G. Conference

It's the morning of General Conference, the Saturday session. We wake up just in the nick of time to turn on the t.v. and see our angel Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing. We eat our breakfast, our traditional crepes, and pull out my big queen sized mattress from my room. This is a must. 

With notebooks in our laps and pens in our hands, we take notes, eagerly listening to each speaker's counsel. 

We smile when we see our beloved prophet's happy face. We love him so.

We smile when we hear the statistical report of 60,000 missionaries in the mission field, 20,000 just like me who have their call and are preparing to leave, and 6,000 who are in the process. WOW!

We feel the spirit when Sister Elaine Dalton spoke on how how we are daughters of our Heavenly Father and when President Monson spoke on how obedience brings blessings.

And we feel grateful when our questions are answered!

We think about where I will be next conference...half way across the world in Uruguay.

We smirk when we see each other zonked out on the couch after a nice long foot massage from mom.

Our hearts are truly touched to hear from our church leaders.

We feel edified, strengthened, renewed, and blessed...and are thankful for prophets and apostles who lead us and guide us.

Mondays are good days

It's 12:08am and I can't sleep. Nights like these are happening more often. 

I don't know why. 

Maybe it's because my mind is racing with a million different thoughts: my mission, school, what I'm going to eat for breakfast, things like that.

Or maybe I can't sleep because I got a sweet email from Elder Boyd earlier today...

Ya, that's probably why! 

Mondays have become such well anticipated days for me. It has been so fun for me to get weekly, personalized emails just for me from my best friend who is serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nicaragua! It's so fun to hear about Grant's successes and to see his testimony grow and grow and grow! He's such an awesome, 'on fire,' missionary who is changing many lives!

AND, what's so cool is that in a couple of months our lives will be very similar again...We'll both be in South America (Grant in Nicaragua, me in Uruguay) preaching this wonderful gospel to those who are searching for the truth. I can't wait! The church is true, oh so true!

(Don't these pictures make you smile?)

I'm smiling.

#2011babyfaces

General Conference Tradition:

Every conference, my family makes "LORNA Crepes" for breakfast. We call them Lorna Crepes because my dad's fiance (before he met my mom of course) name was Lorna. She use to fix these special crepes for him. When we were little, we use to sit around the table, hold up our forks, and say, "Thank you, Lorna!" 

1:: grab a crepe

2:: add plenty of pudding onto the middle of the crepe.

3:: drizzle fruit onto the pudding

4:: fold up the crepe and add a spoonful of whip cream on the top

5:: DIG IN!

Thank you, Lorna!

Then & Now

4 years ago, I embarked on the Pioneer Trek with my stake. It was the summer before my sophomore year in high school. I did not know what was in store for me. All I knew was that I had to go purchase hideous clothes at Goodwill...and wear them the entire week. I also knew that I was going to have many spiritual experiences that week acting as a pioneer. Both assumptions were correct, I did have to wear ugly pioneer clothes and my testimony was also strengthened.

My stake presidency at the time was known for being hardcore. Everything they threw at us was intense. We roughed it those 3 days out in the wilderness. The hiking was very difficult and the food was minimal, very minimal. I nicknamed the pioneer trek FAT CAMP. (I lost just about 6lbs that week.) Our stake leaders truly wanted us to experience what the pioneers crossing the plains went through.

BEFORE:

 AFTER:

I was filthy, the kind of filthy where dirt is baked into the crevices of your skin, the kind of filthy where you have to take a shower for 30 minutes and that still doesn't get the dirt out of your hair. But it was all worth it because I had the best experience. I loved the close bond that I had with my trek family, I loved how close I felt to the spirit and I became I so overwhelmingly grateful for the pioneers sacrifice. I will never forget the experiences I had that week. All the dirt, sweat, and filth was worth it. every bit.

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James went on the trek just a few weeks ago. He is the same age I was when I went. Before he embarked on this adventure, I warned him of the dangers and also told him how much his testimony would be strengthened. I had prepared him! He was a bit skeptical because of the lack of food he would not eat, but went with a cheerful attitude.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Are you kidding me? The kid doesn't even look dirty! Needless to say, this year's stake pioneer trek was a lot easier. They realized that last time was a bit extreme, so they lightened the load. James had a great experience as well, but...

...I am happy to say that I survived the hardest Higley Stake Pioneer trek on the face of the earth, blood, sweat, and tears. Allelujah.

General Conference

I love last minute, spontaneous trips. 3 days before the Saturday session of conference, my roommates and I decided we wanted to go. We drove to Utah in a moments notice to go hear the words of our prophet and apostles. Conference was the most amazing experience. I have never been before, but I have watched every single session of it since I was little. This time, I couldn't believe that I was actually there, that I was hearing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing in person, and that I was 100 feet away from our beloved prophet. Words cannot express the overwhelming feeling of power and warmth that I felt as President Monson walked in the room. As he made his appearance, everyone stood up, and I felt the spirit. There was no doubt in my mind that he was not a prophet of God. I came to conference with a lot of questions that I needed and wanted answered. It felt like each speaker was speaking to me directly! All of my questions were answered and I felt peace and comfort. I am so grateful to be apart of this amazing church. The gospel is so true and it brings so much happiness to my life.