Counselor

I have jumped into my practicum this year, which I am doing at Adelante, La Puente and PALS. Adelante is a transitional housing program which works with families coming out of homelessness. They have assistance with housing for two years, and during that time they are required to work or go back to school, attend life skills classes, go to counseling, have home visits to set up budgets and learn home management skills as well as take parenting classes. All of these activities help them to be prepared to get back on their feet and prevent future homelessness. La Puente is a homeless shelter and PALS is a program designed to work with the children of the Adelente families as well as the children of those who are guests at the shelter.

I love the work I am doing and the variety between the different programs. I feel like there are so many people in society who have unmet needs that have never been given family or community support, and this is a way to meet their needs. It is also discouraging to see the price of addictions, lack of education, and abuse. It is one thing to criticize the drunks on the street, but after having a conversation and hearing their story, I have learned to judge less and love more.


At the start of this semester, I was starting to really worry about how my time away would affect my family. My children are used to always having me around, and Danielle particularly struggles when I am gone. Nathan misses me when I am distracted with assignments that have due dates looming ahead. I still have a busy church calling that demands my attention. I felt strongly that going back to school was the right choice, but this semester I was starting to have my doubts about whether the timing was still right.

We took our family to the temple last weekend to seek guidance. As I sat in my session my mind swirled with questions and concerns. Near the end of the session I felt calmer and a question was posed to me that I felt was the answer to my prayers: "What is another name for the Savior?"

The answer that came directly to me was simply, "Counselor."

It feels like such a blessing and privilege to take upon the name of Christ in a different way than I had previously considered. These years are busy ones, and I feel to live in such a way that when I look back, I will have no regrets as to how I spent my time.

I work hard to meet the needs of my family, and I make sacrifices along the way. My days are longer and my nights are busier, but I can rest after my labors knowing that I followed my Heavenly Father's plan for me.