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Called to Serve

11/26/2017

Mission Papers Submitted: October 26, 2017
Mission Assigned:    November 17. 2017
Mission Call Received:   November 24, 2017,   3:30 p.m.
Mission Call Opened:   November 24, 2017     7:30 p.m.
Excitement About Serving: IMMEDIATE

“Dear Sister Hislop:

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Colorado Fort Collins Mission….. You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, January 31, 2018.”

Like kids to candy and teens to Taquis, Tanah’s friends and family flocked the grand opening of her mission call. She found the mission call in the mailbox when she returned from work on Friday.   Four hours, a trip to Winegar’s for ice cream, and a frantic house cleaning later, 58 people crowded (crowded is an understatement--it was less than standing room only) into our front room for the event.   Surrounded by loved ones, standing on a chair in center stage, it was Tanah at her best.   She loves a crowd and everyone in the crowd loved her.    Fabulous. Absolutely fabulous.

Tanah will be a fabulous missionary.   She is intuitively aware of the needs of others and determined to use her intuitive awareness in ways that bless them.   She is firm in the faith and steadfastly committed to doing what is right.   She is also vibrantly fun and vivacious. Her zone leaders are going to love her.     GO girl!

Fort Collins will be a fabulous mission.   It includes large parts of Wyoming, a smaller segment of Colorado and a piece of Nebraska.   Dad Hislop has many former athletes in the Fort Collins area and the Mellmans, close family friends, live there as well.   Jeff Mellman is strong enough to move a piano by himself and Letha’s heart is a big as Jeff’s muscles are strong.   I know that if my girl ever needs anything Jeff and Letha will move mountains (the Rocky Mountains to be specific) to help her out.

So good to see my daughter so excited.   Exciting times ahead.   Lots of work too.   Lots.

WHAAAA-WHOOOO!

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We Made It Through the Rain

11/12/2017

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Twenty-three years……. Twenty-three years ago Lance and I were married legally and sealed eternally in the Ogden Temple.
For the first few years of our marriage, when asked “How are you?” Lance responded, eyes twinkling, “I am nice, kind, sweet, stunningly good looking, happy and happily married.” And it was true.   Then, for years, it was not.

Our marriage has had a few dark years; years (and years!) when neither of us could say we were happy or happily married. Unrecognized mental health challenges masked Lance’s personality and caused us both to question who we were.   Feelings of betrayal, confusion, anger, frustration, disillusionment, sorrow, guilt and overwhelming loneliness pushed out feelings of love, joy, security, trust, and intimacy. Health challenges brought financial challenges which made a hard situation even more difficult. Societal stigmas associated with mental health issues exacerbated the problem.   Rain clouds, ominous and foreboding, dominated our emotional horizons. Everything seemed dark.   Everything.

It was hard.   Hard.   HARD.    There were times when being in the same room was incredibly difficult, sharing a bed was the hardest thing I have ever done, and looking him in the eye was impossible.   I know these were the hardest times of his life as well.   Not only could he not feel joy or even hope, he could not even remember ever feeling joy or hope.   Cognitively he knew that he had been happy once but the feelings associated with happiness were totally foreign; despair was his constant companion.    Hard times. Hard.   HARD.

Those times were hard but they were not everlasting.   Ask Lance how he is today and he will answer “I am nice, kind, sweet, stunningly good looking, happy and happily married.” And it will be true. For both of us. I, too, am happy and happily married.

We made it through the rain.

How?

God.

During the dark years, I prayed. And prayed. And prayed. Through deep, intimate, personal and passionate experience I learned that there is a God and that He answers prayers.   “Dear Father,” I plead, “Please tell me what to do.    Please, please, please tell me what to do.”   And He did.   He spoke to me through the scriptures. Every verse I read in the Book of Mormon seemed to tell me that love and patience were the solution. Be loving and have patience.   I received that scriptural message over and over again.

Our Father in Heaven blessed us through others as well.   He led me to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), an organization that helped me understand, connected me to resources, offered me the support and empathy of others in similar situations, and most significantly, gave me hope.   He brought me to a therapist who equipped both of us with the tools needed to change our direction.   And He blessed us with friends and family who freely gave both financial and emotional support.

He, Master of the Universe, God of All, also gave me direct, personal instruction through unmistakable spiritual impressions.   In my darkest moments, when the rain threatened to sweep me away, His Holy Spirit guided me, comforted me, strengthened me, protected me.   Through experiences too sacred to share I knew He was there and aware.

And now, with feelings too deep to adequately express, I am grateful, SO GRATEFUL.   Today, literally and specifically thanks to God, I am very, VERY happily married to a man whom I honor, respect, love, and adore and who honors, respects, loves, and adores me.

