School Has Started!

Ok so I know that I am a week late in blogging this. I have been pretty busy and kinda lazy. School started on Monday, August 25. I am taking 15 credits this semester plus an Institute class. I am also working 30 hrs a week, so I am pretty busy this semester.

Since I am sure everyone is curious, here are the classes I am taking this semester: Civilization: Creative Arts, Calculus, Accounting I, Biological Anthropology, and Business Law. My institute class is Book of Mormon: 1 Nephi thru Alma 29.

My teacher for institute is Spencer's old mission president. He is a really good teacher, I'm very excited and I think I will be learning a lot with him. I am excited about my accounting class and my creative arts classes, I think they will be interesting.

In my Creative Arts class, I have to go to different performances. So I have to see "High School Musical" and "Nunsense". They are musicals. I have to go see "East Village Opera Company" and the "Fry Street Quartet". They are concerts. I have to see "Taiko Project" which is an Asian performance that is unique to that region, I'm excited to see that. I get to see the Royal Ballet perform "Carmina Burana" and I get to hear the African Children's Choir. I am pretty excited to see these, it will be interesting.

And then as a side note, because I can't remember if I blogged this. I have a calling in my new ward. I am on the Self Reliance Committee, anybody heard of this? Me neither. Basically what the committee does is help the students here become more self reliant and to become more prepared for emergencies. What we will do is like do things for canning, help people with their 72-hr kit, ect... I haven't had anything to do yet, but I'm interested as to what we will do.

If anybody wants to know anything else about what I've been doing, just drop me a comment and I will get back to you.

Sherri Dew Fireside

I realized as I was looking at my blog today that I forgot to blog about my choir concert with Sherri Dew. On Friday night, we had the fireside. It was really good, well at least the parts that I was awake for were really good. I will admit that I have a problem with church meetings and dimmed lights, I don't know what it is but it always puts me to sleep. The opening song with the congregation was "We Thank Thee Oh God For A Prophet" and I must say that the spirit was so strong after we were done singing. Before Sister Dew gave her talk, the choir sang "My Kindness Will Not Depart From Thee". That is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard and sang.

For a little while Have I forsaken thee; But with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee For a moment. But with everlasting kindness will I gather thee, And with mercy will I take thee ‘neath my wings, For the mountains shall depart, And the hills shall be removed, And the valleys shall be lost beneath the sea, But know, my child, My kindness shall not depart from thee!

Though thine afflictions seem At times too great to bear, I know thine every thought and every care. And though the very jaws Of hell gape after thee I am with thee. And with everlasting mercy will I succor thee, And with healing will I take thee ‘neath my wings. Though the mountains shall depart, And the hills shall be removed, And the valleys shall be lost beneath the sea, Know, my child, My kindness shall not depart from thee!

How long can rolling waters Remain impure? What pow’r shall stay the hand of God? The Son of Man hath descended below all things. Art thou greater than He?

So hold on thy way, For I shall be with thee. And mine angels shall encircle thee. Doubt not what thou knowest, Fear not man, for he Cannot hurt thee. And with everlasting kindness will I succor thee, And with mercy will I take thee ‘neath my wings. For the mountains shall depart, And the hills shall be removed, And the valleys shall be lost beneath the sea, But know, my child, My kindness shall not depart from thee!

These are the lyrics to the song, beautiful aren't they. Sister Dew's talk was on Joseph Smith and the prophets, and for what I was awake through, it was really good. One thing that she said that really stuck in my mind was something that she said at the beginning of her talk. She told a story about her friend looking for a house and her asking Sister Dew to come help her. They found a very nice house that seemed like the best for the standards that she had chosen, so she asked Sister Dew to pray and ask the Lord if it was the right house. Sister Dew went on to pray and she said in her prayer, "...Let them get this house if it suits Thee, or help them find something better..." Now this is an indirect quote and I don't know if I even quoted it right, but what stuck with me was asking the Lord to find something better. Not putting a limitation on what God can do for us. It really made me think and realize that that is what I need to do when I ask the Lord if what I am praying for is good, or if He can get me something better if it suits His needs.

