full of thought today

With all of this opposition to our church with Proposition 8, I found this quote. Its what I think about what's been happening lately in the world, mainly concerning political issues. I definitely gave me some comfort! 

Written 30 Years ago: 

Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.'

This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.... Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted... This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions. 

Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened....Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do.

We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat."

Elder Neal A. Maxwell, "Meeting the Challenges of Today,"

BYU Devotional October 10, 1978

“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done” (History of the Church, 4:540).

I'm back!

So.. yeah... its been awhile. but I'm back to blogging. Mainly because I had this institute class about how important it is to keep a journal... oops...I'm pretty bad at that. But then it was mentioned that having a blog is another way of keeping a journal. So I'm on the computer for school and facebook pleasures anyway, so why not blog right? And I can keep in touch with all of you beautiful people. 

My Family is the Bomb dot com.

Family is so awesome, they're the people that will love you always, even if you're a complete jerk. I love my family, Mom, Dad, Hill, Austin and Brandon. We love each other. Nuff said. 

Some people that I know aren't very close to their extended family. For instance, when I say that I have two family reunions during the summer, they groan for me and say, "ah I'm sorry, that sucks...." But secretly... I love them! And I'm extremely lucky because I have two extended families that we're very close to. Pretty Much it Rocks. 

The Dodd Familia: 

The Martin Familia: 

Summer Lovin', happened so fast!

I had an absolutely amazing summer this year. It was the best summer.. ever. I was basically always on the go, and always doing something. But, I loved it! Now I have so many great memories that I'll always remember, what with things changing so much and friends leaving and going all over the place.  I spent a lot of time on little vacations with my family, two family reunions, and lots and lots of time with my friends. I had a job at USU catering, which was.. interesting.... But I did earn some good money. I love summer, laying out by the pool, bike rides with kylie and bergen, flip flops, otter pops, reading a book on my front porch, and staying up till all hours of the night. LOVE IT! 

But that's another thing that I love. I love that here in Utah, we get to have every season. I would get so sick of summer if it lasted all year. There comes a time when its just supposed to be fall! I love the seasons. The way that they all change so much makes you appreciate each one, because you only have a certain amount of time to enjoy it. 

Our trip to disneyland, just the four of us. no adults. And if you were wondering, most of the young men that work there are about our age. New Toy Story ride, 90 minute wait? Psh... try right to the front of the line, no wait at all. VIP fireworks seats? Go on Thunder Mountain Railroad as many times as you want? no line? Too many fast passes to use that we came home with extra? muhahahah...;)

One of the many boating outings. No matter how many times I try to water ski or wake board, I am most definitely pro at tubing. 

Date to Temple Square to see the Joseph Smith movie with Jason. (of Course:) I absolutely love temple square, so I was glad to be able to share it with my friends. 

Family Vacation to San Francisco. Wow, what a cool place. It was SO beautiful there! My family had a lot of fun together, even though I was super ornery at times. What can I say, I had horrible cramps. haha. We went to a Giants game, that was Awesome. I think I found my long lost love for major league baseball. 

The Slip and Slide became quite the phenomenon around our neighborhood. whenever we whipped it out, people would drive past really slow, with their mouths watering, amazed at how much fun we were having. 

John Mayer concert with the girls. I love John Mayer's music so I was so excited to go. We stopped at California Pizza Kitchen and ate before going, but it ended up making us late because there was tons of traffic. And, we were in bergen's volvo which had no air-conditioning. it was not a good combination. "Everybody just GO HOME!" Once we got there the concert was tons of fun though! and we all just laugh about it now:)

Me and Jason went to raging waters, we had a blast together.. I swear everybody  and their dog had a tattoo. So we contemplated if we were ever to get a tattoo, which one we would get. I told him he should get a ginormous dragon right on his chest, and he told me I should get a dolphin the back of my shoulder. So right before he left he gave me a dolphin tattoo. Fake of course. 

This was the night of 11 people in my volvo, driving all across Logan.  So I know that its only the coolest car ever, and whenever you see it you wish that you were me, so sorry to make you all the more jealous about how cool it is. Yes, eleven people is the record. good luck hillary!  and yes, mom we did. Love you!:)

amazing experience!

So, there was this boy. 

He was in my Chemistry class third Trimester of this year. 

I honestly had never seen him in my life. 

He asked my friend Kristina to Senior Ball, She was hesitant to go cause she didn't know him.

She went anyway. 

On the way home in the car, he asked Kristina and me and my date what our favorite book was. 

We all started talking about the Book of Mormon, of course! 

2 Months later with the help of two of my best friends who are planning to go on their own missions and the missionaries of Logan Utah, we see this:

Its been such a great experience for me. I'm so happy for Douglas. This kind of thing makes me want to go on a mission, after seeing what a change has been made in his life. Life is Good! 

Graduation.... Class of 2008 is Great!

As We Go On, We Remember All The Times We've Had Together. 

As Our Lives Change, Come Whatever, We Will Still Be 

FRIENDS FOREVER

Last Thursday, I graduated from High School. Along with my parents, Aunt Marian, Grandma Colleen, and Grandma Jody came! You could only get in with a ticket. It was such a bittersweet experience. It didn't really hit me till the actual graduation that I wouldn't be seeing most of these people ever again! It made me sad! My graduation was awesome, Logan High likes to do more of a traditional graduation. The night before we graduated, we had a candlelight ceremony. We all came in our caps and gowns, met in the auditorium, and had a speaker. Then, we all received candles and walked around our school and met at four spots and had a speaker from our class at each spot. Logan High has been doing this for 50 years! We reflected on all the things that have happened, like taking state in football 2 times, an AWESOME senior prank that we pulled, and countless others. We talked about how close our class is and what good friends we all are. The next night was graduation, Logan High holds it in a concert hall instead of an arena. We had 14 Valevictorians, and they all spoke for 2 minutes. 

