Christlike in marriage.

 Happy four months to my sweet husband!

As of today, we have officially been married for four months, and I can honestly say life is better with Ricky than without. There are lots of ups and downs, and there are moments when we do not agree on things, but we are learning. We are learning how to compromise, how to love each other, how to bless each other, and how to be more Christlike. 

We were watching Beauty and the Beast (2017) yesterday, and–during the scene where the Wardrobe was helping Belle with her dress–as I was mentally admiring Belle's beautiful dress, I said, "I wish I was a princess," and Ricky said, "Why do you think I make you dinner every other night?" And that is my husband, ladies and gentleman. He is such a blessing to me, and I am so grateful for him.  🥰💜

We are both still learning things about each other, and while it can be hard some days, at the end of the day, he is my best friend, my person, my love, and my HOME. With him, I am comfortable. I'm not afraid to speak my mind–but I do need to work on attitude and tone. With him, I am honest. I tell him every day how I feel about him–I say, "I love you" probably about 20,000 times a day. With him, I am true. Sometimes he gets my jokes, and sometimes he doesn't–but I make the jokes anyway because it fits the moment. With him, I am myself. There are days when I just need to cry, and he holds me and lets me cry. And in those moments, life is perfect. Because I am with my husband, being vulnerable, and he is with me, being loving and supportive. 

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The other day, I posted on my Facebook page something that I wanted to share here. The link to the post is here. But I also wanted to post the picture and words here, just because I am proud of them:

I’m grateful for beauty, grace, mercy, love, and kindness. I watched the 2015 version of Cinderella tonight and was reminded of the beauty that is Lily James’ version of Cinderella. The movie is beautiful, cinematographically, as well as story-wise. It is absolutely one of my favorites and I will never get tired of watching it. 

The quote said by Ella’s mother towards the beginning of the movie is one of my favorites, and I LOVE how Ella exemplifies it throughout the movie. She is full of grace and beauty, as well as kindness. I believe she is so Christlike and loving in this rendition. 

We must have courage and be kind, even when others are not being kind. We must have courage and be loving, even when others are not. 

Love is the answer to all of the problems in this world, I know it. Love and kindness. 💜

Happy Sabbath Day, friends and family! God loves you, and I do too! I hope you all have a blessed week. I am looking forward to this week, as I should be able to start working on other projects besides "cleaning and organizing my house". I'm excited to start decorating, and to finish my curtains projects, and to start my refinishing furniture projects. It's going to take me a few weeks, I'm sure, but I am excited to move into this next chapter of projects!

Xoxo

Mattie

"Love is the only word to describe what we've been through together."

This weekend was absolutely perfect!!


Yesterday, my boyfriend and I went to Salt Lake City to do a session in the temple before it's closed at the end of the year for renovations (and to see the lights), and then we grabbed a bite to eat. We met up with my sisters (who were both randomly also in Salt Lake city to see the lights). After meeting up with them, he took me to a favorite park of his, where he then PROPOSED to me! I happily (and tearfully) said yes! I am so very excited and happy!! I am so excited for this next adventure in our lives and I can't wait to start planning for it! This has been the best Christmas ever, and it's not even Christmas yet!!!

My life has definitely not gone the way that I planned it or wanted it to...but somehow, looking back, it was just perfect. I thank my lucky stars every day that I have loving Heavenly Parents who want what is best for me and who know just what I need in my life and when. And I pray every day that I will not be such a Negative Nan as much as I have been in the past...but that is something that needs work. And I hope and pray every day that today will be better than yesterday, or that I can have at least one positive moment. So far, I am finding that one positive moment a day leads to more positive moments the next days. 

I am so thankful for my fiancé, who is my best friend and who is absolutely perfect for me. He's smart, kind, sweet, sensitive, thoughtful, a great listener, a worthy priesthood holder, and an all-around amazing son of God. I am so lucky to have him in my life. He makes me want to be a better person every day.

