I Love to See the Temple

Tomorrow I am getting on a plane to fly home for the weekend! I am really excited. I'm going home for 2 bridal showers and most importantly to go through the Temple! I am so excited for the whole weekend.

Going through the Temple means that I receive my endowments. Receiving my endowments means that I make covenants with God and He in turn makes covenants with me in which I am entitled to blessings if I keep those covenants. I feel ready and excited to make those covenants. While I don't know all that goes on in the temple I do know that it is all ordained of God.

In preparation to receive my endowments I had to have an interview with my Bishop and my Stake President. My Stake President said something that I loved, his advice to me was to "chill and feel." He reminded me of a song I learned when I was a little girl called "I love to see the Temple" the words go like this-

 

I love to see the temple.

I'm going there someday

To feel the Holy Spirit,

To listen and to pray.

For the temple is a house of God,

A place of love and beauty.

I'll prepare myself while I am young;

This is my sacred duty.

 

I love to see the temple.

I'll go inside someday.

I'll covenant with my Father;

I'll promise to obey.

For the temple is a holy place

Where we are sealed together.

As a child of God, I've learned this truth:

A family is forever.

 

 

 

 This song pretty much sums up the purposes of the temple! I've had it stuck in my head all week. With all this wedding hoopla Josh and I have tried to remind each other that the most important part of the wedding is the Temple Sealing. If everything else goes wrong it doesn't matter. We will be sealed for all time and eternity blessed by Heavenly Father. That is what is most important.

My Day of Thanks

This Thanksgiving I got to spend with my new family! Josh's family came down from Colorado and picked us up in Provo and we drove down to St. George to be with Josh's Grandparents and brother Rob.

We got to go to the pool and to encourage Bekah as she swam laps to stay in shape for Swim Team. When I say encourage I mean we messed around a lot while Bekah worked hard. Luckily we got Bekah to join in our fun as we made ridiculous relay games where we practically drowned our way across the pool. Life-threatening yet completely enjoyable!

We also played lots of games. I quickly learned that when it comes to games the Burtons mean business. We had some good competitions all in good fun of course. Rob and his smooth talking got me to share the glory of winning with him causing contention between us and Josh and Bekah. Which made Bekah retaliate by kicking me in my sleep. (ok, ok, it was unintentional...I think..)

On Thanksgiving we Josh and Rob entertained us by pulling up one of their Grandparent's dead trees in the backyard.

After a couple fun filled days in St. George we made our way back up to Payson to be with Josh's other grandparents for our 2nd Thanksgiving meal. I think after all the food I've eaten this week I will be full for weeks!

I really enjoyed being able to spend Thanksgiving getting to know my new family. I think I'm pretty lucky to have the Burtons as my in-laws. This Thanksgiving I have so much to be grateful for. My amazing family (new and old), all my loved ones that have done so much for Josh and I to make this special time in our lives the most memorable and perfect time ever, my opportunity for an education at the greatest university (ok I may be a a little biased..), my job, and my very favorite- only 20 more days until I am sealed together with my best friend! So many great things going on I can't even handle it!

Why Being Engaged Rocks!

Recently Josh and I have been complaining about being engaged. It's a little embarrassing and slightly pathetic. We keep saying that being engaged sucks. But what kind of attitude is that!? We just get overloaded with planning and such that it stresses us out. We are just ready to be married! But good things come to those who wait right? So in honor of my life's motto of "Just Be Happy" here are couple reasons why being engaged is the bees knees:

• Having excuses to get me nails done. So many pictures, people looking at my ring, etc! I can't have ugly nails! Right? 
• Looking Pretty. With all our pictures and meeting people and attention I've got to look good right? I get to get my make-up and hair done for pictures and such and what girl doesn't like getting pampered?
• Excuse to be lovey dovey. I like to think that Josh and I aren't one of those annoying couples who can't sit more than 2 inches away from each other ever, but who doesn't like to be close to the ones you love? I get to hold my man and me a little more affectionate, which I'm not sure he likes, but I love it. haha
• Parties and Celebrations! So many reasons to celebrate and so many people to celebrate with! I mean I have 4 bridal showers planned! How awesome is that! I love parties and people so being engaged is the prime state to be in for those things. 
• Overwhelming amount of Love. This one is my favorite reason. Not only do I have an immense amount of love for Josh but for our families and friends who have been working unbelievably hard to make our wedding day exactly what we want it to be! I feel so loved and cared for it is such an amazing blessing to have such awesome people willing to do anything and everything I ask of them! Their incredible amounts of patience as I change my mind constantly and go blindly into planning a wedding astounds me. Josh and I are so so blessed with such great support from our family and friends. This wedding or even marriage would not be possible without them. Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

Hi my name is Annie and I'm a Blog Slacker.

