Family

At the end of the day, when all is said and done, you only have family. Friends can come and go, but family, youre stuck with family. Good thing I LOVE MY FAMILY! I honestly was blessed with the most incredible people surrounding me. I thank the Lord every day for giving me such amazing examples. Last night me and my siblings played twister and could not stop laughing. I just could not get over how much fun I have with them. Yes, I have always known I have fun with them, but you know those moments (apparently I have been having a lot of momments) where you just are in awe of how great you have it? I guess you could say I had that last night. I am so grateful for my family.

My Dad (Glenn) is such a rock. He has been through so many life experiences and has learned so much. Its incredible to me to have seen the change in him over the years. It is also incredible to be working with him, learning business ethics and the legistics of things. He has taught me so much about love, and what it feels like to be cherished.

Then theres my Mom... what can I say about my mom that wouldnt bring me to tears? She is my best friend, and definately one of the funniest people in the world. Not only that, but I never have questioned whether she knew the Lord or not. A special friend told me that a huge reason he came back to the church was because he trusted that his mom would never lie to him, he trusted her and knew that she knew the Lord lives. I feel the same about my mom. I know she knows.

My brother Carson, another Best Friend of mine. He can get me laughing to tears, but yet he will wipe my tears away in times of trial. With the age difference I never thought we would ever be as close as we are. He is so gifted in confidence, and assurance. I think he was born knowing who he was.

Max. Max defines humor. (and maybe you are catching on that my family is funny?) He is also one of the sweetest people in the world. I have never seen a 13 year old boy love children more than he does. He will be an incredible father, and his faith is astounding. I dont ever remember being that intuitive and thoughtful at his age. He knows his Heavenly Father.

Ian, he is so gifted in music; a love we both share. He is sensitive and loving, and when I am having a bad day he is the first to ask me about it. I honestly dont believe he could ever hurt a fly. He is quirky and wonderful and he always tries his absolute best.

Avery. Avery is so detailed in everything he does. He is very careful with his words, and with his homework, and with his drawings. And his laugh is my favorite, infact I cant help smiling just thinking about it. He is such a good friend to everyone he comes in contact with.

Camden. The only other girl in the family, and we girls have to stick together. She is so driven, and passionate. It honestly makes me jealous in some respects because I know she will accomplish everything she wants to in life. That kind of drive, when put to good use, can make miracles happen. I really do hope she knows how beautiful and smart she is, and her innocense... it is sad to think that could leave some day. We joke about her spiritual radar, but I really do hope she carries that throughout her life, constantly making her aware of what is right and what is wrong.

Caelum. He is everyones favorite, and he knows it. I just look at him and get so grateful that he is a part of our family. He completes our big clan. His smile is so contagious and just looking at those blue eyes would make anyone melt. He looves to learn, and is soo smart. It makes me sad that I wont be able to see him grow up like I have the others.. He has taught me so much about loving the life we are blessed with.

So you see.. I love my family. Take away any one of them and things just would not be complete. Each of them add beautiful things to our home, creating the kind of unity only families really know. My family is everything to me. So thank you Family. Thank you for keeping me on my toes, and teaching me that each day is a new day for new and wonderful things!

Change

I have been having a lot of moments lately. Moments where feelings of comfort just overwhelm me; something stronger than I have ever felt before. I had a couple of those today. I was sitting in Stake conference, listening to all the talks. Each one had something that hit me, but its funny how there is always a theme for the meeting. I don't even think they plan it that way, but the Lord does. I felt today's theme was similar to the song I sang in the competition last June, Firm in the Faith. I wasn' t particularly fond of the song at first, but lately that theme has been reoccurring over and over again. Through hard times it is so important to stay firm in the faith. There were a lot of talks that had special messages, but there were a couple that hit me more than the others. I will only touch on one for sake of time. It was given by a woman who is a ward missionary, in which ward I am not sure, but she spoke on the power the gospel has to change lives. She told three short stories. One involving a young girl in Mongolia, another with a town drunk in Brazil, and another of a scientist here in the United States. In each story there were difficulties. For the young girl in Mongolia it was the fact that she was from a family of Nomads, and she had no real place to call home. She was constantly moving around and knew she needed something in her life to help her feel stable. Believe it or not there are missionaries in the area she lived and they found her, taught her the power of prayer, and she was baptized soon after. She was so grateful for the comfort the gospel brought into her life. For the next man it was the fact that he couldn't control his drinking, he had been out of a job for 5 years, and the town never expected more from him. The missionaries found this man and taught him the Word of Wisdom. They brought him faith and hope and love, three things he had never experienced before. The day after the lesson he stopped drinking, the week after he got a job, and a year later he was married in the Temple for time and all eternity. For the last woman, it was the fact that her brain did all her thinking for her. She knew facts, she knew numbers, she knew science, but she did not know the ways of the heart or the power of the spirit. She had met Mormons before but never thought twice about it until two missionaries challenged her brain to prove them wrong, and what smart woman would turn down a challenge? She prayed for a week straight and didn't get an answer, so she prayed for another week straight and still no answer. It wasn't until a month later, after praying for what seemed like a full day that she got her answer. The next week she was baptized. 

