Thursday, January 30, 2014
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
You have beautiful hair.
The other day I was going about what I thought was my rather mundane life. Nothing special. No one to impress, no reason or desire to look nice or be nice to anyone in particular. I don't have much of a social group, no boyfriend, or employer who needs me to be pretty and presentable. Just me. As I was checking out at the store, I made an effort to smile at the cashier. As she was going about her life however mundane or exciting it was to her, she smiled back at me and said "Your hair is beautiful." in such a sincere way that my smile suddenly became effortless as I said, "thank you." It was a simple thing she said in passing but I walked away smiling and feeling about ten times prettier than I had two minutes before. I doubt she thought much about her compliment; just a thought crossing her mind that she chose to say out loud. She will never know the affect it had on me for the rest of day. It was a ray of sunlight; a splash of color in my otherwise gray day. I often hear motivational talk about smiling and complimenting others going a long way. I never understood that much till now. Maybe I still don't.
The holiday season is busy and expensive. Its a time of giving and getting and plan making and spending. Remember that a midst the commercial craziness of the season that kindness is priceless and nothing shines brighter or warms the heart more than the goodness of your own heart. Its the people in our lives and the love in our hearts that make the holidays what they should be. Christmas doesn't come from a store. Christmas means a little bit more.
The holiday season is busy and expensive. Its a time of giving and getting and plan making and spending. Remember that a midst the commercial craziness of the season that kindness is priceless and nothing shines brighter or warms the heart more than the goodness of your own heart. Its the people in our lives and the love in our hearts that make the holidays what they should be. Christmas doesn't come from a store. Christmas means a little bit more.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
The Gospel Blesses Families
I have a missionary experience to share! At the beginning of the summer I was assigned to visit teach a non member named Nicole who has a less active husband, Kevin. Nicole had met with the missionaries once or twice before and showed interest in the message but didn't want to pursue it without the support of her husband who was not interested in the slightest. When Megan (my v.t. companion) and I started visiting Nicole, she said it was ok if we shared gospel messages with her.
Over the summer there was that huge missionary conference emphasizing church tours. My bishop knew I had done church tours in my mission and sent the elders in my stake to talk to me about it and I gave them a run down of how church tours work in the Spokane mission. I promised them that I would invite Nicole on a church tour as they had been trying to teach her for months without success.
Well it took me quite a long time to get the church tour set up with Nicole and by the time I did, transfers came and went a new set of elders swept into the area. Both brand new and never having done or heard much about church tours, they had to scramble to come up with something when I told them they were taking Nicole on one. The tour they took her on was almost laughable! It was nothing like the church tours I'm used to. It was chaotic and disorganized and way too long with way too many tangents. But toward the end of it, they finally came to the baptism font and invited her to be baptized. I got such a thrill of excitement to hear that invitation and feel the spirit working on her as she thought about it with hesitation and surprise. At the very end we stopped at the painting of the first vision. The elders taught about the first vision and the Book of Mormon and invited her to read it. Up to that point I had been quiet. The elders had invited the ward mission leader, the relief society president and another member and my v.t. companion. With all of them being very eager to share comments and thoughts, It always seemed my comments would just be another thing to forget. But finally at the first vision I had the beautiful opportunity to share my testimony of the the prophet, the Book of Mormon and my savior, Jesus Christ. That is my favorite thing.
Nicole has been meeting with the missionaries ever since. Because of my work schedule, I've only been able to attend a few of the lessons. It wasn't too long before Nicole had a tentative baptism date. She was so worried that she wouldn't be ready on time and she always lamented that her husband wouldn't be coming back to church. Well, one day I came out of class from teaching primary and standing in the foyer were Nicole AND Kevin! As we were talking, the ward mission leader came to greet them and added is surprise and excitement to mine. They informed us that Nicole would no longer be getting baptized the following Saturday because they had just decided that Kevin would be the one to baptize her. He met with the bishop that day and started getting himself prepared to worthily baptize his wife.
Last week I had the opportunity to attend and speak at Nicoles baptism. Kevin did a wonderful job and there were lots of people from Kevins family and the ward there to support them both. Kevin and Nicole moved into a new ward this week and their new bishop, relief society president and ward mission leader were there to welcome them to the their new ward. Kevin and Nicole were so happy and I could see that the Gospel truly does bless families as they became united with Father in Heaven. I am full of gratitude that I got to be a part it.