My sincerest apologies loyal bloggers. I have had a whirlwind of a month of September with school, work, engaged-ness, and wedding planning! I finally had a moment to breathe today in between my errands and homework so I thought I'd blog!

Let me start by saying that I am so incredibly blessed. It's overwhelming. I am so in love with my fiance, everyday I am surprised that I can fall more in love with him. With our crazy schedules we have had to work at planning time for each other but I think we are pros now. We don't really have many great hobbies so we are currently working on a list of new hobbies to find some favorites. We are taking suggestions, so please, help a poor, unskilled, semi-impatient, couple learn a new hobby. It's tough because I'm too competitive to do things I know he will beat me at and he is better at too many things! So if you are going to put in suggestions make sure we will be evenly matched. Or even better, suggest things I will be better at. :)

Everyday is a good day with Josh. Each night I go to bed with a smile on my face because I know that I'm one day closer to being sealed to my best friend for all time and eternity. What a wonderful thing!

In other news I have 2 jobs! What? God is so good. I have been praying for a job to come along that would work with my schedule and something that I'd enjoy and He delivered not one, but two jobs! I work twice a week as a 1st and 2nd grade basketball referee and it is so much fun. Kids are adorable, and I am really impressed with some of their basketball skills! My second job I just got and haven't started yet, but I'm excited for it! I work at the Information Desk at the RB (a building on campus with basketball courts, racquetball courts, etc). I will have plenty of time to work on my homework while working and it'll be great! Hopefully I can stay on for the winter and keep this job for most if not all of my BYU career! 

Wedding planning is coming along nicely. There have definitely been stressful days but I'm so grateful for such amazing support from both my family and Josh's family. My weeks have been packed with homework, work, and wedding appointments. This week should be the week that I get my wedding dress! I'm anxious to see the final product! 

Life is so good. I am so incredibly happy, blessed, and busy- all great things to be if you ask me. 

Overwhelmed.

Here it is, the greatly anticipated engagement story!

So Josh had told me while I was in Africa that he got a ticket to come to Virginia on August 22nd. I was beyond excited! We had talked all about marriage and we were basically just waiting for one very important piece of jewelry to seal the deal. He had told me he bought the ring but it wouldn't come for another 5-8 weeks so proposing to me in Virginia just couldn't be done! While I was disappointed I told myself to have patience, it was still going to happen just not as soon as I wanted it to.

After I got home from Africa I had planned to go to Eastern Market on Saturday the 17th with my two great friends Keary and Shaunessy. That morning I woke up earlier than usual and so I had extra time to get ready. I spent extra time making my hair perfect and perfecting my outfit choice. After I had finished getting ready I looked in the mirror and thought, "Man, this is a good outfit. Maybe I should save it for when Josh comes or for when he might propose." Then I sent Josh a snapchat telling him that I looked good and he should propose today. (Mind you I had absolutely no inkling that he was actually already at Eastern Market preparing to do just that.)

Keary picked me up and we headed off to DC. We parked, and started through the market. I was just taking my time looking at sunglasses and scarves while Keary and Shaunessy were going through quick. I just figured they didn't shop like me where you look and touch everything. Then Keary said she needed to find a bathroom and asked me to lead her to it. She made it seem urgent so I walked fast. But of course I had to stop and look at the beautiful sunflowers! After admiring them and Shaunessy coaxing me to buy some the florist informed me that they had just set out a new display of sunflowers! Keary said she could hold it while we went to go look at them.

We go into the North Hall and there is a table set up with sunflowers all around it in the middle of the room. I thought, "This is random, but very pretty!" We got to the table and Shaunessy is telling me I have to buy some then I hear, "They are pretty, huh?" I turn around and there he is. I was so shocked I jumped back and I think I scared him! I seriously thought he wasn't real. I had to grab his arm to make sure he was really standing right in front of me. He then handed me a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

After a long time of just laughing out of pure joy that Josh was here and knowing what was coming Josh said, "I have something better than flowers for you." The walked around the table and got a pineapple. Why a pineapple? Because for Valentine's Day he got me a pineapple instead of flowers because he thought it was better than flower. Probably true. I was laughing like nonstop. This was so us. After another long amount of time he said, "I'm gonna pop the question now, ok?" I think he was trying to wait for me to calm down before he said anything but that wasn't going to happen. I responded, "Ok, do it!" He then got down on one knee and told me to pop the top off the pineapple. Inside was the gorgeous ring! Then he said, "Annie Turner, will you marry me?" I immediately said yes!

