Endings

There have been a few "endings" in my life the last few days which are significant enough for me to post about.

First, about 5 days ago I completely finished a journal for the first time ever in my over 27 years of life. It is indeed ridiculous that such a feat would take that long to accomplish. Aren't you supposed to fill up like 5 journals on your mission alone? Well, journal-writing is a weakness of mine. I have been known over the years to write things somewhat like this: "A lot has happened in my life the last few years. My parents got divorced a few years ago and now my mom is remarried" or "I haven't written anything for a while because I've been so busy. You see I met this guy named Brett and we're engaged. Maybe I should tell you a little about him and how we met." So, you see, I really stink at writing in my journal. It was seriously amazing to fill that last page of my journal and it only took me 4.5 years to do it. Really, that's not bad considering I have probably gone 4.5 years without writing a thing in a journal.

My next ending was being released from my calling on Sunday. I get so sentimental about things like this. It was really sad to let it go. I love being the Relief Society President. Our presidency was given the opportunity to give a brief testimony after we were released. I expected to cry and was really surprised I didn't. I think it's because it's been an event I've anticipated for some time. However, I love the sisters I served and as the RS Pres you have a really awesome opportunity to get to know them all; although I always wished I had more time to get to know them better. It's also amazing to be able to see how people serve one another and how the organization of the ward works to serve each member. I feel really grateful to have been able to do it twice now. I think both times I received the calling it was in answer to prayers.

Finally, my ending this morning occurred when I finished the Old Testament for the first time ever. (There's another ball I dropped on the mission, I guess. I never read that book in all my scripture study) I think it was about time I had actually read a book all the way through that I profess to believe in (I have read the New Testament a couple of times, so I have that part covered). And guess what, I still believe in it. However, there are sure some interesting passages which I don't even pretend to understand or see how they relate to me spiritually. I guess that's just more for me to learn the next time around. Anyway, now I have officially read all the LDS standard works at least once. I haven't quite yet decided if I am going to read the New Testament or Doctrine and Covenants next.

In any case, it has been a week of endings for me. My life hasn't changed significantly since these are mostly just smaller endings. I'll start another journal, we're still in the same ward so I'll still see all those same sisters and I'll start reading more scriptures. However, these endings do make me think about the bigger endings that are on the horizon. As excited as I am to leave Provo, it will be very bittersweet as well. We've made some great friends and it's the only place we've lived as a married couple so there are lots of memories associated with it. However, when one chapter is over it just means another exciting chapter is just beginning so endings aren't all that bad.