Highlights of the week: I have officially been on my mission for a year, I had mono, we ate a humongous turkey, and the mission life is still carrying on. Rough days, great moments, lots of tender mercies, and plenty of exhaustion. Same old, same old.
Love y'all and have a great week!
Sister Thunell
That was the email we got from Savannah this week...her general email to the whole world along with a picture of the humongous turkey they ate which happened to be the only picture she took this week.
I knew she was in a bad mood when she emailed me at 9:00 this morning, "Do I have to send a general email this week? I don't even want to." I told her people would probably worry a little if they didn't get anything, but that she certainly didn't have to send one if she wasn't feeling up to it. Instead of taking my advice, she opted to send those four sentences up there. And I've been fielding questions of love and concern from family and friends for the last 24 hours. But it's fine. Because some days are bad, even when you're a missionary. Which is what I wrote back to her.
Hi Mouser,
Sorry you're having a crappy day. Don't be too hard on yourself about not being constantly UP. Just because you're a missionary or a member of the church or a mom or whoever doesn't ensure that you're never going to be susceptible to bad days. And just because you have a ton of blessings doesn't mean you're required to always be happy and sunny. ☀️ Some days you just aren't. And that's ok.
Because the difference between today's bad days and your bad days two years ago is what you're doing with them. You're not quitting. You're still in this and you still love it. You're not hiding out in your apartment instead of working. You're not taking anyone's head off even though you're frustrated. And that's the Atonement working in your life.
You (and I) are never going to be like the steady, consistent and reliable people of the world. We're sometimes going to cry torrential tears even on days when it looks like everything should be fine. We're sometimes going to get mad at dumb little annoying things even when they didn't bother us at all last week. And it might not make any sense to the steady, consistent people in the world, but that's ok.
Instead of longing to be steady and consistent, though, you have to learn to love the great things about your roller coaster-ness. You don't miss a single miracle when it comes, no matter how small or trivial it might seem to the rest of the world. You breathe in every single detail of life whether it's sunny or cloudy or raining cats and dogs. You LOVE the crap out of the things and the people around you. Your happy far exceeds the average bear's happy. And those are all amazing blessings unique to the roller coasters in the world.
Just wait this out because what you know for sure is that right behind this draggy day, the clouds are going to part and all of a sudden you'll realize that you're sitting in the middle of the most glorious sunset that Heavenly Father has provided to end this day and give you back some hope and joy. And then you'll love the whole world all over again.
Love you heeps!
Mommy
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