Everyone clapped and my parents came into congratulate us! My 2 requirements for Josh were 1. I wanted to completely surprised. 2. Have pictures of it. Nailed both of those things! He had my best friend from high school Griffin Harrington there videoing and photographing the whole thing! Griffin did such a great job I couldn't be happier with the pictures! 

The rest of the day we went around DC to take pictures and called all the important people. Such an amazing day. Little did I know that so many people had been in on the surprise and helped plan it. Huge thanks to all those who helped make August 17th a perfect day for Josh and I. 

I am incredibly happy and couldn't be more positive about this decision Josh and I have made to be sealed together forever. He is my best friend, playmate, love, and soon to be eternal companion. What an amazing blessing it is that we aren't bound by time. No 'till death do we part' business. We are talking forever. I am one lucky girl.  December 21st can't come soon enough! 

Catching up.

Holy smokes do I have a lot of blog updating to do! I slacked hardcore on my Africa blog so I have lots of posts to add to that. I guess that's a good thing that I didn't have a lot of time to blog while in Uganda because that means I was super busy right? Oh and the internet wasn't the greatest...

I also have some other very exciting news to share. I'M ENGAGED!!!! It still doesn't feel real. I feel like the luckiest girl alive and I am shocked this is my real life. I mean who goes to Africa for a month then 2 days later gets engaged to the greatest man alive?! Me I guess! Ridiculous. The wedding planning has already begun and the Salt Lake Temple has been booked! December 21st at 11:40am I get to be sealed forever to my best friend. Is there a better blessing than that?

Not to worry, the whole engagement story is coming up in the next blog post. It deserves it's own post. :)

Blessed

It's been a while since I've blogged so I decided it was time. Don't worry I will blog soon all about my Africa trip coming up but before all that I want to just express my gratitude for how incredibly blessed I am. so here are just a few things on my list that I count as major blessings in my life-

My family. Each and everyday I find more reasons to love and appreciate my amazing family. My Mom is the queen of getting things done, my Dad is the king of fun and hard-work, and my sister is the princess of the family. Meaning she is absolutely stunning and kind-hearted, like Cinderella if you will. :) And I guess that makes me the jester? Sure, we'll go with that.

My missionaries. I have lots of amazing friends on missions, or leaving soon for missions, and I couldn't be prouder of them. I live for Mondays when I get emails from them. From their letters you just feel their passion for the gospel and service and it makes me so excited! Obviously I miss them but I couldn't be happier with their decision to serve the Lord in such an amazing way.

My friends. I love coming home for the summer because I get to reunite with some of my best friends. They have been so supportive of me in everything and I love them to pieces. I consider myself very lucky to be able to have these amazing people in my life.

My boy. Yup. I said it, my boy. Josh is such a major blessing in my life. Although we are having to do a long distance thing right now I couldn't be more happy he is a big part of life. Can't wait to be  reunited with my best friend again in August. 

Africa. I leave for Uganda in 3 days and could not be more anxious or excited to get there! I'll admit I'm a little nervous, mostly about the 23 hour travel time, but much more excited than I am nervous. I can't wait to meet everyone and hear their stories. I am hoping and praying I don't take too much time adjusting to the new culture that I waste my time there. I'm planning on getting there and getting right to work. There are two fundraisers going on right now that we are all hoping work out. We are trying to help build a new school, among other things, and we are raising money to keep the new Health Clinic HELP built last year running. There is so much good to be done and I feel so blessed to be able to be a part of it. Keep updated on my Africa blog for my adventures and more ways you can help!  http://anniedoesafrica.blogspot.com/

God is interested and involved in every single detail of our lives and I couldn't be more grateful for that. 

One Month.

One more month until I go to Africa. AFRICA. Can you believe it!? I cannot. It has not become real to me yet. I have gotten my shoes, some clothes, and soon I will get my shots. Oh my goodness. Life is happening so fast!

Here are my shoes. I'm in love. Chacos baby, get a pair. 

One month until I get to see these amazing faces. I cannot wait! 

