Today was one of the best days I have had out here so far. Today, we had church in the HGB, the building where we have our business classes. Coming from church at BYU in Provo (I was a visiting student there for the summer), I was expecting sacrament meeting to be in an auditorium of some sorts. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were chapels within the HGB. Anyways, today's fast and testimony meeting was unlike any other that I have ever gone to. First off, my ward is super cool. It's not just freshman, but theres sophomores and even some juniors too. We even have 2 senior missionary couples. Also, I am a minority in my ward. There are so many ethnicities it is crazy! I thought that being from Boston and being in the Worcester 2nd ward was diverse what with our spanish group and all. But nope! There are people from Tonga, the Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Samoa, South Korea, New Zealand, Canada, you name it! It's crazy how many different nationalities are represented here. It's truly humbling to think about how lucky I am to be here. To me, I know I am far away from home and it's not a typical college experience to be this far but it seems pretty typical to me. I guess I don't always recognize how blessed I am to be here. People stood up today bearing their testimonies about how they came from Tonga and the Philippines and how they are so grateful to be getting their education here, even though home is so far away from them. It just made me think about how lucky I am to still be in the same country as my family; to be a phone call away from them; to be able to fly home for Christmas. I am also incredibly lucky to be a minority. I get to be surrounded by amazing culture and I get to learn to appreciate everyone's unique backgrounds. Everyone is so welcoming and inviting here that it's hard to not feel like I'll always have a home here in Hawai'i.
Another testimony that really touched me was one a guy in my ward bore towards the middle of sacrament meeting. He began by saying that he had switched wards had had a lot of mixups as to which ward he was supposed to go to so he had gone to 2 sacrament meetings prior to our ward's meeting. He basically said that while the other 2 meetings were good in their own respects, there was something different about our ward; he felt as though he needed to be there to hear the words that were spoken in our ward. He worded it as being at the right place at the right time. And boy, his testimony really hit me.
My plans were originally to go to BYU in Provo. That was what I had dreamed of my entire life and was anxiously awaiting my admittance. But, I didn't get in. To say those weeks following were some of the hardest in my life would be understating it. I remember feeling so low and so disappointed in myself. I was constantly trying to figure out what I had done wrong. Why didn't I get in? I couldn't find an answer that ever really satisfied me. I was bitter with myself for not trying harder and not doing this and not doing that. How did I get into Hawai'i and not Provo? And, to be honest, it took a long time for me to accept that I wasn't going to Provo. Seeing all my friends from my stake back home didn't help much with me feeling better about myself and my situation either. So I went to Provo as a visiting student to get a feel of it in hopes of transferring. I loved it there and had the best summer of my life there. And while I'm grateful for that summer, it didn't help with me trying to feel at peace with going to Hawai'i. I was trying to keep in mind that Heavenly Father has a plan for me and that it wasn't always going to be clear to me what exactly it was.
Now here's where the testimony comes in. With his testimony I realized that there is a reason why I am here at Hawai'i instead of Provo. I am here to be in the right place at the right time. The trick is realizing that being in the right place at the right time doesn't mean that you're gonna have a great big revelation in flashing bold letters saying: THIS IS WHY YOU ARE HERE. I may be here at Hawai'i just to hear someone speak in church, to hear someone's testimony, I may even be here to go to that sacrament meeting specifically. The point is, it doesn't have to be something big. I'm here in Hawai'i for a reason and it could be something as small as a situation or a person or a certain quote a professor says or a compilation of a lot of little things. And whether I end up staying in Hawai'i or going to Provo at some point, I will have this reassurance that I came here and I learned the most valuable lesson about the way the Lord works.
“Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.
“And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls”
I love this scripture that I heard in sunday school today. It is so powerful and comforting to know that small things are significant in the Lord's eyes. It helps me realize that little signs from my Father are just as important as the big ones. I am just so blessed to be able to come to school here, in paradise no less! I love the people at this school. I love being able to say hi to everyone I come in contact with, I love how friendly everyone is and how welcoming they are. I absolutely love all the culture that is present here and I love being able to learn to respect it. Today I guess I'm just feeling very grateful for this wonderful opportunity I have to go to this beautiful school and get a wonderful education :)
♡,
Nina
No comments:
Post a Comment