On my mind

Sometimes In life things don't always work out just how I want. Sometimes I find myself thinking things like,

I am making some of the most important decisions I will ever have to make in my life right now, am I doing it right?? this is stressin me out! then I read:

"In the gospel of Jesus Christ you have help from both sides of the veil and you must never forget that. When disappointment and discouragement strike, and they will, you remember and never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection. They will always be there, these armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham's seed."

-Jeffrey R Holland

oh, okay.

Then I remember I need to be sure to do this:

The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life. Qualifying for the Lord’s Spirit begins with a desire for that Spirit and implies a certain degree of worthiness.....Revelation can come hour by hour and moment by moment as we do the right things......When we have done our very best, we may still experience disappointments, but we will not be disappointed in ourselves. We can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when we feel the Spirit working through us.

-Julie B Beck

Sometimes I find myself thinking, does anyone really care about me and the things I'm going through right now? Sometimes I just feel so alone. (This was on a previous blog post but I love it so much)

We talk in great generalities about the sins of all humankind, about the suffering of the entire human family. But we don’t experience pain in generalities. We experience it individually. That means he knows what it felt like when your mother died of cancer- how it was for your mother, how it still is for you. He knows what it felt like to lose the student body election. He knows that moment when the brakes locked and the car started to skid. He experienced the slave ship sailing from Ghana toward Virginia. He experienced the gas chambers at Dachau. He experienced napalm in Vietnam. He knows about drug addiction and alcoholism. He knows all that. He’s been there. He’s been lower than all that. He’s not waiting for us to be perfect. Perfect people don’t need a Savior. He came to save his people in their imperfections. He is the Lord of the living, and the living make mistakes. He’s not embarrassed by us, angry at us , or shocked. He wants us in our brokenness, in our unhappiness, in our guilt and our grief.

Chiko Okazaki

I pray all the time, but are my prayers really being answered?

"No earthly authority can separate us from direct access to our Creator. There can never be a mechanical or electronic failure when we pray. There is no limit on the number of times or how long we can pray each day. There is no quota of how many needs we wish to pray for in each prayer. We do not need to go through secretaries or make an appointment to reach the throne of grace. He is reachable at any time and any place."

James E Faust

Sometimes I feel like a lot is expected of me...

"I have always found that when we do the little things correctly, the Lord gives us the strength to accomplish big things... You might not always understand the reasons for some rules or commandments, but if you will follow them even in the little things you will have more strength to do big things... And you will have the great blessing of knowing that you are on the Lord's side and that He is on yours."

--Donald Hallstrom

I hate when I have bad days..

Thank the Lord for His goodness to you. Thank the Almighty for His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who has done for you what none other in all this world could do. Thank Him for His great example, for His tremendous teachings, for His outreaching hand to lift and help. Think about the meaning of His Atonement. Read about Him and read His words in the New Testament and in 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon. Read them quietly to yourself and then ponder them. Pour out your heart to your Father in Heaven in gratitude for the gift of His Beloved Son. Thank the Lord for His marvelous Church restored in this great season of history. Thank Him for all that it offers you. Thank Him for friends and loved ones, for parents and brothers and sisters, for family. Let a spirit of thanksgiving guide and bless your days and nights. Work at it. You will find it will yield wonderful results.

-Gordon B Hinckley

One of my favorites and has helped me tremendously in my life:

"My son, peace be unto thy soul.

Thine adversity and thine affliction shall be but a small moment.

And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high;

thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee

again with warm hearts and friendly hands. "

D&C 121: 7-9

I am so thankful for good friends and people in my life! I don't know what I'd do without them:

Choose your friends carefully. It is they who will lead you in one direction or the other. Everybody wants friends. Everybody needs friends. No one wishes to be without them. But never lose sight of the fact that it is your friends who will lead you along the paths that you will follow. While you should be friendly with all people, select with great care those whom you wish to have close to you. They will be your safeguards in situations where you may vacillate between choices, and you in turn may save them.

-Gordon B. Hinckley

And sometimes I just need to remember this:

"If only we understood who we are and what is in store for us, our hearts would overflow with such gratitude and happiness that it would enlighten even the darkest sorrows with the light and love of God."

- Dieter F Uchtdorf

These were all things I needed to hear, for my benefit. If they were good for you too, then all the better :)

I have a letter signed by the Prophet.

I can hardly believe it, but I received my mission call this week! 

I have the honor of serving the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as a missionary for 18 months. 

I have been called to serve in the 

Independence, Missouri Mission, 

half proselyting, half Visitor's Center. I leave on March 2nd.  

I'm goin to Zion!

