1) Respect Others: Almost everyone I saw while on my trip showed me an enormous amount of respect. An example of this was the Daniels family. I was still pretty young on my mission when I met the Daniels, and over the course of five months my companion and I taught them. In the end, we baptized four of Sister Daniels daughters. It was a beautiful experience that I hope to never forget. When I went to visit them, all of the Daniels children came in dressed in what looked like their nicest clothes. This really touched me because the Daniels are not a wealthy family and they got dressed up just because I was visiting. It gave me the desire to live the kind of life that deserves that respect. So, for this year, I am going to try and freely give respect with the hope that those receiving it will live more abundant lives.
2) People are more Important than Things: I visited one family that I was very close to as a missionary, and it was very much the opposite to the visit with the Daniels. I walked in halfway through a recorded television show and I waited patiently as they finished the rest of it. After that episode however, another one was started, and then another. I sat in their home for three hours watching television with them, until I finally had to leave because I had another place to visit. As I sat there watching TV, I got pretty angry. Even though I had flown halfway across the country and it had been a full year since this family had seen me, the prerecorded television show about exploring a cave to find junk, turn it into something, and then sell it, was more important. I never want someone to feel they way I felt. For this year, I am going to really try to see the things that are truly important. Video Games are nice, but I can come back to them. My phone is great, but I can respond to that text later. Movies and Television Shows can have a place in my life, but I can rewind those, I cannot rewind the time I could have spent with a person.
3) Living Worthily of the Temple: I reason for my trip to Memphis was the Sealing of Matt and Dee, who were the last people that I saw baptized on my mission. It was beautiful. As we were sitting in the Sealing Room, waiting for the ordnance to begin, people from the Millington Ward began to come in. Some of them were dressed in all white, but those that were not we dressed in Church Clothes. The one thing that was in common between all of us we that we were all wearing white shoes and socks. The Temple is a holy place, wearing white shoes is a physical way we remember that: we are walking somewhere sacred. I always want to live in a way that I can stand in that sacred place.
