The closing of a chapter. The opening of a new.

Today is one of those days when you say goodbye to the old adventure and begin a new one. After five years in provo, I am saying goodbye and moving to the big city.... Orem. Though I am not going far, I still would like to take a moment to reflect on the past 5 years, starting with the first.

Wyview is where it all began...

And that is where I met this crew

They say you make friends in college you keep for life, and these girls will be my friends for life.

Freshman year was a good time

There was even a proposal... but I decided to wait a little while...

Then I moved to cox for my sophomore year and made some more friends.

And kept some old friends

Oh yeah, and there was BYU Laudry!

Sophmore year was a growing time.

In my third year I moved to this magical place called southridge.

And the friendships continued

 

And there were some friends who had the patience to stick around.

Oh and my mom came and we matched... very cute.

Junior year was a time of socializing, and dating.....A LOT.

Year four(and perhaps one of the best years of my life)

This was the year I joined the lovely ladies of Cox 14.

Yet again, new friends and some of the old.

 

 

Year 4 was a time of true friendship and angels.

Then I moved to the Atrium.(Don't worry peeps, its almost over)

I met some cool people here, but apparently, I didn't take many pictures, so if you are one of those cool people I apologize, your picture is in my head and my heart.

Here are the only two pictures I have of new friends

 

My 5th and final year in Provo was a year of change.

I tried my hand at teaching

Graduated

Said goodbye to some pretty stellar friends
 

Some of the angels in my life got married to other angels.

 

And now I am ready. Provo, I had a good time, I grew, I dated, I made lasting friendships, and most of all, I changed. Thank you for a great 5 years.

Next stop: Orem

Trial of Faith

With all the controversies going on in the world today, especially within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, people are falling away. They are questioning their testimonies and for some, they are not strong enough to withstand the questions that remain unanswered in their hearts.

I do not in any way discourage those who have questions. This is because I have had periods in my life where I have had questions and doubts. This morning as I was pondering those questions and doubts, a scripture came to my mind.

Ether 12:6 "And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen, wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."

There are a few times in the Book of Mormon that we are told that the Lord will try our faith, meaning(to me) he will test us to see if our testimonies are strong. Even though we want God to answer all of our questions and remove the doubt that is in us, we will "receive no witness until after the trial of our faith."

Think of a principle of the gospel that you understand really well. For me, the first thing that comes to mind is tithing. When I started paying tithing, I was a little girl. We all know that children have unfailing faith. I didn't know why I payed tithing, I just did it. I trusted that because it was something the Lord asked me to do, and the prophets and apostles spoke about it in every general conference, I was happy to do it. Now, since then, I have received my witness and I have a testimony and a deep understanding of the importance of paying tithing, but it did not come until I exerted faith and was obedient.

Somewhere along the way as we grow from child to adult, some of us lose that unfailing faith(myself included). But I know if we act upon the things we are taught in general conference and in other statements by the church, we will receive the witness(maybe not right away) but we WILL receive it.

Whacha doin' today?

We all have things in our lives that we wish would go away. So often we think, "I will be happy when..." The thing is, that if we do this, we forget to do things today to make the memories that we love looking back on. So my question is: Whacha doin' today? Do something you love to do today. Make a memory. Be happy.

Thank goodness for our imperfections

One of my favorite quotes from the movie Emma, is this one: "Perhaps it is our imperfections that make us so perfect for each other."

The reason I love this quote so much is because I think about it in the context of friends and family, not just for relationships or marriage, although it could still be applied.

One of the greatest things about being a human is that we can feel a range of emotions. We can be happy, sad, excited, content, angry, infuriated, irritable, loving, kind. We do things that make others happy and we do things that hurt or frustrate people.

Because we ALL do all of these things, it gives us the ability and reason to do the most important things : forgive, accept, and love.

 Maybe it really is our imperfections that makes us perfect for our friends and our families.

Life: Don't do it alone.

This weekend, I got sick, which is pretty common when you spend all day with children. However, this time I was determined not to let it get me down. I decided to look for my blessings. I was grateful that I was finally able to have an excuse to relax. I was grateful that I got sick on the weekend so that I didn't have to feel miserable while trying to teach. However there was one huge blessing of this weekend. I came closer to my Heavenly Father.

You know when you are sick and you tell yourself you have to stay home and in bed, but all you really want to do is go out and see your friends. Well, this time, when I would start to feel lonely, I would lay there in bed and pray. I would just have a conversation with my Heavenly Father about whatever I wanted. I talked to him about everything, and when I got up to make a puzzle, I asked him to help me find the pieces. Instantly I felt like I was doing a puzzle with Heavenly Father. He was helping me find pieces faster than I could. (I know it sounds dumb, but He knew it was somehow important to me)

Then, I prayed that someone would come and visit me. Of course, he blessed me with good friends and visitors, as well as Ashley and Sean, who were here all day, to keep me company. I didn't feel alone at all today because I had my Father in Heaven with me.

When I received a calling that I was unsure I would be able to do well, I would to go on walks just to pray to my Heavenly Father and tell him about my life. I would always ask if he loved me and was sure that I could do all that he asked of me. Every single time, I felt  the peace that he knew me, loved me, and believed in me.

The biggest blessing is that we can all do this every day! He wants to listen to you. He wants to hear about your life. He wants to hear about the nerdy things that make you happy, the ridiculous things that make you sad, the guys/girls you want to date, your parents, your kids, your major, your health........the list goes on and on. Just talk to Him. All day, every day.

Thank goodness we get lots of chances to be good.

Sometimes we get so caught up in our lives that we forget what really matters. I admit this has happened to me a lot recently. (Which is probably why I haven't written a blog post in a while)

 Here is a little reminder, for me and for you. Luckily when we are "prone to wander" or "prone to leave the God [we] love", He will always take our hearts when we offer them, and mold us into something beautiful. If you have strayed from what is most important like me, pick yourself up and try again with me. Let's involve our Heavenly Father in our lives more.

Asking for light

One of my favorite stories in the Book of Mormon is the story about the brother of Jared.

In Ether 2:24-25, the Lord tells the brother of Jared that they are going to be "as a whale in the midst of the sea" on their journey to the promised land, because the waves are going to swallow them up at times. The cool thing is that it is the for the purpose of getting them to the promised land.

In verse 25, Heavenly Father asks the brother of Jared what he wants him to do to give him light when he is swallowed up in the sea. Then, in Ether 3:4 the brother of Jared tells the Lord that he would like him to touch some stones so that they will give them light in the ship.

I love how bold and faithful he is with this request. He first states that he knows the Lord can do all things, and then makes is request.

I have done this in my life. When I feel like I am swallowed up in the sea, even though I am on my way to the promised land, I ask the Lord for light. I pray for the Lord to send me an angel to light my way. Usually those angels are my friends and families, sometimes they are strangers, and sometimes they are unseen.

I always receive light when I ask for it in faith.