Temple # 9 Mount Timpanogos

On Saturday I did baptisms at Temple number 9, Mount Timpanogos. It was a very small baptistry with no oxen. The workers were really nice and it was a good day. The Mount Timpanogos Temple is really pretty and I like it  alot. I only have two more temples left! I can't believe that this goal is actually going to get accomplished! It has been so much fun and  a major blessing in my life. I don't know yet which ones will be the last two but it will be awesome I am sure. My cute boyfriend also came with me to do baptisms. Here are pictures for you Carrie. :)

Temple Number 8

Last friday was fall break and so we didn't have any classes. I decided it would be a perfect time to go to Temple number 8- Jordan River. I went with my friend Katie and we had a fun time, it seemed however that everybody else had that day off and also had the same idea. It was pretty crowded and it took us about 2 hours to do our names. South Jordan temples are pretty crowded. It was interesting we walk into to the chapel part of the baptistry and there was a temple worker playing prelude on an organ, it was very different. The Temple has a major 80s feeling to it, it's not like the other newer temples I've been going to lately. It was nice, even though it was crowed the workers were friendly and nice. Only 3 more temples to go! Which ones do you think I should go to?

Half Marathon and Temple Number 7

Saturday was a marathon of a day- well maybe just a half marathon. I ran the Layton half marathon on Saturday, it was my fourth half marathon. It was cold and kind of rainy but it didn't rain on us which was nice. I met up with my little sister's friend and we danced at the starting line until it started. We were dancing for probably 45 minutes straight but despite all the odd looks and pictures taken of us, we stayed pretty warm and happy. Towards the end of the summer when it's my second or third race I kind of get a little tired of it. Then I think I am done until next year, at least with long races. That's how I felt with this race.

 Then right after the race and a shower, my sister and I  headed to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple to do baptisms for the family names I have found. This makes the current temple count 7 with 4 more to go. The baptistry was really nice and open with lots of windows and it was pretty big. It took us 2 1/2 hours to get our 12 names each done. It was because this lady brought 350 names and gave them to everybody that came in so it was quite a constant line of people heading towards the fount at the same time. The workers were very nice though and we got it done. The lady also got all her names done so I guess it all worked out. The Oquirrh Mountain temple has kind of a earth tone feel with the paint and the things in it, it was different but nice. The temple just makes me happy, I am so glad I can go to the temple I am so grateful for family history. To cap it all off our day ended with a rainbow.




 



High On a Mountain Top!

 

 This weekend I went on an adventure I have wanted to do for a long time. I hiked to the top of the Wellsville mountains. I have gazed at them every day and thought of the day I would scale them to the top. My friend invited me to go and I jumped at the chance. It was funny that those going on the trip were four girls who had never hiked to the top before. Not only did we hike it, we stayed the night on top which meant backpacking all our stuff up to the top. It was a difficult hike but beautiful fall colors cluttered the mountains and the top was worth it. It was so beautiful to look down and see everything. We watched a sunset that looked very different from the top of a mountain, then we saw the nightlights of the stars above and the cities below.  We set up a tent on the top and attempted to sleep. I say attempted because the wind was so strong blowing our tent around and we had a comfortable mattress of rocks to snuggle into. It was a fun night of girl talk and jokes. We felt awesome that we being girls had done something so hard by ourselves. We booked it down in the morning to get back in time for conference. It was a fun adventure that was worth the sore muscles. :)

Bad Secrets

  I am a nanny/ mommy helper. I have been with this one family for a little over a year so I know them pretty well. I go in the mornings before class and I clean, prepare breakfast, lunch, and occasionally dinner, I organize things, and do whatever is asked of me. I also go during the day twice a week to help clean. I have developed relationships with all three of the little boys but the younger two are more affectionate and I spend more time with them. Caleb, the youngest is my little shadow most days.

  Anyways,  I was cleaning the bathroom and like usual Caleb was talking to me and trying to help( making the mess bigger) :). He came up to me and told me he just stole all my secrets. I laughed and joked with him telling him I wanted them back. I have no idea how he thought that up.  He was being silly and said I could have his secrets but he wouldn't give me my secrets back. He said that I could have my good secrets but he would keep my bad secrets. I asked him what he was going to do with my bad secrets and without missing a beat he said " I'm going to give them to Jesus". I smiled, laughed, and set him down so I could continue my work. Then it hit me. This little 3 year old just reminded me a very powerful truth.

