Enabled by Grace

I'd like to offer my sincere apologies for having not written sooner. After my last post I got an internship down in Utah and moved down there. It's been very exciting to work with local city government to get necessary things accomplished. I'm looking forward to seeing how my work influences the city decisions. Also my wife, Wendy and I are expecting our first child later this year. We're very excited about welcoming our little girl into our new family. Wendy and I also visited Idaho about a month ago to visit friends and family. I'm close to finishing up my internship. I'm currently reading the Foundation series and Dad is rereading it.

My sister Catherine has a skill for making shirts and Onesies. At my request a few months ago she taught me how to make them. I came up with a design and then most of the execution with her careful oversight. This is the result.

The concept comes from one of my favorite TV shows the Avatar: the Last Airbender.
Here are two other shirts Catherine's made for me.

The above one is also from Avatar.

This shirt comes from a book called "The Little Prince". The quote on the back reads "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye". The quote is in French because I wanted a shirt with French on it that wasn't something mundane like "J'aime Paris" or "I love Paris".

So I came across a concept that I really like. It came from a talk in the last April session of LDS General Conference. The talk was by Elder Cardon entitled "The Savior Wants to Forgive". I liked the concept so much that I made it into a diagram which makes me feel like I understand it pretty well. Elder Cardon explains that if we seek the Lord's grace that it will be granted to us and make weak things strong. Endowed with this grace we are then capable of accomplishing tasks that we normally would not be able to do alone. It's a really simple message but it was something that really stuck out to me. It's something that I really believe to me true because I've searched for grace and been enabled to do things that I never thought I would be able to do.

I hope y'all have a good week!

Making Decisions based on Correct Principles

So these last few weeks have been crazy. Lots of exams, stress and generally getting things done. I'm currently writing from my parents place. I've been able to have lots of fun with Wendy despite the hectic schedule. Last week Wendy's mom came up to pick up Wendy and to get to know me better. Getting to know part of Wendy's family was really nice and helped me understand my Wendy a bit better.

A few weeks ago I found a website that sells t-shirts with special designs from different movies and TV shows. I know that my sister Catherine, is really good at making cool designs for shirts. So I talked to her and in the next few weeks, hopefully she'll be able to teach me how to make cool shirt designs in the next few weeks. If I make any cool shirts, I will be sure to show you, my dear readers. My other sister Megan is getting married in a week. It makes me anxious for December so that it'll be my turn. My sister Catherine cut my hair recently which is nice because it is warm out and then I'm going to California for Megan's wedding soon. I currently reading the fourth book of the Fablehaven series, which Wendy recommended to me.

I will say that the last four days have been rather long for me. Why, you may ask? Because for the last four days I have been missing the company of my darling Wendy. This is the longest that I have been absent from my darling Wendy since we first met. Honestly, I don't remember missing this much since I was little and emotions were overpowering, or like being Tinkerbell who can only have one emotion at a time. Being without her has made me realized how truly blessed I am to have her in my life. Recently, I've thought about the decisions that lead to me meeting my darling Wendy. Looking back I realized that I have not explained this story on my blog.

It started with a decision that I that I made in back in the spring of 2010. I knew that for a break between semesters that I would be working. Just working and being a single guy. I heard about a service opportunity on campus to be a director for freshman orientation. I decided to volunteer for it because I hated the idea of being selfish for seven weeks doing nothing for anyone else. For that seven week break, my apartment complex needed to move me to another complex for the break. When I was filling out the paper, I asked the guy advising me which address I should put down and explained my situation. He told me the address that I was at for the break. In hindsight, I realize NORMALLY I should have put my regular address. The break was fun and I ended up having a girlfriend for a week while I helped with freshmen orientation. The guy's mistake just meant that I would do more walking while helping the freshmen but not much more.

