Why would anyone ever move to Kansas?

My response is usually "You've obviously never been there"

I will preface this post by saying, I am homesick tonight. I've never really experienced homesickness before, so this is a new thing for me. I spent the evening having dinner with some friends I grew up with in Olathe and it made me miss home. So far, without fail- Sundays are the hardest days for me.
Being back in Utah the past 2 weeks I have had more than a couple of old co-workers, acquaintances, etc ask me why I had ever moved to Kansas in the first place, if I was just going to turn around and come back to Utah a year later. "Well nice to see you again too" is how I'd like to respond, but instead I realize I really do have a good answer for them. Some of you don't know the story of how I ever ended up leaving Utah and moving back to Kansas to live with my older brother, Kevin in September of last year. So here's the story:

It started in March 2007. I was living in Provo, UT at the time and loving my job as a Recreation Therapist. I simply had gone home to Kansas to visit for a week, not seeking anything specific besides time with my family. I went to visit Kevin, and spent an evening there in Lawrence with him. He took me to have dinner at the Spain restaurant on Mass St. (It went out of business a couple of months later), then we just talked most of the night and I actually slept on his bedroom floor. (For anyone who saw his room pre-marriage, you know how silly and cramped that must have been sleeping on his floor.) It was there in that tiny corner of space that I knelt down for my normal bedtime prayer and in the midst of simply giving thanks for being able to spend an evening with my insanely busy brother, I was given one of the most unexpected and most undeniable promptings/directions from the Lord. I was basically told "Tiffanie-you're moving back to Kansas. In fact, you're moving here to Lawrence and you're going to live in this house." I admit I kinda laughed at the thought because I had no reason to be in Lawrence. I had no friends there, I wasn't in school at KU and if I was going to live anywhere in Kansas-Olathe was my home. I figured my brain was just really tired, and obviously must have just had too much fun with my brother that night, so I chuckled to myself and went to bed.

I went to breakfast there in Lawrence the next morning with my friend, Heidi. She and I had worked at KU EFY together in 2004. Heidi and I had stayed in touch via internet chatting over the years, so it was good to sit and chat face-to-face before she headed off to her class that morning. I remember two main things about our breakfast together. #1 We talked mostly about American Idol and #2 I was prompted once again that Lawrence was where I was soon headed. This time it was through the thought of "See, you do have friends here, in fact your life will be forever blessed by the people you will meet here." I was scared. I can't even explain what THAT felt like! I basically was just left thinking "WHAT IN THE WORLD?! WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?!" I had the continuous and overwhelming feeling that the Lord wasn't kidding either, so I needed to react with faith to the prompting.

I learned quickly on my mission that when the Lord commands or prompts you to do something-you do it. Well, in this situation, I was definitely caught off guard by the whole thing, but the only question I felt necessary to ask was "When?" It was March-I knew the Lord wanted me in Kansas, but I had a job in Provo that I loved. why would I just walk away from that? HOW could I walk away from that?! WHEN could I walk away from that?! Figuring out the right timing was the hardest part of the whole thing.

I returned to Provo from my Kansas visit and it took me days before I told anyone what I had felt. I was terrified. I finally cracked to Summer, my best friend and roommate at the time, by saying "Summer-I'm moving back to Kansas." Her response was "Good. I think you should." That was not what I expected to hear, but it's what I NEEDED to hear. (Another tender mercy from the Lord).

I wrestled for days, weeks, months to figure out the right timing of leaving my job, telling my co-workers, fulfilling summertime work responsibilities, going on the already planned trip to Spain, France,and Italy in May, as well as hosting my friend, Debbie, who would be visiting from England in July. After taking all kinds of things into consideration, it was finally decided that September 2007 was when I would officially move to Lawrence, Kansas.

Once the timing had been figured out,(and approved through fervent prayer) it just ate at me more and more because I knew I was soon to be in Kansas. In a previous post, I talked about how so many things in my life go back to the mission...This was one of those situations as well. It was as if in March I had received my "mission call" to Kansas, but had to wait to to enter the "MTC" until September. It was a long wait, however, once I got there, the timing of it all was undeniably perfect for so many reasons. The timing of my arrival was essential in the experiences I had, the people I grew close to, my opportunity to serve in certain callings, ward activities, family activities, etc etc- once again, just like the mission (areas, companions, teaching opportunities, etc).

"Having faith in the Lord, also means having faith in His timing."
--Elder Neal A. Maxwell