True Happiness

Everyone has things in their life that make them happy. For my mom, it's her cheetah print jacket, for my niece it's her pet chinchilla, and for me? Well, it's eating ice-cream out of a mug.

But today I don't want to talk about the happiness that is only temporary. After all; cheetah print fades, that chinchilla wont live forever (hopefully), and eventually I'll run out of ice-cream. I have found in my life the source of true and lasting happiness comes from living the gospel of Jesus Christ. Particularly from reading the Book of Mormon.

I want to share an experience I had that I believe has shaped my life.

While I was in High School my parents taught a class every Sunday night in our basement. The object of this class was to teach and train young senior boys to prepare them for their future missions. Out of the many years my parents did this, there was one Sunday- in particular- I will never forget.

I was sitting at our kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal (which was my nightly routine) when I could hear downstairs that the Sunday meeting was over. Finishing off my last bite of cereal, knowing that my parents would want my help putting away chairs downstairs, I suddenly heard a voice calling my name from down the hall... and it was a boy! Totally taken back, I answered, "I'm in the kitchen!"  I was even more surprised when I saw who was looking for me. His name is Andrew (I changed it for privacy) he was the boy at school that all the girls were in love with... jock... witty... you know the type! Totally confused I asked him why he was looking for me?
His reply, "I wanted to ask you a question... everyday I see you walking down the hall and yesterday I saw you and thought, 'that girl knows what's going on!'" and then he started to cry, "Rebekah, why are you so happy?"
My clever response, "umm... what do you mean?"
"Well, every time I see you, you look so happy! ...I've been trying to figure out why.. and the only thing I can come up with is when you bore your testimony in seminary on the Book of Mormon and how much you love it... is that what makes you happy? And how did you grow to love it so much?"

It took me a minute to answer back. I was still in shock that Andrew was in my kitchen... and he was crying! Before this very moment, I hadn't realized he knew I even existed! Let alone trying to figure out why I was happy.
"Andrew, I think you are right. The Book of Mormon is the greatest blessing in my life...the spirit that it brings when I read it, I believe, is what makes me happy... and the best way to love it, is to read it."

He just nodded his head and said, "I knew it."

That night in my kitchen I learned a powerful lesson. Not only could I feel and see a difference in my own life from reading the Book of Mormon but others could feel and see it too... even the witty jocks! Since I have been out on my mission I have had the privilege of watching the light and happiness grow in each one of my investigators as they have read and studied the Book of Mormon. What a blessing!

I know longer "think" that the Book of Mormon has brought true happiness into my life. I know it has.

Welcome to my blog!

My name is, Rebekah Savage, and I am currently serving in the Oregon Eugene Mission. I have been given the great privilege of being able to write my thoughts, beliefs, and views via the internet.

This blog was inspired by an idiosyncrasy my dad has. He can be very focused and he seems to accomplish a lot during the day, but there is one thing that is kind of frustrating... it's his complete inability to get in the car and just go to one place. My dad gets in the car and he is everywhere! Instead of going to the most important destination, he always has several stops he needs to make along the way.

So imagine being a child and having your dad invite you to go to breakfast. You hurry and dress, race to the car... only to sit there for hours while your dad makes stop after stop, doing errand after errand. The dry-cleaners, the bank, the post office, the whole foods store for his favorite apples, then to the office supply store to pick up some things for work, then a stop to get his suitcase fixed, after that over to the hardware store to pick up some filters for the furnace. As children we almost starved waiting for dad to get all his errands done before taking us to eat!

Now to be fair, my dad has some good excuses for his diversions but we have learned never to go with dad. Dad will NEVER go to one place and then home- there will always be multiple stops along the way. So of you go with dad; pack your lunch, bring a good book and have your phone charged cause it's going to be a long trip!

I often wonder if we are kind of like my dad in our personal journey seeking the Savior. We start out with the Lord in mind but the many responsibilities and distractions of this world prevent us from staying focused on what's most important.

I decided to title my blog, "The Passenger Seat", because I feel as though we are all on this journey to the Savior together. In order for us to make it to him, we need to break away from worldly distractions and remind ourselves of what matters most. I hope my blog will do that for everyone and anyone who reads it.

Until next time,

Sister-Rebekah Savage