Looking Back

So I'm taking a few minutes to breath and get people updated. Sadly I'd love to talk to most of you one on one but alas, I do not have the time to do that.

After my last post, Wendy returned from her sojourn overseas. We enjoyed being reunited. We'd both grown closer to one another during her absence. Wendy was happy to spend good quality time with both her parents. A couple days after she got back, we came back to Idaho. Classes have started and we both have kind of crazy schedules. Plus, I started back to work this week so that's made life that much more hectic. The last couple of weeks have been good but a bit difficult getting back into the swing of things. I should mention that Wendy and I have one class together which is nice because it means we have a least two times a week that we're guaranteed to see each other. This semester, I have all new roommates which is cool. We're all chill which is nice. I'm currently reading two books "The Power of Six" which is from the sequel of "I Am Number Four" and the fifth book of Fablehaven. The latter series Wendy recommended to me and I really like it.

Wendy and I got to hang out with a couple of my friends from my freshman orientation. They meet in my group and later started dating. They are now married and they are living in the apartment complex that Wendy and I are hoping to live in next year. We threw around a Frisbee, and had a small game night with dessert. I'm sorry, I don't have photos of that.

Lately, I've been thinking about the past and where I was a year ago or two or however many. I guess, I've thought about this because of reading over my journal and just the events happening all around me. I thought about all the dating that I've done here at BYU-Idaho. I know I haven't dated tons of girls but I will say that I tend to get really attached to people. In the past, it's always made breakups a bit more rough for me. Having reread some of my journal entries from those times, it made feel kinda sad but also made me want to reach out to my past self to tell him that everything will be okay and this is just part of Heavenly Father's plan for us. Saying that reminds me of a video that I love from Elder Holland that you can see if you click here. I watched this video after most of my breakups to help remind that the future would be better. But I digress, if I could go back, I would tell myself to keep going even though it's hard. I would tell myself to that it will get better even if there's another breakup down the road. I would tell him that God has the situation firmly in hand and that He's guiding you even if you don't see it yet; I'll promise him that one day he will see it and it'll be awesome beyond his imagination. And I'll answer his question, the question he was always too timid to ask. I would tell him that all the heartache and sacrifices he went through we were worth it. I'd let him know that he was trading small copper nuggets for a treasury of gold. I want to conclude by saying to those going through hard times right now: keep going! It will get better. If you feel like the Lord wants you to sacrifice something or a relationship with someone, do it. I promise that it will be worth it. I promise that you will be blessed for your sacrifice even if like Abraham, you can't see how God will make it work. I hope that y'all have a good week. May the Lord watch over you and bless you.

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!