President Monson's First Conference Address

How cool is this?

Listen and hear the voice of a prophet

Teaching, is kind of exhausting sometimes. During my lunch break, I sit back in my chair, and eat some food, of course. But at the same time, I also feed my spirit. I go to lds.org and look up mormon messages usually.

And I just want to take this moment to personally invite all, to watch general conference this weekend. Feel more peace and love in your life, better understand your purpose, get answers to tough questions, it is so worth it.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

This summer I had an amazing opportunity to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I did a six week mini mission in the Houston Texas South Mission. Let me tell you, it was one of the best things I have ever done. Now herez the truth: Heavenly Father seriously loves His children so much. He loves me; He loves you; He loves that girl walking down the street outside my window. I know this, and I have felt this as I have felt His love for me encircle me and guide me. I have also felt it as I have prayed for and strived to serve those around me. It is always such an overwhelming feeling, but on the mission I had the amazing opportunity to really see God's love put into action every single day. The Gospel of Jesus Christ brings such an amazing happiness, a fullness really. And the Gospel is for everyone, every single person on this earth needs the Gospel. To see that blessing come into people's lives, to see them feel and know that Heavenly Father really does know who they are and loves them more than they can imagine, to have the experience of being an instrument in God's hand to help them come to Him, was absolutely amazing. I was nothing more than a body moving around, filling the shoes and wearing the tag. Because as I just tried to give my all, trust in my Father in Heaven, and listen to the promptings of the spirit, I really saw Him change the lives of everyone around me. The truth is, I could go on and on about how seriously amazing missions, but instead I am just going to list a few ways that I am going to change because of the experience that I had.

1. I will repent every single day. I know I am not perfect, and I want to continually be changing my life to become closer to the Savior.

2. I will be a better member missionary. The Lord is really hastening His work right now. There is seriously just too much missionary work to be done for just the full time missionaries alone. And even when it seems like there isn't much work to do, there is still more work to do than we can imagine. I will continue to thrust in my sickle and work in His field. This time as a member missionary.

3. I will trust in Him and His plan forever; and I will have the faith to see miracles in my life every single day. All things are possible with God. And that is not even an exaggeration. He knows the end from the beginning, and I trust in his plan and his way.

4. I will give Him all my time. Just like on a mission, all my time, talents, efforts, and everything belong to the Lord, I will continue to give Him everything because all my time, talents, and efforts are still His. I will give my entire life to Him and serve Him with all my strength.

The truth is, the Gospel is true. It really is true. If you are reading this and are not a member, I encourage you to go to get a Book of Mormon, read it and pray about it. Find the missionaries and learn more about Christ's Gospel. You will get an answer, and it really will change your life.

What 100 dollars can do

The first time I ever cried for happiness was when I gave my aunt a hundred dollars to help her pay for a law suit. I was eight years old, and we were parked in one of those overflow dirt parking lots out in the desert, when I slid on out of my grandmother’s big ‘ol SUV to head into the store. Without thinking, I picked up some money tumbling along in the wind, but when I looked at it, my mind didn’t believe my eyes. It was One Hundred buckaroos.

Now some people think it is stealing to take money off the ground; I didn’t think so, but we turned it in anyway being the good people that we like to think we are. The lady at the desk refused to take it. “You found this blowing out in the desert?” She raised those thin eyebrows. “Honey, no one’s gonna come lookin’ for this.”

My parents said they would keep it safe for me, ya know, until I knew what I wanted to do with it. Somehow, I knew it was special, and I wasn’t about to just give it away to the toy store. A few months later, we had this dinner for my aunt because she was dealing with this law suit and all. Being eight, I didn’t know much of what was going on, except that she wanted custody of my cousin or something like that. I’ll admit that when my mom suggested I give the Benjamin to my aunt to help her out, I wasn’t exactly what you might call thrilled. But I knew it was a nice, maybe even the right thing to do.

I had seen people cry because they were happy before, and I knew that was why she was crying when she opened the card. It was anonymous, but she knew. Her Thank-You folded in between our hug, and suddenly I was crying too. The tears felt different though; they were warm, and my insides were exploding with light.

I knew right then and there, no doll or toy or bike could have made me that happy. It wasn’t even happy, it was pure, untainted joy.

What Thinks Christ of Me

I love this talk, What Thinks Christ of Me, so you should all check it out no matter what your religion. It answers a simple question: Mormons are Christians.
 But I also think it is a question all Christians need to ask themselves, or even all people.
           Does my life reflect what I believe?
Here is a video version of the same talk: Click here! Personally, I always enjoy hearing an apostles voice more than just reading it.