Happy Birthday Josh!

So. I've mentioned a couple times this new man in my life. For his birthday, I decided it was time to dedicate a blog to him.

Let me begin with his name, Josh. A.K.A Dodoy or Doy for short. Everyone in our ward knows him as Doy, therefore that is what I call him. Why Doy you ask? Well, it was on his bucket list to have a nickname so his roommate Kay (Sam) and him picked nicknames and introduced them as such. Ever since it stuck. Why Dodoy was picked? No one knows.

So basically the first word that comes to mind when I think about Doy is happiness. He makes me so happy and together we can have an insane amount of fun no matter what we do. Here are some of our most creative dates:

Our first date we made box forts and threw plastic fruit at the other 2 couples. It was way fun. I have terrible aim though. If we got hit with fruit the only way to revive yourself was to hold hands (waffle style mind you) with your date for 10 seconds. Smooth boys.

We are so awkward..

We like to bake brownies, muffins, and anything yummy really. Somehow we always end up looking like this when we cook or bake together. He spills every meal and has stained 2 of my shirts. He would add that I spill a lot too, but that's not true. Ok, maybe a little bit true..

On Memorial Day my roommate Alex and I woke up to the smell of bacon because our boyfriends had surprised us with a delicious breakfast! They won major good boyfriend points that day. Oh but then Doy lost a few when he gave me a bloody nose. Someone started a tickle fight which I was not participating in but if you know Doy then you know he loses all control of his body when he is tickled. I was a little too close to him as he started to flail around and got an elbow to the face. He knew what to do though, he ran (like literally ran) and got me a Diet Coke, extra ice, with a little Coke at the top. He quickly earned back good boyfriend points.

Reenactment of the injury. 

One of my favorite things we have done together was totally his idea. We went a got pillow cases and he told me to draw a face on mine and he drew a face on his. He wouldn't fill me in on what we were doing with these pillow cases until I was actually doing it. He told me to fold my arms and put them over my head and then he put the pillow case on me and put his jacket zipped up around my waist. He then told me to dance, so without many questions I danced. My roommates and him were laughing and I had no clue what was going on but just doing what I was told and danced. Our roommates helped set us both up in out pillow cases and we went door to door and danced for people. No one thought it was quite as hilarious as we thought it was, but we had a blast doing it.

There are so many other fun memories with this handsome man but I simply can't share all of them in one blog. I'm so grateful to have such a fun, hard-working, and good-looking man in my life. I'm excited to see what the future brings for us. Happy Birthday Josh! 

Seester

Today my lovely sister Sara turns 23. Can you believe it? For this monumental occasion I will dedicate this blog to Sara. I will share 2 of the things she has done to make me proud, and 3 stories that make me love her. Of course with pictures spread throughout. Here it goes!

working the middle part with bangs Sara. 

Proud Moment #1: 

My Senior year Mormon Prom. I know odd event to pick but let me explain. I had recently torn my ACL and for some silly reason insisted on wearing heels to Prom. Oh yea, because my date was probably 6'2''. My parents were out of town or something and so Sara volunteered to be my parent to tag along and take pictures. Late, we arrived at the picture taking spot to find that I had to go down this steep hill to meet the other people in my group. With my knee a wobbling Sara came to my aid and basically carried me down the hill. Giggling and secretly terrified we slowly and carefully got to the bottom of the hill. The rest of the picture taking portion she was the perfect fill-in mom, fixing my hair, snapping tons of pictures, helping me walk in my heals, and even mingling with the other parents. I choose this moment because I was proud to have such a supportive (figuratively and literally) sister who so willingly stepped in to take care of me. So thanks Sara for carrying down that hill and being supportive through all my endeavors. 

Too bad you can't even see the shoes I wore! 

Proud Moment #2: 

BYU Graduation. Last month Sara graduated from BYU! What a great accomplishment! Although I may have secretly dreaded sitting through the list of names it was so worth it to hear hers! She couldn't have been more stunning. Our whole family beamed with pride as our little blonde strutted her stuff across that stage to receive her diploma. She has paved the way for me to graduate from BYU too. It's amazing that her little size 5 feet could leave such big footprints to follow in! 

