Elder Ballard's Message

Yesterday there was a University Fireside where Elder M. Russell Ballard and two members of the quorum of the seventy spoke. It was an amazing and uplifting fireside. Elder Ballard spoke about the World and its slow decline. He said that we need to be solidly anchored in the Gospel of Christ so that whatever is around the corner won't have the power to shake us. We must be strong and hold our ground. The talk was wonderful and I would encourage all to read it. Elder Ballard concluded with a poem that I really loved and summarizes much of what he spoke about.

The Oak Tree
by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr

A mighty wind blew night and day
It stole the oak tree's leaves away
Then snapped its boughs and pulled its bark
Until the oak was tired and stark

But still the oak tree held its ground
While other trees fell all around
The weary wind gave up and spoke.
How can you still be standing Oak?

The oak tree said, I know that you
Can break each branch of mine in two
Carry every leaf away
Shake my limbs, and make me sway

But I have roots stretched in the earth
Growing stronger since my birth
You'll never touch them, for you see
They are the deepest part of me

Until today, I wasn't sure
Of just how much I could endure
But now I've found, with thanks to you
I'm stronger than I ever knew

I think we have all felt like this oak tree at times in our life. There have been times when we've thought that there is no possible way we could survive because the wind just beats and beats against us. But when it's all over we realize that we do have the strength. I think sometimes we underestimate ourselves. But the Lord knows how strong we are. He knows what we can handle. He has faith in us so we should have faith in ourselves. So stand strong and tall. We're much stronger than we know.

Why I am Happy

1. It's FRIDAY!!! Hallelujah. It's my sleep in day and I only had 2 classes and in one we watched a movie. LOVE FRIDAYS!
2. Kimberly is coming for a sleepover tonight! We're going to eat caramel corn, TALK, and laugh till our stomachs hurt!
3. Colbie Caillat is coming to ISU in Pocatello and tickets went on sale today. YES, I bought one.
   
4. Elder M. Russel Ballard is speaking at a University Fireside tomorrow. I'm way excited!
5. Tomorrow night the roomies and I are going to Idaho Falls for a Winco shop and a Red Robin Dinner. I can already taste the bottomless fries...
6. Boys are dumb and clueless(unless your name is Britton or Eli) This doesn't make me happy but it makes me feel better to say it. :)
7. My English teacher didn't call on me to present my point of view on a Utilitarian Thought Experiment. I couldn't breathe through most of class.
8. Austin(my roommate) and I discover a new thing everyday that we share in common(southwestern dressing on our subway sandwiches, we both want 5 children, love the same music and love to belt it out at the top of our lungs, we quote movies till 1 in the morning, Jane Austen is amazing, and the list goes on and on)
9. Zumba is my fitness class tonight. It's my FAVORITE! I am also happy because I worked out every day this week even when I didn't want to. GO ME!
   
10. And I'm just HAPPY for no particular reason because life is great! It's hard, I often feel like I'm drowning, I don't have the particulars down about my future, and I've been super emotional but deep down I'm really HAPPY!!
    

I Just Want to Go Home...

No Matter Who You Are...You Can Dance

Eve

I just wanted to take a moment and say something about the mother of the whole human race, Eve. She was amazing. I had never really looked too deeply into her life past eating the fruit and leaving the Garden of Eden. But I was studying Moses chapters 1-5 this week and we discussed them in my prep for eternal marriage class and my eyes were opened.

Eve had great foresight. I think from the worldly perspective she gets a lot of flack but Eve knew exactly what she was doing. She chose a life full of hardship, trials, death, but also joy. Staying in the Garden wouldn't have brought her joy. One kid pointed out that she wasn't necessarily choosing between a good choice and a bad choice but maybe it was choosing between good and better. Her and Adam could've stayed in the Garden but they wouldn't have progressed any where. Outside of the garden Adam and Eve experienced so many trials; including the spiritual and physical deaths of their sons Cain and Abel. This couple truly felt much pain and grief but they also experienced love and joy through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

In my class we posed the question "Why doesn't the Lord shield us from hardships?" Someone said, "God doesn't even shield Himself from hardships. He suffers just as much and maybe even more than we do when He sees us in pain or falling astray." How true. This life may not be easy but in order for each of us to progress it can't be easy.

Eve is my new hero. She made the decision to take the path less traveled, the path that had actually never been traveled before. Her and Adam chose to leave their life of ease and to progress, which in turn led them to Christ. If Eve could do it then I can do it too.

If I Don't Blog for a While it's Because I've Crawled into a Hole and I'm Not Coming Out

So I knew that last semester was too good to be true. My life was way to easy...classes were simple, they had their moments of difficulty but those moments never lasted long. Even though I was doing my practicum after the first month of confusion it was easy breezy...

Well those days are over! I have only finished the first week of the semester and I haven't stopped hyperventilating since I read my syllabus for Eng 201(Adv Writing and Critical Thinking) Tuesday night. I could take only that class and still be busy all day long. The worst of it...the teacher is funny and students love him...which makes it really hard to hate him. He has us choose which grade we want to get out of the class and the amount of work we get is dependent on our individual choice of grade. I, of course, have chosen an A. Partially because I have to get a 4.0 to get my scholarship and also because I can't seem to let myself aim for lower...even though the amount of work needed to get an A is insane. Now I know that I sound whiny...and I should stop complaining. So...


The Things Keeping Me From Not Crawling into a Hole and Never Coming Out:

• My new roommates. They are Awesome!!! We are all pretty busy so we don't spend too much time together but when we do it's great.
• My personal roommate Austin(Pictures soon to come) We are kindred spirits. We love the same movies (You've Got Mail, While You Were Sleeping, Bewitched, North and South, Sleepless in Seattle, the list goes on) We Love the same books (Jane Austen most importantly) The only downside is we stay up way too late talking and laughing so 6 am comes pretty early!
• Marisa...she refuses to let me crawl into the hole...
• The new frozen yogurt place called Twizl Berry. I am going at 4:30 for some deliciousness!
  
• My Ward. My Bishopric is great! They came by and visited earlier this week and it made me happy. Except Bishop works at Main Street Diamonds and is all about getting rings on our fingers but none of us really have time for that this semester...
• My Books-I love being able to escape! I am currently escaping into the world of The Scarlet Pimpernel. LOVE IT!!!
• My Family-I miss them...but I keep in touch.
• Mom-she also refuses to let me crawl into the hole and listens to me rant and vent forever on the phone. Thanks Mom!!
• My Knowledge that this insanity will only last about 3 months and then it will be over. And I'll come out a better and smarter(hopefully) person who will no longer be thinking of ways to punish her English teacher... :)

So Life really isn't so bad...I guess I'll Live.

2010

Welcome 2010! The New Year has me still at BYU-Idaho finishing up the last of my child development classes (which aren't super exciting; administrative issues and research methods), still have a couple semesters and an internship left. It's weird to think I am over half way! It kinda scares me though because I'm not quite sure what I want to do with my life...well I had a plan and now I'm not sure about the plan. But it's all good, I know I'm in the right place so I am just moving right along.

I look forward to getting to know new people this year, like my 3 new roommates, learning and growing, making decisions about the future, and tackling whatever this year has to bring.

Happy New Year!!