Caricatures

Saturday, I went to the Spanish Fork Fair and had Kendall draw my face! Good times.

BYU FOOTBALL!!!

 

Shout out to my roommate Bridgett who let me use her sports pass Saturday to go to the BYU vs. UTAH football game!!! I LOVE BYU Football and the Utah game always has an energy that is unmatched by any other game. Plus, I'm a Utahn. It's personal. 
I screamed and shouted and booed and danced and waved my pompom like it was no one's business. That game was INTENSE, and it sucks we lost, but I still had so much freaking fun. 
Bridgett, I owe you a giant cookie or something.

Comforts in Life

I know how to change a tire. I swear I do. 
But I am grateful for AAA, who will change my tire for me while I sit in the sunshine, pinning things on Pintrest on my phone. 
I am also grateful that I could just ride on over the next day to Les Schwab and get my tire fixed in less than a half an hour for FREE.
And if the only real problem I had was that the Les Schwab guy changed my radio stations in my car to all country, then I guess I live a pretty cushy life. 
And I am so grateful.
Not for country, gross.
But for all my many blessings and comforts that I enjoy in my life, yes, I am grateful.  

End the Wait

Today, I had a realization. I hate waiting. Hold on, that's not the realization because I definitely knew I was an impatient person before now. BUT, today I was able to relate these feelings to the situation of others. Lately I have felt like I have especially gotten to feel how very sucky it is to wait indefinitely for solutions. Seriously, it can drive you nuts. This morning I was moaning due to my own impatience for certain outcomes, when I listened to a talk by Elder Bednar (Oct., 2011 General Conference) in which he invited the youth to participate in Family History. Honestly, I wasn't excited about listening to that particular talk but it was next in the cue so I went with it. While listening I started to think about the people who have already passed on. I realized that there are tons and tons of people who are waiting on the other side of the veil to get their temple work done. I mean, I already knew that, but today I was finally was able to understand what they have been feeling for who knows how many hundreds of years! Take my impatience and times that by a million. These people have been waiting indefinitely to be freed from Spirit Prison and be sealed to their loved ones. What a miserable state to wait in! Realizing this, for the first I felt a desire to learn how to do family history work. I hate waiting, and if I can help shorten anyone else's wait time, then I definitely want to do it. Besides, it will give me something to do at work. I have a lot of down time there. 

Hope

Ether 12:4 - Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the soul of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.

D&C 6

14 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, blessed art thou for what thou hast done; for thou hast ^ainquired of me, and behold, as often as thou hast inquired thou hast received instruction of my Spirit. If it had not been so, thou wouldst not have come to the place where thou art at this time.

15 Behold, thou knowest that thou hast inquired of me and I did enlighten thy ^amind; and now I tell thee these things that thou mayest know that thou hast been ^benlightened by the ^cSpirit of truth;

16 Yea, I tell thee, that thou mayest know that there is none else save God that ^aknowest thy thoughts and the ^bintents of thy ^cheart.

A Story from President Thomas S. Monson (October, 2011): 

          "I am always humbled and grateful when my Heavenly Father communicates with me through His inspiration. I have learned to recognize it, to trust it, and to follow it. Time and time again I have been the recipient of such inspiration. One rather dramatic experience took place in August of 1987 during the dedication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple. President Ezra Taft Benson had been with us for the first day or two of the dedication but had returned home, and so it became my opportunity to conduct the remaining sessions.

On Saturday we had a session for our Dutch members who were in the Frankfurt Temple district. I was well acquainted with one of our outstanding leaders from the Netherlands, Brother Peter Mourik. Just prior to the session, I had the distinct impression that Brother Mourik should be called upon to speak to his fellow Dutch members during the session and that, in fact, he should be the first speaker. Not having seen him in the temple that morning, I passed a note to Elder Carlos E. Asay, our Area President, asking whether Peter Mourik was in attendance at the session. Just prior to standing up to begin the session, I received a note back from Elder Asay indicating that Brother Mourik was actually not in attendance, that he was involved elsewhere, and that he was planning to attend the dedicatory session in the temple the following day with the servicemen stakes.

As I stood at the pulpit to welcome the people and to outline the program, I received unmistakable inspiration once again that I was to announce Peter Mourik as the first speaker. This was counter to all my instincts, for I had just heard from Elder Asay that Brother Mourik was definitely not in the temple. Trusting in the inspiration, however, I announced the choir presentation and the prayer and then indicated that our first speaker would be Brother Peter Mourik.

As I returned to my seat, I glanced toward Elder Asay; I saw on his face a look of alarm. He later told me that when I had announced Brother Mourik as the first speaker, he couldn’t believe his ears. He said he knew that I had received his note and that I indeed had read it, and he couldn’t fathom why I would then announce Brother Mourik as a speaker, knowing he wasn’t anywhere in the temple.

During the time all of this was taking place, Peter Mourik was in a meeting at the area offices in Porthstrasse. As his meeting was going forward, he suddenly turned to Elder Thomas A. Hawkes Jr., who was then the regional representative, and asked, “How fast can you get me to the temple?”

Elder Hawkes, who was known to drive rather rapidly in his small sports car, answered, “I can have you there in 10 minutes! But why do you need to go to the temple?”

Brother Mourik admitted he did not know why he needed to go to the temple but that he knew he had to get there. The two of them set out for the temple immediately.

During the magnificent choir number, I glanced around, thinking that at any moment I would see Peter Mourik. I did not. Remarkably, however, I felt no alarm. I had a sweet, undeniable assurance that all would be well.

Brother Mourik entered the front door of the temple just as the opening prayer was concluding, still not knowing why he was there. As he hurried down the hall, he saw my image on the monitor and heard me announce, “We will now hear from Brother Peter Mourik.”