Story #1:

Christmas Eve one year. I'm not sure what year this was but I think it was her first Winter Break from BYU. That may be wrong. Anyways, we took to watching One Tree Hill like that whole break together and so Christmas Eve night after our annual party was over and our parents sent us to bed Sara started watching OTH in her bed. I'm not sure how it happened but we ended up watching a couple episodes together in her bed. Now this was significant to me because Sara never really allowed me in her room or close to her really. So I felt honored to be able to have sister bonding time in the same bed! That has gone down as one of the best Christmas Eves ever in my book. Ever since then our relationship has grown stronger and stronger and I couldn't be more grateful to that. 

Sara's Photo shoot from last Christmas 

Story #2: 

When I was probably ten me and my best friend had gotten into our first fight ever. I was taking it really hard as my dramatic 10 year old self would, and I went home upset. Sara had her friends over making a movie or something I'm sure and I snuck down to silently observe even though I knew she hated that. Sara in her observant way noticed I was upset and pulled me aside and asked what was wrong. I have never forgotten that simple experience because before then I always felt like the annoying younger sister, well because I was annoying. Ever since a young age Sara has always ben sensitive to others feelings has known what to say and how to help. I am so grateful to have such an observent and caring sister that I can count on.

Story #3:

Let's end with a good one. When I was little Sara and I were getting ready for bed one night brushing our teeth with our fancy electric toothbrushes. Minding my own business I was throughly brushing the few teeth I did have, then to my surprise I feel a sharp pain atop my pretty little head. What was the pain? Well it was the fruits of young Sara's curiosity, her electric toothbrush caught up in my hair. She had looked at her toothbrush and wondered, "What would happen if I put this in Annie's hair while it was still on? Let's find out!" I had a nice Alfalfa ratted piece of hair sticking straight out of my head. There was no way of brushing that thing out so Mom had to cut it out. So I was forced to live like my father for a few weeks and have a little bald spot on my head. Thanks Sara for teaching me that you should follow your curiosity where ever it leads you. Even if it does cause pain and embarrassment to others. That was the lesson you were teaching me right? 

Wish we had a picture of this one..

Happy Birthday Beautiful. I love you and couldn't be prouder to have such a stunning, smart, and just perfect older sister. 

Finals Bro

So Fall classes have ended. How crazy is that!? This semester has flown by. The fact that I have finals this week and next has not sunk it. Luckily I only have 2 tests and a paper to write. Then I'm done!

But in other news, I got a job! Ready for this: Custodial from 4am-8am Monday-Friday. Yup. You read that right. 4AM people. But oddly enough I'm excited about it! I will be working with good friends and making good money! Should be a good time. Hopefully I wont die waking up that early. This will be my token college job though right?

Overall I am super excited about Spring semester at BYU. It will be filled with fun, friends, a real cute boy*, preparation for Africa, and hopefully good money! Oh and a little studying too I guess. Or maybe a lot. We will see.

Preparation for Africa is going great! Read about that here:http://anniedoesafrica.blogspot.com/

*Wanna know more about the "real cute boy"? His name is Josh but we all call him Doy. Not quite sure why, he should be the one to explain that. But he is so great! I am one lucky girl. Life is so good.

He is a stud, no?

How Can I Know Christ's Love?

This past week in New Testament we talked about 1 Peter 1:8, "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full glory:" This verse got me thinking about my friends who don't necessarily believe in God or Christ. So to you dear friends, this blog is for you. 

I've been asked before, "how can you know Christ even exists when you haven't seen or heard Him?" My answer is probably never as good as it should be because it's a hard thing to explain. All I can think is that I feel His love. I have felt His hand in my life many times. I can recall specific instances when I knew without a doubt I was feeling Christ's perfect, unwavering love. When I am doing something that is in accordance to Christ's teachings I feel a new warmth enter my body that reassures me. 

Whenever I enter the Temple I receive that feeling of love. I've been striving to go to the Temple every week and so I have felt an abundance of Christ's love. His love is what makes me so happy. This gospel makes me happier than anything else can in this world and that is a testament to me that Christ lives and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true and correct church. 

I urge you to try to keep yourself open for Christ's love. Let His Atonement work in your life. Do something small to attempt to experience the feelings I have done my best to describe. Read a verse of the Bible or Book of Mormon. Serve someone. Pray and sincerely ask if God and Christ love you. I promise you that if you do any of these things with a sincere and open heart you will feel Christ's love. Let me know what happens. :) 

Here are some suggestions for verses to read:

Moroni 7:48

2 Nephi 1:15

2 Nephi 26:24

D&C 6:20 (Replace Oliver with your name, cool huh?)

