. . . or, actually just one year ago today, was my first day in Charleston, Illinois! I have never been quite so distraught in my entire life as I was that day. Not only was I homesick for home, but also for Mississippi, where I had just finished my summer as a park ranger. Mom came to Mississippi to help me pack the car and drive to Illinois. The morning after we arrived in Charleston I took her to the train station in Mattoon, and she went up to Chicago to fly home. I don't think I've ever felt quite so alone in my whole life as I did that day. I was in a strange place, and I anticipated that I would have quite a long school road ahead of me (but it's a good thing that I didn't know exactly how hard school would be--or else I might have taken off that day! just kidding :-) That evening I met my fellow classmates for the first time, and then that next morning we left at 5:00 a.m. for Grand Rapids, Michigan. All of that seems like it happened so long ago. Think of how much has happened in just one year!
I have never dealt well with change. One thing that really helped me when I first got to Charleston was a CES talk by President Faust. He passed away just a couple of days before I arrived in Illinois, so his words were especially meaningful to me. In his talk called "Beginnings," which he gave in August 2007, he said, "I have found that in accomplishing just about anything, the most difficult part is getting started." He then said, "Nothing is static. Everything changes. We need the courage to make necessary changes in our lives," and, "for those who can adapt, who can bend, who can modify, who can improve, lies great opportunity. Sometimes we need to have the strength not to take counsel from our fears. This takes courage." His words gave me the courage to carry on even though when I arrived in Charleston I was scared and sad. And many great things happened because I went to school there!
Primary was much better today than last week--probably because only three of the five kids were there. Three is a much easier number of five-year-olds to manage. Today we talked about being good examples. Even though the kids can be very wild, they are also very smart and kind, and I'm grateful for the chance to learn from them. When they are not punching me in the throat, they can be very nice. In fact, a few weeks ago when we were talking about being nice and I told them something mean that someone had said about me, Nauvoo said: "But what they said about you is not true!!!" :-) They are very sweet. Well, I'm off to watch my two favorite shows: "Antiques Roadshow" and "Perry Mason."
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