My new experiment - no electronic devices

 No Apple Watch, no laptop, no television, no iPhone... what is this 1824? No, it's 2020 and my new experiment.

This past week without social media has shown me that I don't need social media. I've become less focused on it and focused on other things. When I get bored, I've found other things to occupy my mind than social media. Well, it's mainly been watching Disney+. This week has been a great week and really helped me grow a lot. So, it got me thinking, what can I do next? What can I do to improve myself and grow? What else can I do to possibly inspire others? Or to make others do the complete opposite thing? And it came to me...

No electronic devices. I've decided to go without a phone, laptop, Apple Watch, and television for ONE WEEK. I've purchased an alarm clock and battery powered watch to keep track of time. 

This experiment is a hard one. I've gone without social media before, for two years. However, there has never gone a day where I haven't gone without electronic devices. You can possibly count the time I went to Peru, but I wouldn't count that. That wasn't necessarily a voluntary action. I guess going on the trip was voluntary, but I had to give up my electronic devices. This will be the first time I am living my full life, but giving up electronics. 

Before I move onto what I hope to accomplish from this, I will put a disclaimer that I won't be 100% away from electronic devices. The exception is using the computer at Taco Bell, but that is basically for taking orders, so it doesn't really count.

What do I hope to accomplish from this?

I hope to have a better appreciation for technology when I am finished. I want to be able to recognize the power behind technology and how much it is needed in my life. 

In addition to having a better appreciation, I also hope to recognize how much control technology has over my life. We rely so much on technology, we don't ever take time away from it and to appreciate other parts of life. So, although I hope to learn how I need it so much, I also hope to learn how I don't need it. 

Another goal of my mine is to focus more time on reading, including my scripture study. I haven't been very good with my scripture study and I want to focus more on it. I hope that I'll have more time to focus my mind on important things instead of just watching tv and playing games. 

I understand this may be a struggle to comprehend because I'll be away from text messages and emails, things that are necessary, but I think it'll help me. There is nothing super important that I'll need from my emails or text messages. In fact, maybe I'll appreciate that even more.

In the end, this may end up being a giant struggle and I may not even survive it, but it never hurts to try. It never hurts to challenge myself and push myself to my limits. 

I plan on getting off tonight and staying off until next Monday. I will update you guys on what I learned next week. And depending on how I feel, I may even get back onto social media for a quick day too. It all depends on how I feel. 

Until then, I am signing off and I'll talk to all of you next week.

-Michael Skaggs

Unexpected Blessings: My "failed" birthday trip to Rexburg

Turning 22 seemed like a perfect time. I expected it to go as planned and I had everything set and ready to go. My weekend was supposed to be the best birthday ever and be the best weekend ever. I had everything planned minute by minute. I looked forward to everything. I was going to see old friends and visit old places. It would be a weekend to remember. A weekend that I would never forget. But... that's not how the weekend went.

My trip started off with my flight taking off at 6:45 in the morning. I was extremely tired, but I woke up anyway. Arrived and immediately took a Lyft ride to the car rental place. I had the nicest driver ever and we enjoyed a little trip to the place. They gave me a great car, although, I didn't like the gas mileage. 

The plan originally called for me going and spending the whole entire afternoon in Provo and seeing a couple people, but days leading up to the day, it got changed. I visited with an old mission companion and then my friend Bri. I hadn't seen her in 2 and a half years and it was a joy to see her. 

Instead of spending the day in Provo, I decided to go up and visit a family friend in Heber. Sister Eisenhut is like a second mother to me. I got to visit with her and then visit the farm they have and see her horses. It was a beautiful afternoon visiting with her. It was an unexpected blessing to see her again and talk to her.

From there, I took the dreaded drive up to Rexburg. I know the Lord was looking out for me because I almost fell asleep multiple times, but I made sure to pull over and take breaks about 4 times. I did not want to put my life or the life of others at risk.

Arriving into Rexburg felt amazing. I couldn't believe I was finally home. Rexburg has become one of my favorite places ever. I crashed with one of my mission buddies and together we decided to go visit another mission buddy. That was an unexpected blessing because this former elder has one of the kindest souls, brightest smiles, happiest personalities, and strongest testimonies of anyone I've ever known. 

Friday morning, I visited a former assistant and then went to Bear World. Now this may sound like a silly unexpected blessing, but I had the opportunity to feed the baby cubs. The reservation was supposed to be full, but they always allow walk ups and I had the opportunity to feed a baby cub for my birthday. I also saw an old friend who was visiting with her daughter and parents. 