John 3:16

Decisions, Decisions.

This last week in class we talked about how God gives us 3 different answers when we seek them: yes, no, and silence. Personally I hate the silence answer the most. I'd prefer a straight answer of how to move forward and I'll gladly follow whatever plan Heavenly Father has for me! Especially recently as I've had some important decisions to make in my life I've wanted clear answers on how to move forward. 

We compared our asking to Joseph Smith's asking when he asked what church he should join. He asked with the intention and determination to act on his answer. I think in all my decision making I hadn't asked with a sincere intent to act on my answer. But as I began to make decisions using my own agency I began to receive confirmations on my actions and my decisions. As I better understood how Heavenly Father's way of answer our questions I could better ask questions with a greater risk of receiving an answer.

God is good, and He takes really good care of His children. If we ask with sincere intent to act on the answers we receive we will receive greater promptings. As we grow to better understand the Lord's will we can easily align our will with His.

Let No Man Despise Thy Youth

This past week in New Testament we talked about 1 & 2 Timothy. I love the scripture in 1 Timothy Chapter 4:1, it says, "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." It just makes me think of the mission age change and how Heavenly Father is trusting younger people to go spread His son's gospel. We may be told that we are too young or too inexperienced but God has a patterned of trusting younger people. 

God trusted a 14 year old boy with probably one of the biggest tasks in these Latter-days. If He could trust a 14 year old, uneducated boy to bring about the last dispensation and return the fullness of the gospel to this earth He can trust young people like us to push Christ's work forward. 

I know I sometimes forget the trust Heavenly Father has placed in me. But if I step back and take time to remember that He has placed me on this earth at this specific time to further the work then I can gain confidence in the trust He has placed in me. Not only has He trusted me for this time, but He prepared me for this. He trusts me enough to have blessed me with the knowledge and faith of the true church from a young age. It is now my responsibility to honor that trust Heavenly Father has given me. I need to honor His will and follow the plan He has for me, no matter what it may be. 

Fruits of Righteousness

This week in New Testament we went over Philippians and in Chapter 1:11 it talks about being filled with "fruits of righteousness." We talked about how that means using the gift of the Atonement that Christ has given us to it's full potential. Not only does the Atonement let us be forgiven of our sins but it can also empower us in Christ. The more we come to understand the gift of the Atonement and the power it can have in our lives the more "fruits of righteousness" we can see in our lives.

When I read "fruits of righteousness" I think of that being the consequences of the good things that I do. For example, I have been trying to go to the temple every week this semester and every time I go I feel such great peace and it gives me precious time to think through the tough decisions I have before me. Each time I go my testimony of temples is strengthened and I can see more blessings from being obedient to the prophets council of worthy temple attendance.

The more righteous acts that I do the stronger my testimony grows of this gospel. I am working completely replacing fear with faith and something that has helped me is finding strength in the Atonement. Christ will help me along the way and as I make big decisions. As I come to better understand the Atonement of Christ I can become better myself and begin to see more "fruits of righteousness" in my life.

I Will Follow God's Plan for Me

This past week in New Testament we talked about how the Prophets are always right. And with this past weekend of soul searching I am newly determined to follow my Heavenly Father's plan for me. A huge part of that is listening to and following the Prophets. We are so blessed to have living Prophets on the earth today and have the technology to have their counsel so readily available to us. I am so excited to have General Conference right around the corner where we get to receive guidance and answers to our prayers. Without the guidance of our Prophets and revelation it would be so difficult to know how to make decisions and I have a hard time doing that with their help! 

I find such peace and comfort in the words and counsel given by the Prophets and I am so grateful to have them. I have such faith in the Prophets and am confident that they are the true mouthpieces for God and they are leading this church the same way Christ would if He were here on the earth. I am amazed that I was trusted with the knowledge and blessing of being raised in the true gospel here on the earth. I can only hope and pray that I am living the way Christ would to push His work forward. 

Taken Care Of

These last couple days have been perfect days. I am so blessed. I'll admit it all started with a depressing movie I watched by myself. In this movie the main character is a fun-loving, pretty girl with amazing friends and life. She meets a charming doctor and falls in love. But the reason she met this doctor was because he was the doctor that diagnosed her with late-stage colon cancer. SPOILER ALERT: She dies in the end and I could not hold back the tears. Something about her life ending so short made me scared for my life. Not scared that I was going to die, but scared that I don't know what my life plan is right now. I couldn't sleep after that and began furiously searching for answers in my scriptures, in talks, and in prayer. I didn't come to any major conclusions that night but I did come to the conclusion that I needed a blessing and a chill pill. I then said a prayer that I could have some kind of peace just to get me through the night. God is good and blessed me with that peace.

