Temple, Calendars, Callings, Craziness!

Don't give up! You are forming your happily ever after today!

Holy Goodness! Life is BUSY!! This is why I love what Jordan said this week: " I am so grateful I'm a part of this gospel. I would be LOST without it." It's so true. Without the faith and trust we both have in the Lord we would have given up on our craziness a looonnngggg time ago. We seriously cling to the knowledge that if we will follow Him and do His will everything will work out. Without that knowledge and desire to serve Him- it's like we are wandering in a dark forest without a flashlight and that is scary. 

Well we have some exciting news we want to share! 

Samantha was officially called as a temple worker in the Provo Temple! She will be working on Wednesday nights in the Baptistery from 7:45-11pm! (Come visit!) She got set apart on Saturday April 16, 2016 and serves her first day on Wednesday April 20, 2016! She is SO excited to serve in the house of the Lord. This is such a sacred calling for her. 

Samantha right after being set apart as a Temple Worker :) 

Samantha also got called to another calling! She is now a primary teacher in the Nursery. She loves little children so she is excited about this one too! She started that today and already loves all those kids. She feels so blessed because she gets to be with kids all week at her job then again on Sundays to teach the tiny ones! :)

Heavenly Father really knows us personally and guides us to the places where He knows our talents are needed, also to the palaces where we will learn the lessons He needs us too while developing the beautiful gifts and talents He has blessed us with. 

Today Jordan and I looked at the calendar and noticed that every single weekend till he leaves on his mission (and even some after that) are BOOKED!! Looks like date nights are being kissed goodbye a little sooner than we expected! :( But it's okay because almost every single one of those "bookings" are things with out families. (vacations, volunteer work, a wedding, graduations, etc.) So at least we will be with most important people in our lives: FAMILIES! :) Jordan and I love our families SO much. They are amazing. 

Amid Jordan getting ready to leave, and me working in the temple: Satan hates us quite a bit lately. He tries ever so hard to get us into trouble. Not like big trouble we've discovered; because we were prepared for that, so he tries to sneak in our lives in very sneaky ways: arguing, doubt, skipping a service day, feeling sad for ourselves, having a bad attitude, etc. and then that leads to bigger problems. See Satan knows if he can just sneak his way in he can plant seeds of doubt which when acted upon grow into thrones which attack our flowers of faith, hope, and love. We need to learn to cast out the bad seeds and only plant and nourish good seeds: seeds that will lead us up- to our Heavenly Home together. As Elder Uchtdorf once said: "Sandwiched between their once upon a time and their happily ever after they all had to experience great adversity... your wondrous story has already begun. Your once upon a time is now!" How true! :) I love the prophets and apostles:) 

We believe the best way to live and prepare for our happily ever after is by attending the temple together! :) 

I just want to share this 5 minute video with you about overcoming adversity- and I hope it helps you! It's called "Mountains to Climb". Watch Video here

I know we all have trials. Jordan has them, I have them, you have them. We all have our own personal mountains to climb. But you do not have to do it alone. I don't know what your mountain looks like- but the Savior does. He climbed that mountain for you already, so now He can carry you. You keep trying. Don't you give up. Don't listen to Satan's lies- only listen to God's love and hope. You are His divine child. Together, hand in hand we can lift each other and make it back to Him. 

This is my testimony and I know it is true. You are not alone or forgotten. No matter how crazy this life gets, no matter where you are, what you look like, what your job is, what car you do or do not drive, or what religion you are: you are His and He loves you perfectly no matter what. So come to Him. You do not need to be perfect- just perfectly trying. 

Well Jordan and I love you loads! Do not give up. We will continue to share our stories and mission experiences as they occur. We hope you share yours too! Those missionary moments, those answered or even unanswered prayers, that hope you have: that is your testimony. Cling to it and never let it dim. Hold up the light you have and it will grow. Of this we leave our witness and testimony, In our Savior's holy name, Amen. 

Have a great day everyone! You deserve it! (oh Ps. Mother's day is in just 3 short weeks! Don't forget to thank the women in your lives and show them your love and heartfelt appreciation for all they do!) Loves! 

Love, Samantha and Jordan:) 

It's only been 4 days..

Hey Guys!

It's funny, when I changed the blog so that I wasn't updated every Sunday, everyday I find myself saying "I want to update the blog and put this and this and this on it!" hahaha! It's sorta like a journal, so welcome to our life!!

Before I get started I wanted to say- I will be posting Jordan's general weekly email for his mission, but it will mostly be the adventures I'm having while he's out serving the Lord, along with my temple experiences. This is literally a blog for us (mainly me) to share our thoughts and lessons we learn during this time of our lives.