Everything that happened on Friday was unexpected. My original plan, once again, called for me to go down to Pocatello with a friend and eat at Red Lobster. However, I got a text the day before explaining that she had a last minute request from work to go to Montana. I can't hold it against her. My Friday may not have gone as planned, but it was still a blessing. 

The rest of my Friday consisted of Red Robin, WinCo, visiting old roommates, visiting a friend I hadn't seen in 3 1/2 years, and seeing a movie.

Saturday became the biggest unexpected blessing of the whole weekend. I originally planned to go hiking in the Tetons with a couple friends, but we planned together that we should do something else. Instead, I decided to go to her roommates house and help her family prepare for a wedding luncheon they were hosting. I ended up spending 5 hours at their house, getting to know them. They were the kindest people and I enjoyed my time with them. Towards the end, I learned that they knew my dad and grew up with him. It was the start of a bright new friendship. I was happy to spend time with them and get to know them. Making new friends turned out to be a blessing.

I spent the evening visiting another friend I hadn't seen in four years. Went to dinner with my sister, saw some old mission friends, went to the straw maze, and then saw my mission father. In the end, it was a blessed day.

My birthday turned out to be phenomenal. It didn't go as planned, but I loved it. I went to visit with a good friend of mine who I hadn't seen in a couple years. We also went to sacrament together. After sacrament, I raced back home to get ready to see a friend I hadn't seen in two years. 

This friend has always been a great influence on me. A friend that I can always go to and talk to. Although, we didn't start off on the right foot, we have turned into amazing friends. We went hiking down to Cress Creek together and then went to Mesa Falls. At this time, I was enjoying my birthday. Well, of course I was. I was hanging out with one of my greatest friends, I was spending time in nature and I was 22. However, things sort of changed.

I had planned on spending a few hours with some other friends later on that evening. On my way back, they called me and asked to go hiking. I had to decline because I still had plans to hang out with the family I met and I didn't want to just ditch my other friend. I will be honest, I know this wasn't their intention, but I felt betrayed. I know they invited me, but I didn't know how long they would be gone. I didn't know if I would still be able to hang out with them. I didn't know if they would have any time for me. I didn't expect them to cater to me, but I had been looking forward to hanging out with them for such a long time. I was ecstatic to see them and it was somewhat disappointing to miss out on hanging out with them.

I persevered though. I continued on. I picked up my sister and we went to the house of the family I met the day before. It was funny. When my friends called, I told them I was going to their roommates house. Their reply, "well, so and so won't be there." 

Me: I know, but their parents want me to come over. 

I found it hilarious though because I wasn't going over for their roommates, I was going over for the family. I had a great evening with the family. It was another unexpected blessing because I went from having a rough evening to enjoying the time spent with people who I now considered family. I also forgot to mention that I was driving down the road when I saw an old mission zone leader from Vegas. I quickly stopped and turned around to quickly talk to him. Once again, an unexpected blessing.

Later that evening, I still got to visit with those friends. And it turns out, it wasn't for nothing. They ended up throwing a small birthday party for me. It really wasn't a birthday party, but more like just a few of their friends and then them. Their friends were over so they decided to sing happy birthday to me since they were there. The unexpected blessing of friends who truly care.

Monday morning, I got to spend a little bit of time saying goodbye to my friend and catch up a little bit. We did a little bit of scripture study together and I met her sister. 

The rest of Monday was amazing. I met up with another old mission companion. Then I got to visit my mission. Visiting my old mission was an expected blessing because I knew that was going to happen and it truly was a blessing to see it. Things had changed a lot, but I enjoyed seeing the place where I spent 2 years serving God. I was with an old mission buddy that whole entire time and we were able to catch up. We finished our evening by having dinner with our mission president. It truly was a blessing to see him and visit with him. My mission president was the greatest blessing of my mission.

The trip came to a quick end and I wasn't ready to leave Utah and Idaho. However, I had to go home and return to life. I had to return to work and everything else. But, as you can see my birthday weekend didn't go as planned. In fact, I don't think anything went as planned except for like two or three things. Most of it was changed last minute and didn't go the way I wanted it to go. But, as you can see, every plan that was changed, led to an unexpected blessing. These unexpected blessings were filled with hope and love and joy. It created memories I will never forget and I will always be appreciative of them. 