So time went by and I kept in contact with some of my group and went to get-together parties when I could. In March, I was invited to party by a the girl on the far left in the purple. She happened to be roommates with a girl named Michelle who was a former sister missionary (for my church) where Wendy lived. I mentioned Michelle in this post as the girl I helped by giving advice. Michelle had tried to set up Wendy with another guy at the party. I helped Michelle and even asked if it'd be okay if we could go on a date sometime. I remember talking with Michelle when Wendy came by and interrupting making a (in my opinion) rude comment about how she was still going on about her last break even after three weeks. Well after the party, I was walking home when Wendy got my attention and asking if she could walk with me. I agree and we talked until we got to the entrance of her place and then we talked for about an hour more. It was good conversation, if not a bit awkward at the time. Wendy asked me on a date and even offered me her number so that I could "help [her] with French homework". Before I left, Wendy asked me if I'd give her a hug. I said that I would stating that I like hugs but that I know that not everyone does. Well, I gave her a hug and she commented that I knew how to really hug unlike other people she knew. Well I left thinking that I had a date with her but nothing would probably come of it, like so many of my dates. How wrong I was! Well we went on a date and Wendy made sure that Michelle knew that she was interested in the redheaded guy (i.e me) and so I never got a date with Michelle but got a second date with Wendy instead. :) And as they say, the rest is history folks!

The moral of my story is make decisions based on correct principles and the Lord will guide your life. At the time, I didn't think I was being guided by His hand but I was. You may not see it. It may be frustrating and aggravating but trust me, He has a plan. Just make sure that you're doing your best to obey correct principles and God will bless you for it. It may not be immediate and it may be years from then, BUT He will bless you. I promise you this. I love the Lord and He has blessed my life beyond my wildest imagination. I hope that y'all have a good week!

P.S. Never write about your fiancée when she's out of the country. You end up spending half your time looking at photos of her and missing her more. 5 more months!

Holding On and Letting Go

Holy cow! It's been over a month. Sorry y'all. These last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy with school, work, and Wendy.

My classes and work have been going pretty well. In my legislative branch class I even got a bill of mine passed. In other news, Wendy and I got our engagement photos taken, which was a lot of fun. Especially Wendy laughing every five minutes or so from something silly I said. Here is a preview of them. I'll post them later on facebook.

Don't worry, this isn't the one that we will be using for the invites. Y'all will see those later. As Wendy said "cuz they are a surprise!"

We've been able to grow closer together these few weeks. We've also had a lot of fun. Wendy was able to go to my sister Megan's bridal shower where she got to hang out with the women of my family. Megan gets married in three weeks. One of my favorite TV series, Legend of Korra had its season finale which was epic. And I got to watch it with my darling Wendy, which always makes it better.

During the last few weeks, I've been reading a talk called "Holding On and Letting". It is a really good talk that talks about times when we need to hold to important spiritual principles and letting go of unimportant things. I feel like this has been a big lesson that I've learned this year. Between the two relationships that I've had this year, I can say that this is definitely a lesson I've learned. Often we need to hold on to the important gospel principles during our trials and we need to let go of our plans, incorrect thoughts and habits, and those who pulls us down. On the other hand we need to hold fast to the teachings of the prophets, the scriptures, and hold on to those who lift us up. With Wendy I have learned to hold on to her and the gospel and let go of my thoughts and perceptions.

I hope that ya'll learn to hold to the good principles and let go of the bad things! Hope y'all have a great week!

My Brother--An Answer to Prayer

This week was good and stressful. I was more productive than I had expected. I took a history test and did pretty well. Wendy and I watched the Muppets Movie, that Wendy gave me and we went to the Cacao Bean this Saturday to relax. I should also mention that it's my sister Megan's 20th birthday! I'm glad that she's a member of my family and that she's my sister.


This is my brother and I. He's the one with brown hair.

So I've had this idea for a post for at least two weeks. Clearly, I've gotten distracted a lot since then. Well one of the highlights of this week (besides wedding planning) was getting to talk to my brother Aaron. He is really cool. When I was young, I always wanted to have a brother. I remember that when my mom was pregnant with my sister Megan, that I prayed that she would be a boy so that I could have a cool little brother. Then a few years later, my mom had Aaron. I was happy to FINALLY have a little brother. Eventually my excitement wore off after I realized that we had a large age gap.

