My wonderful cousin ♥

Today I had the WONDERFUL opportunity of going to my cousin's mission farewell. He is such a wonderful young man. We love to give each other a hard time about pretty much everything, but he is seriously such a great guy and he means a lot to me. He's always there when I actually need him.

The last time I actually spent a significant amount of time with him (about 2 years ago) he was going through a rough time, his testimony wasn't incredibly strong, etc, etc, but when he gave his talk today I knew he was ready to go. He has felt the reality of the love of God and found his testimony, and I couldn't be more proud.

I love you Josh.

(This is a terrible picture of both of us,

we were trying not to laugh or cry,

so our faces were a little funny,

but its the only one I've got)

I am so grateful for this church and the knowledge and testimony I have of its truth and the reality of the atonement and the love of our Father in Heaven and his son for us. I am so grateful for the missionaries who are so courageous and selfless and noble, who dedicate their daily lives to the service of others and to bringing the joy of the restored gospel to any who are willing to hear.

Halloween Costume!

As a kid, my mom would make all of my halloween costumes for me. Generally they were pretty extravagant and complex (I was picky, and wanted to be the prettiest girl alive when I got the chance to dress up). She never complained, and always produced AMAZING results. She even made my dress for senior prom.

This year, I decided to try my hand at sewing. One of the nice things about having my mom make so many costumes and dresses for me is that I picked up a few of the basics, mostly from watching, and a little bit from her coaching, so I had a very general idea of what I was doing, but I'd never sewn anything on my own before, especially nothing so complicated. I should have done something simple, but I'm not a half-effort kind of person when it comes to special occasions and dressing up.

I spent WAY too many hours in front of my friend's sewing machine this week, sewing, sewing, sewing, I honestly didn't eat after breakfast yesterday until about an hour ago today. I was really worried that I wasn't going to finish before my ward party, but I did! It was a little bit too big, I have no idea how that happened, but other than that it turned out pretty well for a first attempt :)

The Best Home Teachers Ever

My home teachers are fantastic. They talk to my room mate and me, checking up on us more than once a month and to make the appointment. When they come over to teach they give fantastic lessons and they are always looking for a way to serve us. My favorite thing about them is the fact that they honor the priesthood which they hold and live close enough to the spirit that what they earnestly want to serve and help us, and are ready to exercise the priesthood at a moment's notice.

The last time they came to visit, my room mate felt a need for a blessing, and asked our home teachers for one as they were wrapping up the lesson. They were prepared to do it at that very moment. I think it takes so much faith to do that--to have the confidence that the Lord will give you the words that are needed, and that you have been righteous enough to be worthy of that revelation. I am in awe of these young men. I am so blessed to have the priesthood in my life, even when I'm not at home.

busy, busy, busy

I've been very busy lately. School doesn't seem to be giving me much of break until about a month from now. It's tiring, but I'm enjoying almost all of it, and keeping my head above water.

I've committed to reading at least 2 pages a day from the Book of Mormon, and finish it before the end of the school year. I'm loving it. It's amazing to me how the small amount of time I am giving to the Lord is being repaid with so much confidence and spiritual awareness. I've also been reading, The Skrewtape Letters by C S Lewis. It's pure genius. His understanding of the Lord and of human nature is absolutely mind blowing. He's phenomenal. I'm so glad to read something for pleasure and not for school, it has been way too long. Next on my list is either Mere Christianity or The Great Divorce, also by C S Lewis.

I'll try to post more often, and just keep swimming until Thanksgiving break, when I will be in . . . CALIFORNIA. Thank you Grandma :)

Some missionary scriptures that I LOVE

Mosiah 15:14-18

14 And these are they who have published peace, who have brought good tidings of good, who have published salvation; and said unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!

15 And O how beautiful upon the mountains were their feet!

16 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace!

17 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who shall hereafter publish peace, yea, from this time henceforth and forever!

18 And behold, I say unto you, this is not all. For O how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that is the founder of peace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people; yea, him who has granted salvation unto his people;

1 Nephi 13:37

37 And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be.

General Conference

This was probably my favorite conference weekend to date. Saturday morning my roommates and I had some of our friends over and made breakfast to eat while we watched the first session, which was a lot of fun, and really spiritual. After the second session, Rachel and I took Ashley's very large Jeep Wrangler (with her permission) and went to Spoon It Up (frozen yogurt) while Ashley was at a mocktail bar. When we all got back we drove up to Brianna's house and had a sleepover there.

The next morning we woke up way too early for my liking, had breakfast, and drove up to the conference center in Salt Lake City to go to Music and the Spoken Word, and General Conference. It was an amazing experience. Not only did we get to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir live, but we were able to hear the word of God preached to us by his holy prophet and apostles, while in the same room. My favorite part was singing "We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet" while looking straight at Thomas S Monson. The spirit was so strong, and I was so overwhelmed by how blessed I am to live in this time when the Lord's church is on the Earth, and we have the technology to hear his word from almost anywhere in the world, and then have access to the records of what they said.

We also got to walk around Temple Square, go to the visitors center and see the Christus statue, and enjoy the spirit and the beautiful weather. After that we went to Alissa's house and had lunch with her family, which was amazing, and then watched conference with them.

Over all I had so much fun in between sessions, and the best time spiritually as I was uplifted, edified, and taught by those wonderful men and women called of God to lead his church. I amso grateful to the Lord for this opportunity, and to those who took my roommates and me into their homes and took care of us.

I Love My Daddy :)

I am filled to bursting with gratitude today, and all week. I got to see my daddy this week, and it was fabulous. I haven't seen him in over a month, which I know isn't much, but I love him so much and I miss him when I don't get to see him. He took me shopping, out to dinner, and then we came back to my apartment and he gave me the most wonderful father's blessing ever. I'm so grateful that my dad has the priesthood and has honored and lived worthy of it. It has been such a blessing to me and I am so, so grateful to him for the wonderful example he has been, and to my Father in Heaven for blessing our Church with his Priesthood and revelation. Only 2 and 1/2 months till I get to see him and the rest of my family again.