This "failed" birthday trip taught me to always look for the blessings in the smallest of things. I was reminded that Heavenly Father is always looking out for us and putting people in our lives that we are meant to know. God loves us and wants us to succeed. So, I guess you can say it wasn't a failed birthday trip. It was a successful birthday trip with just a ton of obstacles. I wouldn't change the weekend for anything. I will always cherish my 22nd birthday.

The new family I met (The Waldron's)

Drew Whiffen, a former assistant.

Sister Eisenhut, a second mother to me.

Feeding the bear cubs 

My decision to take a break

 You know when life just throws a bunch of curve balls at you and you have no idea what to do, well, that’s where I am at right now. Not exactly a huge curve ball. I fully predicted all the curveballs that were thrown at me, but it still caught me off guard. But, these curveballs made me start thinking and contemplating a lot of things. So, here I am: day 2 without social media and relying fully on my blog for all things. 

Now, I know some people may question how this can possibly be considered a break from social media. For me, this is a huge step in the right direction. It’s a way for me to help you guys stay connected to me, but to isolate myself from the world. Ok. Fine. I guess I’m not isolating myself from the world considering I work two jobs so I’m still with the world, but you get what I mean. I can’t completely just take time off of life. Anyway, my blog is a way to express myself and write my thoughts. Although, I’ve never considered myself a writer, writing has always cleared my mind. Oftentimes, when I am in fights with friends or arguments, letters are what I resort to. I can’t tell you how often I wrote letters to various friends in high school. And they would sometimes be like 4 or 5 pages long. 

Writing gets me through difficult times. Writing comforts me. Writing saves my friendships. Writing calms me. Writing does way more than anything else can. It’s a side hobby that I don’t actually use very often. But, when I do, I take advantage of it. I understand the power in it and I soar through the sky with my writing.

With all this cleared up, I want to share what you guys can expect from these blog posts. There’s a lot that I will include and I want everyone to know that you can always share them. I don’t care who sees these. It’s for the world to see. And I want everyone to know my story. So, now getting to the point, here is a variety of things you may be able to find from my future blog posts:

Updates on my break from social media, updates on how life is going, funny stories from work including all the Karen's I deal with, my thoughts on certain gospel and spiritual topics including general conference this weekend, stories from my mission, and so much more. I plan on just expressing myself in all that I share. I hope that many of followers and people who read this will enjoy it. I will probably make myself vulnerable and expose parts of my life I had never planned to expose. My hopes in doing that is so you will understand that everyone has a story. Everyone has their struggles in life and there is so much more that happens in someone's life than the stuff you read or see on social media. My life is usually shown to be fun and loving in my posts, but that is why I decided to take a break from it. You guys will now hear about the ups and downs of life. The struggles and the accomplishments. 

I hope you guys will learn how to take life and run with it. Learn from your mistakes and understand that nobody is perfect. We all face challenges in life. We must all persevere and press forward. 

I'm excited to take this journey with all of you. I can't wait for you guys to see more into my life and take a look into what I do. When I come out of this, I hope that I am more comfortable with being honest with others and opening up to others. 

So, I introduce you guys to my next line of blogs which will be filled with fun and entertainment. Thank you for joining me in this. You are all wonderful and I'm delighted to have all of you here. 

And the fun begins!

The story of my soda addiction

Hey everyone,

I want to share about my soda addiction and the backstory to it. And I want to share my journey to quitting it and how it's been. Now a lot of people may say, "oh, a soda addiction, this isn't as bad as a smoking or drinking addiction." However, any addiction can be as bad as an alcohol or drug addiction if it takes over your life. If it decides to control you and your lifestyle, then it's a bad addiction. I hope my story can help those who may be struggling with SIMILAR addictions such as sugar, junk food, or soda.

So, I want to take you back to my journey. Growing up, I drank soda occasionally. It wasn't a common thing and when my parents let me have soda, it was occasionally at restaurants. But, that rarely happened. In fact, I used to think caffeine was against my religion. I had cousins who drank caffeine and I was always judgmental in my mind and outwardly judgmental to others. It was a toxic mindset, which caused me harm as I viewed others negatively.

I gradually changed my mindset as my parents became more relaxed on me drinking caffeine. Apparently I wasn't allowed to drink it because of my ADD and they didn't want me getting too hyper. From that, I begin drinking caffeine. Now keep in my mind, I had still been drinking soda.