Another thing that Sister Dew said at the end of her talk was she was talking about Abraham 3: 16-17, the scripture about the Noble and Great Ones and how before, she used to always attributed that to the prophets and apostles and church leaders. Now she attributes that scripture to everybody, saying that everybody is a Noble and Great One. It was a really good talk and I was glad that I was there to listen to most of it. For a closing song, the choir sang "Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing", arranged by Mack Wilberg.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;Streams of mercy, never ceasing,Call for songs of loudest praise.Teach me some melodious sonnet,Sung by flaming tongues above.Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;Hither by Thy help I’ve come;And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,Safely to arrive at home.Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,Prone to leave the God I love;Here's my heart, O take and seal it;Seal it for Thy courts above.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,Wandering from the fold of God;He, to rescue me from danger,Interposed His precious blood.Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,Prone to leave the God I love;Here's my heart, O take and seal it;Seal it for Thy courts above.

O to grace how great a debtorDaily I'm constrained to be!Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,Bind my wandering heart to Thee:Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,Prone to leave the God I love;Here's my heart, O take and seal it;Seal it for Thy courts above.

"Out of Small Things" Talk

So I had to give a talk today in church. I really did not want to do it! I wrote the talk last night at like midnight, and I whipped it out in about 30 minutes. I had to base my talk on the Oct. 2007 General Conference talk by Elder Michael Teh, it was called "Out of Small Things". The talk was basically on service. You know what, I'm going to put my talk on here. Let you all know about what I mostly said. This is going to be long, so you don't have to read it if you don't want to.

So I started out by telling everyone my name and saying how most everybody didn't know me because I am anti-social and this would probably be the first time anybody had heard me talk. Than I got started. Now most of this won't be exactly what I said, I did a lot of improv. I just put down the main points to read and just blabbed something of my own to fill in between. So you will just get the main points and not my blab.

"The following advice, given by the deceitful Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood in C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters...The great thing is to direct the malice to his immediate neighbours whom he meets every day and to thrust his benevolence out to the remote circumference, to people he does not know. The malice thus becomes wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary."-Elder Teh

"Finally, serve willingly. You are a mighty force for good, one of the most powerful in the entire world. Your influence ranges far beyond yourself and your home and touches others all around the globe."-President Monson (Nov. 2007 Ensign)

"...Much of the service needed in the world today relates to our day-to-day associations with each other."-Elder Teh

"Often small acts of service are all that is required to lift and bless another: a question concerning a person's family, quick words of encouragement, a sincere compliment, a small note of thanks, a brief telephone call. If we are observant and aware, and if we act on the promptings which come to us, we can accomplish much good. Sometimes, of course, more is needed."-President Monson (Nov. 2007 Ensign)

"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God. I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another--I say unto you that if ye should serve him from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another--I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants."-Mosiah 2: 17, 20-21

"-That assurance from the Master can help those of us feeling overwhelmed by our circumstances. In the hardest trials, as long as you have the power to pray, you can ask a loving God: “Please let me serve, this day. It doesn’t matter to me how few things I may be able to do. Just let me know what I can do. I will obey this day. I know that I can, with Thy help.”-The quiet invitation to you may be to do so simple a thing as to forgive someone who has offended you. You can do that from a hospital bed. It may be to go to help someone who is hungry. You may feel overwhelmed by your own poverty and the labors of the day. But if you decide not to wait until you have more strength and more money, and if you pray for the Holy Spirit as you go, you will when you arrive know what to do and how to help someone even poorer than you are. You may find when you get there that they were praying and expecting that someone like you would come, in the name of the Lord.-For those who are discouraged by their circumstances and are therefore tempted to feel they cannot serve the Lord this day, I make you two promises. Hard as things seem today, they will be better in the next day if you choose to serve the Lord this day with your whole heart. Your circumstances may not be improved in all the ways which you desire. But you will have been given new strength to carry your burdens and new confidence that when your burdens become too heavy, the Lord, whom you have served, will carry what you cannot. He knows how. He prepared long ago. He suffered your infirmities and your sorrows when He was in the flesh so that He would know how to succor you. The other promise I make to you is that by choosing to serve Him this day, you will feel His love and grow to love Him more. -By serving Him this day, you will come to know Him better. You will feel His love and appreciation. You would not want to delay receiving that blessing. And feeling His love will draw you back to His service, wiping away both complacency and discouragement."-President Eyring (May 2007 Ensign)

"We can't do everything for everyone everywhere, but we can do something for someone somewhere."-Elder Richard L. Evans (1906-71) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

"For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."-Matthew 25:35-40

"No man can be a true Latter-Day Saint who is unneighborly, who does not reach out to assist and help others. It is inherent in the very nature of the gospel that we do so. My brothers and sisters, we cannot live unto ourselves."-President Hinkley

"Our service to others should be independent of race, color, standing, or relationships. After all, the commandment to "succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees" did not come with qualifications."-Elder Teh

