K Thnks; Gimme

This year, I celebrated my first Thanksgiving home with my family. More importantly, I also celebrated my first time ever getting involved in Black Friday first hand in retail. I must say, I enjoyed the experience.

The Greatest Place on Earth

I began working at Deseret Book at the start of November, and for someone who just got home from her mission, it is the best ever job an RM could have ever. Not only am I working and on a regular schedule, but I'm also surrounded by the words of prophets, Apostles, great teachers, and fantastic authors, as well as Lion House rolls. Who wouldn't want to buy the entire store? My first book was The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox. Please imagine me skipping home with joy to show off my new find.

We, of course, have customers that feel the same. With products that uplift and enrich, who wouldn't feel the Spirit in our store?

With Black Friday looming in the near future earlier this week, I pondered on what our crowds would be like. I would be working from 7:30 to 3 that day, meaning I would have to sell our Doorbusters. Such amazing prices, such amazing products -- would there be a line at our doors before I even got to work? Would there be people fighting over the last copy of Reedeemer before the $9.99 price ended at noon? Would I have customers yelling at me because we ran out of Shadow Box Advent Calendars again?

Nope, nope, nope, and we didn't run out of anything important. Sure it was busy, but I had more fun working on Black Friday than I did trying to shop later that day.

Now, apart from our store being smaller than Walmart, I think the lack of insanity had to do with our most unique feature. This store is one of the few that has the Spirit in it. I don't just feel happy every day working at Deseret Book because I'm helping customers find products that they love. The greatest joy I feel is when I hear, "Can you help me find a gift for a [pick an age]-year-old who is getting baptized this weekend?" or, "I need a book that can help me understand the Book of Mormon." Our products aren't just about worldly happiness; they're about spiritual happiness and fulfillment.

Pictured: Not Deseret Book

Despite the true happiness that can be found here, I have no doubt that most people swarmed Walmart and Macy's on Black Friday, desperately searching for the scraps of temporary happiness found in getting a great deal on a TV or a pile of Christmas gifts. Maybe they don't know about Deseret Book. Maybe they love that rush of excitement over lasting peace. Maybe the meaning of Thanksgiving is being lost in the madness of ridiculous discounts.

Whatever the reason, I would hope that wherever one goes on Black Friday, they would not forget to be grateful for what they already have, even if they're shopping for more things for themselves or others.

And remember: One of the love languages is receiving or giving gifts. Don't feel bad if that's one of your favorite ways to show love. It's my favorite too.

A Closet Full of Clothes

I heard lots of things about what I would experience coming home from my mission.

• I would get depressed because as a Returned Missionary, people wouldn't treat me special like when I had that missionary tag on my shoulder.
• I wouldn't know what to do with myself, especially without a companion and a schedule.
• I would have a hard time adjusting to all the new media I would now be allowed to listen to. (i.e. movies, radio, TV, internet...)

Instead, I just spent six weeks watching entire seasons of The Legend of Korra, Doctor Who, Arrow, and Studio C. If that doesn't say that I know how to get back into my old swing of things, I don't know what does.

Like this, but with more knit sweaters and Batman shirts.

What I did not realize I would have trouble with was my room. I came home with three suitcases and a shoulder bag, all stuffed to the brim with my entire life over the last eighteen months, minus some things I had to leave behind: bath towel, tennis shoes, and a sewing machine among others. When I went to put away my modest supply of clothes that kept me warm for the last year and a half, I met a completely full closet.

I didn't just take a section of my clothes out of my closet to accompany me on my mission. I bought new things before I left so I could be properly attired in my new role as a servant of the Lord. While I spent those eighteen months as a missionary in a completely different area of the country I knew, I added to that wardrobe with some finds at thrift stores and Goodwill. Now, I faced the task of merging the wardrobe that I used to have with the clothes that I was so used to wearing. I seriously feel completely comfortable doing chores and going about town in a skirt and a button-down blouse.

You can have these.

I couldn't put the two together because there was no room for both the old and the new. I tried, but shoving clothes back and forth gets incredibly tiring. So I had to cull my old wardrobe. This shirt was too small; I never wore that skirt anyway; I hate this hoodie so much; why is this blazer even in here? I ended up with several large piles of clothes that I managed to drag all the way to Deseret Industries: Utah's version of Goodwill.

My closet still has way more clothes than a human needs in its lifetime, but all my mission clothes fit. And that's what I wanted. I wanted the me of my mission, as expressed by the clothes I wore, to fit inside the space that represented the rest of me. I can't get rid of my Batman shirts, or the somewhat faded spandex Japanese color-fest shirt, or the hoodies that represent the organizations I once belonged to. That was me before my mission, and that will be me for a long time coming. But I spent eighteen months getting rid of the parts of me that I don't like. It only fits that I would do the same with my clothes. Not that any of my old clothes were bad; they were just worn out and not as good as some of my new wardrobe.

One of the piles of old clothes that I want to get rid of is this habit of wasting an entire days just watching Youtube videos, entire seasons of a TV show in a single day, or whatever I can find on Netflix. I don't want to keep spending all my time playing hidden object games when I could be doing something useful like writing a book or reading my scriptures. In fact, that is another one of my old habits I want to burn with fire: not reading the scriptures like I'm supposed to. I thought that after eighteen months of daily scripture study, this would be the easiest thing to keep doing, but it's not. I've failed so hard at it!

Thankfully, I have just gotten a new job at Deseret Book. Not only is it a great environment to foster my love of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but with a schedule, I will more than likely use my time more effectively. I do intend to get myself back into shape in terms of being productive, because there's nothing more I hate than old!me.

And remind me: I still need to ship Sis. Hillman a fork that I accidentally took home from Waycross, GA.