Who's your best friend?

I woke up this morning and had a thought to go to the library to do my studying and writing for all of my finals.  After breakfast, scripture study, cleaning and organization, I showed up at noon ready to focus and bang out a ton of projects.  Instead I ended up laughing and talking with a friend I hadn't seen in forever; we talked till 5 this afternoon.  Study time ended up being a relax and enjoy life session.  But little did I know that this friend had just gotten out of a relationship.  In one word... he was MISERABLE!  Well for five hours we sat and talked about love, romanticizing, dating, marriage, friendship, relationships and life.  Friends joined our table throughout the day bringing other conversations and laughs to our table.

As I sat there, I realized that I'd had practically no social life for the last week because I was so busy doing projects for my finals.  All I had been doing was sitting in my apartment, doing projects on my computer, reading scriptures, eating, occasionally running, icing and compressing my knee and watching whatever TV show happened to be floating on the screen during my meals.  So sitting there, offering advice, wisdom, comfort and laughing with friends about stupid stuff was exactly what I needed.  My friend later told me that he had been looking for someone to talk to that morning. 

The way the gospel has blessed my life is helping me understand that the Lord can be one of our best friends.  A young man I admire once said, "I talk to God everyday.  He is my best friend."  The Lord truly can be our best friend.  He knows us better than we know ourselves.  When we live our lives in such a way that the Lord is involved, there truly is sunshine.  I'm grateful to have that knowledge and comfort.

A Day of Rest

In one sentence:  The Gospel blesses my daily life because I have the opportunity to use Sunday as a day of rest and spiritual rejuvenation. 

In the church, Sunday is the Sabbath.  On Sunday we go to church and partake of the Sacrament, go to Sunday School and learn more about the Gospel and I go to Relief Society; the women's class.  But Sunday isn't just about going to church.  Today I wrote up all of the funny quotes that were said in my apartment, reminiscing on good times.  I talked with my wonderful roommates who have taught me so much this year.  I listened to beautiful and uplifting music and felt the Spirit.  The best part about today was I didn't do any homework at all.  It felt so good to lay aside the things of the secular nature and purely focus on the spiritual.  I finished off the night talking with my parents and friends and laughing. 

To have the opportunity to rest and rejuvenate is such a blessing.  Observing the Sabbath helps me stay close to the Lord.  It helps me start the week with a clear mind, ready to take on the wonderful challenges this life offers.  It gives me time to write, pray, read, think, ponder, and socialize with friends in the ward and my apartment.  For instance, today I went outside and sunbathed in the warm weather while listening to church music.  This rest is not just physical it is also spiritual.

I testify that keeping the Sabbath day holy can open the windows of heaven. 

Scripture Power!

First off... to those who have read or regularly reading my blog... thank you so much.

So college is almost over for me.  Just a few more days left and then the best summer of life starts.  But to be honest, these last few days have been pretty challenging.  I might have bursitis (if that's how you spell it) in my knee from running too hard.  Bursitis means that small water pockets around my knee have burst.  This causes the bones in the knee to rub together.  I'm no doctor but I can say that it feels like someone digging their knuckle into the side of your knee.  I've been doing lots of ice and compression and the pain is mostly gone.  I'm just hoping that I haven't permanently injured myself. So, because of this I haven't been able to exercise for the last couple days.  When I don't work out I get antsy, anxious and it's harder for me to focus. 

Because I'm going on a mission I have to get my wisdom teeth out.  Originally I was going to go to a dentist, have them numb my mouth, give me some laughing gas and other stuff to make my brain a little loopy and then get my wisdom teeth out.  But now that plan has changed.  I'm going to an oral surgeon.  I'm terrified of this procedure because I don't want to go under anesthesia.  The thought of having a drug tell my brain to check out for a while absolutely terrifies me.  I'm not terrified of the healing or getting my teeth pulled.  I'm afraid of going under. 

All of my tests for school are projects.  That is great because it means I'm not studying for long hours.  It's bad because it means I'm working for long hours.  Right now all I want to do is go home and get on my mission.  I've been mentally checked out of school for a while.  But I know I have to complete these assignments.  And complete them I shall.  

This is a Mormon Ad.  They publish pictures like these in the church produced magazine The New Era.  This describes my morning routine perfectly. 