I could not be more excited.

Its been quite a journey to get where I am now. I have felt that I should go on a mission for awhile now. I kept saying NO! I don't want to go on a mission. But the feeling kept coming. Finally, I decided that I would go. The minute I decided, I developed a great desire to go, and became so excited for the future. Heavenly Father needs me to go on a mission. I don't know why, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that He does. 

I know not just from this experience but another as well, that sometimes we are asked to do things we don't want to do. But I know that God is in charge and He can see the big picture. I know that if we follow Him, He will not lead us astray. If we follow Him, we can be happier than we have ever been. 

I am so excited to share what I know and feel to others that haven't received that yet. Having something that has so utterly changed my life, how could I not want to share it? How could I not take a mere 18 months out of my life and serve God when He has given me so much? 

The anticipation of where my call would be:

Independence, Missouri!

Hillary was there from Hawaii through skype:

I have a letter signed by the Prophet!

I have amazing friends and family that came to support me:

I love my life!

*Thanks for taking pictures Hailee!! :)

This is Christmas.

I love the Christmas season. I love the stockings hung on the fireplace, the Christmas tree all lit up in the living room, Christmas Music, and the 20 billion nativity scenes set up around my house. 

I love all of my family being home together. (Hillary in 11 days! :)

But mostly what I love is that its a time to look and concentrate on our Savior Jesus Christ. I love Him and am so thankful for everything He has done. 

This truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

This is Christmas, when we sing and speak of the great gift of God our Eternal Father who gave us His son to become the Redeemer of all mankind. It is a time when we mediate reverently upon the matchless gift of that Son, who gave His life to save the world. It is a time, too, when we 

reflect on how we might best honor Him. 

Of all times, it is Christmas when we must surely realize that 

there can be no true worship of 

Him who is the Christ without giving of ourselves. 

At this season let us, each one, reach out a little more generously in the Spirit of Christ. It is not enough to give toys and baubles. It is not enough to give alms to those in need. That is important, yes. But it is also important that we give of ourselves within our alms. 

May the real meaning of Christmas distill into our hearts, that we may realize that our lives, given us by God our Father are really not our own, but are to be used in the service of others. 

God bless each of you at this Christmas season, that it may be a time of joy, 

a time of gladness, but more importantly, a season of consecration.

-Gordon B. Hinckley

One of my favorite things to do at Christmas time is to watch this:

This song by Amy Grant is so powerful to me.  

My family and I watch it every Christmas Eve. Enjoy!

I'll admit it..

I am such a nerd.

But I am not ashamed, nope, not one bit.

 I was just thinking what I nerd I was today and thought I'd share. I mean, how could you not love this kind of thing: 

Quotes from my dear Albus Dumbledore:

 As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.

It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.

If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.

You place too much importance... on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!

It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.

It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.

This is my favorite Lord of the Rings Quote:

I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

— {Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers}

The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe: I love all the symbolism of Aslan to Christ:

And now a very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken [his name] everyone felt quite different.... At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.

ANYWAYS...... maybe you're laughing at me right now. I don't care, I love me some fantasy/science fiction.
Also, I would just like to give a shout out to my mother for helping me develop a
 love of reading at a young age.
And my dad for making us watch Star Wars when we were youngins. Even though mom hates it.

THANKSgiving

I love Thanksgiving- such a great holiday. Eating is never better than on Thanksgiving. 

In my case, its family all gathered together. I am so thankful for my family. 

We had Thanksgiving at my house this year- its seems like its here every year.. but that's fine with me! Its so fun to have everybody come. 

I am thankful for SO many things this year. I won't go all cliche blogger on you but I will say that I am so thankful for My wonderful family, The gospel of Jesus Christ, and My Wonderful friends. Life is good! 

Are you ready for all of these pictures? Cause there are a plethora: 

 Waiting for the big meal:

 Cute Ryan:

Austin and Andrew:

Brandon and Grandma:

 The adult adult table:

 Everybody else including the kids table:

Here we go:

Logan made me aware that he has a loose tooth:

 The kid's table:

cousins cousins:

 My mouth is watering just looking at this:

 A Toast to Thanksgiving:

 Jon: such a way with the children

XBox after the feast: 

 A couple hours later, the pies are whipped out:

 Hailee and I enjoying our pie:

Hailee, Sandi and I:

Everyone digging into the pies:

 Emily and I:

Uncle Neal dragging some monkeys along:

 No idea:

 playing finger puppets with Annie Grace:

 Annie Grace broke her leg a few days ago :( But at least she has a cute pink cast:

Happy Thanksgiving!! :)