Burros and Giraffes

Hello my dear family!

Okay, so second week in Carlsbad--I'm doing much better than I was last Monday! The adjustment was rough, but things are going well. We had Stake Conference this weekend and I was praying the whole week that it would be an uplifting and enlightening experience, and it was! Before the meeting on Sunday, we had a missionary meeting with President Heap. He told us a story about burros and giraffes (which I think I've shared before?) I'll share it anyways :) Burros and giraffes are different as night and day. From their physical structure to their eating habits, they are opposites. Everyone sees the giraffes. They're tall, elegant, seem like they have life all together, the works ;) And then there's the burros: short little donkeys that aren't the prettiest to look at, but are tougher than nails. God made them the way they are for a reason, and those reasons are different. A giraffe doesn't make a good "beast of burden"--if you load it up, it will just sit there and refuse to budge and inch. But, you can put a pack, multiple packs even, on a burro and that little guy will just dig in his heels and push forward. President Heap related this to the mission: some missionaries are giraffes and some are burros. I've learned that I am a burro :) And one of my goals this week is to be the best little burro I can be--By digging deep and trusting in the Lord.

Stake Conference was held in Roswell, and so I was able to reconnect with some of the members there :) That made me so happy. It's funny because when you leave an area, you wonder if your being there made a difference, or if the members there will remember you at all. It gave me so much joy to not only see the members that I have known and loved and missed, but to also see that they missed me too :) You never know the difference you make until it's gone. It's kind of like the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". George Bailey never knew the difference he made until he saw what the world would be like if he had never been born. We each make a difference. And that difference is monumental and extraordinary.

Carlsbad is good, the gospel is true, and Sister Tycksen is a happy little burro :)

I hope you all have a fantastic week full of tender mercies and good memories.

Love y'all!

Love, Sister Tycksen

P.S. Oh, and I forgot, today marks TEN MONTHS (300 days) in the mission :D