Moments that Matter Most

Visiting Teaching; a walk with a friend; family home evening; grocery shopping; laundry; school; work; ice cream with a friend; scholarship application; internship application; plasma donation; spanish test; 4:30 A.M.; midnight; finding a family name for the temple; doing ordinances in the temple for that person; interview with my bishop; BYU basketball; library; homework; soccer; cycling; running; yoga; planning a friend hike up the Y; waiting to surprise a stressed friend; phone calls home. This week has been productive if not busy. 

For the last two months the stress has slowly been building and through the tools I am learning in my stress management class I have been doing a pretty good job of handling it. However, last night I found myself walking a mile home, feeling rejected, stressed, and doing all I could to not cry as I talked with my sister. I've been going 100 miles per hour doing a lot of really good things. But it's tiring. I hear that we shouldn't ever be tired of doing good things, and I'm not tired of doing them, but I'm tired for doing them. 

So, as I've been going through the rigors of balancing 17 credits and 10-15 hours of work, a social life, a church calling, personal health, etc. I have been kind of losing the why behind it all. Then I went to Yoga class--my class to just be present and shut out everything else. As I laid on my back,and focused on the moment, my teacher read the words of a living Prophet, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. 

He says, "We would do well to slow down a little." And, "Diligently doing the things that matter most will lead us to the Savior of the World." 

So, even though I can't see a way to slow down, or things to cut out of my life right now, I am so grateful that as I try to serve those around me and be dilifently doing things that matter, I have the promise that I will come closer to Christ. I just needed the reminder. I'm grateful that I got it. 

Back to School at CES

I have been seeing a lot of "back to school" posts from moms. Well I'm not a mom and I'm not going back to school yet but I went back to CES this last week for just an hour and I felt so grateful for the childhood that I had and the great people in Cokeville Elementary School.

As I was helping my dad do his calendar and his Friend of the Week board and SRA folders, all while listening to Christmas music it reminded me of the days when I felt like the first day of school was about as good as Christmas! I'd lay out my outfit on the top bunk like a week or two before. I had my back-pack packed and ready too long before I needed to! I LOVED school! And with teachers like Mrs. Petersen, Mrs. Ribgy, Mrs. Taylor, My Dad, Mr. Warner, Mr. Moore and Mrs. Warner, how could I not love school!

Then I went to High School and loved the social life of school and a little less the actual school part. I played sports with my friends. I did band. I was a member of National Honor Society and participated in Student Body Offices! I had relationships with my teachers that were more like friendships because I knew they just wanted the best for me. I had it so good!!

I grew up and went to BYU. I cried. But I learned to really love it too!! How? My teachers mostly don't know me. I sometimes have friends in my classes, sometimes not. I do play sports, but not with coaches. I walk or ride my bike to get my own groceries! But I have met so many influencial people in my life and I have the best friends and have learned a lot about who I am. I just really like BYU!

School is so important to me and school is so good for me. And even though I am happy in my comfort zone right here in Cokeville, I am happy to be going back in a couple of weeks. And this is where it all got started! CES--Thank You!

Coming Home

I've been itching to write on my blog again.  I am just not sure how to gather my thoughts or what would be most helpful for me and for those of you that read my blog. So I would like to share a picture with you and a few of my thoughts on returning home from my mission.

A dear friend of mine, Hermana Guerra, drew this heart for me. She calls it The Heart of La Plata. I was blessed to serve my whole mission in the same city, La Plata, and this heart was the symbol of the city. When I asked her to draw it for me she said she would. I was not expecting her to put my face in it, but when I received this beautiful gift, I couldn't stop looking at it. Hermana Guerra put me into the heart of my mission and it will always be a symbol of accomplishment for me. 

I loved my mission. It was the hardest, best, happiest, full of tears, exciting, stressful, amazing, memorable time of my life. I don't know how to explain it, but I am so grateful that I was able to go and serve the Lord.

When I was getting close to coming home I was really anxious for coming home and nervous for how I would adjust to the "real life". Well, I think I'm doing okay. What keeps me going is just being grateful. I am grateful for my family--their support, their love, their direction. I am grateful for the prophets that give me direction and tips on how to be a successful human. I am grateful for my President for telling me to just hug pepole. I am grateful for the YSABranch in Montpelier that helps me keep reaching out and making friends and feeling like an important part of church on Sunday and during the week. 

