Organize Your Time

So I know that I said I would post everyday... but lets face it, there is no way a busy college girl can post on her blog everyday. Wanna know why? Well because I've been prioritizing my time! I had two tests this week to study for and I'm hoping it paid off. If not, oh well, I did my best. And that is that. I also have a draft of my research paper due online this week and I honestly don't know when I'll get that done... I could have been working on it now haha but I need to add relaxing in my busy schedule. Some weeks are busier than others but thats life no matter what. Work, play, and school. I think it's so important to manage and prioritize and organize your time smartly... or healthily? I don't know if I like those words but I think you get the gist of what I'm sayin lol. I think I would be a mess if I didn't make my lists of things to do or discipline myself to stay off facebook and the TV. I'm glad the Lord blessed me with the talent to prioritize my needs and wants. It's not easy for a lot of people to tell their friend they need to stop texting in order to have a successful study session or turn the TV off and what not. I am so so grateful for my Heavenly Father and I'm grateful that He knows what to throw at me when I need it to challenge myself but also be there along the way to help if I ask for it. This gospel is so amazing and I love every bit of it. I can't even imagine what life would be like without it!

Prioritize your life and have a wonderful, beautiful day!

Laughing

Today I realized how much I have laughed this semester compared to last. I've really enjoyed this semester with my wonderful roomies and their crazy personalities ;) We laugh all the time and I love it! I've laughed more with these girls than I have all year long.... Laughing is good. Smiling is good. Laughing and smiling are thehighlights of my day and I love it! I love having the feeling of happiness and joy. Whenever I'm happy I think of why and realize I'm blessed in so many ways and I owe it all to my Heavenly Father.

Here are some pictures of some good times and good laughs lately!

These pictures are of me and my roommates. Jamie Greenall, Marie Sheranian, and Samantha Bruns!! Love you girlies!!

Keep Smiling and Laughing!!

"You Harvest What You Plant"

Today at church we had Ward Conference. Our bishopric spoke along with our stake president. They all gave really good inspiring talks. All of those men were filled with the spirit and their words filled my heart with the spirit. I can tell that they love this gospel and that they love their ward and the people they serve. Our stake president is President Henry B. Eyring's son and he talked about farming and harvesting. He said that we harvest what we plant. He made the analogy that if we plant bad habits in our lives, like missing curfew or only going to sacrament meeting, we harvest that and that is what we become familiar with. I really like that. We harvest what we plant. Through prayer, obedience, friends and family, we can overcome our bad habits and work towards a more righteous life.

In sunday school we talked about having the gift of the Holy Ghost and the gift of Eternal Life. There were many uplifting insights given and I loved all the comments made. Someone asked why Christ had to leave in order for the Comforter to be with them. I remember talking to a friend about that during a missionary experience. He was telling me that we don't need prophets on the earth because we have the Holy Ghost to reveal to us the true things of our Heavenly Father and the reason why prophets were on the earth before in the Bible was because we didn't have the Holy Ghost and that is why they needed prophets to reveal the truthfulness of their teachings. Well in sunday school we learned that if Christ was on the earth today, we wouldn't need the Holy Ghost to testify and confirm his existence because we can physically see and know for sure he is there and real. The Holy Ghost is a testifier of Christ and since Christ isn't here, the Holy Ghost is what helps us believe for ourselves. So in order for the disciples to receive a testimony of the Holy Ghost they needed to experience it and that could only happen if Christ was gone. At least that's how I understood the lesson today. It was really cool to think about it more and relate it back to a previous missionary experience I had in high school.

In Relief Society we talked about receiving personal revelation. Our wonderful teacher turned off the light in the classroom and then turned the light quickly back on. She asked what we noticed when that happened and people answered with "it was surprising, distracting (from what we were to be thinking about), and sudden." Then she had us close our eyes and look up towards the light and slowly open our eyes. She asked us what we noticed when we "gradually" opened our eyes. People answered "it was expected and" ... something else that I cant remember :) But then she used this analogy in our personal revelation. We usually or normally get personal revelation or answers to our prayers gradually. We all know that our prayers are answered in His time, not ours. But sometimes, our revelation is like a light switch where it happens suddenly and sometimes we don't always realize it or sometimes we don't expect it. I thought that analogy was pretty cool.