The Church is true! It brings so much happiness, but don't take my word for it...find our yourself!

Obssessed

Let me tell ya, it feel great to be doing something, everything that you love. Last night I was getting way into the lesson plan and frankly getting way lost in it, so I am going to talk to my professor today and I can't wait to hear what he thinks. Then I dropped my books and went on a night run with a friend. Ate blueberry muffins. That speaks for itself. Did some sloppy handstands with my roommate. Studied under my electric blanket until I feel asleep. Woke up before my alarm. Went on a run with some old teammates. Granola for breakfast. Headphones with classical music means paper writing time. Never been so engrossed in a paper before. Exceeding the page limit requirements. It is probably going to be almost 60 degrees today. Life's not perfect, but it is pretty good.

Of course, life isn't always swimming in a lagoon. When I was on the cross country team, my motto was "Hard days hard, easy days easy," and it could be shortened to "Hard-hard; easy-easy." When I was in the middle of a really hard workout I would say that over and over again in my head to remind myself that it was time to work hard. "Hard-hard, easy-easy, hard-hard, hard-hard." It even flowed with the rhythm fast breathing.Then on easy days I would have to remind myself to take my recovery miles slow - easy days easy. Now that I am thinking about it, life is like that too. (What a surprise; running is seriously always just like life.) Some days are hard, some days are easy. Maybe the trick is just loving the hard and loving the easy. It will still be both hard and easy, but one thing is for sure, life will be loved. Sometimes, Life needs some lovin'.

Spencer from French

A few years ago in my French 201 class I met this kid named Spencer. He was funny and nice and a little bit different from what I would have expected. In French, every other second we pair up to talk aka practice our French, and he was always my partner because somehow we always sat next to each other. I liked him, thought he was pretty cool, and was pretty good at French too.

Then he stopped coming to class for a week, which is a big deal because in this four credit class, we were there every day. I got kinda a bit worried about him, but I didn't have his number to shoot him an are-you-okay-or-what's-up text. When he came back, I asked him where he had been (I asked him in French of course ;). He told me had gotten very sick and had been in the hospital all last week. Glad he was better, we got back to talking in French. Until he stopped coming again.

Was he okay? At the hospital again? Why didn't I ever get his number? It would have been perfectly reasonable to think that maybe he withdrew from the class. I mean, he had missed over a week, and French 201 is no springtime picnic. I hoped that had been the case, but I couldn't help but worry that something worse had happened. I hoped he was okay, but also realized that if he had passed away, I would not have even known. I would keep on living my life the same if he had dropped the class or if he had died. The thought bothered me, and I worried.

That was about two years ago. #tbt2011

The other day I was walking on campus, just thinking about nothing, maybe humming, and I saw Spencer. He was just walking out of a building, like he probably did every day, with his backpack over his shoulder and a beanie on his head like he always did way back in French class. I smiled so big at him, you probably wouldn't have been able to get the sunshine off my face. Of course, he didn't really remember me, so he gave me kind of a funny look, like "why are you so happy? I mean it is cool that you are happy, but you just look really happy and you are staring right at me." I was really happy. Just that feeling you get when you realize that someone you thought might have possibly been dead is alive, well, and breathing.

This slice of life had a cherry on top.

What I have been reading

In my reading, I came across 44 Aphorisms by Richardson. Here is number seven.

Ah, what can fill the heart? But then, what can't?

So true, this phrase is. One might argue that nothing can fill to fullness but love, which is true. A pure love for another human does fill the heart up so tightly. And for some people, this love may be hard to find, and so they ask, "what can fill the heart?" because they feel the lack. But also, our hearts are our own. I can do whatever I want with my heart. I can love whatever I want, worship whatever I want, serve whoever I want. And I think it is who I decide to love and worship that enters my heart and fills it. I want to give my whole heart to God, and in my experience, when I do that, He gives me back so much of His love so then I can better serve and love those around me. But I also must be careful not to let things of a lessor value enter into my heart. Because it is what we spend our time doing and our minds thinking about that enters into our heart and becomes a part of who we are. I just really enjoyed this aphorism; there is so much found in these eleven words.

For more about the LDS church go to www.mormon.org or www.lds.org.

This post is two-fold.

1. Have you ever played the whipped cream game? Perfect for silly freshman who should be studying or sleepovers or late night holidays. You spray a bit of whipped cream on your wrist then move one arm up toward the sky and use your other hand to stop the motion by hitting it. Whipped cream goes flying. While it is in the air, you try to catch it with your mouth. so fun.