So anyway, now its over. I have made some lifelong friends that have changed my life for good. A chapter of my life has closed and a new one is about to be opened. But the scary thing is I have no idea what in the heck I am going to do with myself:) I do know that I'm going to Utah State University in the Fall on a scholarship, but other than that, who knows? I'm so thankful for the life that I have led so far, I have been so blessed. 

This is one of my Best Friends, Bergen Lindauer. Everyone always 

confused us for each other and thought we were twins. 

Another one of my best friends, Kylie Nuttall. We have been

best friends since we were little tykes!

My neighbor and friend, Chase Ringle

We're gansta

The Girls

Sweethearts Dance!

The Sweethearts dance was last month, but I am just now getting some pictures from it. It was such a fun dance, probably my favorite one! it makes me sad to graduate, I will miss these dances! I wore the dress that I wore to my first ever dance that Aunt Marian helped me pick out in Kaysville! I went with Jason Maughan, one of my bestest friends!

Help?

Ok, So in Logan we do a camp every summer called LTC, which stands for Laurel Training Camp. It also can stand for Look To Christ. Three stakes from logan are combined and it is a camp for girls who are going to be seniors in high school and girls who have just graduated. (such as me) This summer, I have been called to be in the Youth Presidency of this camp, representing my stake. So what I am asking about is that I have to give a lesson about the atonement. It only has to be seven minutes long, so I want it to be about and mention the most important things. The Lessons are called Paths of Jesus and there are others lessons with topics such as, Baptism, 40 Days and 40 Nights, Ministry, Betrayal, Death and Resurrection, etc. So mine is on the Atonement and if anyone has good advice, quotes, scriptures that I could talk about it would be very helpful! Thanks:)

I wrote a poem!

Ok, so for my AP Engligh Class we have been studying famous poets and their poetry. I decided that I really like Robert Frost's! But anyway, then we had to write our own original poetry. The thought scared me at first, but surprisingly, now I think that it is kinda fun! This is one that I wrote, Enjoy!

Those Were The Days

Those were the simple, far off days,

with only the sunlight building my dreams

the golden, carefree days, 

oh, to be a child again.

Neighborhood children playing water games,

uncaring in freeless thought.

Bumblebees fly by, I have not a care in the world.

But those days are gone, lost in time.

Hearing the old school bell takes me back,

but only for a moment, for adulthood is calling.

Its time for those days to be but a memory,

occasionally flying through the wind,

building the days that are yet to come.

Blog Number One- It has been a great day!

Welcome to my first blog...ever! I am still getting the hang of this thing, its way more complicated then facebook. Today was such a great day for me, my parents came home! They have been in Cost Rica all week long, and I have been in charge. MAN its harder than it looks. Combining my extremely busy life with my siblings was a crazy mix. My life is much easier when they are home, and well, I missed them of course, I love my parents! 

Sacrament meeting was amazing, hearing everyone bear their testimonies about President Hinckley. The spirit was felt so strongly! 

I absolutely loved watching President Hinckley's funeral yesterday. I am not gonna lie, I cried the entire time. All by myself, in my family room. The boys were playing xbox, and Hillary was at a theatre conference. haha I felt like such a dork. I love President Hinckley, and he will be so missed. I feel that he is MY prophet, because he is the only prophet that I remember. He always believed in the youth. He wasn't one of those leaders that focused on the bad things, he always had words of inspiration, words of hope. He always believed that we could accomplish anything that we set our minds to. He gave me hope that I had a part in this church and that I was important to it. Now that he is gone I realize how much of an impact he had on me. 

The thing that I love about our church, is that even though our prophet died, I didn't feel lost or scared, because I know that God is the head of our church, and he will always provide a way for us, and the work will always go forth. I feel so happy for President Hinckley, that he gets to be with his wife again. I am so thankful that I got to be alive when he was the prophet, he was a little bit of heaven on earth. I now feel inspired, more than ever, to live the way that I know I should. 

I found this in my room today:

President Gordon B. Hinckley:

 “Not a day passes that I do not thank the Lord for the faithful Latter-day Saints. No day passes that I do not pray that He will bless you wherever you are and whatever your needs. “

 Prayer of the prophet for the youth: Given at a special Youth Fireside

“Oh God, Our Eternal Father, as They servant I bow before Thee in prayer on behalf of these young people scattered over the earth who are gathered tonight in assemblies everywhere. Please smile with favor upon them. Please listen to them as they lift their voices in prayer unto Thee. Please lead them gently by the hand in the direction they should follow.

 “Please help them walk in paths of truth and righteousness and keep them from the evils of the world. Bless them that they shall be happy at times and serious at times, that they may enjoy life and drink of its fullness.  Bless them that they may walk acceptably before Thee as They cherished sons and daughters, Each is Thy child with capacity to do great and noble things. Keep them on the high road that leads to achievement. Save them from mistakes that could destroy them. If they erred, forgive their trespasses and lead them back to ways of peace and progress. For these blessings I humbly pray with gratitude for them and invoke Thy blessings upon them with love and affection, in the name of Him who carries the burdens of our sins, even the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.”