It's not a mistake.

This week I had to make a difficult decision. And it's not like this has been the first time I've ever had to make a tough decision. But this is the first time that the first thing I thought to do was pray. I was so relieved at the easy fix that I honestly laughed. So I prayed. AND THEN A BOLT OF LIGHTNING STRUCK ME IN THE FOREHEAD AND I KNEW WHAT TO DO!!! False. I sat there, and nothing happened. But I found myself thinking a lot about one of the options, and then I thought of something I could do, and I did it. When I thought about it, I realized that could be the answer to my prayer, but I decided it wasn't because it had been my normal thought process, and I hadn't really felt something out of the norm. So I was kind of disappointed that I hadn't been answered and I had a few doubts about my ability to hear, or God's wanting to answer. So I went to bed, and just decided to kind of forget about it, and just sort of say that what I had done was an answer, even though I didn't really believe it was. Then today in church, a woman got on the stand and decided to talk about prayer. And she said "I felt impressed that I needed to say this, but not everyone gets answers in the same way.." and then proceeded to list of ways we can be influenced by the Spirit in answers to prayers, and I just sort of stared at her in shock. The whole "impressed to say this" is almost a cliche in church talks, and I never thought much about it. But this was fantastic, and extraordinarily accurate. Usually at times like these, I would burst into tears at this magnificent revelation, and feel dumb for doubting anything. But today, I got a content little smile, and I just felt happy. I sat back in my seat, and almost felt like God was chuckling at me, which I have no doubt he was. Who would have thought even Heavenly Father likes to say "I told you so?"

These are my Friends.

Every single one of them is completely different from the other. But somehow, we all mesh perfectly together. I have never met such a group of people I feel so natural with, while being so completely weird with all at the same time. They are my family away from home, and this isn't even all of them. I couldn't ask for better people to love.

"A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."

Proverbs 18:24.

These are random pictures of those who mean so much to me. :D

Julia, Andrea, Me

Me, April

Ayesha, Me, Andrea

Bobby, Chris, Me

They come in all shapes and sizes, but they all bless my life every day one randomly hysterical comment at a time. Be it a shoulder to cry on, or a shoulder to grab onto for laughter support, they make my life better than I could ever imagine. I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Blessings in Sleep Deprivation

So this week, by some miracle, I made it to seminary every day within 5 minutes of 6 in the morning. That's completely ridiculous. I'm pretty sure most people don't even understand HOW ridiculous that really is. Last year, I usually rolled in around 6:30, only to catch the closing remarks and prayers, and even then, I'm not sure how much I really contained, though the lessons were nothing short of amazing. This year, since I'm entirely dependent on myself and can no longer decide to blame Oliver, I have had to make a renewed effort in getting up on time. And so I did. I haven't felt tired all week, and did not think much of it, until yesterday, which was Saturday. I woke up and was sure I had never been that tired before in my life. This is completely strange, but I was overwhelmed with gratitude. Seriously, I was glad I was too tired to function on a Saturday. To me, it was a blessing of seminary- I made it through the whole week without feeling tired, something I'm sure I never would have accomplished on my own. I have band after school on Monday's, Tuesday's, and Thursday's every week, and often have to attend the football game most Friday's that end at about midnight. Factor in PreAP/AP courses at a school like Cinco, and then early morning seminary, and you will find how much of a miracle it really is that I made it to Seminary within 5 minutes of 6 o'clock every day, and then lived to tell the tale today.

Fun in Family

So this blog post wasn't really brought on by seminary, but I it has a huge impact on me daily. This year, my oldest brother Sam came back from his mission in Chuuk/Guam. After that, both he and my other older brother Oliver went off to A&M University in College Station. Ever since then, it's just been me and my parents, and I can't even begin to describe how fun it is to be the only child with them. When people ask me how it is to be the only kid at home, I usually just tell them "quiet," but it's really anything but. In between my Dad's incessant jokes and my Mom's ever increasing laughter, there really isn't that much quiet time, except for the lack of techno music at absurd hours of the night, as it used to be when Oliver was still around doing his insane work load. I love to go to school and tell people about my family; it's something I never grow tired of. I rag on them all the time at home, but I truly adore them all more than I can ever say. This Thursday was my birthday, and though they weren't there, both of my brothers surprised me with a birthday card in the mail, and then came down on the weekend. They gave me a video game- Beatles RockBand, and we played it all day long. I'll never forget it, either. Every person played the game- even my mom! She sang, and at the end even played a little guitar. In our church, family is a fundamental thing. When I was younger, I was always annoyed with that, that I HAD to love my family and everything, but now, I'm so grateful that I have them in my life, and that I can share an entire eternity rockin out with each and every one of them.

The Meaning Behind the Madness :D

SO! In my seminary class, my teacher brought up the idea of making these blogs to post our beliefs about the church, which would be The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is quite the mouthful, so LDS church or the Mormon church. I was pretty much pumped, because this kind of stuff is rockin'! Not to mention that this is for a church class, and we basically never do stuff like this. So anyways I went home that day and made a blog super quick... and then posted nothing. So here I am now, taking the time to write about what I believe!

First and foremost, I know this church is true, and with that as the basis of everything else, I know President Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet of God, that he really DOES know what he needs to say to comfort and guide the people in this church. I would follow him to the ends of the Earth. I know that prayer works, and that he really does listen to what you are saying. I believe sometimes you mistake the Holy Ghost as your own thoughts, which isn't necessarily a bad thing because it probably means you are on the right path to be so connected. I believe everything happens for a reason, even if it's something really bad. You can always become stronger because of it. I know that the Book of Mormon is really a book from heaven, and not just something made up by a delusional young boy by the name of Joseph Smith. I know that Joseph saw what he said he did, because I have felt the truth in his words, even today. I know you're never alone in anything, and that Jesus Christ is the best friend you can or will ever have. I know that Preisthood blessings, especially father's blessings, are the real thing, and that many times, it isn't your earthly father speaking, but your Heavenly Father instead. And finally, I know I am a daughter of God, who loves me, and I love him.