This started a problem. In high school, I would drink it at school events and at home. When I went to Peru, I drank a ton of Inca Kola. The greatest stuff ever. I was obsessed with it. I loved it. I found it at stores in college and would drink a ton. And then I reached college and my soda addiction got worse. I just kept drinking soda. I would go to college events and parties and drink all the soda available there. And I didn't regret it. I realized I had a problem when I was at an end of the semester get together and had probably 4 or 5 cans of soda. At that moment, I knew I need a stop.

So I did. For seven weeks. I had seven weeks until my next semester and I wanted to try and go the whole time without drinking soda. There were many times I could have drank soda. We went on vacation and even then I decided not to drink soda. I remember one particular moment, we went to Burger King (a restaurant I haven't been to in like 3 years), and we got a combo. I still didn't drink the soda. Anyway, I didn't drink soda.

As school was coming up, I started drinking soda again. It became a natural part of my diet. I implemented it again and didn't give it up. For the rest of that semester, I continued to drink soda. In fact, I would have soda almost every night. My friend Val lived at Mountain Lofts and they had a little store in their clubhouse. Val and I would grab sodas there all the time. 

School came to an end, I went home, and then my mission happened. Now, when I first entered the mission field in Vegas, soda wasn't a huge part of my diet. However, it was still in my diet. Once again, I didn't think it was a problem. 

I want to fast forward to the good stuff. Fast forward to my mission in Salt Lake.

I began drinking a lot of soda in Salt Lake. Mission activities and other events. Whenever I could get my hands on soda, I had it. I wanted it. Each p-day, I swear I would buy a ton. Towards the end of 2018, I ended up buying a 20 pack of soda. Funny story: some lady at the store made a snarky comment to my companion about me drinking caffeine. People need to mind their own dang business.

Quitting soda wasn't easy. But, it was a long time coming. One day, I woke up decided I didn't need it. The first step to doing so, though was to get rid of it. You can't quit something and then continue to have it in your house. I gave all my soda away to other missionaries. 

But, that wasn't all. You see, getting rid of the soda was the easy part. All I had to do was hand it out. There really isn't much effort on that part. The hard part was the self control. I had to control my instinct to drink soda. I had to control my desires. I had to control the natural man within me that said to drink soda. However, it ended up getting easier and easier.

After a year and a half, I have almost zero desire for soda. I don't really crave it and I never feel like drinking it. So, how do you go about it doing this?

Well, I don't expect everyone to cold turkey every addiction they have. Yes, that can sometimes be the best thing to do, but it's not always the easiest. Something you must do is get rid of the cause of your addiction. For me, I got rid of the soda in my apartment. It was hard at first, but I was happy to do it. 

Then I tried my best to stay away from it. I had countless opportunities to have soda after that. I would be at a restaurant and want to order it. Or I would want to get some at the vending machines in the Family History Library. Or I would want to buy some from the store. But, I refused to do so. I controlled myself.

If you ever find yourself struggling with this then have someone hold you accountable. Find a friend who can keep you in check. This is an important thing to keep in mind. You will probably not be able to accomplish a lot on your own. You need a friend or a loved one who will help you and motivate you to stay strong. This can be your greatest strength. Don't do this alone.

I hope this was of some help. I apologize this is so late and unorganized. I started this two months ago and then rushed through it just right now. I swear my stuff will get back to having quality.

I hope whatever addiction you may have that you're trying to get rid of, that you will be beat it. I hope that you can strengthen yourself and find the courage and strength to get over it. I know that you can. If you ever need help or advice, then please talk to me. All of you are amazing. I love you all!

Michael Skaggs

Michael's journey to serving a mission continues

I started this blog about six years. It was originally created to begin the introduction to me serving a mission. At the time, I was 15 and was still a ways away from serving a mission. I was a junior in high school and still had many things to learn in life. In fact, I still do have many things to learn in life.

As life has progressed, I started to think about the whole purpose of this blog, "Michael's journey to serving a mission." With this blog title, you would think I am finished. Close up the blog, archive it on the internet and hide it away for someone to find in 200 years. But, NO! This isn't the end. This is just the beginning.

When I left for Vegas, that was just the beginning of my journey to serving a mission. When I came home and left for Salt Lake City, that was still just part of the journey. My whole entire time in Salt Lake City was a huge journey. I learned a lot and I grew a lot.