So in the past few days, Jordan and I have made some goals of things we want to do before he goes on his mission.
1- Weekly Temple Attendance (Thank you to our dear friends Courtney and Jake for inspiring us yet again! We love you!!)
2- We are doing a 21 day service challenge. (It started Monday and goes till May 1) We will be doing different things each day to serve someone and strengthen our relationship with our Savior and those we serve. Along with that we will focusing more on what we can do to make our temple worship more sacred and meaningful. (Join us!)
3- We want to serve our families more diligently, especially our siblings!

Our upcoming blog posts will be about the things we do for these goals. So let me share with you one that touched my heart.

On Tuesday, I skipped our morning work-outs and I felt bad about it; so the day wasn't starting out as well as I had hoped. When I got to work, I had a lot on my mind (with Jordan's mission call sinking in and what not). Upon arriving- I reported to the teacher I was to help for the day and they let me know that I needed to fix some work I'd done a few weeks earlier. They were very kind about it, I just felt awful about it, and now I was behind on things I needed to do for them. Then at lunch one of the children threw up and I cleaned it up. It wasn't bad at all- especially since I've worked in Healthcare, I've seen MUCH worse. Although it wasn't bad, it put me behind on cleaning up tables and getting the other children out to recess. I just wanted to go home and cry.
As I went to the office to pick up my stuff and clock out, one of my co-workers handed me a folded up paper and said "Samantha this was left for you." I knew it was from Jordan ;) I was going to wait and read it at home but decided I needed to read it as I walked home. I got no further than out the front doors of the school when I read "Samantha, meet me at the park for a sweet picnic. Love, your Love" I started to cry. I had told Jordan weeks earlier that a picnic after work on a sunny day would be so fun, and he remembered. I wasn't sure how to find him in the huge park full of people, but then I saw him, he started to run towards me and he picked me up in a huge hug and I cried some more. Then we walked hand in hand over to where the picnic was set up. I thought he had just made some PB&J's, but nope! He went to Zupas and got my favorites! (He's so good at remembering!) I cried again. (Yes I'm a crier- and with everything that was going on in my mind this was just heaven sent.) We sat and talked for an hour while eating.
When I asked why he decided to do this today- of all day, with no special occasion, he replied "The Spirit told me." Awwwwww if that isn't precious I don't know what is. Find me something more attractive than a young man listening to the promptings of the spirit. I dare you. (you won't) ;) Jordan is AMAZING!

The note :) 

My cutie and ZUPAS!! 

Well, that's about it! We are just working on getting Jordan all ready to go and I'm excited for my temple interview on Saturday! But I just wanted to end with my testimony that following the spirit blesses lives. Jordan didn't know that I needed a "pick me up" that day, but Heavenly Father did, so He had the Spirit prompt Jordan to do this tiny little thing for me, and it changed my whole day. It is something I will never forget. You can do that for someone too!!! Just pray for help to find the one who needs you today and don't be afraid to reach out to them when you feel the Spirit nudge you to do something. You'll know what to do. Even if it's just a simple smile or a simple note. Little things change lives and that changes the world. You can do it!
watch: Have I Done Any Good In The World Today?
What good have you done today?
Have a great day! Talk to you soon!

Love, Samantha & Jordan:)

Changes!! :)

Hello Everyone! Welcome to our new blog! :)

For those of you who read and follow this blog every time I send out an update: you know, this looks different, the name is different and the URL is different! (Hopefully you can all find it!) ;) Let me explain what's going on.

First, I wanted to reach more people. I want to share my story with more people. So I wanted to make some changes and after reading all of your great feed back here it is!

New things:
1- this blog is not just mine anymore! Most of you know my best friend JORDAN! You probably also know that we aren't just best friends. We have been dating for a little over a year! Well Jordan just received his mission call this past week to Des Moines Iowa! So he asked me to keep up a blog for him while he was gone with his mission letters and pictures, so we decided combining blogs was the best way to do it since my blog is already a missionary blog!

2- The name of the blog is no longer "Dancing in my Storms" rather it is "Our Mission Stories" because I will be posting Jordan's mission letters and pictures, and also my own experiences from temple working! (I have an interview with the Provo Temple this weekend to become a temple worker!)

3- The URL is changed!!! Please take note of this!! This blog is now:
our-mission-stories.blogspot.com If you try to use the previous URL it WILL NOT work. You need to use new URL! (Pass on the word please!)

4- The "description" of the blog has changed due to all these other reasons.

5- This blog will no longer be updated every Sunday. Rather we will update when we want to share an experience, or feel there is something worth sharing with all of our friends. So that could be multiple times a week, or once in a few weeks. (However, when Jordan leaves on his mission at the end of June, I will for sure update every week with his weekly email.)

