November: A Great Month to Be Born

And now, the beginning of thankful posts.  In order to avoid blowing up my blog, I shall post once per week.  We're going to start a thankful tree in our apartment, so hopefully I'll get some pictures (my picture-taking device shattered into almost a million pieces, so these posts might actually be a little bare ... )

Day 1: (Friday, I woke up at 6:00am)
I am thankful for doctors and the fact that they are willing to go through a million years of medical school to help other people and keep us all healthy.  Plus, they deal with gross stuff like blood and I'm pretty sure I could never in a bajillion light years do that.

Day 2: (Saturday, I attended two recitals)
I am thankful for the ability to hear and enjoy music made by others and that I have such talented friends who are willing and brave enough to share their talents with others.  Nathan and Lyz, you guys both did a fantastic job! (And Camille- great accompanying!)

Day 3: (Sunday, fast Sunday which despite the name, actually goes by really slow)
I am thankful for Christ and the faith which I have in him.  He has done so much for me already and I will never be able to repay Him.  And the most amazing part is that He will continue to do things for me and help me despite my inability to repay Him.

They Did The Monster Mash!

Happy All Hallow's Eve Everyone!

We dressed up Chick-fil-A like the magical land of Oz!  It was so great!!  We had lots of different costumes from munchkins to the great wizard himself!!

The student managers chose Disney villains as our theme.  I dressed up as the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland!  We also had Yzma, Hades, and the Evil Queen.

Check out the Cougareat's facebook page for more awesome pics!

For Halloween Night festivities ... 

We partied it up at a tri-stake Halloween dance at the Eclipse Warehouse near the Trax station!

Jenna and I went as cats!

What was your costume?? 

(I'll bet it was AMAZING!)

Any fan favorites??

(We had Rufio and Bob Ross at our ward party!)

The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden

... so that's what we did!  We got up before the sun was over the mountains and planted bulbs and flowers at the Salt Lake temple.  It was SO fun!

Photo compliments of Jess :]

Can't wait to go back in April and see all the beautiful flowers we planted!!

There are Better Days Ahead

Sometimes it's really hard to just go on pure faith, but sometimes, it's all we can do.  We exercise our faith and put our trust in God that He will take care of us, and that everything will work out for the best.  We don't know how, and we can't seem to figure it out.  But God does know.  He knows exactly how everything will work out and stands there, with his arms outstretched, asking us to trust him.  "Come, follow me."  If we do what He asks, He will bless us and He will not let us fail.

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This past week, I acted on a prompting to do something that I wasn't sure I could do.  I didn't see how it would work out, how everything would be okay.  But if there's one thing I've learned from the past three years, it's to trust in God.  I took His advice and hoped everything would work out.  Everything hasn't worked out yet, but I'm beginning to see those "better days ahead."

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So when you're feeling down, stand a little taller, walk a little higher, and smile a little brighter.  Someone's watching out for you in ways you aren't even aware of.  Sometimes, he let's it rain.  But after every rainstorm comes a beautiful rainbow.  It might be big, or it might be small, or it may even be hard to see until long after we think the storm is over, but we have been promised that it will come.

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Here's to the rain storms; here's to the leap of faith; here's to the days when your trust in God is all you have to go on; and here's to the blessings and promises that will come because of those days.

Falling into Autumn

So Fall doesn't really last very long in Utah, so here are some fall activities that have officially been completed before snow happens.

First, we decorated our apartment for Halloween!

Then, we stopped wearing summer clothes (so sad ... )

Last summer outfit ... I hate having to bundle up.  

Our ward went to Cornbelly's for a night of fun festivities!  There was a corn maze, hayride, pumpkin bowling, and lots of other fun things :]

My ward!

 My roommate and I made soup!  Zuppa Toscano!  It was SO good! (We even got the approval from the ward Italian, so it was pretty legit.)

What fun fall activities do you like to do?? 

(I need more ideas before the snow gets here ... )

Roommate Shenanigans

It was our turn to introduce ourselves to the ward tonight.  So we performed a genuine Youtube masterpiece in true Minion fashion.  

It was a truly fantastic time and we really enjoyed it (and I FINALLY got a picture of my roommates!)

From Within the Shadows of the Everlasting Hills

Gorgeous picture taken from http://www.listentech.com/media/Main_lds_conference_center.jpg

Wasn't Conference so AWESOME?! I love the spiritual outpouring that we get to experience for the ENTIRE weekend twice a year during General Conference.  It really refreshes us and refocuses us on what we need to do.  So, here are some themes and highlights that I picked up on:

1) Share the gospel!
There was a lot of focus on this topic during the Saturday sessions.  President Monson began conference by telling us that now is the time for members and missionaries to work together!  I especially appreciated Elder Ballard's talk which addressed several of my own concerns with sharing the gospel.  It's natural to be apprehensive.  Pray for opportunities and don't be afraid of what you'll have to do.  Elder Nielsen of the 70 shared a lot of animation and enthusiasm about missionary work and sharing the gospel.  We should all be just as excited as he was!

2) Endure to the end!
There was a huge emphasis on this during the Sunday sessions.  Elder Scott talked about losing ourselves in service to others to help us endure and hold fast to the rod, like Elder Hamilton of the 70 reminded us.  President Monson reminded us that we truly need him every hour, whether rain or shine.  Elder Eyring mentioned that this life is to polish us to return to the presence of God.

3) The Law of Chastity
I really loved the laying down of the law by Elder Oaks on what exactly is allowed and that nothing else is appropriate.  Loved it.  SO much.  And Elder Nelson continued that theme, but with a different approach.  Both were extremely wonderful and extremely insightful.  If you have questions regarding what Mormons believe about marriage, homosexuality, and chastity.  Read/watch them.  They both hit it right on the head.

4) The Priesthood
If you know anything about what's happening in the church right now, then hopefully you loved Elder Andersen's talk as much as I did.  I was reminded of a lesson in one of my religion classes when my teacher (Anthony Sweat, if you're interested) taught us about the difference between Priesthood Power and Priesthood Offices.  We all have access to the power of the priesthood, simply by keeping his commandments and honoring our covenants.

I encourage everyone, LDS or not, to watch conference and learn what our modern day prophets and apostles have said and warned us against.  I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true.  I know that President Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God and and he and the apostles speak with authority and revelation from God.  I know where I want to go and what I need to do to get there. Do you?