Utah: The Beehive State (Part 2)

The Conference Center in the early morning light.

The Salt Lake Temple in the early morning light.

In the stand-by line in the Tabernacle!

I wanted to play that organ so bad! #wardorganistproblems

Amber

Heather

Krista

Me

WE ALL GOT IN FOR CONFERENCE!!!!!!

So, the Salt Lake Temple is just kinda-sorta super gorgeous!

Inside the Conference Center.

P.S. The Tabernacle Choir sounded amazing!!

The Conference Center again.

Let's just say I really like the look of this building.

The Christus in the North Temple Square Visitors Center

Guess where...?

(Side note: I don't think I'd ever seen so many ladies and gents, dressed in church attire, all in one place, in my entire life. There were so many!)

My friend Andrea and me...gotta thank one of my friends for this set-up! Best set-up ever. :)

Temple Square

So I may have just found my new favorite place, landscape-wise...Provo is so beautiful!

The Provo Utah Temple

You can't really see it, but that's the Provo MTC. Hoping to be there someday!

Underground library at BYU

Go Cougs! (Not WSU Cougs, though, just BYU Cougs!)

For any of you Vocal Point fans...this is the Square where they perform a lot on campus. For those of you who have never heard them, check 'em out! They're fantastic!

Utah: The Beehive State (Part 1)

I remember watching the Winter Olympics when I was in 2nd grade and thinking that it was so cool that the Olympics were being held in the United States. (I also thought that Sarah Hughes was a fascinating skater, but that's beside the point.)
I remember back in 4th grade (Fall 2003), we were in Social Studies talking about maps and different types of climates. Usually I was pretty good about paying attention in class, but I don't remember a thing that was discussed that day. I just remember looking at all the pictures of beautiful landscapes, especially a photo of red and orange arches, which, upon further inspection of the caption, were of arches at Zion National Park in southern Utah. Now, to just see them in person...
A decade later, I finally made my desired trip to Utah. No, I didn't get to see the arches (hopefully on another trip), but I made it to the 2002 Olympic city, Salt Lake City, and saw the sites. My goodness, it was gorgeous.
I'll tell the story in pictures.

Welcome to Utah...at 7-something in the morning. What a beautiful sight!

Breakfast stop to visit a good friend and one of my old missionary-teachers. Food was good and company was great. And the city was Bountiful. :)

The Bountiful Utah Temple. It was on a hill and you could see so much of the Salt Lake Valley from up there. It was awesome.

After all day in the city, we came home for dinner. While we were waiting for our pizza, we realized that we didn't have any napkins...so T.P. would have to do.

Salt Lake's Wal-Mart was intense! Never before had we seen a Wal-Mart that had a 2-story parking garage and escalators inside.

U of U Utes, or BYU Cougars?

I Love to See the Temple!

June 7, 2013 was my very first temple trip.
We did temple baptisms, and it was incredible! The peace was like the peace at my baptism, but amplified several dozen times over! What a beautiful place, a beautiful day...and I got to share it with my ward. Such a blessing.
P.S. Some may think that Church members are secretive about what goes on in temples, and while we may not dish out details because of the special and sacred nature of the temple, it would be difficult to describe anyway because it is so amazing. I just love going there!

Pictures in front of the Seattle Temple

The Call

I was watching General Conference* in April 2013 when I heard these words: "Be ready to give an answer to those who ask why you live as you do. Be ready to give a reason for the hope and joy that they see in you." (You can read the whole talk here.)
I didn't catch much of the rest of that talk, because those words kept echoing in my brain. And then I felt one of my first promptings:** I felt called to serve a mission.
The first thing I did mentally was fight it. For crying out loud, I thought, I just got baptized not even a month ago! And now I'm supposed to serve a mission?
And then I was reminded of a scripture from my favorite book in the Old Testament: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9). I just needed to trust the Lord and relax... And as the time went on throughout the day, the more I thought of it, the more I began to enjoy the thought. And by the end of the day, I was excited to start! It would be awhile before I began the process of completing paperwork, but that was okay...for now, I could just study.


*General Conference is a twice-annual, weekend-long event in which members of the LDS Church listen to Church authorities (like the Church President) speak on gospel topics.
**A prompting is when the Holy Spirit prompts you to take or not take action regarding something, like in the Proverbs scripture that says, "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

A Long-Awaited Day

I had wanted to join the Church (so much easier and shorter than spelling out the whole church name!) for nearly nine months when I stepped into those waters of baptism with a gladdened heart and enlightened mind. Being underwater terrifies me, but aside from that, I had no nerves. I was overcome with calm and peace, and was extremely happy.
That was March 17, 2013. And today I still have that peace and happiness. It was a wonderful day shared with friends, both old and new. I was taught by four different missionaries, three of whom were able to attend my baptism. I feel so blessed to have them in my life, along with the friends who supported me all the way.
I was baptized by my best friend, the same friend who first introduced me to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Talk about a special moment! It was hard to hold back the tears, but I managed somehow.
I guess all I can really say is that it was an amazing day, the feelings that I had that day and have had since that day are indescribable, and can only be described by a Book of Mormon scripture that I read a few days before my baptism: "Therefore, let us glory, yeah, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part in which I feel" (Alma 26:16).

Before the baptism. Here's our lovely crew! I love these elders (and the other one--maybe I should say RMs* now!) to death! And my best friend, of course! :)

After the baptism. The girls on the right are both dear friends, both instrumental in my mission discussions and strengthening my testimony.

 

 

*An RM is a returned missionary, aka: someone who has served a mission.

Why Start A Blog?

Why would I ever start a blog?
I have no clue. I just decided all of a sudden that I was going to start one. Even if I was the only one to read it for now, at least it was something that my kids someday could look at and see that, indeed, Mom had a life when she was young.
Ok, just kidding. I actually had a bit of a reason for starting one:
I wanted to document life: the experiences, the stories, the lessons, the thoughts...and, yes, I already have a journal. But specifically, I want to document my journey as a part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, because that is the most meaningful journey I have embarked on. Something about sharing some of those aforementioned things so that perhaps others can benefit or even just have something to smile at...thus, my first few posts will be regarding past events that lead to the here and now. My goal is to write with purpose--but I wouldn't be surprised to find myself posting a good recipe here and there, a funny or uplifting video, or anything else that's worth sharing.
No matter your beliefs or your thought process, I hope that, in my blog, you can find something to enjoy. Even if it's one of those recipes.

Let the journey begin.