I have nothing to be worried or nervous about as long as I just keep doing what is right. If I keep making time for scriptures and prayers and church and service. I know that as each of us just keeps hangning on, even if we don't feel like it, the Lord will help us along. He loves us and He loves me. I know that because He called me to the gratest mission of all time and is helping me LOVE every day since coming home too! 

Endings are Beginnings

Sometimes lasts can be hard. I feel like I'm currently swimming in an ocean of lasts. I had my last day of the semester. I had my last conversation with my friends from my classes. I had my last day of living at college with my sister. I had my last final for a long time (not complaining)! A lot of these lasts aren't final, thank goodness, but they're lasts for what seems right now to be a LONG time. I'm about to have my last Christmas Eve at Grandma's for 18 months. I'm going to have my last Christmas with my family for 18 months. I'm about to say goodbye to my parents and siblings and nieces and nephews and friends. It all seems like a lot of endings to me.

But through the lens of faith I know that these endings are just the start of some fantastic beginnings! I'm going to say hello to so many new friends. I'm going to get a whole family of missionaries and Argentine people. I'm on my way to having tests of my faith and trials of my patience and stamina that will bring me much closer to God than any final for a class would. I'm always going to have my sister, whether we live together again or not. I'm going to learn Spanish. I'm going to live in a foreign country. I'm going to be more frustrated and down trodden than I have ever been, and I'm going to feel higher and closer to the Lord than I have ever been as well.

So really, all these endings are just leading to some great beginnings that will open more doors in my life than I can possibly imagine. I'm nervous and so excited for everything to come. I know the Lord answers prayers and that He answered my prayers by calling me on a mission. I'm excited to do the Lord's work and pray that I can do it the way that He wants me to.

Photo Credit: Michelle Photo & Design

Just My Life

Ya know, lately I've only been posting when I had something I really wanted to say. Today I just want to post what I've been up to lately.

 Football and Cousin Time

 All of our Birthday's! We were all born on the 26th of a different month and October 26th was the last 26 we'd be together for... so we went out to dinner!

 Some sweet new nike's for running... So far mostly used for lifting and life.

 Halloween!! Biker Chick and Rosie!

 An EPIC Harry Potter party thrown by Rach and Eden! 

(Left to Right: Oliver Wood, Molly Weasley, Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Griffindor, Sybill Trelawney)

 A MUCH needed weekend with my sisters and parents! 

 Hunger Games! It was pretty dang good!

 Hangin' out with Taffy and her kids!

And brushing up on my artistic coloring skills!

Happy Thanksgiving Break Folks! 

What I Needed First

   

     If you have known me well for a while, you know that I said, "I'm never gonna go on a mission." Well, I obviously was wrong. I am going on to the Argentina, Buenos Aires East mission on December 30, 2015! I am a mix of emotions from excited to nervous to sad and everything in between. When I made the decision to go, about a month and a half ago, I immediately got started on my papers. I knew that once I had my answer I needed to act fast.
     Since that decision was made, I've thought, why now? Why couldn't I have gone when all my friends went? Why couldn't I have served before I was "old"? I was talking to my cousin Mary about that and she said, "Well, why are you ready now?" That got me thinking and I realized that I wasn't ready to serve 2 years ago. I needed these last 2 years. I needed to learn so many things and have a lot of experiences before I could go and serve.
     First off, I needed to be fully recovered from knee surgery. If I had gone at 19, I would have been sore a lot from walking and riding a bike and I would have been nervous to do a lot of things. I don't have that limitation any more.
     I needed to live in Alaska. I needed to live away from my home and what was my comfort zone. I needed to learn how to improve relationships with people I didn't know super well. I needed to have time with my grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles. Also, during my summer in Alaska, my testimony about the Prophet grew so much and found a deep root within me. I will need that testimony forever. Because I got that testimony, I'll be a better missionary.

     I needed to watch Olivia go to Peru and realize that I could be an individual. I grew a lot as my own person without her. I'm not saying we're better when we're apart, because that's not true. We improve while we're apart, but we're pretty dang good together. I also needed to live with Olivia in a college setting and get out of the "little sister" stage.

