Sunday, November 28, 2010

Good times from the first semester


Cosmo liked my Nauvoo Prairie Diamond ring. Some guys standing nearby said he should make it a real diamond!


A beautiful, peaceful Sunday morning at the Provo Temple. It started raining soon after this, so I got to walk home in the rain.


Some of my FHE family doesn't come to FHE (They are definitely missing out!!) so during one of our FHE's we carved pumpkins, and I carved these to give to the two apartments, one guys and one girls, who we love and miss.


Mommy, you will be proud of my bread-making skills, especially my first time completely by hand, not even an electric mixer. My roommate said they were very good, and I agree with her, if I do say so myself! The one on the left is apple cinnamon with apples, sugar, and cinnamon rolled up inside (my dad taught me how to do that), and the one on the right is plain white. They were so GOOD and our apartment smelled amazing with fresh bread!


The sunset was beautiful that day, making all kinds of pretty colors on the clouds over campus.


I opened the door to let my Home Teachers in, and this is what I see. They had used Sharpies to draw mustaches on their fingers. My FHE Brother/Home Teacher Dakota, on the left, has a mustache, and my FHE Dad/substitute Home Teacher Alex, on the right, has a soul patch. They are crazy, but what can you do, they're family...


These books are a series written by my aunt, pen name Sandra Grey! Go READ them! They are phenomenal!! The book on the right, Trespass, is the newest book in the series, and was on the Best Selling shelves in Seagull Book. If you have any questions about them please ask!


While our roommate Rachel was home for Thanksgiving, Charlee and I went Black Friday shopping for Christmas decorations. I bought this little pre-lit tree and the candy canes, and Charlee got a stocking for each of us. I also got lights to put around our windows. It feels all Christmasy in our apartment now, I love it :)


Halloween pumpkin, Thanksgiving duck (was taped to a flyer about a Thanksgiving party), and Christmas lights. We just love holidays.


Woke up this morning to an actual blanket of snow, with more falling, as opposed to our half inch we got a couple weeks ago that melted within the day. It was breathtakingly beautiful!! My first time walking to church in the snow went remarkably well too, I never slipped once in my heels. :)

Almost the end of the semester...

It's hard to believe there are only two weeks of class left, then finals, then heading back home to AZ for Christmas break!! But it will be a much needed break, that's for sure. And it's much warmer in Arizona than here. Today there was finally a good snow of a few inches that stuck, but back home it's raining. Go figure!

This past week of Thanksgiving break has been a nice, relaxing, almost lazy week with classes and only on Monday, then just studying a bit during the week. I didn't study as much as I should have though, because I spent a lot of time with family here in Provo, and procrastinated and just got lazy. But I did make it to the Anatomy Lab on Saturday for a few good hours of studying on the cadavers and models before our Lab final tomorrow! Plus I will have about 4 hours of study tomorrow morning before we take the final, so that will be greatly appreciated.

Anatomy is such a fascinating class! I love learning about the human body. Many of my friends wonder how I can handle seeing and handling cadavers and various body parts for studying, but it doesn't bother me. It is so amazing that these people and their families have been willing to donate their bodies for thousands of students to learn from. It doesn't bother me, because Heavenly Father created our bodies, in His image. So in effect we are studying how His body is made as well. Isn't it amazing that we are modeled after Gods? There is so much to learn about the parts and functions of the body, and I'm only just beginning. But what I have already learned is so fascinating, and it amazes me how everything works together to make our body move, think, digest, feel, and everything else it does. I'll admit, at first it was rather strange to have the bodies there in front of us, and the TA's expecting us to touch and move them, but I got over it really fast. I was actually the first person in my class to touch a cadaver, to help my TA flip him over to see the muscles on his back. SO fascinating!! Did you know there are muscles inside the walls of many organs, all over the sides of your eyes, and all over your hip bone, inside and out? If you think about it, every direction you can move is because there is a muscle pulling your limb in that direction. Now think about your hands. The palms and backs of your hands, as well as your wrist and all up your forearm, are all muscles to make your fingers move. At least 30 muscles in your arms and hands move your hands and fingers. And your hands also have the most nerve innervation, giving your fingers more sensation than any other part of your body. Now tell me that's not amazing!

