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.