I then woke up the next morning and texted my home teachers to come over to give me a blessing. They answered eagerly and assured me they would be there later that evening. I then continued to search for answers every way I know how. Then another tender mercy, my best friend Conner called me and asked to come over. He must have known I needed some help, he always knows what to say. He helped me realize that I don't need to have a plan right now. God has a plan and if I continue to move forward with faith that plan will be presented to me in due time. Most importantly, Heavenly Father has taken care of me thus far and there is no reason that would ever change.

Later that day my faithful and ever diligent Home Teachers came over as promised. They gave me a perfect blessing of peace and comfort to know that Heavenly Father is aware of me and my needs and desires. The blessing only left me with peace and joy knowing that I will be taken care of.

The next day I had the amazing opportunity to go to the Draper Temple with good friends from the ward. The Draper Temple is so beautiful, I was just amazed by the views and the peace that surrounded and filled that temple. Inside the temple I had a permanent grin on my face, I was experiencing pure joy. I was again overwhelmed by the confirmation of Conner's point, that I will be taken care of.

That day continued with only great things, spending quality time with people I love and the continued feeling that I will be taken care of. 

Then to top all this spiritual uplift-ment off I again had more peace and tender mercies given to me today at church. The lessons and talks were all perfect topics of things I needed to hear. I was yet again overcome with the feeling that I will be taken care of. 

So, in conclusion, of all the many things I don't know about my future, there is one thing I know for absolute certain- I will be taken care of. 

Forward with Faith

This last week in New Testament we talked about moving forward in faith instead of being paralyzed in fear. This is something that is really difficult for me. I would just like Heavenly Father to just tell me the plan that He has for me, sparing no details. But that's not the way He works unfortunately. We have to take a step into the dark to see the light. (Some prophet or apostle said something to that effect, forgive me for not having the exact quote.) That's super hard for me because I am a girl who likes to have a plan, so when I don't have one it stresses me out. Slowly but surely I am learning to take those steps of faith to progress instead of remaining idle and just waiting around for an answer that wont come. I need to be actively moving forward and looking for the answers and have the faith that it will all work out. Which I know will happen because I completely believe that Heavenly Father will not let me go astray if I am doing all that I can to follow His plan for me. God is so good, and He always makes sure everything works out, so I need to keep reminding myself that.

Glory Days Part 1

So last night my boyfriend (yup, I said it, my boyfriend. No time to explain, that's a whole other blog post. Just know I'm super happy! hehe) Anyways where was I? Oh yes. My boyfriend, Josh, did what I thought no one would ever do with me.

He watched my graduation video with me. 

If you ask my roommates about that they will promptly roll their eyes and give a sarcastic remark. Whenever we sit down to watch a movie and don't know what to watch I shout out, "Let's watch my graduation video! Or my lacrosse video! Or my other 'memories from high school' videos!" I usually get multiple rolls of the eyes and chuckles that shout, "NO."

But I guess to prove how much he really likes me he said yes to my sarcastic plea to watch clips of my glory days. To my surprise his yes wasn't sarcastic, he was serious. I'm still a little shocked we watched it.

Josh kept saying, "Man, you really liked high school huh?" All I kept thinking was, is that a bad thing? It still surprises me that other people didn't get to have such a great high school experience as I did. I find that really sad! But it got me thinking. Is it bad that 2 years after high school I still find myself wishing to be back there on occasion? Now that I see that typed out I realize, yes. Yes it is bad that I long to be back in high school from time to time.

I sometimes refer to my high school years as my Glory Days. But now that I think about it more I don't want my high school years to be my Glory Days. I am far too young to already have Glory Days. I hope those days are yet to come! I'll just start calling those years Glory Days Part 1, and then I'll go on to create a Part 2, a Part 3, and so on! If I don't start making more parts I'll become like Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite! Now that would be just plain ol' pathetic.

So thanks Josh for helping me realize that it's time to move on. Yes, when I think of high school tons of fond memories come flooding back, and that's not a bad thing. But there are better days to come and that is something to be so excited for.

Try a Little Faith

This last week at church someone said something at church that I absolutely loved. They said:

"It takes faith to be happy."

