We met for a reason

   I really love how the Lord puts people in our lives for a reason. As most of you know, I am an EFY counselor this summer. This week I am in San Diego and man has it been a blast. Every Monday I look out to my new youth and think, they are with me for a reason and it is my job to find the reason and make sure they feel the love of the Savior. It was definitely hard at first to get this group going, but oh man once they got going they went above and beyond.
   My kids definitely made my week interesting. They were hilarious and oh man did they know how to ask questions. Now looking back on the week, I see how much they have taught me and made me realize that being 14-15 years old is difficult now. I was their age only 7 ish years ago which is really not that long ago, but man the world has changed so much since then and these kids have more temptations now then ever. They are all so amazing.
   I loved answering their questions and helping them gain a testimony of the Gospel. I loved getting to know them. They made me realize that in the real world, life is not all the same for them. Life is hard for these kids. I just hope that they remember what it was like this week, all of it, even the times when they wouldn't be as quiet as I would like. Because if they remember it, maybe life wont be as hard for them. That life may be a little easier to get through if they remember what it was like here, and what it is like to be doing the small and simple things (aka read scriptures, pray, following the standards, etc.) that make a difference.
    Heavenly Father has a plan for everyone. He takes the time to make sure that we meet the people we need to meet, that we go where we are needed, and that even if we go off the path, He makes a new path for us to get back to the right path. This week I have seen that these kids were meant to come into my life. They helped me realize what I personally need to work on and helped me find some strengths I really did not think I had.
   I am so grateful for them and the chance I got to be their counselor. :) I cant wait to see what they do with the knowledge they have.

Forever Forgiveness :) EFY San Diego 2014

My First Day Back

  I cannot believe it is already summer. It is crazy that it has been nine months since august. Now it is time for.... EFY ONCE AGAIN! Yay!!! I got rehired to do another fantastic year of EFY. For those of you who do not know, EFY stands for Especially for Youth. This is a church camp through BYU that helps teens gain knowledge and understanding of the gospel. It follows the standards and is known as a church camp for The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints. I love this camp so much and I am so excited I get another opportunity to work it. I am going to try really hard to blog and share my adventures throughout this summer because there are always some fun stories to be told.
  Today was Day One! This is the first session of the summer and I get to work it!! WOOHOO! This year is a little different when it comes to training. So for all returning counselors we had a three day training last week, and for new counselors they have a week long training and then they "shadow" a returning counselor. Pressure much?! So I have three shadows this week and they are great. I can already tell they are going to be great at this job. It is definitely a little scary knowing people are watching you, but it all works out.
  My girls are fantastic! I have 10 girls this week and I already love them. They are crazy, fun, super talented, and wonderful in every way! They are the older group which is always exciting to have. Lets get real just being a counselor to any age is always exciting. I am loving getting to know these girls. They have so much light and positive. And they put up with my rambling. Lets just say in meet your counselor I could not keep my thoughts straight. Luckily they love me, still got what I was saying, and just make fun of me about it now. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the week brings!
  My company is once again awesome. I am in a trio which means there are two girl counselor groups and one boy counselor group. Can't forget my amazing co-counselors who definitely know what to say. Love them too already. The other girls and boys are fantastic as well. It is so cool to see how there are these 35 kids who all are different in some way and yet come together and become friends. Our company name is "Remember the Name" which is pretty legit I must say.
   This day was great. Played lots of games with our kids. They already seem so comfortable with each other which is awesome because the faster they become comfortable, the more they will get out of this week. We made some amazing goals for the company for this week. I decided I am going to work really hard at reminding them of the goals and for me to work on these goals as well. I cannot wait to see what the rest of this week will bring. :) Its summer, I am working the best job, I love being with the kids, and I love my job! :)

