My youth group finally gets to start meeting in person again after a month of virtual

It’s one big plain essentially

Kansas

Very true. It's just nice to be able to look out on a lot of it to me, being surrounded by mountains and whatnot.

I'm getting kinda tired of virtual. Except for the Army... that can stay virtual.

My youth group is still virtual right now. Really hard though, one of the kids in my group lost a sister a week ago.

Ouch. My condolences.

His other sister is out on a mission right now. She was able to come back for the funeral thankfully.

We get to go back for our annual New Year's Eve party, then we're going to start meeting regularly.

I wish things would go back to normal. I miss going to the temple.

Dude 100%

That has probably been the hardest part of all this for me.

I was set to get my patriarchal blessing just as covid hit as well.

Baptisms for the dead were so much fun

How are they going to do that then?

But my friends and I used to go to the provo city center temple after school every week. We had so many great experiences, but we can't anymore though.

Just gonna have to talk to my bishop to get my recommend again.

I guess that's not too bad.

I had it for a while before covid but I kept forgetting to call the patriarch.

My sister got her endowments literally right before they closed the St George Temple.

This is a little late, but I love Mosiah 14:3-5. It’s also in Isaiah.

Oooh, nice.

I received mine on Election Day.

Congrats

Yeah, she's getting married in May. The two events were not related at all.

Good for her!

Not gonna lie, I'm a bit jealous, she is younger than me after all, and I remain single.

Overall though, I'm happy for her. The guys she dated previously were just creepy, even to her. I'm glad she found a decent guy.

Yeah. I mean it's definitely a relief when someone finds a good person. As far as siblings go I don't know the feeling, but my aunt has had a hard time finding a guy. After years of not dating she dated a guy for a few months and he broke up with her in a really trashy way. She's at the point now where she has no faith in (most) men anymore.

That’s just how it is sometimes. Things will work out the way they’re supposed to, though.

Oh. Dang. That sucks.

At this point, I've contented myself with just living with my dog. I'll find someone at some point, but its no use getting tunnel vision on it or waiting for happiness.

I used to be pretty cynical about it, but I've been learning to let things go.

Yeah. I mean, you can always find someone later, too. Honestly, looking for someone to marry just sounds exhausting. And I’m not going to worry about it until after my mission.

Agreed. Mission, then marriage at some point.

Anywhere you'd like to go on your mission?

Wherever the Lord needs me. It probably won’t be outside of the states, but we’ll see.

Best advice I'd give you when you go on your mission: learn to love it. I'm grateful for the mission I served in. I didn't know it initially, but it turned out to be exactly where I needed to be, for others and myself. It was a perfect fit, despite my initial rebellion against some of the rules, and it awakened something I didn't know existed in me until then. It showed me my potential, and nearly everythig I have done since has been born of those lessons I learned about myself.

And keep a journal.

Yep. I know I’ll be sent where I’m needed. And I know to follow the rules and really try. There’s no point being out there if I’m not willing to work and learn.

Everyone I've talked to has learned a lot on their missions. Even my friend's older sister was only out for 5 or 6 months before covid and was brought back. She's not going back because she feels like she needs to stay here, but she says that it was one of the best (and most challenging) experiences she's ever had.

Anyway, I've gtg. But I'm glad I had the chance to talk to y'all!