Christ-Centered Life

Started my day by going to the Provo Temple with my roommate like any other Thursday. I got some ideas for my mission preparation essay and I was quite excited about it. The temple is such a lovely place. I cannot wait until I get to go through all of it to learn more and grow closer to my Savior. Anyway, so we get back home after a lovely morning and, after my shower, I decided to write my essay. It was on faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (taken from the Articles of Faith #4 [to see the full version go here: http://classic.scriptures.lds.org/en/a_of_f/1 ]). It was a lovely experience to focus on the Savior this morning and I felt I did well on my essay. Then, I took my time getting ready rather than take a nap like I typically do. Around 12:45, I headed for my Book of Mormon class. We were studying 3Nephi 11 and this seemed completely normal until one of my friends, who has the class before me, said that today was a crying day. Uh-oh, I thought. Well, class began and it was spiritual and great but, I was not seeing this whole "crying" thing. Then, it happened. My teacher ended class by playing a video for us depicting Christ coming to the Americas to visit the Nephites. We talked about how he met with them all one by one. This video really touched me and, if I had not been trying to hard not to cry, I probably would have. It was quite touching to study the scriptures and then, to see it depicted in a way it typically is not done (the whole one by one way). Because it meant a lot to me, I wish to share it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3 Nephi 11: (copied from LDS.org:http://classic.scriptures.lds.org/en/3_ne/11)

1 And now it came to pass that there were a great multitude ^agathered together, of the people of Nephi, round about the temple which was in the land ^bBountiful; and they were marveling and wondering one with another, and were showing one to another the ^cgreat and marvelous change which had taken place.

  2 And they were also conversing about this Jesus Christ, of whom the ^asign had been given concerning his death.

  3 And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a ^avoice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a ^bsmall voice it did ^cpierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.

  4 And it came to pass that again they heard the voice, and they ^aunderstood it not.

  5 And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did ^aopen their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came.

  6 And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them:

  7 Behold my ^aBeloved Son, ^bin whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him.

  8 And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they ^asaw a Man ^bdescending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.

  9 And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:

  10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.

  11 And behold, I am the ^alight and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter ^bcup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in ^ctaking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the ^dwill of the Father in all things from the beginning.

  12 And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words the whole multitude ^afell to the earth; for they remembered that it had been ^bprophesied among them that Christ should ^cshow himself unto them after his ascension into heaven.

  13 And it came to pass that the ^aLord spake unto them saying:

  14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may ^athrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may ^bfeel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the ^cGod of Israel, and the God of the whole ^dearth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

  15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and ^adid feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.

  16 And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:

  17 Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did ^aworship him.

  18 And it came to pass that he spake unto ^aNephi (for Nephi was among the multitude) and he commanded him that he should come forth.

  19 And Nephi arose and went forth, and ^abowed himself before the Lord and did ^bkiss his feet.

  20 And the Lord commanded him that he should ^aarise. And he arose and stood before him.

  21 And the Lord said unto him: I give unto you ^apower that ye shall ^bbaptize this people when I am again ascended into heaven.

  22 And again the Lord called ^aothers, and said unto them likewise; and he gave unto them power to baptize. And he said unto them: On this wise shall ye baptize; and there shall be^bno disputations among you.

  23 Verily I say unto you, that whoso repenteth of his sins through your ^awords, and ^bdesireth to be baptized in my name, on this wise shall ye baptize them—Behold, ye shall go down and ^cstand in the water, and in my name shall ye baptize them.

  24 And now behold, these are the words which ye shall say, calling them by name, saying:

  25 Having ^aauthority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the ^bFather, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

  26 And then shall ye ^aimmerse them in the water, and come forth again out of the water.

  27 And after this manner shall ye ^abaptize in my name; for behold, verily I say unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are ^bone; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one.

  28 And according as I have commanded you thus shall ye baptize. And there shall be no ^adisputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been.

  29 For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of ^acontention is not of me, but is of the ^bdevil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.

  30 Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things ^ashould be done away.

  31 Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will declare unto you my ^adoctrine.

  32 And this is my ^adoctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear ^brecord of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the ^cHoly Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.

  33 And whoso believeth in me, and is ^abaptized, the same shall be ^bsaved; and they are they who shall ^cinherit the kingdom of God.

  34 And whoso believeth not in me, and is not ^abaptized, shall be damned.

  35 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the Father; and whoso ^abelieveth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he will visit him ^bwith fire and with the ^cHoly Ghost.

  36 And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the ^aHoly Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are ^bone.

  37 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and ^abecome as a ^blittle child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things.

  38 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little ^achild, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

  39 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my ^adoctrine, and whoso ^bbuildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the ^cgates of hell shall not prevail against them.

  40 And whoso shall ^adeclare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a ^bsandyfoundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them.

