Samson died of a fairly common foot condition- fallen arches

What a week this has been. But I've been able to see the Lord's hand in everything that's happened.

This week, we got to the New Testament and started talking about the Gospels and the Church of Jesus Christ. We discussed the name of the church today, as given in Doctrine and Covenants 115:4- the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. First, 'the' indicates that it's singular- one church. Second, 'of Jesus Christ' indicates ownership. It's Christ's church. And third, 'of Latter-Day Saints' indicates joint partnership. One thing that I liked that he said was, "He combined His perfection with out imperfection." And that's really what the Church is.

But my favorite thing was when we talked about the Atonement for just a bit. He said, "The Savior was declared guilty during an imperfect judgement for our sins. At Judgement, He can proclaim us not guilty, because He's already been pronounced guilty for those things." And I'd never thought of it like that. I love that I have a Savior who loved me enough to give His life for me.

At the end of class on Thursday, Brother Griffin told a story about how he was an institute teacher up at Utah State and absolutely loved it. Then one day, a couple religion professors from BYU came up and asked if he'd be interested in teaching at BYU. He wanted to say no, but the Lord clearly told him, "Don't close any doors." Well, he ended up doing a guest lecture at BYU, and they offered him a job, and he felt like he needed to take it, even if that wasn't what he really wanted. And he talked about how he didn't think it could possibly be better than at Utah State, but it is, and he's blessing the lives of so many more people in one semester here than in six years there.

And I really needed that. It's been interesting being back here. I have realized that if I pay attention, every day I see a reason why I needed to be here today. Some days, I learn something that will really help on my mission. Other days, someone needed my help or just needed me to be there. And I have no doubt that this is where I'm supposed to be. But for a while, it was hard because I knew that I was supposed to go on a mission, and I wanted to know why I couldn't go then. At first, it felt like the Lord was saying I wasn't ready yet. And to be fair, I've already grown a lot being back here. But Brother Griffin's story just hit home that the Lord knows what's ahead of me, and that I'm supposed to be there at a specific time, and that things will be so much better than I ever could imagine. I don't remember who, but someone told me to pay special attention the last six months of my mission, because if I hadn't been delayed, I wouldn't have been there, and who knows what the Lord needs me there for. I'm still tired of waiting for my call. I just want to know where I'll be going. But I love being back.