So with all of this going on, the number one thing that has helped a lot has been morning scripture study.  To take about 45 minutes to an hour and just immerse myself in the scriptures and the Ensign has been a huge blessing.  Right now I'm reading about when Christ came to the Americas in 3rd Nephi of the Book of Mormon.  I'm also reading about the prophet Samuel in the Bible.  I have an app on my phone so I'll pick an ensign from a random year and peruse the pages. 
Studying the scriptures has helped me so much because it gives me a small opportunity to just sit and feel the spirit and take a break from the massive work load ahead of me.  From these scriptures, I'm learning more about Christ's words and his gospel.  I'm also studying prayer in Preach my Gospel.  I'm learning more about how prayer can bless our lives, how and when we should pray and what it does for our relationship with Heavenly Father.
I read scriptures in the morning.  I wake myself up with a bowl of cereal.  I start scripture study by singing a hymn to invite the Spirit into the room.  Then I say a prayer and start reading.  Having all of this be the first things I read, speak and hear helps me start of the day on a strong foot. 

This is how the gospel is blessing my daily life right now.  The scriptures truly are the word of the Lord.  To have the extra spiritual power in my life is helping me keep going and face my fears and challenges the best that I can.  I encourage everyone to read the scriptures, get down on your knees and pray to know if they are true.  The Lord does answer our prayers and he will manifest the truth of them unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost.  I know they are true.
This gospel really is one of joy and happiness.  I am so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father that he has provided a way for us to feel close to him and our Savior through reading their words. 

Mission prep

Well today was my last day in mission prep at the institute for my university.  For those who aren't Mormon, the church builds institutes.  They are buildings where students can go study, play games, and attend different classes that teach specific doctrines, principles and lessons of the church.  The buildings are filled with beautiful paintings of Christ, Prophets and events from the scriptures.  The institute building at my university is also used as a church building.  There is a big tiled room used as a basketball court, dance hall and where students can gather for lunches, concerts, talent shows, blood drives and other major events.  Sometimes the institute will hold dances the same nights as the university.  This is really nice because campus dances don't always uphold the standards of the church.  Institute dances provide an opportunity for YSA's (young single adults) to have a dance and get to know more people while having good clean fun.  The most wonderful thing about institute is that anyone is welcome, the teachers are outstanding, and it is the only place besides the temple, church and my bedroom, where I can feel the spirit.

So, my institute offers a missionary preparation class.  Because I am going on a mission, I knew it would be vital for me to attend this class.  What a blessing it has been to be able to gather once a week, for an hour and a half and feel a renewed determination to serve a mission.  It is inspiring because our class had about 60 students with about 95% of us preparing to serve missions.  Each week we would recite Doctrine and Covenants Section 4.  Students would announce when they got their calls and where they would be serving.  Our teacher told us inspiring stories from his own mission.  I made wonderful new friends and grew closer to one of my very good friends.  She will serve her mission soon and it has been wonderful to be able to talk about serving a mission with her.  This class has given me an opportunity to be able to get away from the noise, clamor, confusion and pressures of the university life and just be able to focus on this very long term goal I've had since October.

In October 2012, President and Prophet of the church, Thomas S. Monson announced that girls could serve a mission at age 19.  I made the decision to go right then and there.  I had already saved up money for what I thought would be my study abroad trip this summer.  I'll still go on that study abroad; just after I get home from my mission.  As soon as I began to study the scriptures and Preach my Gospel daily, my problems and trials either went away, I found strength to bear them, or I found solutions to them.  It is still a long journey of preparation.  There are times when I feel discouraged, afraid, unworthy, impatient and confused.  Whenever I feel that way, I try to remember how it felt when I decided I was going to go.  The feelings of peace, happiness and joy that entered my heart at that time were indescribable.  As of right now, I have to get my wisdom teeth out and then my papers will go in.  I'll also post where I will be serving. 

This class has blessed my life throughout the semester.  My mission has blessed my life since I decided to go, and I know it will bless my the rest of my life after I return.  Again, these are little ways that the gospel has blessed my life.

Lastly, to anyone who is considering going on a mission, I say GO!!!!  GO AND SERVE THE LORD!!!  Don't look back.  A mission will bless your life.  It is worth sacrificing the time, money, employment, relationships and yes, even your family for a brief time to serve our Heavenly Father. These blessings will be returned to you in greater amounts than you can imagine. 

