This is my lovely mission "Mom" (trainer), Sissi, and her husband Tom who was my very first district leader and their baby Sam. It was the first time I've seen them since the mission, as they live in Germany near where Sissi is from. They were up for the holidays visiting Tom's family in St. George. I was so happy to see them and meet their little one! Hopefully it won't be so long until we see each other again!
Oh how I love my baby sister! She is the bomb dot com!!! :) This was at Temple Square on Thursday where Alyssa performed with Timpview High School Acapella in the Joseph Smith building as well as the Assembly hall. It sounded beautiful!!!
I feel blessed to have so many wonderful friends who inspire me to be a better person. I'm grateful for the courage that so many of my friends have to face whatever trials they are dealing with--whether it's physical illness, mental illness, challenges at work or school or in the family, to name just a few. I'm also grateful for the positive outlook on life that so many of my friends have even when they're dealing with difficulties that would seem insurmountable to me.
Recently I spent the evening with a friend who is one of the best people I know. She has a very cheery outlook on life and she spreads happiness to everyone around her. I found out that she's having some physical problems that are quite debilitating. But true to her innate cheerfulness, she didn't complain about it, she just told me the way it is and how she'll just keeping living life anyway. I was so impressed by her faith and courage. I'm truly lucky to know her. This is a shout out to her and people like her who just go forward one day at a time placing their faith in God and still loving life despite challenges.
Talked with my lovely Grandma on the phone in the morning. I love that she calls me on Saturday mornings to find out what fruits/vegetables I got in my Bountiful Basket and to catch up on my life!
Took a FREEZING cold shower....For some reason our hot water wouldn't work at all! BRRRRR!!!
Left SUPER late for my shift in the Temple, but luckily some friends from my shift saw me walking about two minutes after I left my apartment and gave me a ride. I love how in Provo I can count on the fact that when I begin walking to the Temple on Saturday mornings I never get all the way there without someone stopping and giving me a ride!
I LOVE volunteering in the Temple! There is an incredible spirit there and I always feel refreshed, revitalized, and back in touch with God after spending the majority of my Saturday there.
Bought a Christmas tree!! Yaya!! My wonderful Mama gave me money to buy a Christmas tree & lights as an early Christmas gift. She is seriously the BEST! I love the smell of real Christmas trees! My friend was super nice and gave me a ride & helped me haul my Christmas tree in his truck. AND he even helped set it up. How nice. Buying a Christmas tree makes me feel like a real grown up.
Our apartment manager came over on short notice (and on Saturday night to boot) to look at our water heater. Discovered that the temperature had gotten bumped and was set way too low. No wonder our hot water wouldn't work! About 20 minutes after resetting the temperature we miraculously had hot water again. The wonders of modern technology!
Since the apartment floor was covered in pine needles, my fantastic roommate Kim and I borrowed my family's vaccuum and (after a short ice cream break with them) we had a dance/cleaning party! Blasted the music, sang, and rocked out all the while cleaning! Our apartment looks sparkly clean now and it's always great to have an excuse to dance!
Ate dinner with my Mom and sister Alyssa then spent a while playing the piano and singing with Lyssa. We played/sang: Christmas songs from Josh Groban's Christmas songbook, "For Good" from Wicked, and "I Never Saw Blue Like That Before" from Runaway Bride. The last two songs are two of our favorites.
Drank pumpkin spice (Stephen's hot cocoa)
Got ready for bed. I love nice relaxing days! I only felt slightly guilty for not doing homework. Will have to wake up early Monday morning now.
This semester I'm taking a class which is on German literature from before the 15th century. The majority of the literature from the time is religious, and I have been interested to find kernals of truth in many of the works which we have read and discussed. Here are a few nuggets I've found which have influenced my thoughts this semester.
This song is a rendition of An das Angesicht des Herrn Jesu written by Paul Gerhardt. J.S. Bach used the text in his Matthäus-Passion. This is a modern version of the song sung by Selah. The german text is much longer than the english translation used in the song, however the essence is here. The text focuses a lot more on the suffering and anguished experienced during the atonement of Christ than we tend to focus on in the church. In one of the verses the focus is on how we are healed through Christ's suffering. In many of the verses, Gerhardt expresses his desire to be near to the Lord, and to have the Lord near him. My favorite is the verse in which Gerhardt thanks Christ for his suffering which allows us to belong to Christ. I love the language Gerhardt uses "What language shall I borrow / to thank thee, dearest friend, / for this thy dying sorrow, / thy pity without end?" I love how in the early 1600's Paul Gerhardt summarizes his relationship with Jesus Christ as gratitude towards his dearest friend!
O Sacred Head Now Wounded
O sacred Head, now wounded,
with grief and shame weighed
down,
now scornfully surrounded
with thorns, thine only
crown:
how pale thou art with
anguish,
with sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage
languish
which once was bright as
morn!
