Ashley P is....HOME!

I am back!!!! Okay so I have been back for over two months now, but I am finally back on my blog! Not having a weekly email anymore is a little sad, but then I remembered how much I loved to blog before my mission and how it was a great way to rid myself of stress!

My family loves me!

 February 4^th, the day that I never thought would ever come, came. I returned home from serving a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. If someone would have ever told me that I, Ashley P, would ever be a returned missionary, I would have just laughed at them. But those 18 months serving the Lord and meeting the people in the Chicago area truly have changed and shaped my life for the better. I am not going to lie, it was hard it was so hard. There were days I just wanted to quit and stop, but in the end it was so worth it. One quote that I come across on my mission is from Elder Holland:

“Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.”

I have learned some of the truthfulness of this message. Life isn’t easy, and it is never going to be easy; but the blessings, peace, and hope that come through living the gospel are not things I want to lose in my life. I have discovered that it is easy not to live the gospel, but it is just as easy to live the gospel. The choice is ours. Trails and hard times are going to come to us either way, but wouldn’t it be better to have the help of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The beautiful thing about life is that we all have our agency we get to choose what we do.

At the "bean" with Hermana Barrett!!

Blessings came to me while I was on my mission, but since returning home the Lord has blessed me with blessing beyond my imagination. Things seriously just started falling into place for me. I was blessed with the opportunity to return to a job I loved the following week of returning home, found an apartment with great roommates, bought my dream car, and then got offered a job that I am starting to fall in love with!

I won’t bore you with all the details of my life, at least not yet. I leave that for my next post. Here is to the revival of my blog.

XOXO,

Ashley P!