I love our new ward! The average age is probably 31
or 32 and there are lots of little kids (kinda like our Logan ward). There
are very few families without children, probably only five or so (i'm guessing). Brian has one other medical school
student in the ward as well in his second year. There are about 8 or so Pediatry students though.
My mom and sister Camille usually get their hair done
by a girl named Krystal Rogers. Krystal served her mission in this part of
Chicago and has been telling my mom all about it. Krystal told my mom that she
hoped our Bishop would be Rudy Bourgeois because he was an incredible man. So
when I went to church and found that it was indeed the same man, I had some
high expectations when I met him.
He did not let me down. I have never had, or heard
of a bishop that cared so much for his ward as Bishop Bourgeois. And every
Bishop I have had are amazing men. Bishop Bourgeois invited the four new
couples in the ward into his office after church. At first I thought it was
odd, but was quickly taken back by such a strong spirit in the room. For the
next hour we just talked and listened to this powerful man. He counseled us to
put the Lord first in our lives. He said that school is going to be hard.
He shared some personal experiences of when he was
in school providing for a family, working full time and trying to fulfill his
church callings. He went to school from 8-3, worked 3-11, and would come home
and put his wife to bed and then stay up for a few hours to do homework. He
averaged 4 hours of sleep a night. He said that he would set aside one night
before a test to study for a few hours. This was his only time that he would
get to study. He said there were 5 different times that he was called the same
night he had set apart to study for his test, by his Bishop to do something for his calling (He was Young Men
President). He said it was these times when he was really tested. Was he going
to study for the test and have the Bishop get someone else to help him? Or
would he put the Lord first and trust that the Lord would help him on his test
to remember the things he had learned in class?
He got emotional as he told us that there were 5
times when he got 100% on his tests. Each time was after he chose to put the
Lord first and helped the Bishop out. The Lord helped him on each of his tests.
He turned and looked each one of us in the eye and bore his testimony about how
important it is to keep the Lord close in this hard time. Too many people feel
like they will just go on a “spiritual vacation” during school because they
just don’t have time for it all. But
there will never be enough time. After school it will be rotations, residency,
work, kids, etc. He said we will be blessed to keep the Lord in our lives throughout our schooling. It was a truly inspiring meeting and fun just to sit and talk as if we were all old friends.
It was in this room that Brian and I were really overwhelmed with the feeling that this was where the Lord wanted us at this time. For whatever reason it was this school out of all the others, we felt a even stronger conviction that we had made the right choice when we listened to the spirit to come here.
What a marvelous blessing the gospel is to our lives. I feel so blessed to have it apart of me, especially as we are out here. It makes me so excited to share this beautiful truth! My friend Mariah Tippetts and I talked about missionary work as Brian and I moved out here, she told me a quote she had gotten from Institute.
Do More With Less
L=ove
E=xample
S=ervice
S=hare
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