If you read my homecoming talk or attended my homecoming you would know how much my mission affected me. Man, it sure was a heck of a ride. The amount of ups and downs on my mission made for great life lessons. It was such an amazing time. I was able to meet a lot of people, have a lot of great experiences, and grow spiritually. I learned a lot from my mission president and those around me.

In addition to all those amazing opportunities, this part of my journey brought about many blessings. I learned a lot about myself and learned many things I needed to grow and change.

With that being said, my journey is not over. My journey to serving my mission continues because my whole life is a mission. I am constantly striving to learn and improve. I'm constantly doing things to draw closer to my Heavenly Father. I am constantly trying to become a better friend, a harder worker, a nicer human. There are always ways around to me improve.

So, with that said, my journey to serving a mission will continue forth. I am still pushing forth. And with that, we should all be striving to continue forward. We should all be striving to love more and be kinder to others. We are all on a mission in life.

I am hoping that during these times, all of you work on improving yourself in a variety of ways. I'm hoping we can work together to become a better society. Spread love all around. Serve others. Love others.

As my mission continues, I hope we can all join together in unity. As we do this, we will be a stronger society and we can better be there for each other.

Thanks for reading this. My apologies if this blogpost doesn't come across as well organized, I was 100% focused on it. But, thanks for reading.

The atonement changes lives - homecoming talk - 3/8/20

Good morning brothers and sisters, I am so happy to be able to speak to all of you today. My mission was by far the hardest two years of my life, but it was the most rewarding two years of my life. I learned many things on my mission. I learned how to love others with the love of Christ, how to serve God with everything I have, and many other things. I also learned how to sacrifice all that I have. Such as sacrificing my education, a job, my friends and family. But, the most important thing I learned is the greatest sacrifice: the atonement of Christ. I thought I knew all I needed to know about the atonement before my mission, but I learned way more while serving my mission. Afterall, when your mission presidents father-in-law is Bruce R McConkie, you will learn way more about every doctrinal subject. More than you think you could. For those who don’t know, Bruce R McConkie was an apostle for the Church from 1972 to 1985, and was known for his powerful talks and knowledge of the gospel. My experiences on my mission truly gave me a different insight to the role the atonement plays in our lives. It helped me understand how vital it is to our daily lives. The atonement is not something Heavenly Father wants us to save for a rainy day. In fact, He wants us to use it every day. He wants us to use it all the time. We make mistakes every day and we are prone to sin. There is not a single day that goes by, where we don’t sin. However, Heavenly Father gave us the opportunity to repent of our sins and come closer to Him. The atonement is the suffering Christ went through in the Garden of Gethsemane and the pains He bore on the cross. As we understand, the atonement was the sacrifice Christ made for our behalf. Sometimes we fail to comprehend everything the atonement encompasses. The atonement allows us to become clean through the blood of Christ. We can be forgiven of our sins by both Christ and by man. And because of the atonement and resurrection of Christ, we will someday be made perfect. Our mental and physical disabilities will be gone and we can be made whole. All this because of our Savior. In my own experience, the most important part of the atonement to remember is that we can become new people as we repent and use the atonement. To expound on this, I want to use a few examples from the scriptures. The first one is Alma the Younger. As we know, Alma the Younger went about destroying the Church. He was leading people astray and preaching false doctrine. However, as he went about destroying the Church, an angel came to him and told him to repent and he was struck dumb. We have to remember that we usually won’t have an experience like this, however, we can be changed the same way Alma was changed. A couple days later, Alma awoke and said in Mosiah 27:24, “I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit.” I love this scripture and the power in his testimony. He truly had been converted of the Lord and proclaimed it to everyone he could proclaim it to. He continues on to say in the next two verses, “And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.” These two verses show us that we must be changed through the atonement. We must become righteous. I love the deeper understanding we can get as we understand the change we must have in order to truly draw closer to God. We must have the inner desire to grow and love. Alma and the sons of Mosiah ended up being some of the greatest missionaries in the Book of Mormon. All because of this single incident, they converted thousands of people. As we consider this mighty change of heart, we must also consider the other thoughts that Alma had during this time. Many years later, as he is describing this event to his son in Alma 36, he says, “I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.” It is important for us to remember the things we are taught. We can’t and won’t have a change of heart, unless we remember our past mistakes and strive not to do them again. This doesn’t mean that we must dwell on our sins, as Alma continued and said, “And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.” He couldn’t remember his pains anymore, and he wasn’t harrowed up by the memory of his sins. Or in other words, his past sins didn’t stress him out. He still remembered them, but he didn’t allow them to negatively impact him. We too must remember the things we are taught and repent of our sins. As we do so, we will be like Alma and will not be harrowed up by the memory of our sins. Imagine the great feeling that can come upon