Men's hearts shall fail them

First things first. New blog design. I think I'm in love!

Second, aren't these girls just the cutest? I like them a lot.




Now what I wish to write about is a little bit on the tender side. It is in regards to THIS ARTICLE, which crushed my heart. This hit home hard and it is a tough thing for me to write about since it hit so close to home. I have been trying to figure out how to write about this and have failed to figure out the best way to do it, so I decided that I would just share with you my journal entry from yesterday morning because I think it accurately portrays how I feel.

June 10th 2015

Last night I was scrolling through twitter when I came across a news article about a man who had murdered his wife only two days before. It stuck out to me because the city was the same city I live in. When I opened the article I was surprised to see a photo of a familiar face. 4 year old Arraya, who is one of the couple's 3 children, was staring with tear filled eyes back at the camera. This image pierced my soul and my eyes immediately filled with tears. I coach darling little Arraya. She is one of the sweetest, most obedient children I have ever had the privilege of coaching. It pains me to know how much her little innocent life is going to be changed. She will forever be a name to my prayers. Until yesterday I thought the news was only for people I didn't know, but I now realize that the world I live in is becoming more wicked. In this tumultuous world men's hearts fail them. If we want to be in the world, but not of the world, we must look to God with an eternal perspective. Precious Arraya will see her mother again. We are amongst much wickedness, trial, and heartache and we must turn to the Lord for strength.


I have read this news article many times in the last few days. It has caused me to reflect on many other pains that come from living in this world.

Meg Johnson, who is an LDS motivational speaker came to our school last year and said, pointing to her own body which requires a wheelchair, "Bad days don't look like this..." and pointing to the student body said, "bad days look like this."

This world we live in does not spare a single one of us of trial and heartache. Every single ride is going to have turbulence, and some might even crash, but we must remember why we are here in the first place.

Elder Jeffery R. Holland said that
"We are living, and have chosen to live in a fallen world where for divine purposes, our pursuit of Godliness, will be tested and tried again and again... never lose faith in your Father in Heaven"

I do not mean to preach to others to tell them what they should believe, I only mean to write for the comfort of my own soul. I strongly believe that we were sent here for a purpose. We were sent here to be tried. We were sent here to grow. And when faith and trial comes, acting on even a twig of faith allows God to grow it.

When faced with trial deeper than we think we can bear we must remember that the Lord passed through trials for us more terrible than we can imagine. He suffered for every pain and every heartache of the entire world. It was the greatest love letter every written, and it was sealed with his blood when he died for us on the cross. He knows exactly how we feel and he wants to help us through it. We just have to let him.

I have a strong testimony of the Atonement the Savior suffered for us. He suffered for every sin, and every heartache. He knows the source of ever tear we have ever shed. He knows the exact feeling that caused them to fall. He knows us and he loves us more dearly than we could ever comprehend. I am so thankful that I don't have to wander my way through this life without Him.





feel my sunlight




p.s. Who shared there #DiscoverTheBook photos? I DID! Here is mine! If you haven't yet there is still time. Share a picture of yourself similar to mine below along with your testimony on any social media sites. Don't forget to use the hashtags #DiscoverTheBook and #CalledToShare. This was started by a group of LDS missionaries! Check out the official instructions HERE!

The Church is true and the good book is blue!

I stand as Proxy

Live is best when it looks like this.

Hey lovelies!

I hope you are all having a marvelous day.

Guess what I did today! I helped 10 wonderful souls get into Heaven.

For those of you who don't have a clue what I'm talking about I'll explain...

source

Before we were on this earth we lived in Heaven with our Heavenly Father (God). When we were born we passed through the veil which made it so that we would not remember anything from our life in Heaven. We were placed on this earth to be tested. We must show our faith in Christ by repenting of our sins and entering the waters of baptism. Baptism is a saving ordinance which means that it is required if we want to return to live with our Father in Heaven after this life.

Now, what about those who don't have a chance to get baptized in this life? What about those who die as young children, or who die old, but are never taught about the gospel? Are they lost?

Peter taught in Acts 10:34-35 that  

"34 God is no respecter of persons:

35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him."

If God is no respecter of persons, and if He loves all of His children, and if He really does want all of His children to come to live with Him again, then he would surly provide all his children with the same opportunity to receive the ordinances that are required for them to return.

What about the little children who die before they are baptized? 

Baptism is for the unclean so that they might be made clean. Children are born innocent, and therefore, don't require baptism to make them clean. Children don't need to be baptized until they are accountable for their actions. This comes at the age of accountability, which is at age 8. (D&C 68:25-27) If children die before age 8 they don't require baptism. They are automatically accepted into God's Kingdom.

Now, what about those who die at an older age, but still never got baptized?