Anyway, now that I have gone on a tangent about Anatomy and how incredible it is.... :)

The lesson I felt like giving to my Visiting Teaching sister today was probably meant for me. It was from Elder Bednar's talk in Conference, "Receive the Holy Ghost." He speaks about the "importance of striving in our daily lives to actually receive the Holy Ghost." He says we shouldn't just expect the Holy Ghost to be with us because we had hands laid on our heads and were given the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We have to "desire, to seek, to work, and to so live that we indeed 'receive the Holy Ghost' and its attendant spiritual gifts."  When you're given a gift you don't let it just sit on your table and never touch it. You use it. The Spirit is the same way. We can't go through our lives not utilizing this marvelous gift given to us by our Heavenly Father. The Holy Ghost wants to be with us, he wants to help us, if we have open hearts and minds to let him in. One of my favorite handouts I ever got in Young Women was a picture of Christ embracing and comforting a young woman, with the scripture John 14:18, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." Christ knew how much His disciples would miss Him, so he gave them the Holy Ghost to comfort them and be with them. How wonderful a gift that was. In Elder Bednar's talk he gives a quote from after Joseph Smith's martyrdom, when he appeared to Brigham Young: "Tell the people to be humble and faithful and [be] sure to keep the Spirit of the Lord and it will lead them right. Be careful and not turn away the small still voice; it will teach [you what] to do and where to go; it will yield the fruits of the kingdom. Tell the brethren to keep their hearts open to conviction so that when the Holy Ghost comes to them, their hearts will be ready to receive it." We need to not only be seeking for the Holy Ghost, but also have an open heart to receive him. That's probably why I needed this lesson, to remind me to listen and feel for the Spirit, not just expect him to be there. I need to invite his companionship. Companionship....what an interesting word, that just hit me. A companionship is not a one-way, "I'm in charge" kind of relationship. It requires working together, both asking and listening to each other's advice and counsel. With the Holy Ghost as my companion, I can ask him for guidance, help, and comfort, and he will answer me and give me what I need, if I listen and accept it. I can't tell him what I want and expect him to just give it to me, I need to ask for what I need, and realize that whatever answers I get, whatever I'm guided to do, is what's best for me in the long run, and may be blessing others as well. I'm so grateful for the companionship of the Holy Ghost, and strive to be worthy and open to his guidance and peace.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Favorite Temple

I just thought I would post a picture I took of my favorite LDS Temple, the Nauvoo, IL Temple. Nauvoo is such a wonderful place where you can meet the most wonderful people and feel the Spirit every day. It holds a special place in my heart.

















I have lots of other great pictures of this beautiful Temple, but this is the only one I have here on my laptop at BYU. :)

The first of many

After much deliberation I have decided to join the Blogging world. I'm not sure how frequently I will post, but I promise I will keep people updated. And just a heads up, I tend to ramble at times, so the posts may be very long. I'll work on that. :)

Basically my life goes like this: Wake up early, go to class, go to work, go to more classes, maybe more work after class, go home and eat dinner, do homework, and sleep if I'm lucky. And somewhere in there have a social life, keep up with my amazing Ward and my calling, and get my laundry and grocery shopping done. But I am surviving, and learning so much, not just through my classes but through experiences.

One thing I have learned through my crazy college life is that having the Spirit with me at all times is very important. He helps me stay sane even when I should be stressed. Listening to his voice and heeding his promptings are difficult at times, but doing so brings so many blessings. Prayer is my number one means of communication these days. I pray so much about everything, and it's such a blessing to see my prayers answered daily. My testimony has been strengthened so much as I have learned to pray and listen to the Spirit more each day.