     I needed my roommates. Roommates are a good way to learn how to live with a companion I suppose. I have been blessed with some AWESOME roommates! When I had my interview with the Stake President he asked me how my experience with getting along with roommates has been and I could honestly say it has been fantastic!

     I needed to learn how I receive answers from the Lord. I had some experiences where I had to pray fervently and learn to listen. Without this practice, I may have missed the answer to my prayer to serve a mission.
     I needed another summer living with my parents. I got in a lot of family time and strengthened a lot of my siblingships this summer. We had so much fun with family reunions and half marathons and rafting the river and just spending time together as family.

     I needed to work at Weed and Pest because I needed to learn to go to bed on time. Another wonderful things about Weed and Pest was working with Coach Linford. He's been such a help and example for me. I'm kicking myself now that I didn't ask for Spanish lessons every day! But we had a lot of Gospel lessons. We hit on a lot of topics of the Gospel and he really helped my testimony grow. I didn't really expect my testimony to grow riding in a ranger behind Raymond  Mountain in the cold mornings while trying to get control of the never ending thistle, but as we shared our testimonies with each other, my testimony grew so much.
     Finally, I needed to feel like it was my decision. There was a lot of pressure for me to serve as a 19 year old and I didn't go just because "everyone else was doing it."
     I feel like I've grown closer to the Lord and experienced these things so that I could be more prepared to go to Argentina and serve how the Lord needs me to. I know these experiences will be for my benefit as I serve. I made this decision with the Lord and I know it's what I'm supposed to do.

   Argentina--here I come!! 

Don't Forget His Message

   

    Last week I held my breath as our beloved Prophet struggled to finish his address in the General Conference for our church. I was worried about him. I, along with everyone, wished I could hold him up. I wanted to help him. I was sad that he may be leaving us soon. And with all of this worry and speculation about his health, I forgot to listen to what he had to say. I didn't hear his message because I was so concerned for him.
    This week I saw a lot of posts and participated in a lot of conversations discussing his health. There were posts of what was going on behind the scenes: how President Uchtdorf was right there as soon as he finished his message. However, I haven't read any posts about his message and that makes me sad. A friend pointed this out to me and it really hit me.
    Instead of talking about his health, we need to remember his message (President Monson's Address). We need to always strive to be a light to the world. We need to use clean language. Speaking kindly and uplifting others will never make us feel bad. We need to serve others and do things that will help lift other's spirits. He said we need to "strive to have in our lives kindness, gratitude, forgiveness, and goodwill." We need to always have the undeniable light of Christ in our eyes. We must have faith: faith in our Lord and Savior, faith in the prophet, faith that our lives will workout. We have to treat our bodies right. They are special gifts from God. He taught us that the world is moving farther and farther from Heavenly Father's ideal and that we must stay close to our Father. We've got to be different from the world. Even when it seems hard to do these things, we have to try. We have to give our best effort every single day to stay close to the Lord. We have to grip tightly to the iron rod. He finished his message with a poem that sums up how we should live our lives:

I met a stranger in the night

Whose lamp had ceased to shine.

I paused and let him light

His lamp from mine.

A tempest sprang up later on

And shook the world about.

And when the wind was gone

My lamp was out!

But back to me the stranger came--

His lamp was glowing fine!

He held the precious flame

And lighted mine! 

    Yes, we can acknowledge that President Monson looks a little sick. We can be applauded for our desire to serve him as he struggled. But we need to sustain him by remembering what he had to say. He stood there weak but determined to finish his message because his message is of such importance. For all of us he finished instead of giving up because what he had to say were the words of the Lord for all of us today. Don't forget his message. 

    I wanted lastly to testify that when we stand with the prophet, President Monson, we stand with God. And when we stand with God we are on the winning side. When we stand with Heavenly Father we will become the heavenly beings that He knows we can become. We will not be led from our Father when we stand with the Prophets of His church. We have to stand with them. We have to sustain and support them and by doing so, we're showing our Father that we stand with Him. I know we're led by a living Prophet. I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of us and that is why He sends His words to us through His servants. I testify these things are true in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.