This is where baptisms for the dead comes in. If you read my blog or follow me on any other social media sites, you might have noticed that I "go to the temple" a lot. Well, what I am doing at the temple is in fact baptisms for the dead.

Here on earth we have the opportunity to stand in as proxy for those who have passed on to the next life. In a sense we stand in and act as their bodies. [When my little brother was younger and we went to go do baptisms for the dead he thought that we were actually baptizing dead bodies. So just to make that clear we are baptized "for and in behalf of" those who have died. haha]

After their ordinances are performed for them they are then able to accept or decline them, thus allowing them to enter into Heaven if they decide to accept.

Now I want to share with you why today's trip to the temple was special. Normally when I go to do baptisms I do "Temple names", which are names of people that somebody else has found and given to the temple for others to do. But today I did "Family names", which are exactly what they sound like. They are names of my family members that I found myself.

It all started HERE at FamilySearch.org where I found searched out the names of those in my family who have died without being baptized

I then took those names to the temple and was baptized for them. 

It meant so much more to me knowing that the people that I was doing work for were people I was related to, and I can honestly say that I felt their presence while in the temple.

So to the youth of the church, as well as to the "older youth", I offer you a challenge to spend a few minutes searching your family history for names that need work done, and then go to the temple and do the work. If you don't know how to get started shoot me an email at feelmysunlight[AT]yahoo[DOT]com! I'd love to help! (I am after all, a family history consultant. It is my calling in the church to teach people how to do this.)

I have a strong testimony of family history work, as well as temple work. I know that this gospel is true and I love it so much. All I desire is for others to have this same joy in their lives that the gospel has brought to mine.




feel my sunlight



p.s. Isn't summer just the most wonderful thing? I think I am in love with it.

p.s.s. Shout out to Sister Hartvigsen for driving us to the temple today. You rock!

Maybe I'll talk about

Hi lovelies!

Remember when I blogged about these two awesome efy counselors?

Well, they're getting married today.

Every efy participant's dream. I cannot even handle how happy I am for them. Congrats to Braden and Randi. #EFYtoETERNITY #UpbraidethNotForever #Literally

You'd think that with school not in session that I'd be able to keep up in this blog land that I love so dearly, but God has had some other plans for my time.

I have been out of school for exactly a week and every single day has been filled with so much good, and I am oh so grateful for it.


So... what do I want to talk about today?

Maybe the fact that I completed 9:3 on the Whip Chart today. (for those of you all of you who are now going "WHATTT?" I will explain, at tumbling we have a chart that has a list of combinations of back flips. We work on them almost every day. We've done it for years. Today I did the hardest one on the list. It was fun.)

Maybe I'll talk about how much I love summer and how much I enjoy the whole no school thing. Last night I had a dream that there were all these desks in the gym and my coaches were telling me to tumble on top of them. I thought I was going to die because desks are not safe to tumble on desks (obviously). I'm pretty sure that was my subconscious telling me to avoid school at all costs.

Maybe I'll talk about how I'm going to Portland with the family next week and how I can't wait.

Maybe I'll talk about an awesome spiritual experience where I read an awesome scripture that demands to be shared. (Doctrine and Covenants 21:6 is awesome.)

Maybe I'll tell you about how I finally drove on the freeway for the first time since I crashed my car. It was incredibly scary and I didn't like it one bit. But, guess what! I'm alive!

Maybe I'll tell you about all the plans I have for the summer. I'm going to Portland with the family, and Palmyra New York for EFY, and Girls Camp, and Youth Conference. I am just so very excited for it all.

Maybe I'll tell you about how I think family history work is awesome and how I have no idea what I'm doing as a family history consultant. The bishop said that the only way I can do anything wrong is to not do anything at all. This is going to be exciting. I seriously can't wait!

Maybe I'll tell you about how we start doing stuff for Seminary Council next week and how I am VERY OVERLY EXTREMELY EXITED for that to happen. I really like seminary. Like a lot.

Maybe I'll tell you about how excited I am to serve a mission in a year, but how I wish the whole "getting your wisdom teeth out before you go" wasn't a thing.

Maybe I'll ask you what your current favorite books are because I need some new ones to read.


Or MAYBE I'll just refer you to somebody else's blog because I can't decide. Perhaps Al Fox Carraway. I really liked her blog post this week.

Read her post HERE

Ya. I think I'll do that.

Well, I love you all, and I hope you all have a fantastic day. I hope somebody brings you ice cream or cake because that would make your day even more awesome and you deserve that. Cake and ice cream are always a good thing because it's always somebody's birthday somewhere.





feel my sunlight



p.s. Sorry for the randomness of this post. ha I don't know how that happened, but I kinda like it.