Like many siblings, I've always loved him but I've not always liked him. When we were younger, we didn't always get along. First I should explain that my brother is really smart. Originally this was really cool because I could talk to him about intellectually about the stuff I talked to my peers about. Well eventually like any good little brother, he decided to use his intelligence to get on my nerves. Luckily that phase didn't last long.


After that phase we've gotten along pretty well. We talked about lots of random stuff, as memory serves, most of it was imaginary things. Then I went on my mission and everything changed. My family members had changed a lot and I'd hardly heard anything from my siblings. I had to restart my relationship with all of my siblings and my brother was no exception.


It was hard because we didn't have any common ground. So I took some advice from my mom and decided to just hang out with him. We started hanging out at a creek near our home in North Carolina. Since that time we've done a lot of hanging out at that creek. Now we talk discuss temples, politics, fashion (we have strong and sometimes differing opinions about what looks good) and both the Avatar series.


Aaron is my brother and he is a dork just like me. Being his older brother, I've had the opportunity to watch him grow up and to be a part of his life. I've tried my best to set a good example to him and I think that he's done a great job at living the Gospel despite how hard it can be. He is cool, lovable, geeky, and all around a lot of fun. I love my brother and I'm glad to be his brother.

I hope that y'all have a good week! Remember to love your family. Try to find ways to show you that you do!

Trust in the Lord and Be Not Afraid

Since the last post I have been united with my wonderful girlfriend and spent time with my family. After my girlfriend finally made it to my parents house we exchanged our Christmas gifts. Sadly, I got Barbara ANOTHER journal while she got me an awesome CD and the second season of Avatar: the Last Airbender which is my favorite TV series. I feel bad that my gift for her was not as good. The day after Barbara got in we went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City. We talked to two different sets of sister missionaries. The first set of sisters talked to us about the gospel and the need to share it. The second set we talked to because I really wanted to speak French with someone and Barbara was kind enough to let me do so.

The next day Barbara and I went on a triple date with my sister Catherine and my brother-in-law Jesse, and Megan and Garret (Megan's boyfriend). It was a lot of fun even if I did a lot of ice cream, Garret was close to falling asleep (due to a super long delay), and we ended up talking more than playing games. On the first of January, my family, Barbara and Garret, and myself all went to church together. The next day, my parents left with my sister Megan, Garret, and a friend from North Carolina. Barbara was really kind and we traveled up to Rexburg later that same day.

I have now returned to apartment in Rexburg. Barabara celebrated her 23rd birthday on the first day of school which seems to me to be just a bit cruel. Luckily, I was able to take her out to dinner for birthday. We went to a local Thai restaurant which was really good. We also got to watch the second part of the seventh Harry Potter because Barbara hadn't seen it and she liked it. Well I've gone back to work and got myself settled and caught a cold. So I've been trying to fight it and get everything else done.

My spiritual thought this time comes from second Nephi chapter 22; here Nephi is quoting the 12th chapter of Isaiah, it reads "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid..." I like this part because, I know that sometimes fears can seem to overwhelm us. Fear of failing, fear of not knowing the future, fear of losing someone, can seem to block out all the hope that we have for our lives. But we have to remember to trust in the Lord and His promises, and we must do as Ether directs those who believe in God that they "might with surety hope for a better world." Once we have learned to trust the Lord and hope for a better world then we must move forward and do what we can. I know that the Lord's promises to us are true and that He will fulfill them in His own time. I hope that y'all have started your new year right. I hope y'all have a good week!

And Upon These I Write the Things of My Soul

So these last two week have been pretty crazy with clean checks, finals, going down to Utah, and the holidays. I love spending time with my family and even being able to help my friend Crystal stay sane. On the other hand, I have really missed my girlfriend and I missed being able to always be there for her. Luckily, I was able to go to the Salt Lake City temple with my friend Crystal.