Employment promptings

Well today is the day I am quitting the job I have held all school year.  It's a call center job.  Basically, I work part time hours, make pretty good money but the work itself is very grueling and hard.  I've gotten used to being yelled at, sworn at, hearing horrible TMI stories about people's lives, and laughing with people as we have a fun conversation; all via phone.  But I've learned a lot at this job.  I've learned how to effectively talk on the phone with a complete stranger.  I've learned how to handle different work place situations.  I am definitely grateful to my wonderful bosses who took the time to help me keep this job while I've been attending school.  There have been good and bad times and I am very grateful for all of them. 

The reason I am writing about this is because I was able to get this job through the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  At the beginning of June, last summer, I knew I needed to get a job that paid well but also had flexible hours.  I had worked in sales before and wanted to work something similar to it.  My plan was to go every business in my hometown and fill out applications.  But instead, I felt prompted to get online and check out jobs on KSL.  I found this company, emailed an application and was called in for an interview three days later.  I got the job on the spot and have worked with this company for almost a year now.  

Another way I have been blessed was that the company allowed me to take my work to school.  It is very hard to get a job in the town where I attend school because it is a small town and there are a lot of students all vying for the same positions.  But, this whole year, I have been blessed with a job that provides valuable work training, enough pay to buy food and gas, a flexible schedule and patient bosses and trainers. 

I know that if we are doing and being what our Heavenly Father would have us do and be, and if it is his will, he will give us the blessings and the circumstances we need.  I needed a job and I got one that fit with my schedule.  I also prayed about when and how to quit this job so I could have sufficient time to study for finals and move out of my apartment.  I felt a reassurance that it is time to quit and pursue a different course of employment.  I am grateful for the power of prayer and the promise that the Lord will bless us when we are doing our best to follow him. 

Faith like a child

Well, sorry for the delay between posts.  This week has been busy like none other.  But this weekend is what I wish to write about.  I spent the weekend with my roommate and her family in their hometown.  Friday night we drove, got there, had a delicious home cooked dinner and after a little girl time we were off to bed.  After sleeping in on Saturday morning, we attended the Festival of Colors at the Krishna temple in Salt Lake City.  That was an amazing experience.  Sufficient to say, I looked like I got dunked in a rainbow by the time it was done.  Saturday night featured amazing Thai food, watching a chick flick and off to bed.  But Sunday was the day that I want to focus on.
  
Once again I slept in and I attended the young single adult ward with my roommate's sister whom I became close friends with very quickly.  Sacrament meeting was a farewell for a sister in the ward.  She gave a wonderful talk on how happiness is the light of Christ.  When we shine with the light of Christ, it can be seen in our eyes and our faces.  Her words were what I needed to hear right now in my life.  After sacrament I attended a temple preparation class.  If you are reading this and aren't LDS, I am preparing to get my endowments.  Endowments are sacred covenants made between a person and Heavenly Father in the temple.  It is a big spiritual step.  After a person receives their endowments, they wear the sacred garments and are held to higher standard.  That's all I know about the endowments right now.  Because they are such sacred covenants, we don't discuss the details of the temple.  Anyway, suffice to say, it was a wonderful class and I got to meet awesome new people.  

This is how I imagine Christ when he is holding a little child. 

But the real experience that struck me was the primary children.  My roommate's mom is the music leader.  My roommate's sister drove me to their homeward church and I got to sit in primary and help my roommate's mom.  She did an amazing job.  But what struck me most was the clear, pure and beautiful understanding and faith these children had in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  The primary leader asked for the children to go up to the microphone and share an experience helped them know that Heavenly Father loves them.  Their experiences ranged from praying for family members with medical problems and they felt comfort, to not stepping on the water balloon so they wouldn't get wet.  As I sat there listening to their beautiful clear voices and seeing their shining faces, my heart was touched.  I had to hold back the tears as I felt the Spirit and the love Heavenly Father had for these very precious sons and daughters.  

I thought about the challenges they will face growing up in this world.  I knew they would face extraordinarily trying times, but I felt their spiritual strength.  I felt a reassurance that if they were obedient and faithful throughout their lives, they would get through these trials and become the men and women God wants them to be.  Being in the room an
d watching their unwavering faith, it made me want to gain back that kind of faith and conviction.  The scriptures that talk about having faith like a child make a lot more sense to me.  I feel like the older we get, the more we are prone to doubt these simple beautiful truths.  I think that is why God asks us to have the faith like a child.  As adults, we are responsible to be an example to them, but today these children were shining beautiful examples to me. 

