Love Where You Live

Since moving to New York last year I have had a few occasions to fly back home and visit for a little bit. Each time has really just been a breath of fresh air. It’s just a treat to come home to what I know and feel so grateful for what I have here. However, I did not always feel that way.

Growing up in Utah every once in a while I would catch the occasional travel bug. I would have the thoughts that I think many Utahns experience at one point or another. The thoughts of, “oh I just want to get out of Utah.” I wasn’t always of the mindset “out of Utah or bust”, but I did occasionally have those desires to leave, to move away, to see the world. Well, I did it. I moved to New York. After five years or so milling around Provo, I decided to give New York a shot.

New York is a great city. It’s huge, it’s fun, it’s diverse, it’s fast, it’s happening. It’s just about everything, but home. It has just been an experience so far. I have had some ups and downs, just like anywhere. I have loved it at times, and I have not so much enjoyed it at other times. But as I have sat and pondered a bit here on my most recent trip back to Utah, I have realized again that Utah is my home.

Today I have been sitting at the grounds of the Mount Timpanogos Temple and pondering a few things and I have realized how much I miss being able to find a nice quite place to just think. To just let my mind go. I do love the rush of the city, but there is just something about the peaceful calm of the temple grounds that just beats it every time for me.

As I have pondered, my mind made a little connection to the eternal perspective of things. I have thought about how we lived in a heavenly home and we are currently separated from that home. We are doing our best to follow the path and find our way back. As we are milling about, we receive small reminders of our heavenly home. Whether that be at the temple, through our prayers, or just walking down the street. The Lord gives us these reminders to help us remember our roots. To remind us that we are celestial beings currently living in a terrestrial world. But He gives us those reminders to help us remember where we are from and where we are going.

Now I’m not trying to make this analogy to say that Utah is better than New York, for someone else it may be just the opposite. But for me, Utah is my home. I enjoy being able to go out and have experiences, to be able to learn and to grow, but I am happy that I can have those reminders of where I am from and know that I can feel the comfort of home when I am able to visit. I’m happy that I always have somewhere to call home.