Brown Sugar confidance

Whew! Twice in two days! I'm on a roll! (or trying to play catchup for the whole week I missed. Which ever you prefer.)


So I just decided I am going to do Blogtember. I think it will be fun. Only, I think I'll skip the whole 'coffee thing' since you know, I'm Mormon, and we kinda don't do that. (Maybe I'll make myself some hot chocolate or something.)

Right now I'm sitting at the sunny yellow computer desk (Just for your information, it's more fun to blog when the desk you are sitting at is yellow. It just is. I kinda love yellow right now and I hope you all go buy yellow desks because they are just that great.) So I'm sitting at the yellow desk and realizing just how truly blessed I am. I have great friends, a great family, and am loving life right now. How much better can it get? Also, this greatness is playing in the background--------> click here! or here! or here! or here! or even here! (seriously, what happened to this greatness? I mean, their new stuff is so not virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy. And that stinks because this stuff is prime. #Jobrolife #Jonas)

I just got back to a 16th birthday party for one of my best friends named Marissa. I love you Marissa! Happy Birthday! You rock my socks!

So this post is going to be short because it's midnight and my bed is calling me. But I just wanted to share this awesome video with you, because I think it's great.





 I don't know how many of you know this about me, but when I was little I was the SHYEST person on the face of the planet. Like, people would ask me what my name was and I would just stare at the ground and not answer. I know this is hard to believe because it's almost the opposite of who I am now, but I just remember being so shy and hating it.

I've come a long way since then, and my confidence didn't start to come until I began to realize who I was. In the words of Sister Dalton, I began to know who I was, and whose I was. And that made all the difference.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to girls camp. On Thursday night at girls camp we had planned to have this awesome spiritual night with this awesome motivational speaker. Unfortunately, our speaker had a flat tire on the way up and had to cancel due to the fact that there was no way he would be able to get there.

As soon as I heard the news I had the feeling that that meant I was supposed to teach, and that I was supposed to teach brown sugar. (I will explain what that is in a second) I went to my friend Reagan and told her about the situation and asked her if she would teach it with me. (She went to EFY with me and new Brown Sugar.) She agreed and we started to freak out.

We had an impromptu meeting with the YCLs, Bishop, and Young Women's Leaders about what we should do. I volunteered and my heart pounded. As I started to volunteer I remember thinking "what the heck are you doing? You are supposed to be shy." But the funny thing was, there was no shyness, just excitement.

A few minutes before we were supposed to teach we walked outside to have a peptalk and to say a prayer since we had had no preparation on this whatsoever.

We walked in and sat down just in time for the opening song. "How firm a foundation" I remember singing the words of the third verse and having them hit me hard.

 Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,

For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.

I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,

Upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous,

Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

I was going to be just fine. We stood up in front of two whole wards and we taught and everything went perfect. It was awesome to know that even though we hadn't had time to prepare, we were prepared to teach when the time came.

This experience helped strengthen my testimony that God will make weak things strong.

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

                              -Ether 12:27 #humblebees! 

Now I said I would tell you about brown sugar, so here it is. This was a method of scripture reading that we learned at EFY so here it is.

Brown Sugar

So imagine your mom puts a big bowl of plain oatmeal in front of you. How would react? (eh...ewww!) Now what do you do to make the oatmeal taste better? (BROWN SUGAR!) Now say your mom pours lots of brown sugar over your oatmeal, now how would you react? (YUM!!)

The Scriptures are sometimes like oatmeal. If you are just reading they can be a little bland, but if you add brown sugar, they become sweet.

How to add Brown Sugar to your scripture study.

1. Say a prayer that the Holy Ghost will be with you.

2. Read the verse.

3. Pick a word or phrase that sticks out to you.

4. clarify the message.

5. How does that relate to you?

6. What is a measurable goal that can help you apply it to your life?

I am obsessed with brown sugar and I challenge all of you to try it. It has brought me so much more knowledge and love for the scriptures and It is awesome. I have a testimony of brown sugar. I also have a testimony of the scriptures. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.



Feel my Sunlight



p.s. life is so great. How can you not love it?
p.s.s. eh, so the whole "I'll keep this short" thing didn't work out, but you know, YOLO!
p.s.s. please enjoy this picture of me buckling milk into the car. #theyseemerollintheybucklemeintothecar #clickitorspillit #nousetocryovermilkthatcantspill

 

greater things

Once again my heart is filled. I just got back from a weekend of fun in the mountains. I got to go on 4th year hike as a YCL and it was very rewarding. I had a blast with my 3 4th years and was asked lots of questions about high school. Girls I'm pretty sure you are going to rock the high school.