I'm grateful to be LDS because the truths taught in the church are so complex that no mortal mind can fully grasp them, yet simple enough that a child can bear a pure testimony of their truthfulness.  The gospel truly is a light in this world.  

Singles Conference: Mormon Style

Well this weekend was utterly fantastic.  The Cedar City Young Single Adult Multi Stake Activities Committee put on their annual YSA conference.  Friday night featured a conference from Voicemale.  With lots of humor and fun renditions of classic songs, the group sang our stresses away.  Personally I would've preferred the young, RM, single group of Vocal point but Voice Male was still awesome.  Saturday morning, I was up at 9 to get ready and go do service projects.  It was marvelous to be able to sleep in.  With five other girls, I did two hours worth of yardwork.  We cleared leaves, cut down dead bushes and branches, dug out weeds and made the whole property look new and fresh.  The owners of the house we were very sweet by providing us with water and trail mix.  After the service project we went back to the church for a Subway lunch.  I ended up in a circle of people throwing and catching a football.  After that we went home to get ready for the fireside. 

David M Mckonkie was the speaker.  After a gorgeous number by the institute choir, Brother Mckonkie gave a beautiful talk on the importance of daily reading the Book of Mormon.  He taught how the Book of Mormon can provide us and our families with spiritual protection.  He showed a mormon message of Jeffrey R. Holland bearing his testimony of the Book of Mormon.  He also showed another mormon message called Mountains to Climb.  In that video, Henry B. Eyering talks about how acting on a small seed of faith can bring us strength as we face the trials of this life.  There was a beautiful and powerful spirit in the room as we listened to these messages.  I had a profound experience.  While watching the Mountains to Climb video, I felt this wonderful feeling of warmth sweep through my body.  The spirit bore witness to me of the truth and power of the Book of Mormon.  Tears sprang to my eyes as I felt the spirit confirm this knowledge to my heart and mind.  I got to shake Brother Mckonkie's hand afterwards and I was very grateful and honored to be in the presence of such a fine man as he. 

After the fireside, some friends and I enjoyed a wonderful free dinner of Costa Vida.  Then the dance started.  Line dances, some country swing, a cha cha, slow dances, dubstep, belting Journey at the top of my lungs and bouncing around  were the activities I put my body through for three hours straight.  I haven't had any time to exercise this week so I had five days of energy stored in my body.  With shorts under my dress, I spun, jumped, dipped and celebrated the single life.  My roommate and I were total girls the whole time as we talked and lightly flirted with every guy we danced with.  After the dance I practically limped home because my feet were so sore.  I had brought home extra sandwiches from the lunch so our midnight dinner was another subway sandwich.  After some stretching and chatting we headed to the showers.  After that I ended up talking with a friend on skype for a couple hours catching up and laughing on life.  I finished the night with a prayer of gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the wonderful opportunity this weekend had given me.  I was asleep when my head hit the pillow.  Now on this Sunday evening, I am nursing a Mormon "Dance Hangover" and every inch of me is still sore.

I am so grateful for the church.  The church provides safe, fun, productive and wonderful opportunities for the YSA's to make new friends, give service, strengthen relationships and grow closer to our Heavenly Father.  At this time of our lives, when it is so easy to be pulled in a thousand directions, activities like these remind me that I'm not alone.  The gospel blesses so many lives on infinite levels.  Looking around the stadium listening to Elder Mckonkie, it helped me realize that we are all fighting the battle against Satan.  We are all trying our best in whatever our pursuits.  This weekend was a huge blessing because it gave me an opportunity to relax, de-stress and get out of my head for a while. 

Pre-mish training experience

So today I had a great missionary opportunity.  For my education class we have to spend some time with the ESL (english as a second language) students.  Our group wasn't very big today so we went to a local coffee shop to hang out and get some drinks.  Because I am LDS I choose not to drink coffee.  I love the smell, coffee cake and the occasional quart of haagen daas coffee ice cream... I just don't drink it. 

