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.

A Grateful Currant Bush

This week has been good but a little long because I worked hard on a big project and getting other things done. This week I had a ton of papers, finals, and other things that I needed to get done. Between this post and the last one, I have been able to give one of my good friends, Crystal Champion, two priesthood blessings of comfort because she was going through a really rough time since she's graduating this week and starting a whole new adventure. I won't lie, I'm going to miss her because she's like a sister to me. We've been friends since we both started school back in 2006. We're both dorks who love the South, the gospel and who both speak French (I speak it more than she does but she does a good job understanding me).

A few weeks ago, Barbara and I attended the annual Jane Austen Yule Ball. It was lots of fun to get dressed like the guys on Pride and Prejudice. For those of you who don't know, I have read the book and my favorite movie version is the A&E 5 hour version. I should note that it seemed to take quiet a while to get changed into the garb which made me thankful that I didn't live in that time period. It was a lot of fun doing the dances and seeing lots of different people that I know. Here's a good picture of Barbara and I.

Going back to the blessings that I gave Crystal, it was interesting because in one of them, I told her as the Spirit directed that "Heavenly Father was proud of what [she'd] done with the friendships that [she'd] made and the lives of the people [she had] blessed." I had to pause for a moment after that because it was a tender moment because my friend Crystal truly has blessed my life.

So this last week, I reflected a bit on my past and where I thought I'd be. I was reminded of the talk "The Currant Bush" by Hugh B. Brown. This is one of my favorite talks and some of my longer readers will recognize that this is not the first reference that I've made to it. I remember feeling like the currant bush earlier this year because I through a third and rather painful breakup. Coming to the close of a year, I am definitely not were I planned to be and this next year will be to be interesting and full of new challenges. While Elder Hugh B. Brown saw some 50 years later that the Lord had hurt him to put him on a new path, for me it has not been 50 years but I will say that I am thankful for the path that the Lord has put me on. Because here, I have been able to help my friends and family, and I was able to meet Barbara. Barbara has been a great blessing in my life (for the short time that she's been a part of it) and she has helped me to learn things that I could not have learned anywhere else.

I hope that you my dear readers will be able to look at your past and see the places where God put you on another path even if it meant hurting you a bit. I hope that you will see His hand directing you and thatone day, like I am today, you will be thankful for Him redirecting your life so that you grow more and better become who He wants you to be. This is my prayer for you. I hope y'all have a good week!

Confess Not His Hand in All Things

So this last week been hectic. I seemed to have forgotten how fun you have with girlfriend and how time seems to rush by. I've done lots of homework, work and even more hanging out with my wonderful girlfriend. Well I'm now home here in Utah with my family and my good friends, Chellie and Erick.

This weekened (because this is what I remember) Barbara and I had dinner with my sister Megan and her boyfriend Garrett. The next day (I think) my Mom and brother Aaron came up to take us down here to Utah. They both were able to met my girlfriend who was a tad bit nervous at meeting my family. Barbara watched as my sister, my mom, and I played a card game that is notorious in our family called Spite and Malice. After hearing all of the friendly banter among my family members, Barbara remarked "Your family is a lot of fun." I agree with my Mom's assessment of Barbara, she's a keeper.

This week I read in section fifty nine of Doctrine and Covenants for my class. In there I read one of my favorite verses, verse twenty one, which reads "And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments."

This week, I have realized that I am not always very good at acknowledging the hand of the Lord in all things. I mean I know He does a lot to help me in my life but I don't always remark it as often as I should. Something that I've found to be helpful is writing in my journal often helps me to better recognize His hand in my life. To paraphrase President Eyring, it helps to remind me of ways that the Lord may have helped me but that I may have over looked at the time. The Lord has given me so many blessings, my family for starters. I love each of them and I wouldn't be who I am today without them. My friends are another one, who bring happiness, joy and a good deal of advice to my life. My wonderful girlfriend who makes me happy and who lets me make her happy. My college is a blessing; I'm gaining, what is is my mind, an invaluable education on both secular and spiritual matters. Most of all I am glad to have the gospel of the Lord in my life that allows me to know of my Father in heaven and to be able to see His hand in my life. I hope that you all during this season of Thanksgiving can find more ways to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in your life. If you're bad at journal writing like I was, make a renewed effort to better at it. Just start one day at a time. I know you can do it! Because I have! Have a good week!