Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve

Happy sabbath :) Aren't Sundays just the best?

This post is dedicated to something I have thought about a lot in the last few months, and especially the last few weeks... home! Except this time when I say home I am referring to a place that hasn't been 'home', exactly, in a while. I'm talking about Québec.



I've been thinking about God's purpose in making who I am. Why is it that I was born where I was?

Thinking about this has been a great source of joy for me. Because I am very grateful for my French Canadian heritage and I am very grateful for the family I was born into.

Just a while before I was born my parents joined the Church (my father in Saskatchewan and my mother, Québec). Québec City had only one branch when I lived there as I grew up. In my little town there were even fewer members.

When I moved away at the age of 10 I was heart broken. But as the years passed I grew to love Alberta and slowly I started to forget about Québec (event though I went back every summer to see my grandparents). I let myself lose a lot of my French and my thoughts of going back to Québec were fewer. I used to tell myself it was not the kind of place I would want to raise my children, since the Church is quite small.

By the time I turned 17 I realized I had been silly to stop practicing my French and to assume it would just stay as strong. I felt ashamed to talk to people because I didn't sound Francophone. I had a strange mix of accents haha So, I started practicing again. I would read my Book of Mormon in French, listen to the radio in French when I could and I spoke more often with my Grandmother. Last year I audited a French grammar class and really started to realize how far my grammar had slipped.

In these last few weeks I've learned something very important. I realized that it wasn't just a coincidence that I was born in Québec. I don't know the exact reason why, but I do know that it is not insignificant.

So these are my thoughts... I may end up living anywhere. But if I had it my way I would go back to Québec after graduating. I would move to Montreal or Québec, and be the missionary THERE that Heavenly Father is preparing me to be. I would do what I can do for the people I love so much. One of BYU's mottos says, "Enter to learn, go forth to serve". BYU is the kind of place that you stay at for a season. During this season you learn and grow and decide who you want to be. You learn about your Gospel roots. And then you leave to go into the world-- all over the world-- to spread the truth that you have received.

So I'll leave it with this. Elder Cook expresses exactly what I now believe.

In the October 2007 General Conference, Elder Quentin L. Cook said this: 

"I know that many of you are concerned about raising your children during these difficult times and increasing their faith. When my wife and I were starting our family in the San Francisco Bay Area, we had that same concern. At a critical point our stake members were advised by Elder Harold B. Lee, then a member of the Twelve, that we could raise our families in righteousness if we would:

1. Follow the prophet.

2. Create the true spirit of the gospel in our hearts and homes.

3. Be a light to those among whom we live.
4. Focus on the ordinances and principles taught in the temple.

As we followed this counsel, our faith increased and our fears decreased. I believe we can raise righteous children anywhere in the world if they are taught religious principles in the home."

Have a wonderful week :) 

Stéfanie