we live for the weekends!

We have had a fantastic Conference weekend, full of awesome food, spiritual enlightenment and lots of naps. Enjoy the iphone pics!

 Romantic dinner date on Friday.

 We went to the cold BYU game against Utah State. I started falling asleep so we left. On our way out we saw this confusing garbage can. Who needs to take a chain saw to a BYU game?

 Kevin really really needed a haircut. So we finally broke out the clippers that Kevin bought a few months ago and I tried my hand at cutting boy hair. It was slightly terrifying.

 

 My handsome fiance.    And a huge pile of hair afterward

During Priesthood session, I got to go out with my darling Ashley who got married about a month an a half ago. We went out to Zupas and watched Bones. So fun. I love this girl and her friendship has been such a blessing in my life. Love you Ash Bash!

We have eaten so well this weekend. We decided to go all out for conference weekend. Saturday we had a feast of bacon, eggs, grits and toast (unfortunately we didn't take pictures. What were we thinking?). This morning we finished off the bacon and had homemade waffles with fruit, syrup and whipped cream.

What a spread.

We had a lovely conference afternoon today at Grandma's house, with a delicious lunch of pork roast, potatoes, tons of veggies and a Swedish dessert called brown betty. We love spending time at Grandma's house. We leave stuffed full of good food. :)

We are so grateful that we got to have the chance to rest and recuperate this weekend, to prepare for another busy week of school and work. The messages of Conference were so sweet, and the announcement about lowering the missionary age has had an affect on so many people that I love. Hooray for wonderful weekends!

Motsa in Manti

Once upon a time we went to Manti to watch the Mormon Miracle Pageant

After we failed at taking some pictures of ourselves by the temple, a nice man offered to take one of us. In his words, "I could tell that you were struggling." Thank you random man.

 Since we had fantastic timing to get to Manti and already found an amazing parking spot, we had some time to kill before the pageant started. So we explored Manti a bit and found some bronze statues. Which we then posed by.

We went into a little craft fair by the temple and found this book called "Food Porn Daily" which presented delicious looking food in gorgeous ways and we drooled over it for a while until some lady came and told us about the books she had just published about preparing for "the real" natural disaster and creating a "Zion" community. Then she tried to force us to buy them. And was very miffed when we told her no.

 What an attractive man I have found for myself.

 And he has found himself an attractive woman. ;)

 

This beautiful old church was erected in 1879. So cool.

 Kevin went on an excursion to Lotsa Motsa Pizza which really was the best.

 Seriously, I haven't had pizza this delicious in a long time.

We really enjoyed the pageant, as cheesy as it was. It was such a fun date night and I'm so grateful for the wonderful boy who I went with. :)

if someone like you found someone like me

I had this expectation when I transferred to BYU that life was going to be amazing and fabulous and easy and fun. And then I went through winter semester and thought "surely, if I was following the Lord by doing this, it wouldn't be THIS HARD!"

There's a story in the Book of Mormon about a family who is commanded by the Lord to leave Jerusalem where they will be led to a promised land. But, they spent about 8 years in the wilderness first.

Winter semester was my wilderness.

I think I just made it to my promised land.

He's not there, for He is risen

I don't know if I share my feelings about my religion enough on this blog. I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also called Mormons. The Church is the central focus of my whole entire life. The principles that I am taught govern every choice I make and everything I do. It's because of my belief in the commandments of God that I don't drink alcohol or coffee, why I don't smoke or do drugs, why I don't participate in sexual activities outside of marriage.

The most important thing about my Church is the knowledge that Jesus Christ is our Savior, that He loves us so much that He suffered and died for us and that after three days He was risen again as a resurrected being. Because of His Atoning sacrifice, we all have the opportunity to be brought back into the presence of God and also become perfected, resurrected beings. We were sent to this Earth in order to gain stewardship of a body, and because of these carnal bodies, we are constantly exposed to intense trials, temptation and death. There is an adversary working as hard as he can to make us in bondage to our bodies through addiction and sin. But because God loves us, He sent His son to become our advocate with Him, and to help us become perfect. Perfection is a gradual process, but it is made possible because of Jesus Christ.

I can't even begin to describe how grateful I am for my older brother and Savior, Jesus Christ. I, like everyone else, struggle with temptation and trials every day and the only thing that keeps me going is the understanding that even though I make mistakes daily, I can repent and try again the next day. Because of the Atonement, I can overcome the world and if I make all of the sacred covenants necessary for salvation and endure to the end, then someday I will be able to return to the presence of the God that I love.

These are my thoughts on this Easter Sunday. The most important thing about this holiday is not a focus on the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, although that is always poignant and humbling. No, the most important thing to remember is that Jesus Christ overcame death and was resurrected, and because of that, we all can also overcome death and pain. What an amazing blessing! I am so thankful for Jesus Christ and I love Him so much. I believe in His Church and all that is associated with it. I hope you all have a wonderful Easter Sabbath.

quite the party

I have a few random pictures on my phone/computer that I am wanting to share but it's 9:27pm and I need to go to bed. However in the spirit of general conference this past weekend I'll share one thing:

Those are all of the notes I took at conference. I spent the rest of the time crying into a bowl on my bed, wondering if I would throw up, and crying on my mom's bed while she rubbed my back.