The gospel changes lives. Christ changes lives, if only you let him in. I don't have my notes in front of me so I cannot quote directly, but from a talk by President Monson he instructed the Young Adults to seek out the Lord, because when we open our hearts to his blessings, he blesses us more than we can even comprehend. There is always room for growth, always room for learning, and always room for change. I am so blessed. I am so blessed to be here, in this place, being led by someone who constantly picks me up and gives me hope. That's what this gospel is about; hope. Because just when you think nothing can get better, it changes your life to where things can. This isn't the time for fear, this isn't the time for doubt, this is only a time for change. The gospel changes lives, and it is constantly changing mine.

Encouragement

Stick to your task till it sticks to you;

Beginners are many, but enders are few.

Honour, power, place, and praise

Will come, in time, to the one who stays.

Stick to your task till it stick to you;

Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it too;

For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile

Will come life's victories, after awhile.

Finding Me Again

Sometimes you temporarily lose sight of your path, or yourself rather. You are lying right below the surface but something keeps you from coming on top. Once you realize this however, its incredible how fast things can change. Its incredible how fast you come to the surface. I'm back at institute, I'm staying all hours of church, I'm at activities, I'm at firesides.. and throughout it all I am now taking notes again. I've always been here, but just right below the surface. I cannot get enough of what I always knew I couldn't get enough of. I am hoping to right down all these impressions and experiences because these are certainly things I want to remember. I want to always remember that I do come back, I did come back. I want to always remember that I love this gospel, and you cannot ever have one foot in and one foot out. It doesn't work that way. This year is the year of opportunities, and going into it I was really scared of what those might be, but throughout all this church activity I have lost that fear. President Monson recently spoke to the Young Single Adults, and I found it incredible that it was all about being prepared. It was about setting yourself above the rest and always relying on the Lord, because then and only then will you find success. He gave four main points, and I am trying to focus on one at a time. This coming week is point #1 "Avoid Pitfalls." You can interpret that however you want. He was mainly talking about avoiding bad habits, and replacing them with good ones. Brother Griener, when talking about the talk, put this quote with it.. and I will end with this because I think it speaks for itself, and it definitely sets up my week for amazing insight.

"We are what we do. Excellence is not an act, its a habit" - Aristotle

A lot happens in a Week

I am sitting here in my room, listening to incredible music, and I cannot help but be in awe of what happens in such a short time, if you let it. I have always lived by rules, and planners, and every next move had to be planned five steps before. Last week I decided I would let life happen to me, and I would embrace every opportunity. Even before that though, I was scared to death. It isn't a very pleasant feeling to have the floor, that you thought was sturdy, fall out from under you. As I was falling I prayed life would find me again. I had no idea it really would. I sat in church this past sunday and the emotion I felt was so overwhelming. The Lord knows me, he knows my purpose, and he knows how to make it all better. I sat in church having one of those "moments of clarity" as it all laid out in front of me. I am trying to adequately express my gratitude, but I know words aren't anywhere near enough. And if that wasn't enough, I finally found my perfect scripture. I have never had a favorite. You know, the one that gets you through even the toughest times. I have certain ones that mean a lot to me, but there isn't just one that I could read and it would help me through every thing. As I was sitting in Institute on Tuesday, I read what is now my scripture. And, who knows, maybe it will just be one that is pulling me up now, but it touched me so deeply that I think it will be with me for awhile. Joshua 3:5. If I wrote it out on here that would just give everything away. So read it, think about it. The gospel is so simple. It is so simple. A very special friend was talking to me about the importance of life experiences and how much that adds to the character of someone. He was really shocked when I didn't put this on the list, but the more I think about it, the more I think it would definitely be one of those experiences. It is just an experience that seems to happen over and over, but is just as special each time it happens. It is when you see yourself how the Lord sees you, something that pushes you to do better and try harder. It is just one of those moments where I have complete clarity of what I mean to Him. I love this Gospel, and I love how much potential I have within it. I love the principles it stresses, and the values it has given me. I love that I have been stubborn about it, wanting to know exactly how I feel about my place among its members because it makes it that much more special to me. I love seeing the Lord's hand in my life, and the gratitude I feel when he carries me. He has given me strength and courage and love, and I will serve him diligently so he knows of my confidence in Him and His plan. I will wake up every day ready for what he has in store next, because so far, it has been nothing but incredible insight into a world I never knew existed.