One of the girls in the group asked me why Mormons don't drink coffee.  I told her because it is part of the standards of the church to abstain from it.  Then, she told me how she had asked that question before to other members and they had merely said, "We don't drink it because we just don't."  She wanted an actual explanation of why we don't drink it.  I tried my best to explain that it is important to be able to feel the spirit and keep the joy of the gospel in our lives.  But, that spirit and joy can be overpowered if we are addicted to any substance.  I told her how coffee is highly caffinated so it could become an addiction for some people; as in they can't function without it.   The same can be said of alcohol, tobacco, pornography; basically any potentially addictive substance.  So, abstaining from coffee is one way to keep the guidance and influence of the Holy Ghost in our lives.  She had a satisfied look on her face after I said that.  She replied with a simple, "ok that makes sense."  Then she walked into the classroom for our next class. 

This experience blessed my life today because it gave me an opportunity to practice and prepare to be a missionary.  I don't know if this girl will ever convert to the church, or if our discussion made a difference in her life at all.  What I do know, is that for me, it was another opportunity for me to use the training I'm receiving in my mission prep class and get that much closer to achieving my goal of going on a mission. 

Idea into Action

Well, its happened.  I'm expanding my online activity and am now starting a blog.  In case you're wondering who this random girl is, I'll tell you a little bit about myself.  I am a tall, blue-green eyed, curly-haired brunette student studying to be a high school theater teacher.  Some of my favorite things are european dark chocolate, romantic classical music, the color pink and living a simple, but happy life.  I'm an assistant manager in a company and I work as a sales representative for other companies as well.  My hobbies are swing and latin dancing, barefoot running (as in running barefoot on grass in parks... yes its awesome and no it doesn't hurt), doing Zumba, performing in plays and musicals, and hanging out with my wonderful friends and family.

So with that intro, you're probably wondering what this blog is about and why I'm writing it.  Well to start off, I'm a member of the Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; AKA a Mormon.  Born and raised in the church, I grew up in Utah sur
rounded by beautiful temples, a loving ward and principles and standards that have blessed my life immensley.  I'm preparing to serve a mission and I am very excited to serve!
 
Every April and October, the church holds a General Conference.  In these conferences, the prophet/president of the church and other leaders of the church give talks.  For me, the saturday and sunday of conference are wonderful days filled with beautiful music, good food, family sports games at the park and a spirit of peace and love.  Well during this past conference, a talk was given about sharing the gospel online.  This gave me the idea to start a blog about how the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses my daily life.  So this blog is me putting that idea into action. 

So experience number one:  Yesterday my faith was strengthened a lot.  Yesterday night I went to bed with three more pages of a sociology essay, and a multicultural education poster that were due monday morning.  Since Sunday is the sabbath, I choose not to do homework on Sundays.  So because of severe procrastination, my only option was to start at midnight sunday night/monday morning and work as fast as I could to try and get it all done; plus squeezeing in a couple hours of sleep.  At 2 am I was finished.... or so I thought.  In the process of transferring my files from my computer to my flash drive, I accidentally deleted all of the work I had completed on the essay.  The essay itself wasn't deleted; just all of the revision and additional information.  I was in for another hour and a half.  Gritting my teeth I finished the essay for the second time at 3 am.  This wouldn't have been a big deal if I hadn't had to wake up at 5 am for an 8 am class that morning. 

Two hours of sleep later, I was up reading scriptures and getting ready for the day.  I ran to walmart,bought poster supplies and spent another hour making the poster and doing a last revision  of the essay.  At 8:30 am, the tasks were completed. 

However, before starting the long night of work, I prayed that Heavenly Father would help me to have the energy and stamina to stay up through the night and be productive during the school day.  The miracle happened when I woke up at 5 am monday morning.  Usually when I wake up that early I get nauseous and it's hard for me to concentrate throughout the day.  But that whole day I had energy, an alert mind, and I was able to complete all the tasks I had that day.  I had energy that I knew didn't come from my body or my mind.  The Lord was giving me energy and strength to help me get everything done.  Now I'm a firm believer that our attitude can impact our energy.  I always try to stay positive and I have an energetic personality so those factors probably played a part.  But throughout the day I was so grateful to my Heavenly Father that he was helping me. 

My point with this post is that the Lord does hear our prayers.  At times, if it his will, when we pray for the things we want he will give it to us.  I've also learned that if we don't get what we want, either it's because the Lord has something better in store, or there is a lesson for us to learn while we go without that specific desire.  It couldn've been that he didn't give me the energy I needed and I would have gone through a trial learning the effects of procrastination instead.  I don't have all the answers.  But I do know that the Lord hears and answers our prayers. 

I will try and update this blog regularly.  Comments, suggestions, insights, inspirations, etc... are welcomed.