Thoughts from a College Graduate

   It has been awhile since my last post... Well that is because I spent the last couple of months focusing and finishing up my LAST semester of college. Crazy I know but it is true and guess what? I made it! I am officially graduated from Southern Utah University with my Bachelors of Science in Psychology. It is still so surreal to me.
   My graduation day was super crazy and none stop from 6 am to about 1 am. It was definitely one busy day. I woke up and being a girl wanted to curl my hair and look super cute. Well my hair did not want to work for me AT ALL! Now I know you are probably laughing but seriously it was really annoying and stressful. So fast forwarding to the first ceremony (yeah in college there are two you go to...) I walk in and the first thing I do is start searching for my family. Luckily they were on the same side as me and I was actually pretty close to them. During the ceremony my roommate texts me and tells me that they are all making funny faces at me and I do not even know it. I turn to see that two other people have been added to my little fan club. My aunt and uncle from California came up! I was in total shock. I was seriously on the verge of tears. My uncle is my dads brother and seeing him helped feel the gap of thought that my dad was not there. They seriously drove up for the ceremony and drove right back home. I am still in shock and love them so much for that. I later found out that my dad made my uncle promise to be at everything really important of ours. That made me cry and feel really grateful that he kept his promise because it seriously made my day.
   As I was sitting in my second ceremony, I realized that there were some things I wish I did at my two years at SUU. One was to get to know my professors better. I did not care to know them or go ask for help. Honestly, I did not really want to do anything but go to class and then go home as much as possible to be with my family. I know my situation is a little different with my dad but I could have done some of that this past year. As I got up to get my "diploma" (really just its place holder thing) my name was read and oh my freak my family was so loud! They even got some professors in shock. They were by far the loudest crowd! It was legit. It made my regrets go away and made me realize that no matter what my family will always be there. That will never change.
   It is weird to say I am a college graduate but I love the experience I had through the years. From Snow College to Southern Utah University I have had the best four years a girl could ask for. Do I wish I could have done more? Yeah there was somethings I wish I could have done but if that meant changing some memories then I wouldn't do it. I have had the most amazing roommates a girl could ask for, I have had some great opportunities, and I got to see what it was like living on my own. If I could give any advice to anyone about to go to college it would be, leave home to go to college and be involved. My roommates are now some of my best friends and when I did get involved so many doors opened for me and it made my college experience a better one. I have no clue what I am going to do without school but I am ready for a new adventure. :)

 No matter what life brought us, we stand together with a smile on our faces. There is no way I could have gotten through these years without my brothers and mom. Its because of them I got done in four years. And a promise to my daddy that I would finish. :) I did it!!!

My Aunt Sue and Uncle Tavy. Honestly, I cannot express how much this meant to me. They were seriously on the road more than they were in town and that is amazing to me that they would do that for me.

[There were a lot more family members who made the trek down for my graduation and there like 10 more pictures. So I just want to mention how much that too meant so much to me. I am truly the luckiest girl. I have a family that supports me, even if they could not come I felt the love from them, comments on facebook, and just knowing that they cared. I love them and thank every single member of my family for everything.)

