On a happier note . . .

I have realized that my most recent post may have been less than cheerful, so I have decided to write about all the happy things in my life!

Item #1: As promised, David came to Rexburg to visit me (oh, and his twin brother). We went to Craigo's (best pizza ever!) and then played catch in the backyard. This resulted in the large, nasty bruise that is now on my shin - but as a disclaimer, this is through no fault of David's but of my own idiocy. A word to the wise: don't ever try to stop the ball with your shin, or any other body part for that matter. Just stick with the glove or move out of the way if worse comes to worst. All in all, it was a good time though. Thanks for coming up to blustery Rexburg David!

Item #2: My dad is getting married on Saturday! You heard right, that's in t-w-o days. Crazy! While this could potentially be an awkward or unpleasant event, I am very happy and excited for my dad and Chris. They make a great couple and I wish them all the best. Want to hear what's even more crazy though? I will now have four step-brothers. Whoa. Amber and I will no longer be in the majority. Pictures from the wedding shortly to come!

Item #3: Thank heavens for the church! I absolutely love my ward and the people in it. It took me awhile, but once I started getting involved in things like choir and volleyball it just clicked. I've been blessed to have made so many friends in the few short months that I have been there. I have also been blessed to serve in two church callings as a Relief Society teacher and as choir pianist. Just last Monday we held a special musical fireside in which I accompanied six different songs, which it turned out quite well if I do say so myself. I have been grateful for the excuse to be at the piano so much. Love it!

Life is good. :)

Patience

I feel the need to write once again and give an update on my life and thoughts. Another semester started today at BYU-Idaho and I find myself so jealous of all those starting school again. What I wouldn't give to be busy again, to have a schedule and daily routine that I can slip into. I came home last night and cried just thinking about it. My friends whom I have been spending time with will once again have obligations and responsibilities to attend to. I find myself too often thinking that life is just not fair. All around me I hear about people finding jobs, and here I am after four months still without one. It makes me wonder what I am doing wrong. These past few months have been very difficult for me and I have become bitter because I am not getting what I want. Then I look back and realize that all my thoughts are about me me me.
I read an amazing talk today called "Continue in Patience" by President Uchtdorf of the First Presidency of the Church and found so much comfort in it. Here are some of my favorite excerpts:

"Patience—the ability to put our desires on hold for a time—is a precious and rare virtue. [ . . .] the very idea of patience may seem unpleasant and, at times, bitter. Nevertheless, without patience, [ . . .] we cannot become perfect. Indeed, patience is a purifying process that refines understanding, deepens happiness, focuses action, and offers hope for peace.

"As parents, we know how unwise it would be to indulge our children’s every desire. But children are not the only ones who spoil when showered with immediate gratification. Our Heavenly Father knows what good parents come to understand over time: if children are ever going to mature and reach their potential, they must learn to wait.

"I learned that patience was far more than simply waiting for something to happen—patience required actively working toward worthwhile goals and not getting discouraged when results didn’t appear instantly or without effort. [ . . .] Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!

"Impatience, on the other hand, is a symptom of selfishness. It is a trait of the self-absorbed. It arises from the all-too-prevalent condition called “center of the universe” syndrome, which leads people to believe that the world revolves around them and that all others are just supporting cast in the grand theater of mortality in which only they have the starring role.

"Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience. Often we can’t see the Lord’s hand in our lives until long after trials have passed. Often the most difficult times of our lives are essential building blocks that form the foundation of our character and pave the way to future opportunity, understanding, and happiness.

"Patience is a process of perfection. The Savior Himself said that in your patience you possess your souls. Or, to use another translation of the Greek text, in your patience you win mastery of your souls. Patience means to abide in faith, knowing that sometimes it is in the waiting rather than in the receiving that we grow the most."

I love this talk, and as you can see, my favorite "excerpts" consist of about half of it. :)

I know that as I exercise patience, I will be blessed. There must be something that I need to learn right now, and experiences that I can gain that will help me later in life. Because of this period of time I will be able to more fully appreciate the blessing of work when it does come. I will be able to look back on this time in my life and see the Lord's hand in it. With the help of my mom, I have realized that right now I need to focus on the blessings that I do have, and all the things I have to be grateful for. If we are grateful for what we have now, we will be blessed with more. The Lord knows what's best for me and I trust that everything will work out. To quote a movie, "Maybe God has a bigger plan for me than I had for myself."

P.S. The weather has been absolutely beautiful since my last blog post and I am grateful for that.

Seriously?!

Can we just be done with the snow . . . PLEASE? I mean come on, it's April 13th. Easter has come and gone and yet it looks like Christmas-time outside. Today I ask myself the question that keeps coming up over and over: Why do I live here? The past few days were so nice and then out of the blue, here comes the snow again. Mother Nature is apparently not done torturing us yet. It's hard to believe that just yesterday I was outside playing softball in the backyard with Amber, Colter, and our puppy Sydney. It was practically perfect. And now, 24 hours later, we could go sledding in the backyard. Ridiculous. I fought the temptation to stay inside all day in my pajamas and read books and drink hot chocolate, and am now doing my best to be as productive as an unemployed person can be. . . the mere fact that I am blogging right now tells you that I am doing a great job. :) For those of you who are not in Rexburg right now, consider yourselves lucky.

General Conference Weekend

Hallelujah! After over two weeks, I finally have something to blog about! This past Easter weekend, my family and I went down to Utah to attend General Conference, in which members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gather from all over the world to hear messages delivered by the president of the Church and other leaders and general authorities. Although I had attended conference in Salt Lake several times before, it was a first for my mom and brother. What a neat experience! The messages given were inspirational, and the music provided by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was beautiful. Saturday evening after conference, we wandered around Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City and enjoyed seeing the temple and exploring the visitor's centers.

We also visited The Living Planet aquarium where we got to touch sea stars and manta rays. Perhaps my favorite were the "four-eyed fish." They don't really have four eyes, but their pupils are divided in half so that the upper half is designed to see above the water, and the lower half is designed to see under water. They usually swim on the surface of the water and are able to detect food or predators either above or below the water at the same time. When they do dive down into the water, the upper halves of their eyes become out of focus. Cool huh?!

I am one of those people who usually reads everything at aquariums or museums, but I refrained this time because I had to keep up with my little brother. Not to mention that Colter is an expert in aquatic life, so when you're with him you don't have to read the signs because he will tell you anything you need to know. Seriously.

Music and Lyrics

While in Utah this past weekend, I also got to spend some time with my good friend David Dzado. I even got to attend a show of his Friday night down in Provo. Despite a setback or two including a broken string, he did a great job and I was so glad I got to see him perform! He also used one of our extra tickets and came to General Conference with us the following morning, and joined us for delicious Chinese food afterward.
I will get to see David again at the end of this month because he is finally coming up to Rexburg! I am so excited to see him again. I just hope that all this snow we've been getting lately will be gone by then.

(For any of my readers out there who are interested in hearing David's music, you can become a fan of him on Facebook.)