Over the summer there was that huge missionary conference emphasizing church tours. My bishop knew I had done church tours in my mission and sent the elders in my stake to talk to me about it and I gave them a run down of how church tours work in the Spokane mission. I promised them that I would invite Nicole on a church tour as they had been trying to teach her for months without success.
Well it took me quite a long time to get the church tour set up with Nicole and by the time I did, transfers came and went a new set of elders swept into the area. Both brand new and never having done or heard much about church tours, they had to scramble to come up with something when I told them they were taking Nicole on one. The tour they took her on was almost laughable! It was nothing like the church tours I'm used to. It was chaotic and disorganized and way too long with way too many tangents. But toward the end of it, they finally came to the baptism font and invited her to be baptized. I got such a thrill of excitement to hear that invitation and feel the spirit working on her as she thought about it with hesitation and surprise. At the very end we stopped at the painting of the first vision. The elders taught about the first vision and the Book of Mormon and invited her to read it. Up to that point I had been quiet. The elders had invited the ward mission leader, the relief society president and another member and my v.t. companion. With all of them being very eager to share comments and thoughts, It always seemed my comments would just be another thing to forget. But finally at the first vision I had the beautiful opportunity to share my testimony of the the prophet, the Book of Mormon and my savior, Jesus Christ. That is my favorite thing.
Nicole has been meeting with the missionaries ever since. Because of my work schedule, I've only been able to attend a few of the lessons. It wasn't too long before Nicole had a tentative baptism date. She was so worried that she wouldn't be ready on time and she always lamented that her husband wouldn't be coming back to church. Well, one day I came out of class from teaching primary and standing in the foyer were Nicole AND Kevin! As we were talking, the ward mission leader came to greet them and added is surprise and excitement to mine. They informed us that Nicole would no longer be getting baptized the following Saturday because they had just decided that Kevin would be the one to baptize her. He met with the bishop that day and started getting himself prepared to worthily baptize his wife.
Last week I had the opportunity to attend and speak at Nicoles baptism. Kevin did a wonderful job and there were lots of people from Kevins family and the ward there to support them both. Kevin and Nicole moved into a new ward this week and their new bishop, relief society president and ward mission leader were there to welcome them to the their new ward. Kevin and Nicole were so happy and I could see that the Gospel truly does bless families as they became united with Father in Heaven. I am full of gratitude that I got to be a part it.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Yoga is Magic. . . . .but mostly inspired by God.
I often feel that life is terribly ruthless as it rushes onward and demands that I rush along with it. It takes me along paths with obstacles and pitfalls where I will be sure to fall and scrape a knee and on occasion brake a bone. As I am feeling sorry for myself, life is impatient and tells me to hurry up. There are things to do, places to go, people to attend to, goals to reach, plans to make and on and on. But it hurts! Can't I get a bandaid? Can I wash off the dirt at least?
In the last weeks I have felt a torrent of emotions, decisions, worries, excitements, stress, and all sorts of everything we children of God experience all mounting and building until at a climax I found myself unable to hold back tears and depression and sadness threatened to overwhelm and leave me incapable following life along his reckless marathon. Somewhere inside there was a peace and stillness. A feeling of rightness about it all but my desire to sleep or read a book and ignore the rest of the world was far more appealing than accepting help from the spirit.
This morning I attended a private yoga session. As I meditated and allowed my body, my spirit, and my mind to be at peace with one another, I felt beauty in life once again. He and I are friends, I do believe, but I forgot that for a while. I am still sad. But I can live at peace with being sad while simultaneously appreciating love, beauty, peace, and simple joys in life. Though tears may come, there is hope smiling brightly before me. As I drove away, I felt like singing. That is a good feeling.
In the last weeks I have felt a torrent of emotions, decisions, worries, excitements, stress, and all sorts of everything we children of God experience all mounting and building until at a climax I found myself unable to hold back tears and depression and sadness threatened to overwhelm and leave me incapable following life along his reckless marathon. Somewhere inside there was a peace and stillness. A feeling of rightness about it all but my desire to sleep or read a book and ignore the rest of the world was far more appealing than accepting help from the spirit.
