Took a screenshot of my countdown the day he left! I'm happy to say the number is a lot smaller now

Hi and hello there! If you are reading this, you are probably a missionary girlfriend waiting for the man of your dreams to come home to you! Well you are in good company. I'm starting this blog for one reason, to help other MG's to feel comforted knowing that someone else knows how they feel. A couple of weeks ago I was really missing my missionary. I was moping around feeling unproductive. I got onto the internet and decided to watch my usual YouTube videos of missionaries coming home to make me feel better. However, it didn't make me feel better...so I continued searching for something that would. I came across several missionary girlfriend blogs and they cheered me up in an instant! I felt how strong these girls were and how they were faithfully waiting. They set an example to me to say the least! They are all so darling! That's when I discovered a sort of club developing with all the "MG's" out there! I read and looked at all these girls coming together to help one another pull through a difficult time in their life! I was truly amazed at their strength and testimonies! So that's when I decided that I wanted to help my fellow sisters along this path too. As you can see, this blog is called "Two Years to Grow". I thought carefully about this title. When Josh left I had this permanent voice in my head saying "two years to go....two years to go...." over and over and over!

I know...saddest picture ever, right?

Josh has been out for 10 months now and I've realized something. Because of that voice in my head that has forced me to stare at the clock and the calendar and wait, I've wasted my time. Don't get me wrong, I went to school, I did my work and tried to stay busy with it but what else did I do? I get e-mails every week from Josh and I continue to be amazed at how much he has grown and how his testimony is off the charts! He studies, works hard, talks to strangers, and I just count down the days wanting it to go by faster. Josh would write and say "Time needs to slow down it's going by too fast!" Umm...are you kidding? Time has never been slower! I'm moving in slow motion! For the first while of Josh's mission I was constantly sad, and grumpy! I really didn't expect it to be this hard! I knew I'd miss him, but I didn't know it would make a hole in my heart! I finally decided that I didn't want to be sad anymore. I've never done such sincere praying in all my life. I just wanted to be happy, but it was so hard without Josh. That's when Heavenly Father told me something I'll never forget. He said, "If you're tired of being sad, be happy." Could it really be that simple? YES IT IS! I got up off my knees and decided that I was going to be happy. You can be miserable for 2 years, or happy for 2 years. Either way you have to wait for 2 years, might as well be happy! It took me 10 months to figure out this one simple fact. But the learning didn't stop there. Josh was everything I've ever wanted. Even more now that I've seen how strong he is and how hard he works. But was I doing all I could to be the girl of his dreams? Like I said, I was lazy! Just waiting for days to go by! Not working on a testimony, not serving, and not caring! I realized that if I wanted Josh to work hard to be the man of my dreams, I needed to do the same. I had Josh tell me everything he wanted his future wife to have (skills, personality traits). When he told me I realized that I have some of those qualities, but didn't have others. I decided that I would make the qualities I already had better, and develop the ones I didn't have. I decided that from now on, I would work hard to be as good as I can be, for him. That's when everything changed! Suddenly 2 years wasn't long enough! I couldn't be as good as I wanted to be for him in 2 years! I needed more time! I had already wasted 10 months! But it's never to late to grow. I'm growing to be better, and to be better for Josh. If you focus on being better for your missionary, time will go by faster. I can PROMISE you that. I have experienced it! Fill your day with enriching activities that make you better, work as hard as he is. Deserve him. Work hard, keep going, and wait on!