I am thankful for my Heavenly Parents, who love me and have given me so much to be thankful for. I am thankful for my earthly parents, who love me and have given me so much experience, knowledge, love, and happiness. I am thankful for my family, who not only tolerate my craziness, but love me in spite of it. 🤣 I am thankful for my friends, who have helped me have a wonderful time and have helped me to look on the bright side of things, and who have helped me to rise above and beyond my mental illnesses and to stand my ground against the adversary.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! I've got a lot going on this week!! I have jury service tomorrow and really hope I get selected! I'd love a chance to participate as a member of the jury because court life fascinates me. I'm finishing up my Christmas gift shopping and probably sleeping more too! I'm also celebrating Christmas with my fiancé before he leaves to spend time with his family and I am so very excited!!

Happy holidays!! May you have a safe and happy holiday season with your loved ones!! 

Xoxo

Mattie

Consistent and resilient trust in the Lord.

There is nothing like the holidays or the end of the year that have you thinking about where you are in life and where you want to be. 💜

I was pondering during the sacrament today about the sacrament prayers. I made a list of the promises and covenants that I made at baptism, and that God made, and there's not as many as I thought there were! I promised to:

1. Be willing to take the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, upon me.
2. Always remember Him.
3. Keep His commandments.

And if I do these, then God promises that:

1. I can always have the Spirit to be with me.

This is such a great promise. I love that as I do those three things, I have the ability to have the Spirit with me–always.

Today was my ward's fast and testimony meeting (since last week was our Stake Conference), and someone said something today that really rang true with me. They said that, just like type 2 diabetes (in which your body still produces insulin but is unable to use it effectively), sometimes when we don't receive or hear guidance from the Spirit, it's a receptor problem. The Spirit is still speaking to us, we are just unable to hear it. 

This really made me think, because I've been struggling within the last couple of years to consistently hear and feel the Spirit, and I always thought something was wrong with me. I've been doing everything right. I've gone to the temple, I've prayed, I've studied my scriptures, I've gone to church...everything you can do, I did. But a friend reminded me that I have depression and anxiety, and this can make it difficult for me to hear or feel the Spirit. This comment that was made in sacrament meeting reminded me of this, and reminded me that sometimes I don't have any control over it, but that there are things that I can do to help increase my reception of the Spirit.

In Relief Society, we talked about the talk "Consistent and Resilient Trust" by Elder L. Todd Budge from the October 2019 conference. We talked about how we can still be happy and find happiness, even when there is sorrow and life is rough. We also talked about how our sorrow and pain can change to joy/gladness because of our Savior. 

"Afflictions and sorrow prepare us to experience joy IF we will trust in the Lord and His plan for us." Sorrow can help lead to growth, learning, and happiness if we trust in the Lord's plan for us. 

We can still have consistent trust in the Lord, no matter the circumstances. And we can still have moments of happiness, even when we are in times of sorrow. Because happiness is PEACE and JOY that comes from surrendering ourselves to God and putting our trust in Him in all things. So as we trust Him, we can be happy and have happiness. :)

I hope everyone has a great week! I have an orchestra concert tomorrow that I am super excited for! And it's just going to be a great week overall! I'm going to make it so that it is a phenomenal week! 

Xoxo

Mattie

God always gives us blessings–especially when we're sick.

What a week this has been! I have been sick with a cold, and it has made me extremely tired all week! But I have been able to see God's hand in my life every day this week. I was able to wake up early enough every morning to get to work on time, and I've been able to drink lots of water this week. I've been taking some medicine randomly, but this week I'm going to try to take it more routinely and help my body kick this sickness!

In other news, I've been learning and growing a lot this week at work. I had to be more patient than normal (because sick Mattie apparently canNOT deal with things that make her impatient), and I had to work all week through my cold and headaches that occurred nearly every day. The worst part is that every other day was good, and every other day was bad. So some days I felt like I was getting better, and then other days I was almost worse than I was before. It has been a tough week. I think that I was able to rein in my emotions this week, so my kids didn't really notice anything off about me, which is good.