This summer has been one fantastic thing after another and you can't help but be filled when the spirit is so strong and so constant in your life. I discovered many things this summer that mean so much to me. Some of them tangible, and some of them little gems of knowledge, or love, or memories, or laughter, or music notes. All of them have made me greater and helped me live in a higher manner. I hope that as this summer comes to an end, and the dreaded school year begins, that I will be able to take these things with me to help me continue to live in a manner that my father in heaven would be proud of.

One of these wonderful things is journal writing. I just filled my large grey journal and I just love it. I also have discovered how much I love hand written notes. There is just something special about them that brings people together into a tighter bond of friendship. Another thing I will always cherish is the people I have met this summer. I have met so many wonderful people who have blessed and changed my life and ultimately made me a better person. I have also discovered a deep love for the temple and have found great peace in attending as often as I can. I cherish the wonderful things given to me by the wonderful people I have spent time with this summer from the notes, to my lucky turtle it will always be loved and I just want to say thank you. All of these things have brought me the greatest thing I have. This is a stronger testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints is the only church with a complete fullness of the gospel. I know that through him I can do anything and through him I can be made whole. I know that even when you're broken you are loved.

Feel my Sunlight

p.s. SHOUT OUT TO MAMMA SHELL BELL!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

p.s.s. People are so great.

p.s.s.s. If you belong to the group classified as "young women" READ THIS!!

Rejoice

I love love love this gospel because it gives me hope. It gives me hope that for everything I am doing, and all the effort I am giving I might one day be rewarded for it and that my efforts won't be in vain.

One of the lovely girls from my group this last week shared with us a scripture. This is now one of my very favorite scriptures. Here's why.

"And I soon go to the place of my rest,   

    which is with my redeemer; 

for I know that in him I shall rest.          

  And I rejoice in the day when my 

mortal shall put on immortality,       

       and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face 

      with pleasure, 

and he will say unto me;             

          Come unto me, ye blessed, 

here is a place prepared for you in the          

    mansions of my Father. Amen."

                     -Enos 27

I love the word rejoice from that scripture. It reminds me that I should not fear what might happen to me in this life, for if I endure it well, I might gain everything and be blessed when I return to live with my father. And when times get hard, and struggles happen he is always there. Just one prayer away.

 

feel my sunlight



p.s. I am obsessed with EFY music. Isn't it great?
p.s.s. My mom is awesome. Just sayin.

EFY counselors are the greatest. I love them all.

My heart is full. I love EFY and the post-EFY-withdrawls are starting to kick in. The week after is always the hardest. Here are my pictures I promised. :)

Feel my Sunlight



p.s. The church is true and makes me oh so happy. :)

soap and lifesavers

The cutest group of girls that you ever did see.

Well, I am done with EFY for this year and let me tell you it has been fantastic! Now, I won't say it has been the best two weeks of my life because I was told that I should make the week after EFY even better. That is a hard challenge because EFY pretty much rocks, but I accept it.

Now, I won't give you a layout to what happened each day this week because that's not the message I want to share, but I will share with you what I feel upon coming home. I have met so many awesome people this year who have changed my life for the better. I feel blessed, I feel loved, I fill lifted, I feel cleaner, and I feel stronger.
I feel cleaner and more refined in this world of dirt and I feel a need to hand out my "soap" to the world and invite others to use it. These scriptures have been my soap from this week. Learn and love them. {And Amberleigh, that soap analogy was for you. *lifesaver!*}

Today I found a reminder that I need to be careful. Today I discovered that our new search engine on our laptop is called "babylon" Now, this reminded me that while there can be good found on the internet, there is enough bad to equal Babylon and that we must be careful if we don't want our language {or our internet} confounded. I laughed at this, but marveled at its truth. I have already seen the powerful workings of the adversary on Pinterest today and can see that if we aren't paying attention and watching ourselves, how quickly he could pull us down.  {*lifesaver* to the internet for that analogy!}

But I have also seen good in the world today. I discovered that the first presidency and the quorum of the 12 now have Facebook pages and I liked every one of them. If you are my friend on Facebook expect some scripture love to flood your feed. Today I used the internet to read a blog post about Lemons that I just loved, and I have also used the internet to watch the Emma Smith movie via Netflix and totally recommend you all go watch it! This just goes to show that there is opposition in all things, and that it is our decision on how we want to use it. Choose wisely.