us, if we remember and repent. We must forsake our sins and go forth doing good. The Lord knows we will continue to fall. He knows that we will make mistakes, but if we do as Alma did, we will not be pained by our sins and transgressions. Another example I would like to use is Saul, who later became Paul. He, like Alma, went about persecuting the saints and destroying the Church in Acts 9. He went about preaching against Christ and against His gospel. However, we see again that Heavenly Father had other things in store for Saul. While traveling on the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to Saul and told him to go to the city. When he arrived in the city, he ended up being baptized and started to preach the word. We read in Acts 9:20, “And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.” Isn’t it amazing, how he just went from persecuting the Church to preaching about Christ? His conversion shows us that the atonement can change us. We can be redeemed through the atoning blood of Christ. The story of Paul teaches us that there is always hope. There is always opportunity for us to change and grow. However, we must be open to that change. We must give up dangerous habits, in order to be saved by the atonement. We have to follow the counsel given to us in Mosiah 3:19, “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” We have to get rid of the natural man, which consumes everyone. We have to turn away from the temptation and the evil things of the world. We have to turn towards the righteous things in life. As it says, we need to become as a child. We must become humble and full of love, we have to submit our will to Heavenly Father. As we do these things, Heavenly Father can and will work on us. He will help us become stronger and help us strengthen our testimonies. I can name plenty more people in the Book of Mormon and Bible, however, I think that would take us all day. There are countless stories in these scriptures with people who used the atonement of Jesus Christ to their benefit. They saw a change that needed to be done and they ran with it. They looked for ways to improve and they did everything in their power to rid themselves of all uncleanliness. They got rid of their bad habits and turned towards God. And we can too. That’s what I did on my mission. I know you were probably all waiting for me to share my experience. When I first arrived on my mission, I wasn’t getting along with my companion or the other elders. There was a lot I needed to do to grow and change. It’s important to remember that repenting and using the atonement doesn’t necessarily mean you are doing something extremely bad. Sometimes it can just be bad habits that you need help overcoming. That was my problem. I had bad habits I needed to get over. Within the first few weeks of my mission, my mission president wanted to honorably release me to come home. Going home from the mission at only one month is not something any missionary dreams of. I didn’t want to go home. I had just sacrificed so much after coming home from Vegas and returning back out on my mission. There was a lot of stuff I needed to do. The one thing I am grateful is a mission president who saw something in me and saw what I was capable of. My mission president saw my potential and was not ready to release me. He wanted me to use the atonement. He gave me a second chance and a third chance and tenth chance. I thought I would be released early multiple times on my mission. I just hadn’t quite gotten to where I needed to be. As the months went on, I continued to improve. I used the atonement of Christ and I put it into my life. I was striving to improve and become the person that Heavenly Father wanted me to do. I started to look for ways to change and get along with my companions and the other elders. All I wanted to do was show myself and those around me that I was capable of being a great leader and being a great missionary. Ten weeks before my mission ended, my mission president called me in for an interview. He confirmed my fears that I would probably be a junior companion for the rest of my mission. He told me that I was a great elder, but I just hadn’t been doing what I needed to do. He told me to go one week. After one week, I needed to try and go two weeks. I need to take it one week at a time and just try to have one almost perfect week and then two and so on. I started to turn towards the Lord more often. I knew He could help me and that He would be able to get me where I needed to be. For the next six weeks, I did everything I could to change. I wanted to show my Heavenly Father and those around me that I was capable of change. I was wanting to show people that I could do it. And I did it. Right before my last transfer, I got called into my mission president’s office. I figured it had to be a good interview because I hadn’t done anything too stupid. He explained to me that I had in fact been doing good. He told me that I was doing good. Then he extended the offer for me to be a district leader for my last transfer. I, of course, happily accepted. And for my last month, I was able to help those in my district and be an example to the other elders. I was happy to be able to teach them, help them, and grow with them. I share this story because I want people to know that the atonement can change someone’s life. I don’t think anyone in my mission would have thought I would be a district leader when I first came in. I was immature and was not leadership material. However, as I realized what I could become and saw the potential in me, I decided I wanted to do better things. I utilized the atonement to the best I could. I know the atonement is there for all of us to use. I have been able to use it to draw closer to our Heavenly Father. It’s meant to be taken into our lives. We should embrace the atonement. As we make mistakes, we will be forgiven through the atonement. Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help and to ask for forgiveness. Our Heavenly Father wants us to use this gift He has given us. I know I have been forgiven as I have repented and have strived to become a better person. I challenge all of you to ask for forgiveness and draw closer to Heavenly Father through the atonement. Christ did not suffer for nothing.