I was thinking about the story of the Prodigal Son in the New Testament earlier this week, and it reminded me of something my New Testament professor this last year said. He said that it should really be called the story of the Prodigal Sons because the son that stayed home also was a little lost. When his brother came back, he was jealous of all the attention he was getting, and of the party that his father threw for him just because he came home. I made a post on my Facebook page for this blog about it, and you can find that link here.

I am really grateful that I was able to make it through this week. I'm grateful for the love and peace I've felt from my Father in Heaven, and from some of my friends. Despite my sickness, and the headaches and such, this week was pretty good, and full of happiness. As I listened to conference talks and read my scriptures, I felt like the Lord was proud of me, and that I am where I am supposed to be, doing what I am supposed to be doing.

I am hoping that I will be feeling better by the end of this week, because I don't want to spend the whole season sick!

I'm grateful for the power of the priesthood, and that my dad is always willing to give me a blessing. I am grateful for my family, and for the love and support that they give me, and for the fun times that we have together. I am grateful for my friends, and for their love and support, and I am grateful for my Heavenly Father, and for His love. I am grateful for my Savior, and for His love and sacrifice. I am grateful that He was willing to sacrifice His life so that we could return to live with our Father in Heaven someday.

Sorry this week's post is so short! I am just very tired and need to go rest some more! I hope that everyone has an amazing week this week!! I love you and am praying for you!!

Xoxo
Mattie

The Christmas Musical Fireside!!

Oh my goodness gracious, guys, the Fireside was SO AMAZING!!!!! AH!!! I really could feel the Spirit so strong and all of the musical numbers were wonderful and amazing! I am so thankful that this month-long project of mine turned out really well!! It has been such a blessing in my life to work on, and even though it has been very stressful, all of the hard work that everyone has put into it paid off!! There was so much passion, and humbleness, and spiritualness in each and every piece–it was beautiful, and magical, and I am so, so, so, thankful!!!  💜💜💜💜💜💜

"Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured."

Something I have been thinking about lately is "alone time". Mainly because I feel like I've had a lot of it recently, but also because I'm never alone. Not really. I always have my Savior, and the Spirit, as my companion. Sometimes, even when I'm surrounded by friends, I feel alone or left out...it's not on purpose, it just happens. But these moments are great because I get to watch my friends talk and laugh and have fun and it makes me smile. I love watching them enjoy themselves. It gives me a chance to just live in the moment for awhile, and to just be. I'm glad when it happens because it's often when I needed to take a step back and gather myself together. I'm grateful for my Savior, and for His love and mercy in my life. He is always there and He knows what I need and when.

I LOVED sacrament meeting today! Brother and Sister Durfey spoke to us and I heard so much that I needed to hear. They're super great and so sweet and I love them. Here's a few of my favorite things that were said:
-Sin robs you of peace. It takes the Spirit away.
-God will put you where you need to be.
-The sooner you stop comparing your life to others', the sooner you will have peace in your life.
-It does not matter what you do, it matters who you are.
-Living the gospel makes it possible to live a life without regrets. (Sister Durfey said that even if it turns out that this gospel is wrong, she won't care, because living the gospel has made her a better person).
-If you can serve every day, it will make you happier (I already knew this one ;) )
~Our trials and challenges are made for us–to help us change, and become stronger, and test us.
~Satan uses doubt as a tool to distract us.
~Heavenly Father loves you and will never abandon you.

In Relief Society we talked about cultivating an attitude of happiness and a spirit of optimism, and here are a few things we talked about that can help:

1) Rather than dwell on our problems, we can let a spirit of thanksgiving guide and bless us.
• 2 Nephi 5:27: And it came to pass that we lived after a manner of happiness (emphasis added). They lived in such a way that happiness could come, even in times of trials or challenges.
• Let your problems be. Admit that they are, and they're hard, but let them be. Don't focus on them.
• If you're worrying, or have anxiety about things, you're not trusting the Lord. Put more trust in Him–things will work out.
• Recognize that God is there. 