Darling Distressed Blue Bench for SALE!

 

Hey friends! I am doing a few fundraisers to help earn money so I can go to EFY in Palmyra and instead of doing pizza cards and cookie dough (because I know everyone LOVES $15 dollar cookie dough) I decided to do something a little different.

I am selling this SUPPER cute up cycled bench!
                                            *pillows not included. My mom would be mad.

It would be awesome on a front porch, at the end of your bed, or in a front entry way, or at a kitchen table. It is super sturdy and is freshly painted light blue and distressed (as you can see).

I'm selling it for only $45. This kind of bench would go for $100-$300 on Etsy.

I am willing to deliver within the Layton area (or close to there).

If you are interested leave me a comment or shoot me an email at feelmysunlight@yahoo.com.

If you aren't interested in this, but would be interested in other up cycled furniture leave me a comment!

Thanks for your help! I appreciate all the support! Love you guys.




feel my sunilight



p.s. It's weird waking up and not going to school while the rest of my family does. High School rocks.

I made it. {dancing into the sunset}

Well I made it.

Today is my first day of summer. I am officially done with Junior year and I am oh so pleased to be able to type that. They told me junior year was the hardest year and boy did it kick my butt, but I made it through and that right there is a reason for rejoicing.

So I know you are all dying to know what I did to celebrate (because that was obviously what you were thinking). Well, I'll tell you.

Yesterday following the assembly we were released into a hot smelly cafeteria to write notes to everyone we know in expensive books. We did that until 4ish and following that what did I do? I spent the evening with some of my new absolute favorite people.

No, not my high school friends.

My new young women leaders! (and Lauren and Raegan)

I just want to give a shout out to my new leaders because I absolutely adore them. Even though I don't know them very well yet I love them all dearly. As I enter this summer I enter my final year in the young womens program. This is the final stretch and I am so glad I get to spend it with these wonderful leaders. This final year is going to be FANTASTIC!

Now I need to shift this post to a new topic. That topic is tumbling. I wrote last month about how I took the silver medal at state championships, thus qualifying me to compete at my fourth national championships in Louisville, Kentucky. I have competed at the last three national championships in San Antonio, Texas; Long Beach, California; and Kansas City, Missouri. I have had such a great opportunity handed to me and I am so thankful for each of these opportunities to compete. They were all truly wonderful.

Now, it breaks my heart and tears come to my eyes as I write this, but I will not be competing in Louisville, Kentucky this summer.

Although I am hitting a high point in my tumbling and am finally at the level I want to be, I feel my heart pulling in a different direction. My heart is being pulled to Palmyra, New York for EFY. I feel that this is the experience I need to have this summer. And because I am saving for a mission and for college I don't have the funds to do both trips.

I realize that this was most likely my final chance to compete at a National Championships due to the fact that the next time Nationals comes around I will be about two months from a mission, and because I do not plan on returning to compete in this sport when I come home. My heart breaks to think that I will not be a part of the Flipside nationals team this year, but I would like to say that I am SO proud of my team mates who will be a part of it in years to come.

And with that I need to thank my coaches. My wonderful, amazing, fantastic coaches; Stephanie in particular. I hit a point last year where I didn't know how long I wanted to continue in this sport. I have been at the same level for 4 years and was starting to lose my drive. Nobody knew about this except for my teammate Teri and we only discussed it a few times when nobody else was around. However, Stephanie was the one person who pulled me through it. Stephanie was the only person who could motivate me to try when all of my own motivation was gone. With this new found motivation I was able to work harder than I ever had before.

At State when I came to talk go my coaches following the awards ceremony Stephanie gave me one of the biggest hug I have ever gotten from one of my coaches. It was a hug of congratulations. Something I am not used to getting. And the words that my other coach, Jill said to me are still ringing in my head, that "I finally pulled through when mattered most". This was something I have been trying to do for years. I finally did it.

Now, hearing this you would think that I would be all for competing at Nationals, however, like I said, my heart (and my money) is being pulled to Palmyra and I am oh so happy about it. I seriously can't handle how excited I am for this experience. It is going to be amazing.

Now by resigning my spot on the Flipside Nationals team I am in no way quitting tumbling. I promise to continue to work just as hard as I was before. I also promise to support those who will be competing with the best of my ability. After all, I am still on the team and I still call them team mates. I know you will all do fantastic and I will be the first one to text you after they compete to see how you did.

With the fact that I am no longer competing at Nationals I am now free to work other things besides passes, thus giving me the opportunity to work towards moving up to the next level. I have competed four long years of level 8 and now, for the first time, I have the opportunity to work towards moving up to level 9. This is the new goal. I can't wait to work at it.

