Julia's Thoughts on Life

To begin, let's clarify what a mono diet is. No, it's not to cure mono, the "kissing disease". No, I'm not doing this to lose weight (although I hear it's an added benefit). No, you won't die from just eating one food for a little bit. Yes, I really will be eating one food for some time to test it out. (The goal is a week. We will see). So it all started when I was talking to my sister about those "banana diets" and "potato diets" that people do to lose weight. She did it once and apparently it worked although she hated it. We laughed. Conversation over. The next day, my mom opens up her Medical Medium book and was like, "hey, for people with really sensitive stomach problems and digestive issues, this guy recommends mono eating for a little time to build up your stomach's defense system." I don't think anything is a coincidence so I decided to give it a shot. The odds of it popping up multiple...

Yup. I'm hooked. Drinking celery juice every morning on an empty stomach? Works wonders. It's my lifeline at this point. So many weird stomach problems (that probably have to do with my gallbladder and liver and small intestinal streptococcal overgrowth but no doctor can figure it out)... So if all else fails, I know that this stuff works. I know it like I know that God really lives and loves us. <<And that's 110% sure>> My miracle juju. Just put clean celery into the juicer and BOOM. Done. 100% celery juice.  Juiced (not blended). Pulp-free. No strings.

The person who left on her mission in 2017 is a lot different than the return-missionary typing this in 2019. As I have been trying to adjust to life and dealing with the normal, everyday stressors that people have to deal with, I noticed two major characteristics that have changed about myself: I am more 1) close minded and 2) s ubmissive/passive. Or is it that I have a stronger testimony and am more trusting/faithful ? Let me put it into context. Before I became a missionary, I was very open to other people's paths of enlightenment or spirituality. Most people considered me a "free spirit" and I was intrigued with other philosophies and religions like meditation and cool healing stories and whatnot. But then I came home from my mission and found myself thinking, "if it's not the priesthood that is authorizing that healing or experience, then something is fishy." For example, the philosophy of yoga that I am currently studying as part of my cert...

This is one thought or piece of inspiration I received while studying my scriptures that helped put my troubled heart at ease. I think about my mission a lot so it's just one recorded instance of many! When I was in the midst of being really sick on my mission, I found strength in Elder Bednar's story of when he visited with Elder Neil A. Maxwell in 1997. Elder Maxwell had received intensive chemotherapy treatments earlier that year and was still going out to serve the Lord with all his might, mind, and strength. Elder Bednar said, " During the course of our conversations that day, I asked Elder Maxwell what lessons he had learned through his illness. I will remember always the precise and penetrating answer he gave. “Dave,” he said, “I have learned that not shrinking is more important than surviving.” " On my mission, I interpreted this as "forget about the pain, just go and serve! Don't shrink, just do it." It was about putting the work ahead o...

(True story, real names have not been shared) Ilsan, South Korea 2017 As a greenie missionary (new missionary) I had the opportunity to help teach a woman English. She was in her 50s; a successful business woman, married to a super successful businessman, up to date with the latest fashions, Starbucks always in hand,  and trying to salvage the rocky relationship with her 20-something year-old son. Little side note: <<As missionaries for the Lord Jesus Christ, people trust us so much and their hearts open to let us in. Its an incredible thing to be a part of.>> Anyways-----> When her son was in junior high school, her and her husband decided to send their son to live in Australia at a boarding school so that he could learn English and be better cared for. They were so busy working that they didn't think they would have much time to raise him properly. So--- off he went! Over the next few years of junior high and high school, the son felt  discrimi...

 In a large classroom, we fill the desks as students learning to navigate life. You might consider yourself a front row kind of student, or maybe someone who likes to blend into the middle. I’m sure there are some back row students out here stirring up trouble :) In our classroom, The scriptures are our textbooks. We can read them, peruse through them, skim over the chapters; they are words printed on a page there for us to learn. But God, our loving Heavenly father is the author of those texts.  we know that we should study them but On our own, it is difficult to understand the scriptures fully and just reading them when we have some free time is not enough. So in school, Jesus Christ is our teacher. He loves us and assigns us homework (or gives us a commandment) to read from the scriptures each day. HE knows that it will benefit us to feast upon the words and he teaches in a way that can make sense to even the most troubled student. We can raise our hand and ask any qu...

This is quite possibly my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon. When I was sitting in my dark bedroom back in December with a raging concussion, I came across this chapter and it is ultimately what made me decide to serve a mission! I am so happy where I am at today, preparing to leave and serve the Lord and his children in Korea. 8  Blessed be the name of our God; let us sing to his praise, yea, let us give thanks to his holy name, for he doth work righteousness forever. 9  For if we had not come up out of the land of Zarahemla, these our dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved us, would still have been racked with hatred against us, yea, and they would also have been strangers to God. 10  And it came to pass that when Ammon had said these words, his brother Aaron rebuked him, saying: Ammon, I fear that thy joy doth carry thee away unto boasting. 11  But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own...