them so much that I'm willing to give up my friendship so they can keep theirs. Who knows how long it will be until things are resolved but for now all I gotta do is hope for the best in their future and just trust God.
Three months later: so I didn't know how things would go. I was worried for weeks to come that they wouldn't talk to me forever. It was about a week or two later and after a few long text of apologizing, they started accepting my apology and recognizing that we all did something wrong. We have now hung out a few time's and I have been there for them whenever they needed someone. In fact, I might be hanging out with one of them tonight if things work out. So in the end, what God wants for us is what he'll give us and if he wants things to work out for us he will make it work out. "Trust in the Lord" Proverbs 3:5-6 because he will help you and guide you if you have faith that he will help you. Michael Skaggs
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
One and half years later...
So a year and a half later, my sister will finally be home from her mission on Temple Square. She gets home Wednesday and boy has it been a blessing. I can't believe that 18 months ago I was saying goodbye to her at the MTC in Provo. Crazy to think. So much has happened since that has blessed my life greatly.
Now of course a rare thing happened for me where I was able to visit her while she was on her mission. Last June, I remember it like it was yesterday. We had parked in the parking structure and we might've gone to the mall first. Anyway we walked over, knowing we were seconds from seeing her and then walked into the visitors center. From there we walked out the other side and peeked around the corner. And bravo!!! I see her. Now we quietly walked over there and she finally saw us and kind of motioned for us to keep walking because she was talking to someone. However she finished and I ran up to her and whispered an inside joke into her ear. Now we were supposed to spend two hours with her but with the tour and lunch, it ended up being about two and half hours. It was a great moment to see her. But we had to say our goodbyes and see her later.
But wait!!! She invited us to see Music and the Spoken word the following morning, Sunday. So we did. We arrived and parked in the parking garage where no one else was and decided to take the stairs up. Well, we ended up walking into the CLOSED mall and were like awkward and quickly (before security saw us) walked back down and went another way. We got to spend another hour and a half with her. It was joyous. So its been now 8 months since I've seen her and I can't wait until Wednesday.
So let's flashback to the day we said goodbye. We woke up Wednesday morning and left our cousins house. We stopped to eat at Cafe Rio and that's where a thousand other missionaries were (exaggerating). Then we went to the Provo temple to take pictures where of course another thousand missionaries were. Her drop off time was I think 1:30. So after the pictures we went to drop her off. We had about two minutes to say goodbye. I was a wreck along with my mom and dad. My brother wasn't however. We dropped her off then went to Rita's where my mom was just uncontrollably crying. We drove by the MTC and couldn't help but cry because that's where our sister was. The next few days were rough, too, because she was so close yet so far away. When we were on the freeway driving home you could barely see the MTC but we just thought to ourselves, there's Jennifer.
Fast forward to the day we saw her. I went to EFY the following week in Salt Lake at the University of Utah. It was weird because I was with some amazing new friends but my sister was so close to me. Her presence, just a few miles away, was comforting and helped me feel at peace. I don't think I could've survived EFY without that feeling.
Anyway, it's Wednesday now and we're leaving soon to go get my sister. We're about 3 hours out and I couldn't be more excited. This was a very exciting journey for our family and we're sad but happy that it's coming to an end. Her mission has helped strengthen my testimony and know the gospel is true. The next journey may begin in September if I decide to leave on my mission at that time. I'm excited for my journey and know it will be a great one.
Michael Skaggs
Now of course a rare thing happened for me where I was able to visit her while she was on her mission. Last June, I remember it like it was yesterday. We had parked in the parking structure and we might've gone to the mall first. Anyway we walked over, knowing we were seconds from seeing her and then walked into the visitors center. From there we walked out the other side and peeked around the corner. And bravo!!! I see her. Now we quietly walked over there and she finally saw us and kind of motioned for us to keep walking because she was talking to someone. However she finished and I ran up to her and whispered an inside joke into her ear. Now we were supposed to spend two hours with her but with the tour and lunch, it ended up being about two and half hours. It was a great moment to see her. But we had to say our goodbyes and see her later.
But wait!!! She invited us to see Music and the Spoken word the following morning, Sunday. So we did. We arrived and parked in the parking garage where no one else was and decided to take the stairs up. Well, we ended up walking into the CLOSED mall and were like awkward and quickly (before security saw us) walked back down and went another way. We got to spend another hour and a half with her. It was joyous. So its been now 8 months since I've seen her and I can't wait until Wednesday.
So let's flashback to the day we said goodbye. We woke up Wednesday morning and left our cousins house. We stopped to eat at Cafe Rio and that's where a thousand other missionaries were (exaggerating). Then we went to the Provo temple to take pictures where of course another thousand missionaries were. Her drop off time was I think 1:30. So after the pictures we went to drop her off. We had about two minutes to say goodbye. I was a wreck along with my mom and dad. My brother wasn't however. We dropped her off then went to Rita's where my mom was just uncontrollably crying. We drove by the MTC and couldn't help but cry because that's where our sister was. The next few days were rough, too, because she was so close yet so far away. When we were on the freeway driving home you could barely see the MTC but we just thought to ourselves, there's Jennifer.
Fast forward to the day we saw her. I went to EFY the following week in Salt Lake at the University of Utah. It was weird because I was with some amazing new friends but my sister was so close to me. Her presence, just a few miles away, was comforting and helped me feel at peace. I don't think I could've survived EFY without that feeling.
Anyway, it's Wednesday now and we're leaving soon to go get my sister. We're about 3 hours out and I couldn't be more excited. This was a very exciting journey for our family and we're sad but happy that it's coming to an end. Her mission has helped strengthen my testimony and know the gospel is true. The next journey may begin in September if I decide to leave on my mission at that time. I'm excited for my journey and know it will be a great one.
Michael Skaggs
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