USU with my bestie

This week my coworker's father died. He has been sick for a long time and they knew this was coming. I had to cover her shifts, basically I had four 10 hour shifts... so I got lots of overtime! :) I am just so grateful for the knowledge of life after death. God has a plan for all of us and that doesn't end when we leave this frail existence. That's one thing I'm excited to teach about on my mission, the fact that death doesn't mean the end. There are so many people who don't know this truth and it makes me sad to think that they believe they'll never see their loved ones again.

On Wednesday after work I went to Logan and stayed with my bestest friend in the whole world, can you guess who it is? MCKENNA! I was able to get work off on Thursday so I took a trip to USU to spend time with her before I leave...which is in 33 days by the way! Her dorm is so cute, and her roommates are awesome. There was a dance on Thursday night, but me and Kenna are homebodies so we stayed at the dorm and watched Netflix and also went to dinner with Aspyn, Capris, and Jaycee since they are at USU too. It was a lot of fun and made me really desirous to be there...If I wasn't going on a mission then I'd be at school with Kenna and we'd be roommates like we'd been planning since like 8th grade. Satan has a funny way of getting into my head. He's trying to persuade me to not go on a mission by showing me what I'm missing out on. However, I know that which the Lord has commanded me and I glory in it! (Alma 29:9) I've been blessed with my testimony so that I can go out and share it. I'm also very grateful for a God who is so patient with me while I struggle to find the path that He's laid out for me.

Since McKenna had class on Thursday, I took the opportunity to go to the Logan Temple. It's funny how I am always surprised with the spirit that resides within the temple! As soon as I walked in I could already feel the spirit:) When I go to the temple I can feel God's power and I know that I'm exactly where I should be. The temple is a place that offers spiritual protection and relief from the confusing and loud world. When I'm there I can put all of my worries aside and just feel the spirit. It reminds me that I'm never alone, I am loved, and ultimately reminds me how true this church is.

I feel like I should write a bit concerning Joseph Smith. He was 14 years old when he learned that none of the churches were true and that God had a plan to reorganize His church. Yes, Joseph Smith was a man; in fact, he was pretty much a child, and just like every other person in this world, he made mistakes. But look at everything that has come of the choice that he made to pray and ASK God. There is absolutely no way that he could have imagined up any part of this church. How could a simple, uneducated farm boy have created a church which evolved to include millions of members around the world? God orchestrated the restoration and He is at the head of it. Everything denotes to His omnipotent power, especially in the temple. I can testify with my whole heart that this church is true. And to anyone who may be struggling, get down on your knees and ASK God. He is not far from each and every one of us and He is waiting to answer any questions that are asked in faith.

I can't wait for those 33 days to be done so that I can go to Washington and show people how awesome this gospel is!!! <3

Mission Prep Class

Last week Kathy asked me if I would help her give a Preach My Gospel lesson in our MTM (Mountain Top Mission) class. While trying to come up with a subject to teach about, I was reading in my scriptures and I remembered some lessons I had in my other mission prep class. One lesson was based on how to simplify the gospel so as to teach it to families who knew little to nothing about God and His church. I brought this idea up to Kathy and we decided that it would be a fun topic :)

We found a page in the Preach My Gospel manual right after the first lesson that has a list of difficult words, such as apostasy and dispensation, with their definitions. Kathy and I found scriptures that could also be used to help explain these words. I felt confident and prepared when we went on Sunday morning to teach our lesson. One thing that I was really worried about was how much participation we'd be able to get. Normally people aren't too keen to make comments in this class. Our lesson was based on the amount of participation that we'd be able to get because we had a lot of scriptures for people to look up and we also wanted to have them come up with new words or phrases that we could use to replace the ones that were difficult to understand. But I think that our lesson went really well! It was fun to be up there teaching because this is what I'm going to be doing for the next 18 months of my life:D

After the class was over a girl came up to us and said that we looked like the cutest sister missionaries as we were up there teaching. I'm so excited to go on my mission!!!!I'm also very grateful for the chance to teach this topic, it was interesting to see how many scripture mastery verses that we used to help us define the key terms. It makes me have a greater appreciation for how important scripture mastery is and how often I'll be using it in the mission field.