2. This is one of my best friends, Carolyn Brown. She is currently serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS church or Mormon church) in Dallas, Texas. Just want to say, she is an amazing missionary! I have been seriously impressed with her success and dedication to the work. I know it is because she is an instrument in God's hand helping bring truth and happiness to the people of Texas. So why do mormons go on missions? and why do I keep posting about the church? Basically, because it is true! The Gospel is true. Not only that, but it brings so much happiness and growth to my life. It is the answer to every life problem. What a wonderful secret that shouldn't be a secret. Everyone should know about it.

Whenever I check the stats for this blog, it tells me what posts are most popular and who sees them. The most popular post are always the posts about the church, especially this post here. It is consistently seen by people from all over the world. Do you know what this means? People really want to hear about the Gospel. I am so grateful for people like Carolyn and all other sorts of missionaries who are sharing the truth and helping people feel God's love.

Also, missionaries can leave at 18 now! (19 for girls.) What a wonderful blessing to everyone really.

Harry Potter

So maybe I will just always love Harry Potter because it is a part of my childhood, and I felt as though the whole world stopped every time a new book came out. Yes, I was one of those kids who thought maybe, just maybe I would receive a letter on my eleventh birthday. I knew spells by heart and tried out homemade butter bear recipes. Not that I was that different than many other kids my age. Even now, the most obscure Harry Potter references are appreciated by many of my peers. But the real reason I love Harry Potter is because I think it is good literature - and I am a tough critic.

Amidst the many sub-themes, the standout idea in Harry Potter is the power of love. In the series, it is so powerful that it saved lives, makes the impossible possible, and destroys all evil. Now if good literature is a reflection of reality, I would say that is pretty much right now. Love is the most powerful thing I have ever experienced. And I believe that love is only made possible through the atonement of Jesus Christ. God's love for us is so perfect that He sent His son to die for us so that we might be able to live with Him again. Through the atonement, we can come to love God and each other in a pure selfless way. I am amazed at how much my life has changed for the better as I have tried to turn it over to God and love as He loves. Here are some talks about love that I really like:

The Love of God by Dieter F. Uchtdorf
What if Love were our only Motive? by Russell T. Osguthorpe

Having a bad day?

I don't know what it is, but this always makes me feel better.

       Click that smile ----->               :)

I came across this while I was supposed to be studying. Now I just want to share it with anyone who is ever having a bad day.

p.s. I did not create this. I only found it, and enjoyed it.

The Gospel; It's the Truth

Honestly and sincerely, I just want to tell the world that this Gospel is true. The Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true. But don't take my word for it. Check it out yourself here. It really honestly is true and brings me so much happiness that I just want to share it!

A Streetcar

I don't know if you have ever read "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennesse Williams. I am not recommending it. It is a horribly tragic and depressing play. I didn't enjoy reading it at all. But, I could not put it down. I was so intrigued by everything that was going on between these characters - what they were thinking and feeling and why and how they were living. After finishing the play, I read an essay by Williams called, "A Streetcar to Success." I must say it was equally intriguing, but after reading it a few times, I cannot say I agree completely. But I can relate and understand his crisis of identity. (Sometimes I wish some of these authors just had the Gospel because I think it would make them so much happier) Anyway, Williams does have a few things right:

"That time is short and it doesn't return again. It is slipping away while I write this and while you read it, and the monosyllable of the clock is Loss, Loss, Loss, unless you devote your heart to its opposition."

Life is hard. But is that way for a reason.

I think Williams and I would agree, we don't want it any other way.

Well yes, I should be studying, researching, writing the three essays I have due next week. But first, I just want to say... I finished all six of my midterms this week, both of my quizzes, and my three papers! Just now, I turned in my timed Shakespeare midterm, and it feels soooooo good to be done (for the week at least). Let's just say, I felt like I had a snake around my neck all week.

Believe me, I know what it feels like ;)

One thing I do want to say is that I never could have gotten through this week without the strength of my Father in Heaven. His love is so perfect. I am continually amazing at how much He loves me as an individual. My relationship with Him is one of the most treasured things in my life. I brings me so much strength and happiness. One of my greatest desires is to share His love with everyone because I know he loves each one of His children more than we can imagine. I don't know were I would be without it. (If you want to know more, look into the LDS (or mormon) faith. It is God's way of showing us how to be happy.)