These holidays have been interesting because my sister Catherine is nearing the end of her pregnancy and her little boy tends to move around quiet a bit. Being the oldest of four kids I remember being little and feeling my mom's stomach when she was pregnant with my two youngest siblings. It now strikes me as odd to realize that my sister that I grew up with, that I was little with, will be having a little person of her own soon.

For me, this is one of those things that is mile marker. It is also reminder that we all are in different phases of life and that we will always move from one phase to another, often silently and slowly. I think some of the greatest changes in this world are often silent and slow, and if we are not careful we may over look them.

These last few weeks have been enjoyable but hectic. I will admit that in the last few weeks I have not been as diligent in my journal writing as I ought to have been; hence why this post has been less events and more thoughts. For about the last month or so, I have been going through the Book of Mormon again because I haven't done so since I was on my mission in 2009. Since then my life has taken many turns and I have had many scriptural classes both of which have greatly improved my understanding.

A few weeks ago, I ran across a scripture that stuck out to me. It's found in 2 Nephi chapter 4, in this chapter Nephi talks about the plates and what they mean to him; he writes about them in these terms "And upon these (the plates) I write the things of my soul... Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord..." (verse 15, 16) I like these verses because I to me, that is what I should writing about in my journal "the things of my soul". In a small extent, I feel that I understand it's importance. My grandpa Sebright wrote a journal while he was in school. Years later after he had passed away, my dad read it and it helped him to come closer to his father. Think about it this way, if someone only knew you from what you wrote in your journal, would they recognize your personality? Would they understand your motives? My challenge to you and myself my dear readers is to try and do better at your journal writing and try to write more of "the things of [your] soul" upon them. May the Lord bless and keep you is my prayer. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Little Things

So this apparently has been a good week for all of my family. Two of my other family members had good things happen to them on Friday. And I got a girlfriend. :) So I think I will start with that story so as my sister Megan put it best "I don't have to tell a story a million different times". Not to mention people have been clamoring for the details. Don't worry, I'll get to my spiritual message following that.

The best place to start is at the beginning. During the break between semesters, my roommate Noé started a group on Facebook called BYU-I Harmony. I decided to join it mostly out of curiosity and a bit of boredom. As Noé got busy dating a girl, he assigned other people as to be administrators over the page. Many of them got busy too and so one day, Noé made me one because he knew that I checked up on the page regularly. Well the semester started and the group kinda died out. I aske around and found out that there was no girl administrator. So I asked for volunteers. A brave girl, named Barbara Spaulding, stepped up and volunteered. I made her an administrator and added her as a friend so that we could more easily communicate and coordinate things on the page.

Two weeks ago I contacted her and talked to her about trying to get the group going again. Last Sunday I decided that I should get to know my co-administrator a bit better. So I went explored her facebook page. I commented on couple of things on her wall and then I noticed that she was on. I decided to chat with her because we almost were having a conversation on her wall. Well we had really good open conversation about dating. We talked about we both hated dating which was ironic since we are both administrators of BYU-I Harmony. Well then, she said, maybe this was a sign that we should go on a date. So I asked her if we could meet up and then we could decide if we'd like to go on a date. She agreed. So then I got her number so that we could arrange our meeting.

We texted constantly for the next few days until we met. I was excited to meet her. Talking to her was better in person than it was digitally. The next day we hung out with my sister Megan and her boyfriend. We had a lot of fun and a good time. We decided then that we wanted to date each other. On Friday I asked her on a double date with my friend and former roommate Erick (pictured above) and my friend Sarah. It went well and we all ate well. Since then we have talked a lot and become very good friends. As my former roommate Victor told me. There are two types of girls, ones that you chase constantly; the second you chase each other. I feel like Barbara is the second type and I like it better.

So my message this week, is about the little things. Something that the Lord has placed an emphasis on following the small promptings. The devotional this week mentioned it, I read about it and many of the talks today in church today talked about following the promptings in the small things. I have learned that if follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost in small things that the Lord will be more willing to lead and help us. But we must make the effort to do so. I have seen how that works or doesn't depending our obedience. I am reminded of the scripture in Alma "that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise." (Alma 37:6) I know that the Lord uses small means to bring about His great works. I feel like since I started what I thought was just a small side conversation, has turned out to be a great blessing in my life.