Let's Build A Fort

  Yes I am in college, yes I am 22, and yes my roommates & I built a fort in our living room this past weekend. It is not your typical fort either. We call it a big kid fort because the blankets are tacked up to our walls and ceiling and covers our entire living (that is not that difficult). It was so much fun! It was like going back in time and being a kid again. Now your question is probably why? Well let me tell you...
  So this all started a week ago at church. So I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and we have three hours of meeting, every Sunday (honestly, its not that bad). One of our meetings is called Sacrament Meeting. This is where we all get together and have about 3-4 speakers talk about a certain topic and we take the sacrament. Well last week one of the speakers talked about a story in the Book of Mormon (Haven't heard of it? Read it. You can't judge a book or a group by the cover. I highly recommend reading it. Its the best book.). The story is about King Benjamin. Now to give a little back story, the Book of Mormon gives accounts of the people in the Americas in the time before and when Christ was on the Earth and this is one of the King's who was also a Prophet. Anyways, he was giving a sermon to his people and in the scriptures it talked about how you need to build a tent in order to listen to the prophet. After the speaker told the story, he mentions on how he knows a family that builds a little tent in front of the television for general conference. (General Conference happens twice a year and it is when the leaders of the church speak to all the members. You can watch it on tv, internet, listen on the radio, or go to it.) So my roommates and I decided we wanted to build a fort and follow the message of King Benjamin.
 Well this past weekend was conference. It was seriously the best idea ever! I have never focused as much or gotten so much out of conference. I was able to "leave" the world and focus on what the leaders had to say. I loved it. Conference is six sessions long and each session is about 2 hours long. Four of the sessions are general session, then there is one for the men and one for the women. So in a course of one weekend there is about 10 hours (not in a row) of church. Now that sounds like a lot but seriously it goes by so fast and you are sad when it is over.
  So many of the talks hit home for me. It was like the speakers were talking to just me. It amazes me every time because if you ask anyone who watches conference, they would say the same thing. A lot talked about trials and how they are suppose to be a part of our lives and how we best can get through them. One talk really hit me was Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk. He is an apostle for the church and the second counselor in the first presidency. He talked about how we need to be grateful for our trials and that having gratitude is a way to get through a trial. It made me realize that he was right. It is so much easier if we are just grateful. When we become bitter and alone we do not see the joy of life, we think the world is coming to an end, and that our Heavenly Father doesn't care. Well that is when we are wrong. The world is not coming to an end because of our situations and He does care. He cares so much that He gives us only things we can handle and He gives us people and ways of being able to get through that trial. Be grateful He loves you enough to push you and test you. Be grateful for the experiences you have and the time you have on this Earth. I believe and know we lived with Heavenly Father before Earth and once we die that we can go back to Him. Heavenly Father has a plan for us and in that plan there is no endings, only ever lasting beginnings. People move on from our lives and situations move on also, some people die, some move away but one thing is that none of it ends, it is only a new beginning. This time on Earth is not our only time to be alive, we will one day die and live with our Heavenly Father and see everyone that came before us again. The time on this Earth is short compared to Eternity.
  I can talk forever on what I learned in just this one weekend. My prayers and questions were answered by men and women who do not know me, but know my Heavenly Father. This weekend was amazing. Conference made it more amazing but even the moments in between and after were icing on the cake. The fort my roommates and I made is now one memory we will all cherish. Inviting others for breakfast before conference, being together, learning together and so much more. If you ever have questions or want to know more go to www.lds.org or www.mormon.org there you can find the talks of general conference and any answer to any question about the LDS church. I love my religion and wouldn't change it. It has helped me be able to deal with any trial and any struggle I have ever had. And I know it can do the same for you too. :)

Here are some pictures of our fort :) Its going to stay up for awhile!

Spring Break 2014

Sun. Pool. Friends. No school. Sounds like summer right? Close.. Spring Break. The taste of summer to get you through the rest of the semester. So this spring break I went with two of my friends and had a girls week in St. George Utah. Yeah not the beach like usual but its okay.
  We are definitely not your usual spring breakers. We did not go to raging parties, get beyond wasted, didn't meet guys, and any other crazy thing you can think of. We mostly just relaxed by the pool and slept a lot. Yeah we did more than that but for the most part it was a much need relaxing week. We all got a nice tan (well it started as a burn), all caught up on some sleep, and got to catch up. Now some people might say that is boring but those people are wrong. It was fun.
   Okay we did do more. We went to Zions National Park and went on the Emerald Pools hike and enjoyed the beauty of this national park. It was great! I am not going to lie, I have never liked hiking. I trip over a crack on the floor, you really want me climbing a mountain? But I decided to give it a try once again. And I will have to admit I really enjoyed it! I definitely liked hiking to some sort of water. I am more of a water girl than a mountain girl. So hike to water and I will go!
   We also went to Las Vegas for a day. Once again we did not do what most people do in Vegas. None of us drink, gamble or go clubbing but there is still some fun there. We went to the Aquarium and saw some legit sharks and fish. We got to touch Sting Rays. Ahh it was so cool! Then like typical tourists we walked the strip. Looking in some stores, taking pictures, and looking at all the different people dressed up. We also went to dinner with some relatives of one of the girls. It was fun and a super long wait for the food!
   All in all it was a great week! We heard some amazing stories from people we met on our adventures. We learned more about each other. We got some sun and some sleep. We listened to the Frozen soundtrack more than anything (which rocked). It was definitely a different spring break than usual but it was a good one! :)

 Meet Lauren and Caitlin! :)

 At the third emerald pool!

Man we look good!

Some Memories Just Stick..