 There is no reason for us to keep our bad secrets( mistakes/sins) when Jesus is ready to take then off our hands. No one else needs to know the guilt and humiliation of our bad choices, we can just hand it over to the Savior who understands it all. I am going to give my bad secrets to Jesus everyday because honestly, I don't want them. Hopefully I can always keep the good secrets close to me.

Far Away

   I like my life. For the most part it is a pretty good life. There are have been some interesting experiences in the past week that made my life more exciting for a little bit. Anyways, even though my life is good, I can't help but feel like I want something to change. I want to go somewhere different and see something new. I feel like my college life hasn't been that different than high school in some ways. I've been dreaming all my life of exploring the world and seeing what it has to offer but lately that dreaming has intensified  immensely. I keep mulling over different options in my head of how I could leave or change my current living situation. I guess I'll just have to see what happens.  

  This song perfectly describes how I feel right now.

Idaho Falls Temple Trip

We decided to go on an adventure to the Idaho Falls Temple. My mom wanted to go because that is where my grandparents were married and we had never been there before. I never pass up a trip to the temple so I was happy to go. My siblings came with and we all did baptisms for the family names I found. It was lots of fun and really beautiful. The baptistry is different from any of the others I have seen, they have huge murals on every wall that are really cool. Unfortunately, the grounds were completely being redone and outside the temple looked like a mess but thankfully the Snake River helps to make a nice picture. 6 temples down and 5 more to go!

                                                                                                
                                                       This picture makes me laugh every time.

Once was lost but now is found

 Last month I fixed up my very old bicycle so I could ride it for the summer. I had it fixed and was riding it for like two weeks when it got stolen right off my porch. I went to ride it to work one morning and it was gone. Since it was so old I didn't feel heartbroken about it but I was upset it was gone. Two days ago I felt like I needed to visit a friend in the ward so I walked around looking for her apartment and I couldn't find exactly where it was. I turned the corner to go home and saw my bike parked outside a church with no one around and it wasn't locked up. I looked closely at it to make sure it was indeed mine and had exactly the same ailments as my bike( crooked tire, squeaky seat, reflectors in the pedals that fall out). I was sure it was mine and that I had to make my decision quickly before someone saw me. I hopped on with my heart beating out of chest and rode that bike home. I now will definitely lock up my bike. I had this huge moral dilemma or whether it was OK to steal back something that was mine because technically it is still stealing. Obviously I already told you the choice I made but would you have made the same choice? Can you justify stealing if the thing had been stolen from you in the first place? To me it is kind of like do two wrongs make a right.? I've  thought and prayed about it since and I feel like it was OK for me to do that.  I was very unsure at the the time and felt some doubt and guilt but I feel OK with it now and I now have my bike back!

Beauty around me

    Today I went exploring. I was bored of doing nothing and nobody was around to talk to so I went exploring. I took with me a piece of chalk to write encouraging things on the sidewalk as I walked. Here is what I found. I found a pretty red hair bow which was probably left over from the Fourth of July celebrations. I found a ladybug and giggled like a little kid as it walked on my hands for about 5 minutes. I walked by a lively game of Cricket being played by a group of Indian men speaking purely in Hindi. I thought that was pretty awesome. I saw groups of people watching the amazingly beautiful sunset. I saw a group of friends meet someone new and invite him to sit with them. That made me smile. I saw a beautiful walk way all decked out with twinkle lights that it looked so romantic and beautiful. I found the Logan Islamic Center, I didn't know that Logan had an Islamic center so that was an interesting find. I saw a couple get engaged. I saw many little families out on a walk. I walked through the cemetery, I like that place it is quiet and still. Anyways, as I walking through I saw a man crumble to his knees and weep. His friends were there and just quietly sat by him and held him. That is what a true friend is, someone that will just sit with you while you cry. While that was a slightly sad moment it made me happy that this man had friends that loved him and were there for him, it was beautiful.