I hope that you will strive to follow the little promptings or like I like to think of them as spiritual nudges. May the Lord bless you with happiness is my prayer. Have a good week!

The Power of Choice

So this week started out with me fighting the despair and discouragement; it seems to me that Satan must have been running a campaign against me. I asked Heavenly Father to help me overcome but promised to do what I can to overcome it. I will say that Heavenly Father helped provide me with love and support that I needed. I want to share an idea that helped me. I have made a list of songs that I call my "Pick Me Up" . I listened to that song which contains a mixture of my favorite hymns and quite a few of my favorite modern songs that have positive music and positive lyrics. Listening to these songs truly helped keep me buoyed up through that rough patch.

On Tuesday, I think I had a pretty powerful lesson in Brother Pyper's class; his pictured below with me. One of my class mates told a story from her life and taught us an application of scripture.

This week, I had a string of good scripture study sessions mainly because I followed the promptings of the Spirit and I read some different talks and scriptures that I wouldn't normally have read. On Friday I went and watched a movie with one of my good friends, Chellie. The movie is called "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time". As may be obvious from the title, it was about time travel. I liked the movie because without meaning to, it highlighted how our simple choices have a large impact over the long run. This seems to have been a theme for me, at least this weekend.

The last two days the stake to which my sister and I belong has had it's stake conference. It has been very good to get so much instruction. This afternoon, a girl in my French class (who's apparently in my stake) gave a really good talk about the Atonement and choice. She said that everyday she gets on her knees and tells the Lord that she's going to give or loan him her agency; I really like that idea and want to set that as a goal for myself. Another sister in our stake referenced President Ucthdorf's talk "A Matter of a Few Degrees" and said that we should also look at that a few degrees of improvement can have a large impact for good. She also encouraged us to get to the temple as often as we can.

So this week I'm going to try to make some improvements in my life. One of them is smiling. I feel that if I'm happy that I should be smiling more than I do. Another thing that I'm going to do is pondering after doing scripture study so that I can better apply it. I will continue to make a small list of things to improve. My challenge to you is to find small things that you can improve and to make those choices and stick with them because you don't know the importance it may have in your life.

The Tender Mercies of the Lord Are Over All Those

So this week has been interesting. It's been fun but hard at the same time. I've had a lot of homework, work, and other issues. The good news is that I have a date later this week. I'm happy about that I think it'll be really good.

On Saturday I was able to go back to the temple. I haven't been in over three weeks which was waaaay to long. The good news is that even though I had to wait for an hour in the temple, I was able to feel the Spirit and I even felt a pang of grief at having to leave the temple and go home.

Saturday afternoon, I got to see my sister because we both worked the same shift at work and then we decided to have lunch together. I also got to walk home with her on Sunday. It was good to be around family and get to talk again. We've both have been busy and so we haven't see each other a lot.

On Sunday, church was really good. Every single speaker touched on something that I needed to here. Also we had a special music number and a sister performed the most beautiful rendition of "Come Thou Fount" that I have every heard. I will be honest, I cried because the Spirit was that strong.

This week, I was in the middle of writing a missionary when I realized a tender mercy of the Lord. Before my mission, my sister Megan (pictured above) were really close. When I came after my mission, I was more mature and my sister was a young women and no longer the little girl I remember. So needless to say we found that our relation would need to change and we tried making it work with some success. Then my sister applied to and got into BYU-Idaho. Eventually she decided to live in the apartment complex next to mine. Because she lives "next door" we've been blessed to be able to rebuild our relationship to as good, if not better, than it was before. I realized that this was a tender mercy of the Lord. After that I started to see many others in my life.

I ask you, my readers, to look for the tender mercies of the Lord. As I learned in church on Sunday, "the Lord doesn't have a cell phone" but that doesn't mean that He isn't trying to sending us the equivalent of little love texts or tender mercies just as often as we receive texts. I hope that you stop and review you days and look for the tender mercies that our Father in Heaven has given you.