I know we have a loving Heavenly Father who wants us to return to Him. He loves us so much that He sent His only Begotten Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, to suffer and atone for our sins. I know that the Book of Mormon testifies of Jesus Christ and that it was translated by Joseph Smith through the gift and power of God. I know Joseph Smith restored the gospel today and that he was a prophet of God. I know President Russell M Nelson leads and guides the Church today. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Thank you for reading!! Love you all!

Elder Skaggs vs the completion of a journey - from 02/26/2020

Hello everyone,

I haven't been released as a missionary yet, however, I am currently at home sitting on my bed writing my last email. It's weird how quickly two years can go by. It honestly goes by quicker than I thought it would. But, it's been an amazing journey.

Before I begin, I will announce my homecoming talk. I will have the opportunity to speak at church about my experiences and put in a gospel message. It will be on Sunday March 8, 2020 at 9 am. The address is:

43940 Pacific Sunset Drive

Temecula, CA  92592

My home for almost
two years

All are invited whether you're a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or not. It doesn't matter if you're Muslim, Catholic, Buddhist, or anything.  It doesn't matter if you're gay or straight or anything. Just come. It will be a great experience. It may be a strange event if you've never been to a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church meeting, but just show up. It's nice to wear a dress if you're a girl and nice slacks and a button down for a guy, but if you just own jeans, then come in jeans. I do ask that you show respect in our chapels and try to come in nice clothing. The only thing I ask is to not come in revealing clothing. I hope to see as many of you there as possible. Now onto my mission.

 

Two years ago, next month, I left Temecula to go to Vegas. I was just an immature adult who had some college under his belt, but didn't know much about the world. However, I was now being trusted to be the Lord's servant and share the gospel. As I said, I was immature and had a lot of changing and growing to do. I loved my experience in Vegas, however, obviously I was needed somewhere else. As we all know, I didn't stay in Vegas. Although it was a huge learning experience, I came home.

My final handshake
with my mission president,
President Fenn

I thought that that was the end for me. I thought I would not be going back out. I thought I was going back to school and well, most of you know my story. But, the Lord knew what He wanted for me and sent me back out. There was a work I needed to get done and the Lord needed me to get it done. So, I was back out to the Utah Salt Lake City Headquarters mission.

I won't lie and say it was easy. I found it very difficult. But, I persevered. The funny thing about a mission is how much you're going to want to quit every day and during the hard times and then you want to go back when it's over. When I first arrived in my mission, I wanted to quit. I wanted to go home and I didn't want to continue, but I went on. I found the help I needed. I got put on medication that I needed and I spoke with a therapist. I turned towards Heavenly Father and asked Him for help. ALWAYS TURN TOWARDS HEAVENLY FATHER AND JESUS CHRIST. I asked for strength and I continued on.

Now that I'm looking back, it seems like it happened so long ago, but just 24 hours ago I was sitting at lunch with my mission president. I can't express to you all how badly I wish I were back in Salt Lake. If I could have a chance to do it OVER again, I would. I wouldn't want to get called for another two years right now. But, if I could go back in time and redo those two years. I would change so much. I struggled in the beginning. In fact, I struggled for most of my mission. I overcame those obstacles and struggles.

Serving the Lord and those
on the other side of the veil

Two years later, I'm not the same person I was before. Yes, I'm still Michael (technically Elder Skaggs until 6 tonight). Yes, I am still the same person who loves the Office and the Greatest Showman. Yes, I'm still the same person who does a lot of my old things. But, at the same time, I'm not. I'm not the same person. I have changed so much. I have grown and changed and become a better person. I have done a lot of self reflection to better myself and grow.

As I finished my mission yesterday, I realized how much I was going to miss everyone. I realized how much I had grown to love the missionaries I served around and how much I loved the work. I loved going into the Church History Library every day and helping the Church. I was helping Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in Their Church. I was serving many people and serving those that I would never meet. It was such an amazing opportunity. 

