Girl Crazy

Girl crazy, definitely a fair description of both myself and many of the friends I've spent my past years parading around with. However, not too many years ago it was this craze that led to a certain missionary's dream coming true.  It's that same dream that every elder out there who is now, or has served has in common.

A pretty girl who will write you, week after week after week, after week, after week, after week finally ending with you returning home, sweeping her off her feet and marrying this sweetheart of yours.

For most, this dream remains just that, rarely becoming more than a wild fantasy, in which you receive 2 years worth of these coveted letters that let you know just how special you are, how proud of you she is, and how you're all she thinks about.

So here's how to make it happen. Or at least how it [sort of] worked in this friend of mine's case.

It happened about a week before my best friend's expected departure for the Missionary Training Center. We had spent the past few hours of that day perusing the shops of a nearby mall. We finished up, walked out the door, and there she was! My friend was nothing short of stunned. His short amount of time left in "the real world" didn't matter, he had to talk to her. There was only one problem, he literally looked like he had just gotten out of bed. Thinking that there was no way this girl would give him the time of day, considering his less than flattering outfit made up of basketball shorts, a hoodie, and bed head, he turned to me as we sat down in his truck and said "I have to go back in and talk to her, give me your clothes!"

In an effort to give my friend his best shot at a good first impression, we both began to strip. After making the exchange, there I sat, wearing nothing but boxer briefs and that hoodie in the front seat of the truck and there he went, back into the mall to find out who this young lady was.

He's gone for a few minutes, comes back and the story ends as follows; he found her, talked to her, got her phone number, but never gets the opportunity to hang out with this girl before his departure for the mission field. 

Unfortunate, right?..... Wrong. Turns out the girl he met at the mall, in borrowed clothes, and never hung out with sticks it out for two years and writes him faithfully the entire time...... WOW. I don't know if a last second effort has ever paid off in such a big way, and there's a good reason why.

Whether it be love, character, a jump shot, a college degree, spirituality or anything else we deem to be worthwhile or worth achieving; dedication and sacrifice are always required. Do we think when our time for preparation has expired that we can quickly shed our spiritual pajamas and jump into a friend's Armani suit and fool God?

"And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness? Behold, what will these things testify against you?" 

While last second efforts may earn us a few letters from the cute girl at the mall, spirituality and sanctification require a bit more.

  

 "And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?

   Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?" Alma 5:14-15