  41 Therefore, go forth unto this people, and declare the words which I have spoken, unto the ends of the earth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Memories

Interesting tale. Last night, I was sitting around with friends, (like I typically do at night) when the discussion of how we all met and what our first impressions were came up. There was a friend that I could not remember how we met even though he told me. I felt horrible! Well, since this bugged me so much, I kept trying to remember by playing with the details I had. Then, all of a sudden, after I had returned to my dorm, I remembered as though it had just happened or that I was reliving it. It was so bizarre. I could remember almost every detail. This had never happened to me before and so, it was quite a shock for me. It's funny how much memories mean when you get to know a person better even when, at the moment, you could have cared less if you remembered it 20 years, or even 6 months, later. I have found it is a lot of fun to remember how you met people. It makes your friendship seem even neater since, in the beginning, it might have just been a nice chat while waiting to meet with someone else. Life is such an interesting thing full of interesting moments. Nothing should ever be taken for granted, and yet, it usually is. Our bodies are so miraculous! The mind is so miraculous! Who would have though six months later I would be able to recall a memory so vividly as though it was reoccurring? Not me! Our Heavenly Father has given us so many wonderful things and I am so grateful for them. My life is such a blessing that I should never ever take for granted. The great education I am able to receive, my wonderful family that supports me, wonderful friends that help me become who I want to, experiences that help me learn and grow, and so many more gifts I can never say thank you enough for. Life is a miracle and I love it. ♥

That Day Called Valentine's

So, many people go crazy over Valentine's Day but, I was raised to think of it as a day that candy & card companies just made up to make more money and that love should be celebrated every other day than one day of the year. This being said, Valentine's is not different compared to the rest except that other people go crazy and I give valentines to friends. This year, however, my roommate and I made cookies for all the guys in our ward. It was a lot of fun. We went all sneaky-like and would drop the cookies outside the door, knock, and then run away. It was really fun and funny. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Then, as I was running to my conducting class, I happened to look up at the sky and I saw more stars than I have seen in awhile. It was quite beautiful and it made me very happy. I loved it. This was probably the best Valentine's Day ever.

From the Bad Comes a lot of Good

So, last semester, I had a boy friend and after thinking we would stay friends it died and it really caused a lot of emotional trauma for me. I kept trying to forgive and forget but, it kept coming back to mind and, as soon as I finally said I was done with all the drama, he showed up to see some other people. I was really traumatized then. Well, this freak out led to becoming better friends with a lot of guys in my ward and a girl in my ward. This led to me hanging out at the guy's dorm more and making a lot of great friends and meet a lot of great people and have a ton of amazing adventures (see earlier posts :P ). Then, this same guy decided to visit his friends again this weekend. Well, I have found I am finally over all of that drama and feel great! Also, I was able to renew a friendship that has been fading because of the distance created by our different friend groups. We were able to connect and reminisce in the great times we have had. So, even though I know he will never read this, I thank him for the lessons I learned when we were dating and for all the great things that have come about from the drama it caused. My life has come to a great height since I have been able to meet new people and learn from that time in my life. Yes, it still hurts to think our friendship is ruined but, sometimes you have to lose friends to gain greater ones. I am grateful for what has happened in my life to make me stronger and become a better person today. So, thanks for helping me become better. :)

It All Starts with a Dance

Well, tonight/last night we had a dance. Of course, my ward is a little crazy and so we had quite the party. After, however, we retired to the guy's dorm where the party continued. We laughed, I got chips shoved down my throat, we goofed off, the usual. Then, my roommate and a girl from my ward retired to our room where we just laughed and talked and goofed off until after 1:30am. I thought I was loopy then.... after she was gone, I honestly rolled on the floor laughing for about 5 minutes.... I was COMPLETELY loopy. ya, my life is pretty ridiculous but, I LOVE MY WARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! & my life. no big deal. :P

Cleaning til 3

Well, last night, after another Denny's run, I was left alone & awake at 2am. I was not tired at all but, everyone else had left for sleep or was about to hike a mountain in the dark. So, thinking how I would be tired the next day and had a cleaning check to attend to, I cleaned. I did all my chores except for the ones in my room because my roommate was asleep and I didn't want to wake her. Some people might think I'm crazy but, I got to wake up later than everyone else and then, I just had a little bit to do. I was done 2 hours before our cleaning check....I finished everything I needed to in an hour. This made for a relaxing Saturday morning. I enjoy that. So, yes it is lame to clean and be all by yourself but, it pays off in the end. :) That's my story for today.

Starts Out So Small...