Well there you have it! Our new blog! We are so excited to make these changes and use this blog to share with you our spiritual experiences and our enduring love story. Thank you for sharing these memories with us and supporting us through both the good, bad, hard, and easier times. We love you all so much! Have a great day!

Love, Samantha and Jordan <3

PS. Here are some experiences from the week! (It was Spring Break, so Jordan was out of school and I was off work! So there's a lot!)

Ice Skating! 

Fishing at Yuba Lake! 

Jordan learning how to work on Military trucks!

Campfire Cuddles 

Jordan shooting his bow and arrow 

Jordan practicing Photography at temple square. 

Finally got him to take a picture WITH me not just of me. ;)

The beautiful Christ statue in SLC 

Jordan after he opened his mission call! (Sorry it wouldn't let me post the video!) But we are proud none the less!  

Come Listen To A Prophet's Voice

When the Prophet speaks, it is as if The Lord spoke it Himself. 

Brothers and Sisters, 

Today I wanted to share with you a short message about Receiving Personal Revelation. Since returning home from my short LDS mission, I have felt very lost and confused as to what the Lord wants me to be doing at home. Being at home has not been an easy feat by any means and there are nights I wish I was still out having panic attacks on the mission- because then maybe people would still be proud of me, maybe then people wouldn't treat me as if I was a poisonous disease. Without the help of my ward leaders, and my amazing family I do not know what I would have done during these few months of being home. Sure, people have tried to reach out to me; only to find out they wanted to hear my story, all they wanted was to be my "friend" to hear the reason I'm home, then they didn't seem to care as much. So I quit talking about it. I didn't want to ever speak about my mission again. I wanted to pretend it didn't happen. I wanted to just "go away" and maybe people would realize I was still the Samantha they knew before my mission, I had just been made aware of some health problems that needed my careful attention. That didn't mean I was a bad influence now, it doesn't mean I can't get past this trial someday, it doesn't mean I want others to come home early from their mission, and it doesn't mean I don't want others to do serve a mission, etc. If only I could get people to understand that I still have a desire to serve the Lord, just not in that particular way. I did the mission He asked me to do, and now He has guided me back home for a reason I do not yet know. But here I am, trying to follow Him but really struggling to know what to do. 

Before my mission studying my scriptures, praying, sharing my testimony, serving others, etc. all came very naturally: and I knew where I was going. I was going on a mission. As soon as I realized I was being sent home, I was lost. I knew nothing would ever be the same. I knew that my life was different now and things were about to be even harder. I wanted to crawl into a rock and hide forever. Even now, some nights, I feel that same feeling I had that day in the MTC as I called my parents with my mission president and told them it was time for me to come home. 

Now the desire to study, the desire to serve, the desire to be the Lord's servant is still there, however it doesn't come as it did before my mission. It is more difficult, and I feel I don't have direction so the things I try to do to make a difference don't mean anything because I don't know where I am going. 

Since I've been home, I have prayed earnestly with many tears, & much want and desire to know: "Father, I am lost. I don't know what to do now. I feel like a failure. I feel like there's something you want me to do: but I don't know what it is. Please help me. I can't do this alone." Every day and night I gave this prayer, and every day and night I still wait for an answer. 

At different times I felt that maybe my answer was to become a temple worker, or to start a Youth Church Service Mission. However to this point I have not decided what the best option is for me, and what The Lord has in store for me. I have continued to pray and I'm still learning and listening.  

With this weekend being conference, I have hoped and prayed for an answer or at least a direction to go. I have been praying that I could listen with the Spirit of the Lord and I would hear what He needs me to know today. 

Prayerfully and carefully I have listened, and taken note. 

As I listened with intent to learn and grow and seek answers, The Lord has truly spoken to me. This weekend of Conference has brought me to tears. I know I am not lost, the Lord knows exactly where I am, what I need and where He needs me to go. He will rescue me if I will reach out to Him and follow Him. He will put me on His shoulders and carry me back home to our Father. I am not alone and even though my mission is not what I thought it would be, I am still a Child Of God and He still loves me more than I know. 

I want to invite you, to listen to the voice of the Lord's chosen Prophet and Apostles. They speak the words of God as if it was God Himself teaching us. They love us as our Father does. I know they care and they bring with them the messages that The Lord needs us to hear today. And all of us can and will receive revelation if we are willing to listen with an open heart, listen with the Spirit and ask The Lord to speak to you. He will. He loves you. But you must be truly listening with intent to learn and know for yourself; not with the intent to discredit the words spoken. 

I know Heavenly Father loves us more than we know. He will guide us, and He does hear our prayers and will answer us. What we desire, with out intent to come closer to Him, He will show us. We will not be left alone, and while it takes time for us to see and find answers: we must never give up and hold fast to the knowledge and faith we DO have. And always remember that He loves us. 

In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen 

Love, Samantha 

To watch conference: click here