 I remember it like it was yesterday. Falling asleep for the first time not worrying of getting woken up with the news. I slept on couch cushions on the floor because we had no power and I was too scared to go down stairs. It was the one night I really thought you would still be there when I woke up. And that was the night Heavenly Father took you in his arms and said its time for you to go home. My fear became a reality, as I got woken up to auntie April and mom saying you are gone. Both checking to make sure the other wasn't crazy. I was praying you out of pain for weeks before this day, but nothing prepared me for it. That day was the longest day. People came, people wept, people cleaned, people fed us, and yet it was like it wasn't real.
  That day was six months ago today. Six months have passed without my dad. As some days are easier than others, it is still hard to fully wrap my head around. Its weird too because it has felt longer than just six months.
  In these past six months the song Drink a Beer by Luke Bryan gets me really thinking about my dad. The first verse says, "When I got the news today, I didn't know what to say, so I just hung up the phone, I took a walk to clear my head, and this is where the walking led, can't believe you are really gone, dont feel like going home." I feel this way, even when I just get reminded or bring it up. No one ever knows what to say, neither do I. I try to tell stories to keep him with me but than I feel that no one knows what to say to even a funny story because he is gone. And than I re-realize that he is gone.
  Another part of the song goes, "Funny how the good ones go, too soon but the good Lord knows, the reasons why I guess.Sometimes the greater plan is kinda hard to understand, right now it don't makes sense, I can't make it all make sense." This is something that really has helped these past months. That I do believe that there is a plan for each and every one of us and for some reason that I do not get and probably wont get for a long time, is that The Lord knows the reasons why. He had and still has a plan for my dad. That I am grateful for.
  My dad would probably smack me since I am comparing my feelings about his death to a country song.But he can't so I will just smile in knowing I know he would do that. No one can ever explain how it is when a parent dies. Everyone acts differently. So its one of those things that you cannot really learn from a classroom or a book, even if the world tries to teach us how to grieve, those people know nothing. I know that its a process that I will probably never get out of. Sometimes life is good and other times I am wishing he is here to answer my problems or to just talk to. Its hard to lose a parent. But I am grateful for the time I had with him, and I know that the time on Earth was not the end, that when I die I will be embraced by him and I will get to have those conversations once again.
  I started out in the world as daddy's little girl.

 And as life continued I just became a bigger daddy's girl

And it does not matter how long you are gone... I will always be your little girl. I miss you daddy! I hope you are proud and are watching over me and the family. Also, I hope you are playing darts like crazy with Kent. Love you Daddy Dork forever and always.

When you think you know everything...

  Last weekend I had to go home to go to the dentist and my lovely car had to go in and get its own maintenance done. Both my brother and I had to go home, and decided why not surprise our mom and come home Thursday night?! Well, since I was in no rush to get home, I took my sweet time to pack and finally get my butt out on the road. I saw that it was starting to snow but I did not think much of it. I have a four wheel drive vehicle, and I didn't think the storm was going to be as bad... I was wrong.
  Right before Beaver, Utah is when it started to get really bad. I started to get really scared. I would just follow behind people but sometimes they were just going too slow and I did not want to be behind them anymore. So I would pass them. Well there was one point in time, where I was alone on the road and I did not know where the road was going. The road was covered in snow, I could not see in front of me, the snow was coming like crazy and I had no clue where I was.
   As I was driving and kind of freaking out, I started thinking on how this experience is like life. There are times in our lives when we know where we are going, we see the road, or we have someone guiding us to the right direction. Than there are times where it gets rough and the road starts going away, and you decide you can do it on your own, so you do.
   Back to my story, after about 3 minutes of driving and leading the way, I realized that I was dumb to go in front of someone, cause I have no clue where I am going. I was worried that I would drive right off the road and not even know it. Than a truck came up and passed me, now I had someone to follow. Yeah they could have ran off the road and I would have followed them, but I just had faith that they knew where they were going. Same things happen in life, you realize that you have no idea how in the world you are going to continue on the road and wishing someone would come up in front of you to guide you. The guide we have is Jesus Christ. He is there to guide us back to the road. He is there to be the one to light the way for us. However, we have to ask for help. Once you realize that you cannot go about this on your own, He is right there behind us willing to come in front to guide.
  It took four and half hours to get home and surprise my mom. I now know that I should not think I know everything. That even though I have driven in a snow storm before, I shouldn't think its going to be the same. Also, that following a guide is not a bad thing. And that honestly, we can't do anything alone. When we are in that dark stormy road all alone, you feel that there will be no end to it, and you realize that you need someone to help you get out of it. Don't be too proud to ask for help. Don't think you know everything...cause guess what... you don't. But our guide, Christ, He does. Follow Him.

He will always help us up and guide us through the struggles of life. :) (one of my favorite pictures)