I just thought that church today overall was really good. I felt the spirit and felt like I learned something I didn't know before or hadn't thought of. This gospel never ceases to surprise me and I love it. It's so awesome to be taught the same principles over and over and still learn something new!

You harvest what you plant. Make good habits and break bad ones. May your sunday be filled with joy and happiness :)

If you fail the first time...

try, try, again. Today started out to be really good. I woke up to hearing thunder but by noon the sun was out and it was perfect weather. About 12:15 I met up with some guys from my anatomy class to study for our lecture test. We studied from 12:45 to 6:00 and then I went to take my test then. Since my tests are taken in a testing center, I am able to see what score I got right when I leave the testing room. As I searched for my I-number I saw a failing score and pretty much broke down. I walked back home feeling completely defeated and tried holding back the tears as long as possible. I then broke down and just cried. I called my dad to let him know what had happened. He was very sympathetic to me but said how proud he was that I have actually put effort in my schooling. That made me feel better but I still felt that I was dumb and not capable or qualified to take this class. My dad then proceeded to give me advice and told me over and over that everything is going to be okay. He said that I could either learn from this experience and look at a way to grow and learn from my mistakes or I could say I'm a failure and give up. He reminded me that I am not the kind of person to give up.

Heavenly Father puts trials in front of us to help us learn and grow from our mistakes. My mistake was cramming right before the test instead of always studying every night. Now that I know what to do for the future I can only hope that I will be able to retain the things I need to in order to be prepared. I know I am not alone in this. I know that I can always pray for comfort. Even though I feel like a complete failure I know that that is not what people think of me as. I know my parents don't think I'm a loser who isn't smart. I know my Heavenly Father knows the potential I have and doesn't think I'm a total and complete failure. I know my parents and Heavenly Father love me and are proud of the righteous decisions that I have made throughout my life.

Failure isn't supposed to bring us down. It's supposed to help us learn and think about our futures. If everyone gave up after 1 failure then we wouldn't have a lot of the things we do now. It's a test and trial circumstance that we all go through and we only grow from them. I'm so grateful for the comfort this gospel gives me. If anything, I feel like I let myself down more than my parents or Heavenly Father. But I know that I will be okay in the end. This is nothing compared to everything else that happens in this world. I'm doin good :)

Remember that failure is okay. Keep doing your best!

Just another day in Rexburg, Idaho

Not much happened today. No huge spiritual insight for you today. However, today I was thinking about all the people that I have blessed with in my life. I have wonderful friends and the best roommates I could ever ask for. Jamie Greenall, you my freakin lifesaver!!! You're the best room roommate I've ever had and I will miss you terribly while you're halfway around the world!! You've helped me grow not only physically through motivation for working our but spiritually. I've loved having you in my Book of Mormon class and I'm SO glad you switched in :) Marie Sheranian...(I GOT YOUR NAME RIGHT!!! ;)) You're such a sweet girl and I've loved having the opportunity to get to know you from day on at ballroom dance camp. You never fail to put a smile on my face and I can't wait for our new adventures next semester! Christian Brent Rock. SHOUT OUT TO YOU!!! ;) You're AMAZING. You're the single most bestest friend I have EVER had and I would not be who I am today without you. You don't need me to go on and on and on and on about you cause you know what I'd say :) Mom, Dad, I love you very much and I am the luckiest girl in the world to have you as my parents. You've given me such good advice and you've been a huge support system during my stressful time in my life. College is not easy and I'm glad I have you guys to go to for help. I love you SO SO much. I really am extremely blessed.

I cannot express how much I love my friends and family. Thank you so much for supporting me throughout me life. I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for putting certain people in my life at the times that I need them. I can truly say that I am happy and I love having that feeling!

Remember to tell the ones you love how much you love them! Have a great day :)

Anatomy has completely changed my perspective

I am in Anatomy and Physiology this semester at school and my ENTIRE perspective has completely changed about the body. My favorite part about this class is the lab because that is where we learn about the actual anatomy of the body. What the names of the bones and muscles are and what functions they have. Right now we are studying the muscles. I never really realized that there are soooo many layers! Its been fun and interesting learning about the body. I no longer say or think "oh I just popped my finger" now its "I just popped my 3rd phalanx!" And its not longer my knee.... its my Platella. It's pretty funny actually. Since I'm still learning the muscles I haven't completely applied that yet to myself haha. But the body continues to amaze me. Heavenly Father is such a smart man. He knew all the things we needed to function and what things were important for our bodies. Bodies are a huge miracle to me. There's so much detail that people don't think about or realize.