2) The gospel of Jesus Christ gives us a reason for gladness.
• Try to look at things with an eternal perspective, and ask yourself if this is important or relevant to your eternal salvation. If the answer is no, let it go.
• Enjoy and endure life. President Hinckley said, "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." But we do have to endure to the end, don't forget. Heavenly Father loves us and has a plan for us that is going on, but it's not over yet.

3) With knowledge that we are all children of God, we can stand a little taller, rise a little higher, and be a little better.
• Have faith. We're all learning and growing.
• We have the capacity to be and do more than we are.
• Focus on who you are, regardless of where you are in life.

I'm not going to lie, being positive and optimistic all the time can be hard sometimes. Sometimes I'm not, and that's okay. But you have a choice to either be positive and optimistic most or all the time, or to be negative and pessimistic most or all of the time. It is your decision. But it will affect your life either way. In choosing to be positive/optimistic, you will see the better side of life, despite challenges and trials that may come your way. You will have the opportunity to see and recognize all the tender mercies. In choosing to be negative/pessimistic, you will have a hard time seeing all the good in your life. You will not be able to see or recognize the tender mercies in your life. That is not what life is all about! Life is supposed to include happy parts–fun outings with friends, family game nights, going on a date, having a relaxing night in. Life is supposed to encompass both ends of the spectrum, and it's not supposed to just be a ball of negative happenings.

I know that it's hard sometimes to look on the bright side of things. It's hard to be happy sometimes. That's okay. It's important to try, though sometimes you won't be able to look on the bright side or be happy, and that is okay. We're not perfect, and our lives aren't, either. But as you try to be optimistic, I know that you will be blessed. You can also ask your Heavenly Father for help to be optimistic. He loves you and wants you to be happy. Remember that you are loved and that things will get better in time–I promise. <3

Xoxo
Mattie

He will help us find our personal happiness.

I know I already posted yesterday but I can't just not post on Sunday. That's not a thing. So that makes this a double post weekend. :)

So, I had a thought during the sacrament this morning. I'm pretty sure it's not for me because I already went through it for me, but I am going to post it still because it might be for you. :)

"Sometimes it's hard to tell if you've been forgiven by your Heavenly Father. But sometimes the problem isn't that we're not forgiven–the problem is that we have not forgiven ourselves. Once you've forgiven yourself, you can more easily feel at peace and recognize that your Heavenly Father has forgiven you. He doesn't want us to hurt or suffer, but that is sometimes what we have to do in order to trust Him and turn to Him. It may hurt and be hard, but with Him we can find peace."

Someone said something in their talk during sacrament meeting this morning that stood out to me. He said, "If we don't have charity, what good is our faith?" And I just thought about that. It makes sense. If you don't have faith–or if you don't believe–what is the point of doing or having charity? There is none. There cannot be faith without charity, nor charity without faith. They go hand in hand.

The last speaker also said something that stood out to me. She said, "If Heavenly Father loves us, and wants us to be happy, then He's going to give us the experiences that we need to be happy. He wants us to be ourselves, and to find ourself. He will help us find our personal happiness." That was something else she said. We all have a personal happiness. I thought that was very interesting and very true. Things that make me happy won't necessarily make you happy.

In Gospel Doctrine, someone said something that I loved. "Feeling sad is okay. You have to be sad in order to be happy." You can't know happiness unless you've known sadness. Just don't let the sadness overtake you. Turn to your Savior–He'll help you find peace.

Relief Society was great! I loved the lesson, based off of Bishop W. Christopher Waddell's talk in the April conference. One thing that was read/said was, "The solution to our problems is the strengthening of our faith in Jesus Christ." We talked about his three steps to peace, based off of the scripture in D&C 19:23: 1) Learn of me [Christ]; 2) Listen to my words; and 3) Walk in the meekness of my spirit. We can learn of Him in all that we do–scripture study, visiting the temple, standing in holy places, etc. I thought this was interesting: partaking (so, consistently doing/listening) is more of a commitment. And for the last one: the Savior invites us to come to Him. Always. He is the pathway to peace.

