Three-Ohhh

Fantastically Fantastic!

Yep, I just said that (or I guess wrote it). That is the best way to describe these 30 years of my life. Sigh...the word “thirty”…I say that with some difficulty. Honestly, I am completely fine with being in my 30’s. The ONLY negative is that it is harder to find cute, active, fun guys who have similarities in their lives with mine. I only know a few guys that fit this profile and I do spend time with them. The only problem with it is that once you know they are not right for you, you can still have fun with them but you have to keep meeting other men that fit that profile to date and that is hard. Like I previously stated: the only negative thing is the guy situation.

With all that said, I have loved my life up to now. It has been so full of happiness and love and adventures and learning and so many other things! Sometimes I think I am going to die any minute (which I would be fine with p.s.-I leave everything to my parents), because I pretty much have done all the things I wanted to in my life. Even all the things mentioned in my Patriarchal Blessing have come to pass. So in all reality it could happen at any minute.

Well, I did not mean to start talking about death. My point is that I feel my life has been rich and fulfilling.

Something that I have always been blessed with is good friends. Even though my family moved around A LOT throughout my life, there were always people who were willing to take me in and accept me as a friend. Gracias amigos Chilenos y Argentinos por su amistad. I think a life without friends is not worth living. I hope that I can be that type of a friend myself.

Another part of my life that has been richly blessed is by having a wonderful family. My parents are good, honest people who are supportive (and for all those who know them, they are very funny). When I was growing up, we were the kind of family that would have dinner together and laugh and laugh and laugh. We would play Monopoly until so late that we would have to leave the board out to finish the game on another night. They allowed me to have a big imagination, and I did have a big imagination. My sibs are pretty awesome too. We used to play together, we used to sing together. They are still great and they are so supportive of everything I do. Even from afar, my family has always been very close. Just as an example, even though I did not live with my parents for about 12 years, when they finally moved here it was like we were never apart. I am grateful for that.

One thing I cannot leave unmentioned is the fact that I have always been so blessed in everything! I am someone who believes there is a God and that God is our Father. The little miracles I have seen in my life have proven it over and over and over again. If I could share some...people’s jaws would drop. Literally. Even how my family and I ended up living here, it is all a miracle. I am so grateful for my many blessings every day. There was a really difficult time in my life when it was hard to even get up in the morning and have any strength to do anything. What got me through those difficult times was counting my blessing. I would think about all my blessings as I drove to work (5 to 10 min) every morning. I was not allowed to repeat any in one day. I never had to. The most unreal part about all my blessings is that I am not even that good of a Daughter! Really! Yet still, I am blessed and I am so grateful and will try to be better.

Anyway, just a few simple thoughts about my wonderful life.

Happy birthday to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyday Gratitude

I am so grateful for so many things.

I am so grateful that I have a home to live in, let alone a bed (and a comfortable one) to sleep in. I am grateful I have blankets to put over my body in the cold of night. I am grateful that I have a place to be during the cold days. I am grateful that I get to choose what I eat each day. I am grateful that I don't have to fall asleep to the sound of gun fire outside my house. I am grateful that I don't have to wait for the bus in the middle of a snow storm. I am grateful that I can see the sunset each day.

Sunset in Hawaii

I am grateful that I can dance around because I can move. I am grateful that I can sing because I can hear and speak. I am grateful for all the unnecessarily things that I have, including this computer and access to the Internet. I am grateful that each day I am reminded of how blessed I am by simply seeing the world around me; I am grateful to have the responsibility to try to help those less fortunate than I.

I am just grateful.

The small things

To Feel The Christmas Spirit

I promise you that if you really want to start feeling the Christmas spirit, you have to see this. If you are a Christian, you have to see this. If you are an art lover, you have to see this. If you feel that there is something higher and bigger out there, you have to see this.  No, you don't have to be Mormon, you don't have to go with someone, you don't have to be or do anything, other than go and feel what it feels like to see this.

You may not know who Carl Bloch is, but as soon as you walk into this gallery, you will instantly recognize the incredible paintings of the Christ's life that have been used all over the world for literally over a hundred years.

My wonderful parents got us tickets (which are free, click here) so see this. I thought I knew what I was going to but I was wrong. It was so much more than I could have imagined. The original paintings in their true sizes left me speechless, literally. The portrayals of the Savior felt so real. The art gallery felt like a sacred place.

As I walked and looked at this breathtaking paintings, I thought to myself "I should read Carl Bloch's biography to learn more about his testimony of Christ." And then I realized that I was looking at his testimony and I knew exactly what it said.

I am so grateful that I was able to see this exposition. Trust me, you need to see it too.

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7.)

“Jesus … said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water … shall be in him a well … springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:13–14.)

What I Believe About the Atonement

While chatting with a friend about his dating history, he mentioned that as he has gotten older, the length of his relationships has decreased.  Also, the length between his relationships has increased. This made me curious because mine have been the opposite: they have gotten longer and more often as I have gotten older.  We continued to talk and he said that there was a difficult time in his life when he made some mistakes and ever since his self-confidence has kind of gone down because he figures that good girls would want to date guys who haven't made such mistakes. Sometimes mistakes make us feel like we are not "good enough."