This last week I also had the opportunity to go to the Brigham City temple. It was really pretty and I absolutely love the feeling of being in the Celestial Room. There was actually a kid who was going through for the first time. When I had walked out he and his family were out front talking. I don't know where I got the courage, but I walked up and asked him if he had gone through because of a mission. He said yes, so I then asked where he was going...Yeah, he's going to Washington!!! I was kinda shocked, what were the chances that he was going to the same state as me?! He's going to the Yakima mission and reporting October 7th. It was just a cool experience to be able to meet someone at the temple going almost exactly where I'm going. God Lives!!
44 days left until my work begins :D

Trip to Payson

I have a new favorite temple :) Well, I can't really say that because I love different things about every temple I've been to. The Bountiful Temple's Celestial Room is so white and bright and perfect. In the Salt Lake Temple I loved going from room to room and progressively climbing higher and higher with each stage of the endowment. When I went to the Saint George Temple I could feel the spirit so strongly! And the Ogden Temple will always be a favorite because I received my endowment there. It really is a gorgeous place. But the Payson Temple is so elegant.

I took a little temple trip with Jennifer and Kathy. It was Kathy's second time, so it was cool to be able to be there with her! We arrived in Payson around 6, so we had a chance to take pictures before we went in for our session.

 Kathy and I had the idea to bring the flags of the states where we are going to serve. Since I'm going to Washington, I get George Washington's face on mine, no bid deal. And Kathy is going to Florida, if you look closely at Kathy's flag then you'll see some pretty...interesting things!

this picture is probably my favorite

 



Going to the temple is such an amazing experience, I learn something new every time I go! In the beginning of the session it talks about the covenants you make and that when you strive to live and obey these covenants then you'll recognize blessings that come from them. 

I don't know how to word this properly... I know the covenants that I've made, but it's confusing in the fact that there is so much! But when I heard this, it made me realize that it doesn't matter how perfect my knowledge is, but if I strive every day to keep those covenants then I'll begin to see the blessings of it in my life. 

I love my nursery calling!!! I'm in love with the nursery kids, there's this little girl, her name is Kendall, and she LOVES me! It's so cute :) her mom brought her in and she was crying, she saw me and I opened my arms to pick her up and she literally ran into my arms. She is so stinking funny though, she'll grab my pinky and pull me around the room to play with different toys. But my overall favorite thing about nursery is the innocence that those kids have. They are so little, but they know who Jesus is. They know how to say simple prayers, and they are just so loving! I read a scripture today in Matt. 18. I think it was verse 3 or 4, but Jesus is teaching about the kingdom of Heaven and he said that it will be filled with people who are humble like little children. 

I'm down to 50 days...so many, but seriously, its been almost 40 since I opened my mission call, I can do this! I already have all of my mission clothes :) I just need the random little things now. My mom keeps laughing at me because every time I get something for my mission I start to pack everything up. Yesterday I tried on all of my clothes...then I folded them all and packed them into my giant suit case...finally, after I realized that they'd get all wrinkled if they spent 50 days packed away, I hung them up in my closet. I'm just so stinking excited to leave!

By the way, the church is true!

Missionary Moment

Sunday I woke up and went to a mission prep class with Kathy. It was pretty good, they mostly talked about preparing for a mission. One thing that they brought up a lot was being prepared for hard work. I've been working since I turned 16, I've given up time to hang out with friends, go to football games, basically have a social life at times, just to work. I know I'm not fully prepared, but I'm grateful for the jobs that I've had that have taught me the value of hard work. I know it will bless me out in the field.

So I have this friend who really wants Kathy and me to practice our discussions on her. After mission prep Kathy and I went into a classroom and talked about what we should teach. We knelt in prayer and asked that our minds would be opened so that we'd be able to know what should be discussed, and....nothing. We talked a little bit about what she was going through at the moment and tried to decided upon a lesson that could maybe help a current trial. Somehow we came across a talk from last Conference by Elder L. Whitney Clayton who told the story of a girl in a plane accident and went in search of help. She saw a light in the distance and struggled on until she reached it, where she found a kind man who quickly rushed to her rescue. 

When we shared this story with our friend, Kathy explained it in an incredible way that brought the spirit so powerfully. She said that we all have trials in life, we are all hiking through rough terrain that sometimes seems impossible to maneuver, but when we catch a glimpse of the light ahead of us we have to press on because when we reach that light, all of our burdens will be eased. Jesus Christ is my light and I shared a scripture that is Micah 7:7-8. The adversary has so much power to drag us down, to discourage us, and to make us feel the crushing weight of stress and hopelessness. But our Savior knows exactly how much we can handle and He is waiting for us to see His light and make our way towards Him so that He can deliver us from our sorrows and struggles. I loved the opportunity we had to teach today, it really helped me to see that missionary work is really about assessing people's needs and helping them to overcome certain situations in their lives. 

Another cool thing about Sunday, I got called and set apart as a nursery worker. I'm so excited for this calling! I love those little kids who are so innocent and have a perfect love for Jesus Christ. 

Only 57 more days! Washington, here I come:D