It was a great first Sunday in my new ward. I'm excited to get to know my new ward. I'm grateful for my Savior and my Heavenly Father. I'm grateful for the messages that were shared today. I needed them. I know Heavenly Father can help me find my personal happiness. I know that He can help me find peace. I know that life may be tough, and rough, and hard, but I also know that with Jesus Christ as my rock, I can be tougher, and stronger, and I can do hard things. And I know that you can, too. <3

Xoxo
Mattie

Be anxiously engaged in good causes, including your own development.

Well, it's back to school season! Tomorrow all of my siblings in gradeschool (except our little kindergartener) start school. Halie starts at MATC on Tuesday. And I start school next Monday. And this year is going to be way different for a myriad of reasons but one most specifically is that I will be rooming with five other girls and I will have a kitchen. I'm so excited but also nervous and I hope that this year will be a good one. I think that it will be good for me (it being different for a myriad of reasons) but we all know I'm an emotional person who sometimes can't deal–I just really hope that I'll be able to deal this year. Progress is progress, and I've been making a little progress this summer and I hope that it will continue over the course of the school year.

My thoughts during the sacrament this week:
This past week has kind of been stressful for me because I've mentally been so ready to move out for awhile. But it has worked out this week and I've got 99.99% of my things moved out. The last things to be moved out are me, my violin, and one or two other things, which will be happening tonight. I'm just grateful that this past week was full of fun times with a cutie pie that I was watching this week. :) I'm also grateful that this upcoming week will mostly be me finishing putting my stuff away, figuring out how long it will take me to get to campus, getting my books, and scoping out my classes. I know that most of my worries were just in my head but I'm grateful that my Savior was there to help calm me because sometimes it was extremely frustrating and difficult (as things usually are with me), but as I look back on my week, my worrying and frustrating moments were probably not even a total of an hour throughout the whole week. What a blessing that was. I can pinpoint specific moments of worry but they didn't last very long and soon after I was soothed by my Savior. I've had to rely on Him a lot these past couple of weeks and He has always been there. He's listened and He's helped me do things I wanted to but couldn't, or that I didn't want to but needed to. 

We had some high councilmen speak in sacrament meeting today.
Brother Jones talked about faith:
-Faith is a principle of action and of power. 
-Do we show faith in our Heavenly Father, even if we feel He has let us down?
-We sometimes need to experience a trial of faith before the blessings will come. And they will come.
-Choosing faith in our Heavenly Father's plan and in our priesthood leaders will bless us.
-All things are possible.
-We can do hard things if we exercise our faith by choice.  
I loved his message. Sometimes we have to choose faith. Heavenly Father will bless us because of our faith. 
Brother Scoresby talked about the difference between joy and happiness:
-There is a difference between joy and happiness. 
-Joy is when you help people. Happiness is apple pie. 
-We care about those that are lost and we need to find them and help them. 
-When we minister to others we need to:
-Be obedient. Because Heavenly Father will be able to trust you and will send His Spirit to help you. 
He talked about ministering, and how he had a formula, which is:
-Remember their names. 
-Love people without judging them. 
-Watch over them and strengthen them spiritually (one by one; personally). 
-Become friends with them and visit them often.
I loved how he described the difference between happiness and joy. 

In Relief Society we talked about marriage, an eternal partnership. 
Obviously I'm not married, nor am I dating anyone (seriously or at all), but I still listened and paid attention because someday it's going to apply to me, and in the meantime, it can help me know what to look for in a relationship. Here's a couple of my favorite things that were said:
-The Lord expects us to pray for guidance but also to act and go forward with faith. 
-God won't let us do something that isn't good for us. He'll let us know when we're not doing what's right for us. 
-We have to acknowledge how the Spirit speaks to us. We have to be so close to Him and realize how He speaks to us. 
-Sometimes we need to be still within ourselves and listen. 
-"Be anxiously engaged in good causes, including your own development."
-Our conscious effort, not instinct, determines the success. 
-Take it to Heavenly Father and listen to the Holy Ghost. 
-As we follow the Spirit, we will be led in our marriage and in our families. 