This morning I attended a private yoga session. As I meditated and allowed my body, my spirit, and my mind to be at peace with one another, I felt beauty in life once again. He and I are friends, I do believe, but I forgot that for a while. I am still sad. But I can live at peace with being sad while simultaneously appreciating love, beauty, peace, and simple joys in life. Though tears may come, there is hope smiling brightly before me. As I drove away, I felt like singing. That is a good feeling.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
I myself am often surprised at life's little quarrels.
I do believe our lives are works of art. They are colorful and varied. They can be simple and yet captivating to the deepest part of the soul. They can be layered, rich, dissonant, harmonious, moving, stagnant, pleasing, and stressful. They reflect the colors of those around them and the slightest change of light opens a new world of thought and emotion. They take time and practice with loving patience. They take discipline and skill for accuracy in technique and a bravery and daring to try something new and let go of control. In all things there must be balance. If everything is bright then nothing is bright. If everything is dark then nothing is dark. How does one become balanced? How much detail or simplicity? How much light and dark? What colors? What other works of art do I surround myself with to create perfection? Perhaps there is no right answer. All ways may be different but each one beautiful in itself. I wish I could see them all.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Got some catching up to do.
So, I've been meaning to post again for a while now, and finally decided to postpone it no longer!! Hah. I've gotten a number of pictures from Emily, and I'm sure most of you guys have already seen most of them. I've asked Emily which pictures she does or does not want posted on her blog, but she never really responded. She's really busy being a great missionary and all, and seems to get distracted easily with other things-which is totally ok. :) It is quite entertaining sometimes, actually. I'll get great big long letters with deep in-depth stories, then a random change in color of ink mid-sentence-usually followed by "I got distracted and don't remember what I was saying anymore"...
Anyways, without further ado, here are some of the pictures I've gotten from Emily! These first two are from the Mission President, just after she arrived in Spokane! (Nov 15th, 2011)
This is Sister Baron. She is Emily's first and current (as of this writing) companion in the mission field.
The next ones came from Emily on Nov 21, 2011. The first one is from the MTC-The other sister's name is Sister Middleton, and if I remember right she was Emily's MTC companion.
Emily's first commercial airline flight! (She was really nervous about it but was brave and did it anyways)
Emily in Cheney, WA! With her new companion, Sister Baron.
These ones came from Emily on Nov 28, 2011. This one is of the Spokane Temple.
I'm not exactly sure what this is, but it's pretty so I thought I'd add it. ^.^
This was actually when Emily first met Sister Baron. This is what Emily said in her email about this picture:
"Cool story, Sister Baron said before we met, she was praying for me and about who I would be and What I would look like and everything. We talked for a minute and she said I was exactly the person she imagined when she prayed right down to my looks and my hair and everything. Pretty sure we were a match made in heaven. We've decided that we are spirit twins since we are pretty much the same person and have everything in common. Except she has an ulcer from stress and I rarely get stressed about anything."
Hah, it was kind of funny to go back and read that. I think Emily has been stressed out a number of times since then. In fact, this last week has been her most stressful week of her mission. She told me she spent hours freezing while digging her car out of the snow, missed a lot of appointments, had to deal with Sister Baron's health issues (She had surgery for a gallstone, but is now back on her feet and back to full time missionary work! Yay!), and lots of other things that I wont go into, hah! I think she's stronger than she realizes, though. She will be ok. :) The Mission President thinks very highly of her, too! He said he doesn't think any of the other sisters could have handled dealing with Sister Barons situation as gracefully as Emily did. Yeah, she's pretty much amazing.
The next several pictures are of the family Emily and Sister Baron had Thanksgiving dinner with. They seem like quite the entertaining bunch, haha!
This is "The Doll House". It's the house Emily stayed in immediately after arriving in Spokane. It's completely doll themed, and totally creepy if you ask me. I think the look on Emily's face suggests she'd agree with me. Hah!
I have a whole bunch of other pictures from Emily, but I think I'll stop for now. Otherwise this post will get very, very long. I'll post them at a later date, but hopefully not too much later! I have a lot more catching up to do still! Anyways, all in all Emily seems to be doing great! She's been teaching a lot of people, even though she's in a small town where everyone seems to be either already a member, or wants nothing to do with them. She's always been amazing at everything and missionary work seems to be no exception! Yay Emily!!
