Best Advice EVER: Don't ask why

That's right. I'm starting off by giving you the best advice EVER.

Most people would assume to save the best advice for later. I'm not going to wait. It's too important not to share RIGHT NOW! Also, I felt like this is what I needed to share today.

President and Mission Mom

Before being shipped back to the states, I go to have an interview with my mission president. For some reason I didn't think that was going to happen. Maybe because one the earlier plans (guesses, really) was that I was going to fly home from Beograd/Belgrade. The President was kind of enough to give me some of his precious time and attention my last night in the field.

The most effective and helpful advice I have been given in regards to coming home, and life in general, came from that short meeting.

His advice: Don't ask why.

No matter what happens, don't ask why. I know it's so tempting! We always want to know why. Especially when our lives get turned upside, thrown off track, and drop out of the sky.

Why? Why this? Why me? Why?

Once you start, the 'whys' keep coming and coming. Once you start, you will find it won't stop. So just don't do it. Don't ask 'why'. It will turn into a habit and you will drive yourself mad. You may find out why someday, you might not.

There is one 'why' you are allowed to say. President told me that he has learned to stop asking "Why me" and has replaced it with "Why not me?"

I can still remember him sitting behind his desk. "Why not me? Everyone has different challenges. Trials are a part of life. Why not me? Why not have this challenge or trial?" We have been given revelation through the scriptures and religious leaders that every trail is individually crafted to us. It's like a present! So why not you? It's better than getting a problem made for someone else.

This advice has benefited me the most. I have watched other people become more frustrated over my situation then myself because they ask themselves "why?". I'm not kidding! They become so upset, it's almost comical! I wish ya'll had a mission president like mine.

I have a confession to make. I did ask myself "why" for the first time a few weeks ago. It was terrible. The spirit that came with it was very different. It was hopeless, upset, and just miserable. I will never do that again.

If you need some kind of answer to hold onto or to give you purpose, then pray about it.
Until then, maybe this will help. In the MTC we eat, sleep, breathe, and live the "greatness of the calling." It's the most important thing anyone can do with their lives. If you are called to come back home, then there must be something VERY important in store for you. When there are a million reasons to go on a mission, there must be a million and a half reasons to be called back home.

I came home just in time, meaning the night before, my Grandpa's last temple session as a temple worker. He has been released due to health conditions. This one moment, at the beginning of this adventure home, was enough for me to not dwell on "why" and to "move forward with a perfect brightness of hope."

Pray for acceptance. If you must know the 'why' or be given a reason, you won't find it by dwelling on the past. The answers are all in the future.

I still don't know why I had to come home. I may never find out. But I'm okay with that. "I know in whom I have trusted."

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding."


Don't ask "why". Just say "Why not me."


Thanks President. I owe you one!

With all the love in my heart,
Aubrey