I know that this year is going to be different. I know that I'm ready, though, and I know that my Savior will be there for me. I know that sometimes I will have to exercise faith, and I hope that I will be able to make the right decisions. I know that I'm going to want to help others and make them happy, and that will give me joy, but I also know that this might mean that I will forget about myself. I hope to be able to remember to help myself, too. I hope that I will go on more dates this year, but if not, I at least hope to be able to make more guy friends and get more comfortable around guys. I know that I can turn to my Heavenly Father for help in all areas of my life, and I hope to be able to set a schedule this year and make more time for my personal scripture study.

I wish us all luck as this new school year begins. I love you all and hope that you will turn to your Heavenly Father. I also hope that you will know that I am always there for you whenever you need to talk–I will listen.

Have a wonderful year!

Xoxo
Mattie

I feel with my whole soul.

So, late last night I had some random thoughts that I wanted to develop on my blog today, but...well, sleep happened and I forgot them. BUT I did have a thought today before church that I wanted to share:

Sometimes I think that I put too much effort or emotion into things. But I've recently come to the conclusion that I'm just passionate about them–and the passion spreads deep into my soul. I'm passionate about music–it makes me happy and fills my soul with love and peace. I'm passionate about the Gospel–it makes me so happy and fills my soul with love and peace. I'm passionate about my family and friends–they are a big part of my life and it makes me happy when all is right with them. I can't help but be passionate about these things. They are the most important things in my life, and I love to share them–or stories about them–because they make me happy, and I want to share my happiness with others because I love making people happy. I hope to someday be able to make a difference in someone's life. I'm not perfect, and I've made a few (dozen) mistakes in my life, but the one thing that has never failed to be right is to make others happy. And by making others happy, I make God happy. And that brings me peace. 

I've realized that I feel things with my whole soul, and I can't help it. But I do want to make others happy, however I am able to do that, and sometimes the way to do that is by being my regular, passionate self and sharing those things that I love with those that I love. :)

Today during the sacrament, I had a thought about one of the lines in the hymn, "There Is A Green Hill Far Away". This is a great hymn, and one line always stands out to me, and today I finally put words to why it always does. The line is, "He only could unlock the gate of heav'n and let us in." No one else could save us all. Only He was perfect enough. But He can only unlock the gate for us if we come unto Him. He's willing to do so, but we must make the effort and come unto Him.

Okay, I absolutely LOVED the lesson in Relief Society today! We talked about the parable of the lost sheep, which obviously reminded me of my blog post entitled "One" where I talked about that parable. Sadly I do not know the girl's name who was teaching today but I loved some things she said: "No one will ever be one of the 99 for 100% of their time on earth." I loved that. We will all be the lost sheep at one time or another. It may be a long time that you are lost, or a short time, but you will be lost at one point (this is nothing against you, it's just that we are all imperfect people who fail sometimes, and sometimes we get lost for a ways, but it's okay. You can find your way back. I know I did). She also said that "Even if you turn away from Christ, He will never turn away from you." One of the last things that we talked about was the fact that we need to be His hands. He cannot be here, so we need to find, serve, and love His sheep.

So, this song, to me, encompasses all three of the most important things to me: music (obviously), the Gospel, and family/friends (and this one explains my love of music/the Gospel). I'm so grateful that I've found important things to be passionate about, and that I've never stopped. They've always been important to me, and they will never stop being important to me. When I'm around them, or when I'm interacting with them, I feel at home, I feel at peace, and I feel loved. I'm so grateful for my Heavenly Father, who has given me everything I've ever needed, and has a plan in store for me that will probably blow all of my dreams out of the water. I'm so excited to be able to find His plan for me as I go throughout my life, and I'm so grateful that I will have my family and friends alongside me to help me figure it out. :)

Happy Easter! Conference weekend. :)

But when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away, (for it was very great,) and two angels sitting thereon, clothed in long white garments; and they were affrighted.
But the angels said unto them, Be not affrighted; ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified; he is risen; he is not here (JST Mark 16: 3-4)

I know He lives! I know He loves us. I know that He is always there for us. I hope you have a happy Easter. #BecauseHeLives :)