  There is so much beauty in this life. I am grateful that I get to experience it. Whether we realize it or not we are meant to be happy and when look around we can see little things that make us happy. Open your eyes to those random quiet moments that have a way of making you smile if you notice them.

I can do hard things

My Senior year of High School I decided to try running. I joined the cross country team and I loved it. My love for running has continued as I have done 5ks, 10ks, and half marathons. Well, about 6 months ago I decided it was time to try something new and my sister and brother-in-law were running a marathon so I joined them. I knew that they would be faster having both ran a marathon before but I set my goal on finishing.

June 11, 2011 I ran my first marathon, this onehttp://www.utahvalleymarathon.com/ . It was the first race that I ran completely by myself. In the past I have ran most of my races with my little sister. It was different and kind of hard not having someone to talk or motivate me. I decided about half way through the race that I would be a cheerleader to all my fellow runners. I would yell good job and keep going to runner with ipods in. Those that didn't have an ipod in I would talk with for a while until they passed me or I passed them. It was really great talking to these people I have never met before. During miles 18-21ish I was all by myself and hurting really bad. I kept repeating my mantra to myself "I can do hard things", the more I said it the more I believed it. The rest of the race after that was still hard but I knew that I could finish and that is all I wanted to do.

I can do any hard thing I set my mind to do. It doesn't matter if it is enduring a trial or trying something new, I can do hard things. I know that I have it in me to succeed.

I can check this one off my bucket list, it was definitely an adventure. Perhaps one I'll try again.... in a few years.

                                                                     I think it was worth it.

5 temples down, 6 more to go

I posted a while ago about wanting to go to 11 temples in the year 2011. My sister and Brother- in-law were nice enough to sacrifice some time and take me to 3 temples while I was visiting them. So I have now gone and done baptisms in logan, Salt Lake, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, and San Diego. Each was interesting and different from what I was used to. I took particular notice to the oxen around the font in each temple and how differently detailed they all were. It was a neat experience and one that fun to do with my family.

The Newport Temple.

The San Diego Temple

The Los Angeles Temple

Be Quiet and Still

I went to California after finals to visit my sister and brother in law and their little baby. My nephew is a wiggly guy, he wiggles all around the floor all day long. I could tell when he was getting tired but he would try to fight it. He would still be wiggly sitting in the rocking chair while I was trying to calm him. I thought "you want to sleep so just be quiet and still. If you would just be quiet and still then you could get the thing you want". My mind would then flash to our Heavenly Father saying perhaps the same thing. Be quiet and still and you will receive the answers you want. D&C 101:6 "Be still and know that I am God". So often I wiggle my way through the day to the tasks I feel I need to perform without realizing the revelation I could receive if I stopped wiggling for a minute. I could get what I want in this case peace of mind and answers to questions.

WOWZA

Wow. I didn't realize all the work that goes into maintaining a blog. I kind of stink at it. Well Spring semester is now almost over. :) It's been a great adventure for sure. I never realized how much I procastinated until this semester. I am basically a pro. I am on the home stretch and in a couple weeks I will have officially finished my freshman year of college. Where does the time go? Sheesh.

On another note I have planned my next adventure. Since the year is 2011, I plan to visit 11 different temple before the year is over. I have been to Logan and Salt lake, as you can tell I have a ways to go.I have been pretty interested in family history lately. I have had such a fun time finding family names and taking them to the temple. I just feel happy when I am in the temple. This is one adventure I hope will bring me closer to my ancestors and my father in Heaven.

First week of School

 Well Spring semester is upon me and this was the first week. I have always liked going to school after a long break. I like the anticipation of what my classes will be like and what kind of people will I meet. Well this week went pretty well. I went to my classes filled with wonder and possibilities and things were average and that is okay. I like my institute classes. I like how even though I have never met anyone in my institute classes before I feel like I know them. It's nice to have that time in your day when you can  leave the cares of the world behind and focus on eternity and what you need to work on to be more like Jesus Christ. School sometimes hard and stressful but it is necessary. I'm glad I have the opportunity to go to school.