To the astonishment of Elder Asay, Peter Mourik immediately walked into the room and took his place at the podium.

Following the session, Brother Mourik and I discussed that which had taken place prior to his opportunity to speak. I have pondered the inspiration which came that day not only to me but also to Peter Mourik. That remarkable experience has provided an undeniable witness to me of the importance of being worthy to receive such inspiration and then trusting it—and following it—when it comes. I know without question that the Lord intended for those who were present at that session of the Frankfurt Temple dedication to hear the powerful, touching testimony of His servant Brother Peter Mourik."

        I am learning about the importance of hope. Sometimes we feel moments of inspiration and in that moment we feel so good about a decision, but then later the Spirit of that moment fades and we very quickly begin to doubt what we once felt so strongly. Satan wants us to doubt, and we can't do that! We need to have faith in ourselves and our abilities to receive answers. Like Elder Holland said in his BYU Devotional "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence," "If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now."  

        You can't feel the Spirit that strongly as that moment when you received enlightenment all the time or you wouldn't be able to distinguish your feelings when God wants to bless you with more inspiration in the future. Unfortunately that makes us susceptible to feelings of fear and doubt. They creep in when we don't see the results we want as soon as we want them, or when the solution turns out to be a lot harder than we had anticipated, or when we hit we hit a bump along the way that shakes our confidence that we are on the right track, or when people don't believe in you, or when you fear you aren't strong enough...I could go on and on.

        That's where you need to have hope. Maybe you can't see the whole picture or understand how things can possibly work out, but you know that God is your loving Father and that He has a perfect plan set for you. And that's what you can have hope in: Hope in the Plan of Salvation and in the Savior's Atonement. When you hope in these things, then you receive strength to move forward with a positive outlook, continually doing good, because you trust that there are good things to come and that all things will work together for your benefit somehow.

"God is making things happen for you. Even when you don't see it, even when you can't feel it, even if it's not evident...God is working on your prayers."

Ask for a Blessing

Some days don't go how you planned. Some days you wake up feeling extra sick and so you don't get to work out like you had wanted. Then you discover that the water in your apartment has been shut off, so you don't get to take a shower before work. Then you still feel sick so instead of running errands after work, you go straight home and vege on the couch NOT eating because food has become your enemy. Then you go to a ward BBQ, not to eat but to meet people because that's your calling, and even though you are enjoying yourself you have to leave early because you feel like you are going to pass out from low blood sugar.Then you talk to an old friend on the phone who has been having the same health problems as you, and you discover that over a year later she is still struggling with finding a solution - likely meaning that your problems aren't going to end anytime soon either. Then you sit on your couch and just think about how tired you are of everything.

Some days go like that.

Ok, my day went like that.

And sitting there on my couch feeling overwhelmed and crappy, I had the thought that I should ask for a blessing. It's really hard asking for a blessing - it shouldn't be, but it always feels a little scary and embarrassing. Luckily, I have really great friends who I know are ready and willing to serve when asked, and that made it a lot easier.
And my blessing was perfect. They didn't just bless me in my current situation, they seemed to bless my whole life. My blessing helped me understand better the purpose in my going through this: to teach me to apply the atonement in my life, to help me feel empathy for others, and to prepare me for future callings. It helped me understand the Savior's role as a healer as well as feel God's perfect love for me. He is aware of my situation and wants to help me through it. On top of that, my immediate symptoms disappeared and I felt better by the time the boys had left. 
I'm sure I would have survived if I hadn't of asked for a blessing last night, but that would have been a great opportunity lost. I am so grateful for the priesthood and for priesthood blessings.

The Last Day of Summer

While technically I have been "in school" for 2 weeks now, yesterday still marked the end of summer for me. I don't have to go to college or do homework anymore, but my roommates and most of my friends do. No longer can I expect them to be available to play with me whenever I want. Time for me to start entertaining myself, I guess.

That being said, I lived out a good last day of summer. I slept in late and then I ate breakfast, read my scriptures, and wrote in my journal while still lying in my bed in my pajamas. It was a great, lazy morning. Then I went with a bunch of friends to the Alpine slides for the second time this month. This time it was sunny and the water was refreshing instead of freezing. It was a good time, and I got a little sun. 

Hiking makes you hungry so after Alpine, I made myself an omelet for dinner - Ooo fancy. I ate 2 whole eggs and boy did that fill me up. Later, after watching a show on netflix and doing some stuff for my calling, Becca and I went to Chick-fil-a where we got free shakes. Shakes are like the best thing in existence.

While on our way home a storm blew in out of nowhere and the rain started coming down so hard, it was impressive. I don't always get the urge to play in the rain, but it was the last day of summer, darn it, and Becca was willing to go out in it with me, so that is what we did! We went on a walk in the pouring rain. It didn't take long for us to get soaked, which may or may not have been slightly scandalous because one of us may or may not have been wearing a white shirt. I won't say who. Haha. By the time we got to the Lava Lounge which was just up the street, our shoes were squelching and we were dripping wet. I'm sure we wowed our boys with our "drowned animals" look. Then we splashed in puddles, watched (and even reenacted) the awesome lightning, and visited our across the street neighbors as well. It was refreshing, in the end cold, but totally worth it.

Of course, the best way to end our rainy evening was by changing into matching stretchy pants and sweaters and cuddling up to watch Anastasia. That movie never gets old. It really was a good, chill day.

Goodbye, Summer. It's hard letting you go. You know you will always be my favorite, but I think I am ready to move on to the next chapter of my life. 

Fall, show me what you got.