Day 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128 - Way 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128

Day 123 (July 31) Time sure does fly when your friend gets a new job and leaves you! :( Today is the last day I will see my good friend Kelly at work. About a month ago, I helped him as he was applying for a job. Today, I threw a party for him to say goodbye. I am grateful for his friendship and I hope that it will continue even though he will be far away.

Day 124 (Aug 1) I am so grateful for the gospel and for the lessons I have learned about charity throughout my life. I feel like this life is one big opportunity to show our Heavenly Father just how much we care for all that he has given us. I hope that I spend enough time every day giving of myself to be worthy to return to my Heavenly Fathers presence.

Day 125 (Aug 2) Today I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given to be a missionary. In visiting the Mesa Arizona Temple Visitors Center today, I was given a strong witness of the truthfulness of the gospel message of eternal families. After receiving this witness, we were asked by a sister missionary if we knew of anyone that might be ready to hear the gospel message. I normally hesitate and usually don't put any names down. On this occasion however, I felt strongly that I should put down two names. These two people mean a lot to me and I hope that one day they will be receptive to the spirit as it bears witness of the truth. Although at times we may believe that people will be angry with us for giving their names and phone numbers to missionaries, I know that they will be more upset with me in Heaven if I decided they didn't deserve a chance to hear the messages of the restored gospel here on Earth.

Day 126 (Aug 3) This was a very long day. I started driving home from Phoenix at 9am Arizona time. We didn't arrive home until 11:30pm Arizona time. That's 14 1/2 hours for those that didn't want to count! You would think that I would have been absolutely exhausted, but I wasn't, in fact, I felt very alert and in control the entire day as I drove across the Arizona desert and through Las Vegas and up the majority of Utah. The miracle could easily be the fact that I stayed awake, but I would also like to point out the miracle of the sacred temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After visiting the Mesa temple yesterday, I decided that I wanted to see the Las Vegas temple as well. The Las Vegas temple has become one of my most favorite places to stop, because I believe the spirit is so very strong there, even on the outside. Once we stopped there, I couldn't hold back the feeling that this was a sacred Sunday and so I wanted to make the most of the Sabbath, since I couldn't make it to church. So, I stopped at the St. George temple as well. After that, we had really made this trip much longer than it should have been, so I wasn't able to stop at the Provo, Mt. Timpanogos or Jordan River Temples, but I got to see the two in Utah county with their lights on as we drove by. I am grateful for the temple. I know that it is designed by our Heavenly Father as a place where we can strengthen our commitment to him and we can be the Lords hands in fulfilling his promise that all would be given a chance to return to live with him again.

Day 127 (Aug 4) I am grateful for the miracle of having a job that I love. I feel so blessed to be able to go to work and enjoy what I do.

Day 128 (Aug 5) I am grateful for creativity. I am grateful for opportunities to be creative in what I do, in order to be more efficient and more effective. I am grateful that my job is flexible enough that I was able to work a 14 hour day today, it really helps to make up for missing 2 weeks of work due to illness.