Conference was absolutely wonderful!! Here are some of my favorite quotes:

Saturday Morning Session:

God is our father. His mercy is without limit. ~President Packer

We are here to help, lift, and rejoice with each other as we try to become our very best selves. ~Sister Burton

If we are not rooted in the teachings of the gospel and regular in its practices, any one of us can develop a stony heart. ~Elder Oaks

Believing in Him and in His redemptive power is "the true path to peace". ~Elder Clayton

The entire theology of our gospel centers on family and marriage. ~Elder Perry

Saturday Afternoon Session:
"If we don’t try, we’re just latter-day sinners. If we don’t persevere, we’re latter-day quitters. If we don’t allow others to try, we’re latter-day hypocrites." ~Elder Renlund

Following His light and example will bring us joy, comfort, and peace. ~Elder Cook

In His mercy God promises forgiveness when we repent and turn from our sins. ~Elder Renlund

Sunday Morning Session:
"He still extends unending grace." ~Elder Holland

"Grace unlocks the gates of heaven and opens the windows of heaven...The grace of God is our great and everlasting hope. The plan of mercy appeases the demands of justice...His Grace refines us, and helps us become our best selves." ~Pres. Uchtdorf

Sunday Afternoon Session:
We must not forget that moral agency is an essential part of God’s plan available to all his children. ~Elder Hales

Enduring to the end is the great test of discipleship. ~Elder Pearson

We see God’s miracles in His wondrous work and in our lives...God is mindful of every people...His mercy is over all the earth. ~Elder Andersen

Faith in God engenders a love for the Sabbath. Faith in the Sabbath engenders a love for God. ~Elder Nelson

This weekend has been a great weekend, full of fantastic messages from our church leaders. I had many prayers answered, and I am so grateful for the messages that were spoken! I'm so excited for spring break–we leave for tour on Wednesday, and I couldn't be happier!! Literally, my body is super excited!! Hope you had a wonderful Easter and conference. Bless you all! :)

Love, happiness, and service.

I decided to write about several things today when I found a quote by President David O. McKay, which says, "True happiness comes only by making others happy." And I love this quote. It reminds me of the scripture "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17, I believe). And in order to be happy, and full of love, you have to make others happy because that's the best thing. When I'm babysitting and the kids aren't happy, I do my best to try and make them happy, because, like the saying "when mom isn't happy, no one is", "when the kids aren't happy, no one is". Everyone is just miserable. But when everyone is happy, everything is just fine. Love, happiness, and service go hand in hand. Life is just better all around when everyone is happy. 

Little things make me happy.

The littlest of things make me happy. And I just love little things. Literally. My favorite things are little baby clothes, little baby objects. Little baby stuff. Little things. They make me so happy. Ask anyone. Anyone that knows me, anyway. Anywho! But the thing that makes me the happiest is the gospel of Jesus Christ. With it, I know that I can be with my family forever, and I can be resurrected, and my sins can be forgiven. With this knowledge, my heart is full of love for the Savior, who died for us, and for my Heavenly Father, who sent Jesus to die for us. They both love all of us very much, and I am so grateful for that. I need daily reminders that someone somewhere always loves me. 

Happiness comes in small miracles.

Two (well, one, really) amazing things happened to me today. One!! Is that I had no math homework. Which means that I spent most of the afternoon (with large breaks) working on my English expository essay due tomorrow. That's not really amazing, except for the fact that I was pretty much able to do it, with help from my daddy. Anyway. Two!! Is that I got the solo in the cultural event!!!!!!!!! Dude!! I have been so excited and happy all day that I have had tears in my eyes, I was so happy. It really calmed me down; I'd been so anxious about it, worrying that I wouldn't get it, when everyone was telling me I would. I had hoped I would, because, not to toot my own horn or anything, I am a really good singer. I really am, and I had really hoped I would get it. I've tried out for several solos before that I have not gotten, so I really, really wanted this one. Plus, it's so high and so pretty and I just love it. So, that's just a small part of what The Lord blessed me with today. What has He blessed you with today?