The plane ride home gave me a lot of time to reflect about life and what I had just gone through. I thought about my experiences and the growth I had. In the end, I will love and cherish these experiences. I realized how thankful I am that I was able to stay for a full two years. I was able to push through and do want I was called to do on this earth. I didn't think it would be as hard as it was to come home. When I hopped on that plane today and looked out at Salt Lake, I yearned to be down there. I decided I would rather be in the CHL rather than on that plane. I wanted to be with a companion instead of the comfort of doing things without someone by my side all the time. 

My dad and me

Two years flies by. And I'm so thankful for that journey. It will be weird that instead of looking up to the missionaries and wanting to be them, instead I look behind me and realize that I was once one of them and they are now doing what I was once doing. They are in the same state I was in. Continue to look forward, don't quit and don't give up. I will post more on my blog as we continue through and my homecoming talk. In fact, I am keeping my blog the same title because this is still my journey to serving a mission. It's just the aftermath of my journey. I will continue to be on a journey and it won't end.

I am grateful for all of the love and support you all have shown me these past two years. It has been such a pleasure and such an honor. Thank you all!! You guys helped me on my mission. IT really was THE HARDEST TWO YEARS, BUT THE MOST REWARDING TWO YEARS.

Much love,  

This is Elder Skaggs for the last time (since I'll be Michael soon)

Elder Skaggs vs trekking up a mountain - from 02/22/2020

Outside the Jordan River Temple

Wow, what another great week! Time just keeps on flying by. A little bit has happened and it's been exciting. It also included hiking with 3 to 4 feet of snow. So, I'll get started.

Saturday evening, I saw my trainer from Vegas again. Elder Waters. He was in town and stopped by the library. I kind of thought he would come by because he asked me what I was doing and so I told him how my Saturday nights usually go. Well, he stopped by the Family History Library and I saw him. It's weird how Elder Showgren and I were assigned this transfer because we are in the CHL during the day and the FHL every once in a while. So, that was cool.

Group photo

Monday was a crazy day. We decided to hike up to Mount Wire, a hike I have done twice before. Well, I knew beforehand that it could potentially be dangerous because it goes up in elevation to 7,000 feet and it's the middle of winter. Well, we get there and some parts were slippery. I had decent shoes, so I was doing fine. At some parts it got even worse and I fell a couple times. That was only the beginning.

We saw a random group and took a picture
of them then they took a pic of us and we
had their friend in there with us. Afterward,
they took a pic of him and I just really
 love my smile in the background,
so I thought I would add it.

Once we got further up the trail, the path was good. People with boots on had come through and so we could see the path and it was easy to maneuver. However, there was about 3 to 4 feet of snow on each side of us. I would approximate that much. It could be a little less. Once we got further up, we realized we wouldn't have time to make it all the way to Mt. Wire, so we had an amazing view and just looked out beyond us. The view of the valley was beautiful. We hiked back down (only almost dying about 30 times) and then went to Wendy's.

Elder Biggs and I

That evening, we had the Aloha dinner and then the young elders watched Black Stallion. The movie was real weird at first, then sad, then boring and confusing, then ended with a great message and on a good note. Probably wouldn't see it again though. 

The rest of the week was alright. We had a mission conference by Keith Ereckson, the director of the CHL. He talked about Saints volume 2. 

You can tell from Elder Agren
how deep the snow is

Here is a great view

Friday, we went to the Bountiful temple. Amazing as usual. And then today, we plan on going to the Jordan River Temple. And since I send out my emails on a schedule send, usually, that's probably where we are right now. I will add more if I feel necessary when we get back. But, I do have pictures to add to this.

Oh and I wasn't going to bring it up, but I do go home on Tuesday. However, I will send out one last email on Wednesday and will do all that "I loved my mission" stuff at that time. 

Love you all! I hope you're doing great!

We stopped very shortly and
turned around after this. I'm up
in the front leading the group.

Elder Michael Skaggs

15 E South Temple

JSMB 3 East

SLC, Utah 84150

We went to the garden tonight with
our district for one last district hurrah.
Many of you know that I suck at
forcing a smile, but this is the best
 pic I could find. 

The Jordan river temple is beautiful. On the inside and the outside. We are currently at Culver’s enjoying our last day. But, man it was amazing. For the rest of the day we don’t plan on doing much except I’m packing. We are going to the garden for dinner. Here’s pics from the temple today.