Anyways, without further ado, here are some of the pictures I've gotten from Emily! These first two are from the Mission President, just after she arrived in Spokane! (Nov 15th, 2011)
This is Sister Baron. She is Emily's first and current (as of this writing) companion in the mission field.
The next ones came from Emily on Nov 21, 2011. The first one is from the MTC-The other sister's name is Sister Middleton, and if I remember right she was Emily's MTC companion.
Emily's first commercial airline flight! (She was really nervous about it but was brave and did it anyways)
Emily in Cheney, WA! With her new companion, Sister Baron.
These ones came from Emily on Nov 28, 2011. This one is of the Spokane Temple.
I'm not exactly sure what this is, but it's pretty so I thought I'd add it. ^.^
This was actually when Emily first met Sister Baron. This is what Emily said in her email about this picture:
"Cool story, Sister Baron said before we met, she was praying for me and about who I would be and What I would look like and everything. We talked for a minute and she said I was exactly the person she imagined when she prayed right down to my looks and my hair and everything. Pretty sure we were a match made in heaven. We've decided that we are spirit twins since we are pretty much the same person and have everything in common. Except she has an ulcer from stress and I rarely get stressed about anything."
Hah, it was kind of funny to go back and read that. I think Emily has been stressed out a number of times since then. In fact, this last week has been her most stressful week of her mission. She told me she spent hours freezing while digging her car out of the snow, missed a lot of appointments, had to deal with Sister Baron's health issues (She had surgery for a gallstone, but is now back on her feet and back to full time missionary work! Yay!), and lots of other things that I wont go into, hah! I think she's stronger than she realizes, though. She will be ok. :) The Mission President thinks very highly of her, too! He said he doesn't think any of the other sisters could have handled dealing with Sister Barons situation as gracefully as Emily did. Yeah, she's pretty much amazing.
Sister Reedy and Emily at the MTC. Emily said "She was sort of our MTC residence hall mom." about her.
The next several pictures are of the family Emily and Sister Baron had Thanksgiving dinner with. They seem like quite the entertaining bunch, haha!
This is "The Doll House". It's the house Emily stayed in immediately after arriving in Spokane. It's completely doll themed, and totally creepy if you ask me. I think the look on Emily's face suggests she'd agree with me. Hah!
I have a whole bunch of other pictures from Emily, but I think I'll stop for now. Otherwise this post will get very, very long. I'll post them at a later date, but hopefully not too much later! I have a lot more catching up to do still! Anyways, all in all Emily seems to be doing great! She's been teaching a lot of people, even though she's in a small town where everyone seems to be either already a member, or wants nothing to do with them. She's always been amazing at everything and missionary work seems to be no exception! Yay Emily!!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Ready for the long haul...
Or at least I'm trying to be! So, I don't know how many people actually read this, but... Emily asked me if I wanted to take over her blog while she's on her mission. (Note the new addition to the "contributors" list of this blog). Now that you know that, half of you are probably gonna stop following this blog, hah! Just kidding. I hope not, at least. ;) In all honesty I'm doing this mostly for Emily, maybe when she gets back it will give her something to smile about. :)
So as everyone probably knows, Emily reported to the MTC on Wednesday. I had the opportunity to go with her and her parents to drop her off. It was a great experience! But also very hard for me. We went to iHop for breakfast.
Took pictures at the Provo Temple. (There was supposed to be one of just Emily and I but I don't know where it went!)
Then it actually happened. The day we both knew was coming for the past year actually came, and I don't think either of us were really completely prepared for it. I'll never forget watching her walk into the MTC, with her white jacket and missionary bag. She looked happy and scared at the same time, hah. She looked like an angel! I was fighting back tears all the way home. Really embarrassing, especially considering her parents were in the car, hah! At one point Tom looked back and patted me on the knee as he said, "This has gotta be pretty hard for you, isn't it?" I was so choked up I could barely get an answer out! I managed to get a sheepish "Yeah" out, though. I'm planning on serving a mission myself, which I have to wait a year for. So this last Wednesday marked the beginning of 3 years that we probably will not see each other. I think I can speak for both of us when I say it's not going to be easy. I hope I have the strength to get through it!