BYU-I has the wonderful privilege of having cadavers to work with. We get them from the U of U and I was pretty excited to get to participate with one. A few weeks back we were to study the muscles on cadavers. Some friends were super excited and I think I was more nervous than excited to see a dead body. My teacher gave the respect shpeal and after that I thought I was ready. However, when I walked into the room, the smell consumed me and I started tearing up. The body's face was covered but once the TA removed the skin I broke down and couldn't control my eyes and began to tear up even more. I left the room and was really emotional after class. I was literally crying on and off for 2 days. Friends and family suggested that the reason I acted that way was because I had never experienced that before. My body didn't know how to react so it reacted by crying.

I am a STRONG believer in that everything happens for a reason. There are no coincidences. This happened to me for a reason. I don't know what it is yet, but I'm hoping to find out before I die. Heavenly Father knew I would be sensitive to the fact. The crazy thing was that I wasn't even sad at the fact that they were real dead bodies... I honestly have NO idea what happened to me in there. But I know I wasn't alone. You learn something about yourself everyday apparently and that day I learned that I'm more sensitive than I thought lol. Being LDS or Mormon does something to your way of thinking. When you watch movies or shows that talk about heaven and religious things we tend to think about the plan of salvation and the fact that Heavenly Father is always there for us no matter what. I think of our bodies now in a more technical light. Every bone, muscle, organ, and nerve has a specific function. Compare that to the gospel and it also has specific functions. I know that none of it could happen if we didn't have our Heavenly Father and Savior. This is what I love about the gospel. Being able to compare it to daily life and finding new insight.

Look for service.. and have a wonderful day! :)

The Start of Something New

Hello!

I started this blog mainly for my benefit, however, I hope that I can shine a little light or insight into your hearts and minds. I am a happy member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Oh, and I'm dang proud of it!! You'll never EVER be able to change my mind :) I was born into the church. And for those of you who don't understand that, that means my parents are strong members and I've been goin to church since I was literally a baby. I was baptized when I was 8 in my pool (how cool is that?!), participated in all the youth programs and activities and now participate in the Relief Society. I am a student at Brigham Young University- Idaho. No I'm not only going here because I didn't get into Provo. In fact, I LOVE it here and wouldn't trade any of my experiences here. Not that Provo doesn't have good experiences... I'm just sayin! So there's some background about me. Each day I will post something that either helped my testimony grow, or just some insights I had about the gospel that day. And if nothing really happens, I'll still post!

So today's thoughts come from the devotional we had today. We have one every tuesday at 2:15 and we have the wonderful opportunity to hear from many inspiring speakers. Today Sister Julie Merrill spoke. She talked about the fact that we are all children of our Heavenly Father. And because we are, we need to find ways to help others and serve others. This was such a good devotional... (devo for short). I mean, REALLY good. Not that I'm a horrible person, but I could try to find more ways to serve others. How hard is it to hold the door open for people or help pick up papers that fell? It's not hard at all. I know that when people help and serve me I feel great! Why not share that feeling with others through service? The best part is that it can be anonymous!!

I love this gospel and and the many small inspirational teachings it gives. There's more than just the 10 commandments and I think that's whats so beautiful about it. There's more to do, more to learn, more to teach, and more room to grow. I KNOW that this church is true. I KNOW that I am a daughter of God and he knows me personally. He hears my prayers and answers them. I love my Savior and I KNOW that He lives. I love Thomas S. Monson and his sweet spirit. I KNOW he is a true prophet of God and receives revelation. I KNOW Joseph Smith was a true prophet and restored this wonderful gospel. I KNOW that my family is eternal and I love them very much. I KNOW the priesthood is real. It works. I love everything about this gospel and I would not be who I am or where I am today if I didn't have it to lean on.

Remember to SMILE and have a great day! :D