Hard times are universal.   So is God.   Maybe the hard time is marriage, maybe it is not being married. Maybe the hard time is your job, maybe it is not having a job.   Maybe it is the children, maybe it is not having children.   Maybe it is health or, more accurately, not being healthy.   Storm clouds assemble and rains come to all.     So does God, if we let Him.

We made it through the rain…..and found ourselves respected by the others (each other) who got rained on too….and made it through.       And you can too!!!!!

Love,
Teresa

I Made It Through The Rain
Barry Manilow

We dreamers have our ways
Of facing rainy days
And somehow we survive
We keep the feelings warm
Protect them from the storm
Until our time arrives
Then one day the sun appears
And we come shining through those lonely years

I made it through the rain
I kept my world protected
I made it through the rain
I kept my point of view
I made it through the rain
And found myself respected
By the others who
Got rained on too
And made it through

When friends are hard to find
And life seems so unkind
Sometimes you feel afraid
Just aim beyond the clouds
And rise above the crowds
And start your own parade
'Cause when I chase my fears away
That's when I knew that I could finally say

I made it through the rain
I kept my world protected
I made it through the rain
I kept my point of view
I made it through the rain
And found myself respected
By the others who
Got rained on too
And made it through

I made it through the rain
I kept my world protected
I made it through the rain
I kept my point of view
I made it through the rain
And found myself respected
By the others who
Got rained on too
And made it through
And made it through
And made it through

Songwriters: Gerard Kenny / Drey Shepperd / Bruce Sussman / Jack Feldman / Barry Manilow
I Made It Through The Rain lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc

We made in through the rain....and the desert.

What a handsome couple!

After running a Ragnar in Washington State. Lance lost his smile somewhere on the course....

I am cutting his beard, NOT his throat!

Something is very fishy here....

"L" is for Lance and love. Our marriage is rock solid....now. :)

Attacked on a Florida beach....

Lance fears he will have to surrender his Hislop Man Card if he is seen in public wearing a BYU shirt....

Gotta love a furry face....?!?!?!?!

Young couple

Not so young couple....

A heart shaped steak on Valentine's Day....

We made it through the rain....and found ourselves very, VERY happy.

3 Comments

Stuck Outside

11/5/2017

1 Comment

I’d had a great session in the temple. Enveloped by a feeling of peace, I proceeded to the parking lot. There peace turned to perplexity.   I could not leave.   I left my keys in the temple.   I’d also left my cell phone in the temple. And my driver’s license. And all my money. And my credit cards.   And my temple recommend.    I had efficiently connected them together and effectively stranded myself in the parking lot.

With no keys, I could not drive home.   With no cell phone, I could not call for help. With no driver’s license, I could not prove my identity.   Without access to money I could not hire anyone to drive me home.   And with no temple recommend I could not enter the temple to retrieve the abandoned items.

YIKES!!

I was not completely stuck. I could have walked home. I probably could have borrowed a cell phone or hitched a ride.   Perhaps I could have even stolen some money (not the best option!).   I could have carried the burdens caused by my mistake by myself but it would have been hard.   Very hard.   Much harder than it needed to be.

Hoping for mercy, I re-entered the temple foyer, admitted my mistake to the people at the desk and humbly asked for assistance.   Graciously, with kindness and an obvious willingness to help, the temple worker disappeared into the sanctuary.   Soon she reappeared and returned to me the items I’d lost. My keys, currency, and identity were restored.    I returned to my truck, a grateful and wiser person. (Now, when I go to the temple, I leave my cell phone on the bottom of the locker, instead of the top shelf, where I will be sure to see it before I leave.)

I am so grateful for the mercy and kindness of the temple worker who, without judgement or condemnation, rescued me from my mistake, eased my burden, and enabled me to return home.

Sometimes I find brilliancy in my stupidity.   On this day, I was struck (not literally) by the eternal lesson found in my mortal mistake.

Do we not occasionally find ourselves stuck on the outside? Off peace’s path for one reason or another? Burdened by our mistakes and/or weaknesses? Facing the prospect of carrying burdens far heavier than they need be?

There is Someone willing to help.   Someone who, without judgement or condemnation, with mercy and kindness, will ease our burdens and restore peace.   Someone who, if we let Him, will empower us to return home, home to our Heavenly Father from whom we came.

I testify that Jesus Christ is that Someone.   If we will bring to Him our weaknesses and humbly petition His help, He will graciously, mercifully, and willingly bear our burdens, restore our peace, and guide us home.

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Called to Serve

We Made It Through the Rain

Stuck Outside

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