"This service is to be given unselfishly, with no thought of personal gain or reward. It is to be given as needed, not when convenient. Opportunities to serve may not always seem obvious, as it is human nature to worry about our own wants and needs. We must resist such tendencies and look for opportunities to serve. When we visit with those who are suffering from sickness, loss of loved ones, or other heartbreak, it is not enough to simply say, "Call if there is anything I can do." Rather, look for ways to bless the lives of others through seemingly simple acts of service. It is better to do even things of little consequence than to do nothing at all. Service requires unselfishness, sharing, and giving."-Elder Steven E. Snow (Nov. 2007 Ensign) of the Seventy

"For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward. Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward. But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned."-D&C 58:26-29

"Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. Serving others need not come from spectacular events. Often it is the simple daily act that gives comfort, uplifts, encourages, sustains, and brings a smile to others."-Elder Teh

"Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need? Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad? If not, I have failed indeed. Has anyone's burden been lighter today because I was willing to share? Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way? When they needed my help was I there? There are chances for work all around just now, opportunities right in our way. Do not let them pass by, saying, "Sometime I'll try," but go and do something today. 'Tis noble of man to work and to give; love's labor has merit alone. Only he who does something helps others to live. To God each good work will be known."-"Have I Done Any Good?" (Hymn no. 223)

RIP President Hinckley!

So yesterday I found out that President Hinckley died from Mom and Brittney. I read the text and I felt like I was hit in the stomach. All of my breath just left me. I stared at my phone in shock and disbelief and I told Chippy, Keely, and Kendal and they were just as shocked as I was. Kendal and Chippy went downstairs to check the computer for more information and I just sat there in shock. It is hard to think that he is actually dead. I don't remember when President Benson was alive, I was too young, President Hinckley has been the prophet for most of my life, it will be weird to watch conference and not see his smiling face up at the pulpit. Yesterday, I had a choir performance and just as we ended our concert and sang our last song was when President Hinckley passed away. We realized today that our last song, which is called "Go Ye Now In Peace" was sang at the time of his passing. It was a humbling moment, today in choir, we did a little service of remembrance before starting class, I was glad to be able to be there and hear everyone's stories.

FHE

I went to FHE (Family Home Evening) for the first time in like 4 months tonight and I had an absolute blast! It was so much fun! It was at Brother and Sister Hoth's house and there were about 15 people in our little "family" there tonight. The lesson was on families I think, but I don't remember because it was really short. Most everybody went downstairs to play games, but I stayed upstairs and talked with Sister Hoth and a bunch of the other girls. We had an absolute blast, and Sister Hoth is so funny, I mean she is freaking hilarious! I'm glad I went tonight, it was fun!

Hometeachers

Today my hometeachers finally came to see me. They came around 7:10 pm, although I guess they had set out around 6:45 pm, but they couldn't find the house, and just as they were about to call, they finally found me. My hometeachers names are DeLon and Ryan; they are both white, in case anybody was wondering. DeLon did pretty much all the talking, I think all Ryan did was say the prayer, and then he stared at the ceiling for the rest of the time. The lesson they gave was on the temples and why they are important; it was a good lesson, well presented and everything. So yeah, that's pretty much it.

Choir Performance

Today I had an Institute Choir Performance, we had an Institute Choir Fireside tonight, so I had to perform. We had it at the Tabernacle and so it was kind of crowded for the choir, but oh well, it was really cool. The choir sang the prelude, so we just "Oohed and Aahed" to the music until it was time to perform. Our opening song was the Latter-Day Voices choir singing (they're the special choir that you have to audition for). Then both choirs sang "We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet", that song gave me chills, oh it was absolutely beautiful. It starts out with the choir singing it, then the conductor turns and the congregation sings along, then the choir sings a phrase or two more. The spirit was so strong tonight and I just got chills from the power of that song, it was amazing. Then my choir sang "Standing in the Need of Prayer" which is a gospel song that was lots of fun, then we sang "Homeward Bound" which is a beautiful song that the Tabernacle Choir sings, then we sang "Secret Prayer" which is also a pretty song. Then all the choirs sang a song called "One in Christ" which is, I guess, the theme song for this year, and that is an amazing song as well. The Latter-Day Voices sang "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and that song also gave me chills from the power of it; it is similar to "We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet" where the congregation sings as well, and man did I have chills. It was really cool. Between each song, someone would bear their testimony and there were two girls who were doing this corny little thing throughout the program, but this is a Mormon Fireside, so corniness is allowed. Spencer agreed with me, he was there just to watch me perform, which was really sweet. So that is what I did today, other than church that is.

