"The best Christmas break ever"

Someone told me, yesterday, that I was having the best Christmas break ever. I laughed it off. But the words haven't stopped going through my mind; I haven't stopped thinking just how blessed I am.
I had the opportunity to go to Utah; to see my best friend & Todd & [finally] meet the boys at the rc & [excuse my mushiness] my handsome boyfriend.
The opportunity to go to the temple; and to fall so, so in love with it. To hear names and feel at peace and know that this is real.
The opportunity to have a few days with him; just long enough for each of us to forget that long distance is hard.
The opportunity to reassure myself that I am okay. That things aren't perfect, but that the Gospel is; and as long as I hold firm to that, everything is okay.
The opportunity to set goals.
The opportunity to get my patriarchal blessing.

I won't lie and say the break was perfect; there were moments when I knew the only word running through people's minds was "convert." That is the hardest thing in the world for me. But for the first time, I just really felt at peace even when I could feel they were thinking it. I know that He doesn't care about my past. I know that what matters is where I am, today, and what my goals are for the future. I know that He knows my heart and my goals and what I am doing to work towards those goals.

There are a couple of things I have journaled about a lot that I need to get down here; things that I don't want to forget.
One was on the radio, when we were driving back home. A woman told a story that her daughter and her saw a field of dandelions, and just as she was thinking what a hassle all of those weeds were, her daughter said, "Look at all of those wishes."
Wishes, not weeds.
I've been working very hard on looking at wishes, not weeds this week.
Long distance? A wish, not a weed. The opportunity to grow stronger, the opportunity to test our relationship, the opportunity to work for this. The opportunity to remind myself daily every trait of his I admire, and every reason he makes me smile. The opportunity to look not at why it's difficult, but instead see why it's worth it.
Going back to school? A wish, not a weed. The opportunity to better myself, and to grow. The opportunity to learn how to change lives. The opportunity to learn how to better serve those kiddos. The opportunity to fulfill my passion. The opportunity to grow as a woman. An opportunity that not everyone has, and that I often take for granted.
I'm so determined to remind myself daily that it's all about perspective--that I need to see wishes, not weeds.

The second thing that I read is something I had read before. It's from an Ensign a couple of years ago. The sister missionaries gave me the Ensign, with their favorite articles marked. This was one of their favorites, and it has become one that I love so much.
I re-read it this break and really took away something new. I generally focus on the article's main idea--hope. Sometimes I branch out to hope, faith, and charity.
But this time, I read a paragraph over and over. It says:
"For me, things I don’t understand about the gospel are like pieces of a larger puzzle I’m working on. If I don’t see where they fit, I put them aside and work on other parts of the picture. From time to time I pick them up and look at them. If I still don’t see how they fit, I put them aside again. I have already received a witness that the whole picture—the restored gospel—is true and complete, so I don’t worry about the pieces that haven’t come together for me yet. They will."
I don't need to understand everything. I need to remember my testimony; remember why I chose this church and why I continue to choose it every day.
This has truly been the best Christmas break. I have been tested and have grown and have been incredibly, incredibly blessed.
&, oh, I am happy.