Since my whole life montra is "Be Happy" I couldn't help but violently nod my head as this wise person shared this thought. It is so true! Then in addition to this comment in my New Testament class this week we talked about 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 "We are troubled on every side, yet we are not distressed: we are perplexed but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed." 

I love the optimism in those verses, even though all those hard things may be happening to us, we can still have faith. And with that faith comes happiness. I think a huge part of faith is choosing to be happy no matter the circumstance you find yourself in because you know that things will get better. You know that God will not let whatever trial or struggle you are facing overpower you. He has blessed us with so many ways to overcome our trials, we only need to use them. 

Can I give you, my loyal blog readers, a challenge? Can I challenge you to have enough faith to be happy? As silly as that may sound, think about it for a minute. Have enough faith to be happy. Whatever struggle or trial you are facing, decision you have to make, or fight you are tirelessly working to win, find the faith to be happy through it. If you are brave enough, or rather have enough faith to accept this challenge, let me know how it goes. I'll be working on this too. Here is a video to inspire you:

New Testament

This past week in my New Testament class we talked about Acts 12. We talked about when Peter was in prison and the people were praying for him to be released and their prayer was answered. But when a child came to tell them that Peter was released they didn't believe or even pay any mind to the child and continued to pray. I think this can perfectly apply to our lives. I find that sometimes I pray for things without fully believing that what I'm asking for could happen. What good does a prayer do if you don't pray in faith? I think also we may ask for things then not wait and be ready to receive the answer. We just go on our way having said the prayer but not really anticipating receiving an answer.

It is important to first pray in faith, fully believing that you will receive an answer to that prayer. Then after you've said that prayer be ready and willing to accept the answer you receive, whatever it may be. This is something that is hard for me. I struggle with receiving answers I don't like. It's something I need to work on. I'm also working on being more open and ready for the answers and promptings as they come. I often catch myself saying a quick prayer asking for this and that then not taking the time to receive an answer. This week I am determined to work on this and get better at being open to the Spirit to give me promptings and answers to my prayers.

A Perfect 20th Birthday

Two days ago I turned 20. For 2 decades I have been roaming this earth creating great friendships and memories. It's been one incredible party, let me tell you. 

I'll admit I was not super excited to be turning 20 because that means I can't do dumb things and blame it on my "teenage brain." Now I'm kind of like a full-fledged adult. Only kind of though. 

Even though I wasn't thrilled with getting old I had the best birthday ever. This birthday trumps all others. The whole day I felt overwhelmingly loved and cared for by my friends and family and that is the best gift I could have ever asked for. 

Let me give you the run down of the terrific day. 

I woke up facetimed my cute mom and then went to get breakfast (or breakfrist as I like to call it) with my sister and Shaunessy. We got delicious crepes and I received my gift from Sara and a gift from my parents. Both gifts extremely practical and perfect for my upcoming events (Africa, Mission). 

After such a perfect breakfrist I came home to find a exquisitely wonderful surprise from my amazing roommates Makenzie, Alex, and Kyla. As I go to walk into my building I find these on the doors:

Even greater than my face plastered on every door in da hood is the surprise I found next. They had printed out pictures of my friends and family and put their heads on other bodies and put them all around my room. It is the most hilarious thing I think I've ever seen. I was dying laughing. They are so clever and just the best roommates I could ask for! Here are some examples:

After I laughed to my hearts content I got a call from a dashing young gent and told me he would like to take me shooting! What a pleasant surprise it was! His roommate took us up the mountain to a shooting range and let us use his gun! It was scary but one of the greatest things I've ever done! Turns out I'm not that bad of a shot! I'm not quite as good as the dashing young gent though. Then this dashing young gent took me to one of the best kept secrets in Provo. It was so great! 

Then I came home and played some Banana Grams to kill time before dinner. After a few rounds a few of my favorites and I went to Malawi's for dinner. Twas delicious. What a great bunch. 

To end the day right we had a dance party at my apartment. As most of you loyal blog readers know I love to shake my groove thang whenever I can. So my amazing roommates made an endless amount of cookies, put up beautiful decorations, even bought glowsticks and got the party started! We danced the night away it was perfect. 

Overall I got everything I asked for. From cookies to just love it was all there. I am so blessed to have such amazing people in my life that I can count on no matter what. So a HUGE thanks to everyone who had anything to do with my perfect birthday! Seriously you don't know how much all the love, gifts, and sweet words mean to me.