The truth is, which ever mistakes my friend was referring to is irrelevant. As we live our lives and get older we will make more mistakes, some big, some small. Either way, I am no stranger to the idea he was referring to.

I would like to share what has been my opinion regarding this, for as long as I can remember. There was a time when I did really have to ask myself if I truly believed it and I found out that I did: as far as people who have made any mistake, and when I say ANY I mean ANY, including things that would have made someone not worthy to enter the temple in the past, I have always figured that if someone is temple-worthy now, that means that that person is good enough for the Lord so that means that person is good enough for me. Even when people are still working on becoming closer to the Lord, at least they are on the right path, right?

I remember a visual one of my instructors used one time. He had 3 people standing in a line (now, please remember that this is only a way to exemplify a principle, not the principle itself). The front person and the last person were facing right. The middle person was facing left. The order they were in was the level of progression they were in, i.e. the Prophet is a lot more spiritual than I. The way they faced represented either facing the Lord or facing, well, you know who... (OK, Satan, I'll say it.) He said that some times we get discouraged because we think, gosh I am only at level three and wish I was on the number one spot because I want to be like the Prophet because he is so awesome and is such a good person. But how could I ever be as good of a person as the Prophet?

What my instructor explained is that in the end, what is going to matter is not which order we are in (or "level" of our progression) but the way we are facing. Even the Prophet, if he chooses to face the other way for the rest of his life will not receive all the blessings of exaltation, it does not matter which "level" he is in.  If we believe that the "level" matters, then why share the gospel with anyone? If it did matter then all the people who are just learning about the gospel would be way "behind" someone who has had the gospel in their lives their whole life. Aren't they promised the same blessings as anyone? Also, from the example, any of the three people, including the person in the middle who may have faced the left side for a long time, can turn to the right side through repentance and in the end will be OK.

Alpha and Omega by Greg Olsen

We all have been given different trials that sometimes knock us down lower and further back than we thought we could go. But as long as we have the desire to choose the right and look towards Him, we will be OK. Luckily, we are not the ones who have to make the judgment call because the Lord who is just and sees in our hearts will be able to judge us fairly. Sometimes I think there is so much unseen mercy in our lives ... one day, we will be able to recognize it.

And when it comes to being "good enough" even after making mistakes, we are good enough and others should be good enough for us because that is what the Atonement is for. We always say that we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and we are grateful for his Atonement. But to truly believe in the Atonement, we have to also believe that it is not just for "me" and that it applies to every single person. Including the girl I work with, my neighbor who is struggling right now, and the guy I date. So the question is, do I truly believe in the Atonement or not?

I do believe.

It's Not a Coinkydink

This last weekend I went to Martin's Cove with my ward. I honestly did not want to go. I was really bummed that our ward had chosen to go to a desert instead of going boating or camping at a glorious place. But I decided to go anyway because I kept thinking that there would be something there for me.

To make a long story short, everything worked out for my benefit (not by coincidence). I found someone to cover my two jobs, a friend offered me a ride, I met many people who seemed genuinely INteResTeD iN GetTiNg To kNoW ME, and I received answers to prayer while walking around in sacred ground.

Hiking up to the Martin's Cove where so many had sought refuge from a horrible storm, I felt like the veil was very thin and pioneers who had suffered and died during their trip to Utah seemed to surround me. Our leaders provided the story of a person who had been part of the Willie-Martin company to each of us, and we were to read it once we arrived at the cove. My story was of a little boy, Peter H. McBride, who traveled with his family to go to the promised land. It was no coincidence that I got that story because I relate better to children. I felt a special connection to this little boy, who's faith pulled him through many difficulties including the death of his father after he had helped others cross the freezing river.

It was no coincidence that as I thought of what this particular group went through, my mind kept going back to the fact that they TrusTEd FuLLy in the Lord. I had almost forgotten what that was like. This reminded me of the complete faith I have had in the past and that it is faith that can help us through every day. It is that faith that has brought many miracles in my life.

It was no coincidence that I was one of the first to get across the Sweetwater River, that sacred place where three young men sacrificed their lives to save so many who had no more to give of themselves. They not only saved their lives, but also provided hope to those who had lost it. As I watched over one hundred ward members crossing this cold river with the help of some of our priesthood holders, I asked myself, why did those young men help the pioneers get across, when death may have seemed much sweeter then? Their trials were not going to end after that crossing. At that moment the feeling came that they did it because of love. They truly loved these people because they saw them as children of God and they wanted to make their trials lighter. I thought of how we can't stop people's trials from happening, but we can help them through them if we have love. I had forgotten that PraYiNG fOR TRuE LoVe for others every day can make such a difference.

Finally, it is no coincidence that as I visited a ward on Sunday (as I was not able to go to mine), the bishopric member who conducted said that the youth from that ward had just gone on Trek and opened up the whole meeting to those young men and women who had just experienced something similar to me. The meeting ran over about 30 min and it was well worth it. I was very touched by their faith and their testimonies reminded me again of what it is like to have the Spirit with you always. All the young men talked about how much they appreciated the women in their lives and how they hoped to someday be worthy to marry a faithful young woman. I remembered the KiND oF PeRsoN I wAnT To BE.

I know it is not by coincidence all these things took place to help me remember the important principles I had almost forgotten.