So with that my heart is open to the future. I like the way my life is headed and I can't wait for these new opportunities. I can't wait for EFY with the magnificent Raegan, and I can't wait for this last year as a power tumbler. I also can't wait for this last year as a high schooler.

The future is bright and I can't wait to dance into the sunset.


This song is exactly how I feel right now. I love it.







feel my sunlight




p.s. That was seriously one of the hardest posts I have ever had to write. I love my team so much.

p.s.s. Even though I am not going to Nationals I am still going to be doing fundraisers for EFY. My New York Trip will actually cost more than my Nationals trip would have so Ill need any help I can get. And I am doing a little bit of a different fundraiser this year. Instead of fat boys and pizza cards I will be selling up cycled furniture and other home decor stuff. More on that to come. 

p.s.s.s. Shout out to all my friends who graduate today! You guys rock!

Gratitude for notebooks & gold pennies

Hey hey hey my friend.

I haven't blogged in 13 days.

That's a problem.

But on the positive side I now have this brand spankin' new, up and running portfolio site. 

Scroll through it all you want right here.

 It has been a day of gratitude.

Gratitude for the up and coming hot portion of the year.

Gratitude for the fact that it's Friday.

Gratitude that all my grades are higher than they were last week.

Gratitude for some awesome new young women leaders.

Gratitude for amazing friends.

Gratitude that I get to attend EFY in Palmyra, New York this summer.

Gratitude that I live in a place where I can take seminary with a room filled with righteous youth during school hours.

Gratitude for the fact that I only have to go to each class one more time.

Gratitude that when school ends seminary won't have to thanks to summer seminary.

Gratitude for the amazing opportunities I have been given to serve others.

Gratitude for the progress I have made in my life

Gratitude for all the progress I have yet to make in my life.

It's been a grandiose day filled with Hawaiian music from the Soul Surfer movie soundtrack, chemically changing pennies with zinc to make them gold and silver, and buying lovely new notebooks. Oh how I love a trip to the local Wally World to pick out new journals. I can't wait to destroy them with thoughts of love and spiritual things. I'm obsessed.

Life is good my friends. Life is magnificently splendid.

feel my sunlight

p.s. This time next year I'll have a mission call. Just think about that for a second and try not to panic or get too excited. I personally can't wait.

p.s.s. Have I ever told you how much I love the movie Soul Surfer? Its my all time favorite ever. I would watch it every day if I had the time.

#ItWasMom Happy Mothers Day!

Hi Friends! Sorry I've been a slacker at blogging lately. I have been swamped with projects like this...

(This is me doing an infomercial for "The Snuggie" for my American Sign Language class. There are for sure some mistakes so if you know ASL don't mock me.)

My days have been swamped with work the last little bit. I took the AP English Language test yesterday and lets just say I'm glad that is over with.

Since it seems to be a video kind of day I want you all to take a second to watch this video...

My mom is the one who put up with all the tears, all the laughs, and all the banging of pots and pans.

Who accepted the noise while I practiced my musical instruments. From my pots and pan days, to my piano banging days, to my guitar playing days, to the times I insisted on listening to Radio Disney.

It was my mom who held me before I could talk.

Who made sure I made it from here...

To here...

It was my mom who put bandaids on my knees.

Who let me tie yarn all over the house.

Who let me watch High School Musical a thousand times even when it became annoying.
 
It was my mom who dressed me up like this...

 

And this...

It was my mom who inspired my love for this...



which later evolved into a love for this...

and who took me to the doctor when tumbling meant this...

It was my mom who ran to buy poster board at midnight when I notified her I had a project due the next day.

It was my mom who checked my grades and made sure I turned my homework in.

It was my mom that taught me who God was and who inspired my love for this.

It was my mom who installed a version of Photoshop Elements which inspired me to become a Graphic Designer.

It was my mom who taught me, who held me, who loved me, who read to me, who taught me to read by myself, who drove me to soccer practice, who taught me to drive, who I called when my driving resulted in car crashes, who picked me up when I was down, who inspired me to be bigger than myself, who put up with me when I was at my worst, and who clapped for me when I was at my best.

Julie B. Beck said that

“THERE IS NO LIMIT TO WHAT A MOTHER CAN ACCOMPLISH. RIGHTEOUS WOMEN  HAVE CHANGED THE COURSE OF HISTORY AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO.”

My mom no doubt molded much of my life. Things would be different without her here.

I am so glad to have the mother I was blessed with. And I now echo the words of Abraham Lincoln when he said that


“ALL THAT I AM OR EVER HOPE TO BE, I OWE TO MY ANGEL MOTHER.”

i LOVE you MOM! happy mothers day! 

#ItWasMom


 P.S. I suggest you all go read THIS BOOK! I am about halfway through it and I'm digging it... a lot.