:(

Apparently some little devil didn't want me listening to the messages this year. Good thing I have the general conference app on my phone.

spiritually saturated

February was a bit of a tough month for me. I started working two jobs and tried to figure out how to juggle those plus full time school as well as keeping myself spiritually uplifted. This past weekend was exactly what I needed. I got to go to my YSA stake women's conference and guess who was the keynote speaker. Sister Julie B. Beck, General Relief Society President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. What a great experience! Do you remember when I served her bread and water back in January? I still feel really cool about that.

Hearing Sister Beck speak was seriously an unbelievable experience. She is so funny and genuine and kind and she really portrayed the love that she, and the Presidency of the Church have for us. She took 6 questions from the congregation and built her talk around those questions. I have never been to a meeting that was so directed by the spirit. It was amazing. She taught such important truths about our purpose as women on this earth, she taught about the temple and about recognizing the spirit in our lives.

As I've mentioned, February was kind of a hard month and I came into this conference with a lot of unspoken questions in my heart and a lot of things kind of weighing on me. By the end of the hour that Sister Beck spoke to us, I had answers to all of my questions and a feeling of peace and love from above.

Isn't God great?

And that was just in the hour between 9 and 10:00 on Saturday morning! The rest of the morning was filled with break out classes and a wonderful musical program that had me bawling. Women of this church are just amazing.

Since the conference was held at the Stake Center right across from the Mt. Timpanogos Temple, I decided to mosey across the parking lot and do some baptisms. What an amazing blessing the temple is. I eagerly look forward to the time when I can get more than a limited use recommend and make more covenants with my Heavenly Father.

And if this great day wasn't enough, the next day was fast Sunday which is always a day that has a special spirit associated with it. My church meetings were hard core incredible. I haven't talked much about my YSA ward since I've been in it these last couple of months. Goodness. It is one of the best wards I've been in since graduating from high school. There is always a great spirit there and I think it was magnified by fasting yesterday.

But the spiritual experiences weren't even over yet. Last night I got to watch a broadcast of a CES fireside with Elder Quinton L. Cook speaking from BYU-Idaho! You should have seen my reaction when I realized that the choir that was singing was MY choir with my friends and old teachers! I kept nudging the guy next to me and saying "That was my old FHE brother!" "He was my mentor!" "I taught her in basic musicianship!", on and on. What a good sport. :) Elder Cook's talk was really good too, he spoke about avoiding wearing "masks" and how detrimental they can be. The night culminated in ice cream. Win.

Basically I had a fantastic weekend. I am so grateful for a Father in Heaven who is always there to bless us and show us His love for us. He surely poured out His love and spirit on me this weekend!

sunday=awesome

Smoothies with spinach and a trip to the conference center. Yes please.

I'll go inside someday. I'll promise to obey

I adore this place.
Especially the adorable temple workers.
I literally am so excited for the day when I can get my endowments here.

And for the day when I can be sealed to my best friend here.
There is no better place to be.

oh hey, let me just supply you with bread and water. no big deal.

Once upon a time, I work at a fancy Italian restaurant as a busser. Last night was the most insane night of my life so I was very pleased that tonight was being so chill and not very busy. At about 9:00 there was a huge tizzy in the whole restaurant because of who had just walked in...

Julie B. Beck, Silvia H. Allred and their husbands.

Freak out.

Guess who bussed their table? That would be me. I made them special bread and  brought them water (and spilled a little on the floor) and even said some words in my awe. I felt like a starstruck groupie. It was out of control. My hands were literally shaking when I gave them bread. I LOVE the general relief society presidency SO much. I love all of the prophets, apostles and other general authorities that make up this church. They are so amazing and I know they are called of God! I'm really looking forward to Sister Beck's devotional talk at BYU this Tuesday. :)

steadfast and immovable

Did you know that I'm a Mormon? Or, more accurately, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am SO proud of my religion. Today I made a profile with Mormon.org! If you want to know more or check out my profile, follow the "I'm a Mormon" link there on the right------> or you can go to my page and find the link there-----------^.
The Church is true. :) There is a God in Heaven and He loves all of His children. Isn't that hugely comforting?

to the rescue

Right now I'm reading the Biography of Thomas S. Monson, To the Rescue. It has been such a great experience to learn about the life of the current prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was, and is such a wonderful man. His life has been dedicated to serving those around him. Reading his book makes me want to find more ways to serve and lift those around me.

Last night as I was reading about some of the many funerals that he attended, and spoke at, I recognized the name of his favorite Sunday School Teacher, Lucy Gertsch. The last name seemed so familiar to me so I called my grandma and asked if we were related. Sure enough, Lucy Gertsch was my grandma's mother's cousin. Grandma told me some of the stories that Lucy Gertsch shared with her mother about the young prophet. I felt a surge of pride as I learned about a wonderful, sweet ancestor who made an impact in the life of the prophet. I am very proud of my Swiss heritage and love learning about those who came before me.

Reading this book this semester has really been a blessing and has increased my testimony of a loving Heavenly Father, who prepares His children for greatness, of living life with the guidance of the spirit to be in the right place at the right time, and especially of the Prophet of God. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet and holds those apostolic keys of the Priesthood to lead the Church.

I hope to someday be remembered in some small degree as someone who rescued as did, and does, President Monson.