What thou, my Lord, has
suffered
was all for sinners' gain;
mine, mine was the
transgression,
but thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
'Tis I deserve thy place;
look on me with thy favor,
vouchsafe to me thy grace.
What language shall I borrow
to thank thee, dearest
friend,
for this thy dying sorrow,
thy pity without end?
O make me thine forever;
and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
outlive my love for
thee.
I love Martin Luther's text A Mighty Fortress is our God written around 1527. I love how the text speaks of God as our mighty fortress. He is our strength and help who has the strength to overpower our foe, Satan. We are in a war against the devil, but God's strength is greater than the devils and if we remember the Savior, no matter how much opposition we meet, Jesus Christ will prevail in helping us to overcome the temptations of satan.
A Mighty Fortress is Our God
A mighty fortress is our
God,
a bulwark never failing;
our helper he amid the flood
of mortal ills
prevaling.
For still our ancient foe
doth seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are
great,
and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength
confide,
our striving would be
losing,
were not the right man on
our side,
the man of God's own
choosing.
Dost ask who that may
be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabaoth, his name,
from age to age the same,
And he must win the battle.
And though this world, with
devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God
hath willed
his truth to triumph through
us.
The Prince of Darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell
him.
That word above all earthly
powers,
no thanks to them, abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are
ours,
thru him who with us
sideth.
Let goods and kindred go,
this mortal life also;
the body they may kill;
God's truth abideth still;
his kingdom is forever.
Another interesting person who we talked briefly about in my class is Mechthild of Magdeburg, who was a medieval Mystic and visionary from the early 1200's. I have included my favorite quotes by her and a little youtube slideshow presentation.
"Whatever we know is absolutely nothing unless we love God."
"I cannot dance, Lord, unless you lead me. If you want me to leap with abandon you must intune the song." -Mechthild of Magdeburg
I LOVE THAT!!! Lord, lead me so that I may dance throughout my life!!!
I don't know why, but fall always reminds me of my favorite poem by Robert Frost:
The Road Less Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow road, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps a better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made allthe difference.
Sometimes when my life is going different than planned, I have to remind myself that the times that I have grown the most as a person and the times that I have enjoyed the most have been the times that I took the road less traveled by. It's taking the road less taken that makes life more interesting! Choosing the less trodden path can change our perspective and help us to see our strengths and weaknesses, as well as give us opportunities to serve others. I hope I can always take the road less taken!
I've tried several times to create a blog and failed miserably. However, now that I am also failing at writing regularly in my journal, I decided that it's time to try spending a few minutes every week or two to write a thought in this blog. I'm not a super creative person, nor am I spectacular in anyway. I'm just an ordinary girl from Provo, Utah, trying to survive a busy and demanding college life. My dream is to make a little difference in the world around me. I have a big smile and lots of room in my heart to love the people around me. The purpose of this blog is just to create a little space that I can share my thoughts, feelings, pictures--little vignettes of my everyday life.
Sometimes even when I'm surrounded with friends and people that I care about, I feel lonely. I think we all do. I think it's part of life. But the fact is that no matter how insignificant and small we are, we're not alone. Our Heavenly Father is always there for us. I love how Elder Scott taught us in General Conference last weekend that holy scriptures can become our friends that are always there for us:
"Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds
and give place to guidance and inspiration from on high. They can become the
key to open the channel to communion with our Father in Heaven and His Beloved
Son, Jesus Christ.… They can become
stalwart friends that are not limited by geography or calendar. They are always
available when needed. Their use provides a foundation of truth that can be
awakened by the Holy Ghost. Learning, pondering, searching, and memorizing
scriptures is like filling a filing cabinet with friends, values, and truths
that can be called upon anytime, anywhere in the world...How do you personally use the scriptures? Do you mark your copy? Do you put notes in the margin to remember a moment of spiritual guidance or an experience that has taught you a profound lesson? Do you use all of the standard works...?" Elder Richard G. Scott "The Power of Scripture"
If scriptures are the words of God through which Heavenly Father speaks to us, and scriptures can be our friends, then it stands to reason that God is also our friend. How great is it to know that we have a Heavenly Father who knows us, loves us and cares about each of us individually?
The past month I've been struggling to read my scriptures consistenly. I've been frustrated with myself for not doing as well as I'd like to in that area and in other areas in my life. A couple days before conference my wonderful bishop committed me to read 5 minutes a day in the Book of Mormon. 5 minutes a day is totally do-able. I mean, it takes me about 10 minutes to eat breakfast and it's super easy to read while eating. He asked me to mark my calander when I start and to keep track of it. If I miss a day, I should start over. When I reach my year mark of reading consistenly for 5 minutes a day, he said it will be a habit. When I read every day for 25 years, it will be a part of life that I can't go without.
Elder Scott was so inspired to begin general conference with exactly the thing I needed to remember! God is definitely looking out for me!
5 minutes a day is possible to spend with friends.