Now my lovely neighbor just brought us cookies with chocolate chips AND m&m's in them for no particular reason. What a "zion like" thing to do. I don't know about you but that makes me want to go do something good. What are you going to do?



Feel my Sunlight



p.s. EFY, Nationals, Trek, EFY, 4th year hike, girls camp, tumbling camp. Can summer get better? I submit that it cannot.

p.s.s. There are more EFY pictures to come later. :)

p.s.s.s. Just so you know, the term "lifesaver* refers to the fact that every time you came up with an analogy for the gospel at EFY our lovely counselor Amberleigh would throw you a lifesaver. Analogies = Lifesavers

July 24th buckets

I know I have been away from the nest lately{and by nest, I mean this beautiful little piece of the internet that I call my blog.} but I have good reason. My heart is filled with thoughts and emotions as I sit here at my computer in my EFY t shirt watching fireworks that are probably illegal explode outside my window. The last few days, as well as the majority of the summer, have been extremely thought provoking and have ultimately made me a better person. Now the only way I think I can explain my testimony this summer is to say that if a testimony was measured in water, I have gained buckets. I have gained buckets of love, and buckets of joy. I have had buckets of spiritual experiences that have taught me things that I have never even thought of before.
These experiences stretch from the first session of EFY I attended this summer with the amazingly wonderful Mamma ShellBell {and by the way, the screaming of my name and attacking me with a huge hug on Monday basically made my life and I just love you so stinkin much and you are basically the greatest ever.} and my awesome company #TheCharitytez who taught me so much and who reminded me that there is much more to life than tumbling. This session of EFY taught me about the pioneers in a sense that I had never thought about before.
My next rendezvous took me to Missouri where I competed at the US Power Tumbling National Championships, but tumbling is beside the point in this post. Tumbling took me to Missouri, but what I found was much greater. In Missouri I was given the opportunity to visit Far West, Independence, Adam-Ondi-Ahmen, and Liberty Jail.These were things that I might only get to see once in my lifetime, and they are things that helped me get a greater understanding of my pioneer ancestors and their reasons for crossing the planes.
Not long after the Missouri experience I put on my bloomers and headed out on pioneer trek. {are you sensing a theme here?} This was an incredibly awesome experience that I haven't shared much about due to the fact that immediately following pioneer trek I headed to my second session of...
EFY! Which is where we are now. See, I have this obsession with EFY where 1 week just isn't enough. We just finished day 3 of EFY this week and let me just say it has been absolutely incredible and I have loved every second of it thus far. Now I have had an experience that came as somewhat of a surprise to me. Yesterday during dinner our fantastic guy counselor Jett came up to me and said "Amberleigh wants to talk to you." {I must add here that Amberleigh is my counselor and she is pretty much the coolest person that you will ever meet and I am obsessed with her knowledge of quotes and scriptures and her ability to make things fun. I love you Amberleigh!} Well Amberleigh asked me about my instagram and I had no idea what she was talking about. She later explained to me that someone was posting things bashing the church on my instagram. I won't go into much detail on that, but I want to say that this experience taught me more fully how the saints felt before they left to come to Utah. I feel like I now understand a sliver of what they must have felt like to be persecuted.
Now, I have had many many more spiritual experiences that I would love to write about, but unfortunately I must arise early tomorrow because tomorrow is going to be a long amazing spiritual day, and my bed is calling. So I leave you with my testimony of the Mormon Pioneers and that they crossed the planes for a true religion. The entered into Zion that I might be able to live in peace and freedom to worship my God. I have a testimony that I know this is the only true church and that no matter what anybody says or does to try to convince you otherwise, you must stand firm in the faith and be a witness and a beacon of light to the world around you. These are the later days and we are the later day army. We must fight with everything we have and do everything in our power to honor our pioneer heritage and the legacy they have left for us. We have big footsteps to follow, but we have been given the tools to do it. I know this church is true and that Thomas S. Monson is a true and living prophet. I love this gospel and all the joy it has brought. I have a strong love for all of you and I write these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.



feel my sunlight



p.s. Um... have I ever told you I love EFY, and that I love all my counselors? Shout out to the incredibly awesome Kjarinda, Randi, Braden, Michelle, Spencer, Jett, and Amberleigh. You guys are such great examples to me and I love you all so dearly.