Well, I have not discussed too much about Whitney recently so, I'll describe the last 40 minutes there last night. So, I had just finished watching Tangled with one of the guys and we were seeing how the rest of the world was. Then, it begins.... A different guy throws a little Y-ball at me.... Big mistake. This starts a little war of throwing it at each other and fun tackling for it.... this leads to a war of 2-on-2 racing up from the basement to the 3rd floor, from the balcony to outside on the main floor, and all over we can. So much fun but, we all would end up in tangled up knots trying to keep each other away. I'm realizing more and more how much fun it is to be "one of the guys" and to just be crazy and random and don't mind if you come out with a few bruises/rug burns. In the last 15 minutes, two more guys joined the brawl and we ended 11:59 exhausted and in heaps on the ground. Then, I ran home and chugged an entire water bottle and ate a bunch of M&M's. haha ya, I love my boys! :P

Choose The Right

Something I've noticed in the past 24-48 hours is how great it feels when you choose the right. Sometimes you think something might be better for you than doing what you know is right but, if you follow through with the right choice, even if it's hard, it is completely worth it. I feel so relaxed/calm/happy/unstressed right now and I know it's because I did what I should. Today I actually woke up with the song, "I Like Life," from Scrooge the Musical stuck in my head. (For those do not know what I am talking about, I am including the youtube video of this song) So, for anyone that is trying to figure out what they should be doing in their life, I recommend taking it to the Lord and then following through with it no matter how hard it might seem to you. What ever is best for you will happen and it is better to offend other people than the Lord. Never offend Him. Well, that's my discussion for today. :) Have a great day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, I read this and seriously started crying. It made me think of my mommy & miss her...Especially when it mentions how much a mom will impact her daughter in the future with college and such.... ya, I love & miss you Mommy!!! ♥ Rules for Mothers Blogpost

Decisions Determine Destiny

I am sure that everyone has made decisions great or small. Right now, I am having an internal debate. You know those times where you want to do something but, you know it would be better if you didn't but, it's not necessarily bad if you do? Like eating chocolate! It's not good for you and it would be better if you don't eat it but, it's not going to kill you to eat it. Ya..... I'm having one of those internal debates. Then, when I had an idea of what I was going to do, it is pushed back into question. You want to but, you don't and then you shouldn't but, you should. ya......................... not fun. Oh well. That's part of growing up I guess.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a happier note, I got to play piano today! I played "If Only [the Quartet]" from The Little Mermaid Musical. ♥ It made me very happy. Then, I've been watching some crazy music videos that a friend has told me about or my roommate showed me. They're quite hilarious. Enjoy with me:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I'm going to keep studying for an ASL test I have today. So long!

No Plans so I do anything BUT Homework

Well, today was another Saturday with no plans but, I got nicely ready anyway. I have honestly not even left my dorm room today. Not even to go into the lobby. I have not even been to Whitney....yet. [There's still time for that one] Well, now I'm at Whitney [I took a break to walk over there]. I did a lot of cooking instead of homework. I made cookie dough and then, I made crepes. Quite yummy :) Then, I went on pinterest and skyped my family, watched Newsies, talked with a couple friends. The End. Now, I just watched a "fight" between the guy's RA and a guy in the dorm. This led to others wanting to "fight." Yepz.... welcome to college. :P

Crazy Run Just for some Enchiladas... :P

(turn your head upside down
to see this in an even cooler  way :) )

So, yesterday, after my first class, my lovely roommate gave me a lift to cost-co to do some grocery shopping. While shopping, I was picking up some stuff for a date that night where we were going to make enchiladas. While I was hunting through the crowded aisles of a LDS-infested Cost-co, I realized how unorganized it really is. I could not find a lot of things to save my life. Things I typically find the "dairy section" were not there and things I would think would be in the canned area were not there either. Sadly, I was not able to meet my hearts desires as I  ran around quickly. Then, we get back home and we have to run to our dorm so I can put away my food and run to my next class. Well, of course, we had a lot and it was quite heavy and no nice young men were there to help. Quite a tragedy, actually.... :P Oh well, my roommate is really strong and so she carried the heavy box. :) Then, a couple of my roommate put the food away for me since I had to run. It was so nice of them. :) Well, later that day/late evening, I went on a date where we made enchiladas [which were quite tasty if I may say so. :) ] and watched The Princess Bride. I think I laugh more and more as I watch that movie. So funny.

~~~~~~~~

Well, today is another "I don't have any plans so why not do my hair and make-up" day. I guess I just got ready to do my homework. Sounds quite fantastic does it not? 

Telling Tales and Missing Home

Well, life has continued to be interesting. My roommates and I have continually been sharing "boy stories" and hanging out with the guys next door. It is funny how excited a group of girls can get! :P Interestingly enough, most of these stories have been about, or come from, me. Now, I'm not going to go into details or anything because I can, I'm going to not give them because I can. So, this has been taking some of my sleep but, I'm keeping on top of my work and all that, like a good college student would. However, this has been a little too amusing to see girls freak out over the smallest things. We'll see where that story continues, shall we?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To continue on with my life story, yesterday, I did an ASL (American Sign Language) practice session with my mommy over skype. After the signing was done, we just played catch up on each other's lives. Apparently, life is getting a little more stressful back home with the economy and the corrupted government and such back home. At this moment, I really wished I was home to give my daddy a great big hug and tell him how much I love him and how grateful I am for all the hard work he has to do and all the sacrifices he has given for our family. Sadly, I am a little too far away from home to just simply stop by and help out. Thank goodness that I have a Father in Heaven who can help comfort both my family and me. I know everything will work out and, even though my family is far away, I know they love me and they know I love them.