General Conference

Today, I got to go to General Conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, obviously. It was really cool and a neat opportunity that I'm glad I got. The only problem was that it was morning conference, and I had to be over at Kendal's house at 7 am and I went to bed at like 11:45 pm and so I didn't get much sleep. So I ended up sleeping through the beginning part of Conference. What was really weird was that I would be awake when the speaker started, fall asleep through the talk, then wake up when they ended and then fall asleep once the next speaker started. So I just heard the beginning remarks of President Eyring and the beginning remarks of the new apostle, Elder Cook. I ended up waking up for good in the middle of the General Relief Society President's talk, which was good.

One thing that I really liked was at the beginning, everybody was talking and being a little noisy, but then everybody stood up and it was instantly quiet. President Hinckley had walked into the room, I could tell the instant I came in because I could just feel his presence from where I was, and I was on the top balcony in the far corner, oh it was absolutely amazing! My favorite talk, I think was Elder Bednar's talk, it was really good. One thing I liked was how he said, "You can have clean hands but not have a pure heart" and how he explained the way to have both clean hands and pure heart. It was really good, and I liked when President Hinckley got up to speak at the very end of the morning conference, it was really good; even though it was a repeat talk, but who can know when it was, it was one out of 200 something talks he's given. It was really funny how he started it, I was glad that I got to be there.

Kendal drove both of us to Salt Lake and we parked her car in front of an old missionary friend's house, I guess she met him at the end of his mission, his name was Jeff Christianson, I think, so his mom took us within walking distance of the Conference Center, and then we met up with one of her old companions, and her name was Melissa Dredge, or something like that, so I kind of felt like an outsider, as I was the youngest and had never been on a mission, but they were kind enough to include me in their conversations and explain things to me, so I had fun. After Conference, we split from Melissa, and Jeff's sister came and picked us up a little bit aways from the Conference Center, then Kendal and I drove home.

On the drive home, it was absolutely gorgeous!!! The trees were so beautiful with the changing seasons, I haven't seen such vivid colors on trees before, it was absolutely breathtaking!
This is a pic of the mountains with snow and the red trees.


Oh, and another thing I just remembered, Kendal and I had really good luck today. As we were driving this morning, we were in the horrible area where they are doing construction and there are barriers on both sides of the road. This stupid person had gotten a flat tire, and so instead of going a couple more feet to a place where he could pull off the interstate, he stopped in the middle of the interstate and changed his tire. Kendal was paying attention and so was able to turn around him, another truck wasn't so lucky, we were both commenting on the stupid person and we looked back and a truck had seen the people too late and had swerved to miss them and had crashed into the barrier in the fast lane, blocking all traffic, oh my gosh were we lucky, we had only cleared that by 10 seconds when it had happened. We made it to Salt Lake in like an hour and fifteen minutes, which isn't too bad, then we continued to have good luck throughout the rest of the day. When we went to the bathroom, there was no line, when we got out, like 1-2 minutes later, there was a huge line, it was crazy! Then we got home in about an hour and fifteen minutes again. It was crazy!

Visiting Teaching

Today I went visiting teaching for the first time with Kendal, she is my teaching companion. We were only able to visit one of our girls, her name is Tiffani and she has bi-polar, and she likes to tell everybody that she has bi-polar. I guess she is really artistic and creative, she writes books and music, she sings, and I think she draws as well. She was a really nice girl. Our lesson was on having one heart and one mind, Kendal gave the lesson since I've never done this before, and she was all missionary mode when we got there, it was pretty funny. We are still trying to get a hold of our other girl so we can be good and satisfied with our visiting teaching this month.

My 1st calling here!

Well, I have been sustained for my first church calling in the 30th ward that I am going to here in Logan. I am now part of the enrichment committee for Relief Society and I have absolutely no idea what it is that I am supposed to be doing, so yeah! Also, Kendal and I are visiting teaching partners so we'll be visiting our sisters soon, so I'll give everybody an update on that when I can!

First day of Church

I had my first day in church today. I am in a Student/Singles Ward. Kendal and I are in the same ward, thank goodness, because she is my ride to church. There is a ward prayer tonight that I might go to if we are not eating dinner at that time, which we probably will be. I also found out that I won't be able to go to FHE Monday's because it is at the same time as my Math class, which is from 7-9 pm and FHE starts at 7. Oh well, maybe next year.