I've known Emily for going on 4 years now. Emily (and her family) has been an instrumental "support group" for me during my investigation of the church, and still are to this day, really. Actually, probably even more so now, now that I've moved out. There were a lot of little things that ultimately led up to my investigation. I grew up in a "fundamentalist mormon" environment. So I have a somewhat unique conversion story. It has been a hard process getting to where I am now, and Emily was there for me through a lot of it. And actually, looking back at things in retrospect, I realized she was there exactly when I needed her to be, and wasn't there exactly when I needed to be on my own. At first, long before I ever started investigating the church, we "butted heads" quite a bit if we ever discussed religion. So, naturally, we tried to avoid it. We spent the majority of our friendship like that-avoiding deep discussions completely. Though sometimes it would unavoidably come up, especially since we both come from strong LDS backgrounds and lineages (besides me being "fundamentalist", Orson Pratt is my great, great grandfather). One day, yearly last year, Emily said to me via text, "I really think you should be LDS". She intended it to be nothing more than a compliment to my character. I was deeply offended though, as I thought she knew how I felt about the church and couldn't understand why she would think that. Ironically, it was those words that eventually did lead me to investigate the church. It took me almost a year from the time she sent that text, but in December of last year I decided I wanted to find out, and learn for myself. Exactly 10 months later I was baptized. I guess you could say I was Emily's first investigator! We've both had a lot of ups and down through this whole process. I'm certainly glad that she's been there for me, though. And I'm glad I've been able to be there for her however I could! She is an amazing person, and will make a great missionary!
This picture was taken in front of President Neilson's Office, just moments before she was set apart. I going to miss her dearly! I look forward to seeing her again! I love you, Emily!
So as everyone probably knows, Emily reported to the MTC on Wednesday. I had the opportunity to go with her and her parents to drop her off. It was a great experience! But also very hard for me. We went to iHop for breakfast.
Took pictures at the Provo Temple. (There was supposed to be one of just Emily and I but I don't know where it went!)
Then it actually happened. The day we both knew was coming for the past year actually came, and I don't think either of us were really completely prepared for it. I'll never forget watching her walk into the MTC, with her white jacket and missionary bag. She looked happy and scared at the same time, hah. She looked like an angel! I was fighting back tears all the way home. Really embarrassing, especially considering her parents were in the car, hah! At one point Tom looked back and patted me on the knee as he said, "This has gotta be pretty hard for you, isn't it?" I was so choked up I could barely get an answer out! I managed to get a sheepish "Yeah" out, though. I'm planning on serving a mission myself, which I have to wait a year for. So this last Wednesday marked the beginning of 3 years that we probably will not see each other. I think I can speak for both of us when I say it's not going to be easy. I hope I have the strength to get through it!
I've known Emily for going on 4 years now. Emily (and her family) has been an instrumental "support group" for me during my investigation of the church, and still are to this day, really. Actually, probably even more so now, now that I've moved out. There were a lot of little things that ultimately led up to my investigation. I grew up in a "fundamentalist mormon" environment. So I have a somewhat unique conversion story. It has been a hard process getting to where I am now, and Emily was there for me through a lot of it. And actually, looking back at things in retrospect, I realized she was there exactly when I needed her to be, and wasn't there exactly when I needed to be on my own. At first, long before I ever started investigating the church, we "butted heads" quite a bit if we ever discussed religion. So, naturally, we tried to avoid it. We spent the majority of our friendship like that-avoiding deep discussions completely. Though sometimes it would unavoidably come up, especially since we both come from strong LDS backgrounds and lineages (besides me being "fundamentalist", Orson Pratt is my great, great grandfather). One day, yearly last year, Emily said to me via text, "I really think you should be LDS". She intended it to be nothing more than a compliment to my character. I was deeply offended though, as I thought she knew how I felt about the church and couldn't understand why she would think that. Ironically, it was those words that eventually did lead me to investigate the church. It took me almost a year from the time she sent that text, but in December of last year I decided I wanted to find out, and learn for myself. Exactly 10 months later I was baptized. I guess you could say I was Emily's first investigator! We've both had a lot of ups and down through this whole process. I'm certainly glad that she's been there for me, though. And I'm glad I've been able to be there for her however I could! She is an amazing person, and will make a great missionary!
This picture was taken in front of President Neilson's Office, just moments before she was set apart. I going to miss her dearly! I look forward to seeing her again! I love you, Emily!
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