Where Did the Time Go? Why Do I Feel Like I've Lost a Part of Me?

   It's been two months since I started my mission on December 1st of 2010. In only two months I felt like I have remembered every moment of my entire nineteen year existence on this earth, and for a while I felt like every moment that has passed in my life has been lost. Everything that I have lived through or experienced is merely a memory. Its kind of depressing when every moment in your life just happens and after that its gone.
   You grow so attached to those memories of your playful youth and summer fun as a child. Those times with your family and friends are postponed for two years and when you return home things will never be as they once were. Kind of sad, huh? Well, all of these thoughts and emotions stemmed from my head, so I felt it best to stop thinking in such a short measure of twenty years and start thinking of eternity. Which was a good idea because there is a lot of happiness when thinking of existence in terms of before, now, and forever.
   As I continued pondering my life the words "line upon line, precept upon precept" from 2nd Nephi of the Book of Mormon came into my mind. I soon realized that everything that happens in our life stays with us, nothing is lost only gained. Its such a comfort to know that all those wonderful moments in our life aren't lost, but instead are apart of us and makes us what we are. As for those not so wonderful moments, those times of struggle, they still make us better than what we were before.
   There is a scripture in The Doctrine & Covenants in Section 122:7 that helps remind me of those hard times in my life like those times of doubt and discouragement. It says "And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackeness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape opent the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good."
   So when you start dreaming of the past and longing for those moments of happiness remember that it only gets better. Every second passed is a second gained. Life is not a countdown to the end, but an account of the infinite. Keep your thoughts in the now and enjoy the moment. Because that moment is a part of you and won't happen again.
   President Monson had this to say of life, “Sometimes we let our thoughts of tomorrow take up too much of today. Daydreaming of the past and longing for the future may provide comfort but will not take the place of living in the present. This is the day of our opportunity, and we must grasp it.” President Hinckley also said "Life is to be enjoyed, not endured." Two great pieces of counsel to follow.
   I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen