stake conference

• president heaton talked about being baptized unto repentance.

• president brinton talked about the enabling power of the atonement.

• sister pitts talked about the happiness that comes from keeping our covenants.

• elder pitts talked about having an eternal perspective.

• president mullen talked about waking up and growing up.

and in the evening session,

• president heaton talked about the law of chastity.

• sister roper talked about how the brethren can better support and sustain the sisters in the stake

• president mullen talked about lightening up.

i LOVE my stake. and my stake presidency. and going to stake conference. :)

god is mindful

i got a text from mom and dad at 6:05am saying:

TSUNAMI WARNING. EXPECTED TO

HIT AT 11:20 AM. WE ARE GETTING

READY. WATCH THE NEWS.

i was definitely not expecting that one. but then again, who does!? :p i prayed for them that everything would be okay, that they'd be taken care of, and that they'd have sufficient time to prepare well.

shortly after the text i went to the temple. while waiting i opened my scriptures to read alma 26, the next chapter in my regular scripture study. these lines were a part of that chapter:

"...they shall not be beaten down by the storm..."

"...they are in the hands of the Lord..."

"...for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being..."

"...blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people..."

"...God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people..."

with each verse i felt more and more at ease. i knew my family was in gods hands. i knew he was aware of them. and i knew everything would be okay. this quote also came to mind:

For when we want to speak to God, we pray. And when we want Him to speak to us, we search the scriptures; for His words are spoken through His prophets. -Robert D. Hales

its true. :)

farewell to basketball

after the temple i met up with steven on campus to work on our lab. we made good progress--got about half way done--and hopefully we can finish the rest of it on monday. then, i went to the basketball game! it was a very good game. :)

we played unm (university of new mexico) and it was a sold-out crowd!

they did the pregame show again with the white sheets hanging from the score board. so cool. :)

meags made the "sacrifice" to come and only stayed til halftime.

no surprise there. :p

but jesse was there til the very end with me.

the final play of the game was SUPER LAME so we wont talk about it. but before the last play the game was super exciting, way close, fast-paced, high energy, and extremely loud.

in the end unm was just a teeny weeny bit better and they won. final score:

p.s. i JUST realized that this was the very last byu mens basketball game in the marriott center of my undergraduate career. sad.

good news

Tsunami Warning Cancelled for Hawaii

just trust

when things dont work out according to our plans or desires, there is always a reason.

mom and dad were supposed to have come to utah this weekend. they were supposed to have been here today. i was supposed to have gone through the temple on thursday. but things didnt work out and they arent here. i wasnt too bummed...i figured there was a reason. and sure enough, there was. rach was the one who enlightened me: if mom and dad were here, the day when the tsunami was supposed to have hit, who wouldve been home to take care of evan, ally, and gma kua!? how stressful would that have been for us if mom guys were here in utah, while ally, evan, and gma were at home by themselves!?

although it may have seemed that things werent working out, god had his hand in the plans all along. and things turned out for the best. :)

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

-Proverbs 3:5-6

the "REAL" theatre

this past christmas jesse gave me a gift card to cinemark with some candies.

the point of the gift was that i rarely ever watch movies in the "real" theatre cuz its so darn expensive! i usually wait a few months til it gets to the dollar theatre and pay $1.50 to watch it instead of $8.50 or $9.50 or however much it is nowadays.

today i finally got to use my gift card. :)

jesse and i took luis to provo towne center, aka the "real" theatre.

we got there a little earlier so we had time for a few pictures.

where's waldo?

*DISCLAIMER: i do not, in any way, condone this movie. its rated R.

luis wanted to race. he ended up in 13th...i think.

and then we got popcorn and watched previews til the movie started.

the movie was the lightning thief.

i liked it a lot, and i think the boys did too. :) there were some parts throughout the movie that were a bit more intense than i was expecting but overall it was good. and i especially liked percy's protector, grover--his lines were funny.

on a random sidenote, has anybody heard of "harry potter and the philosopher's stone?"...read the white print at the top of the movie poster...

sneek preview

dancesport is in TWO WEEKS!
this is the routine:

(heather and ron, my teacher and TA)

and yes, i will be dancing it. :)

im excited.

a certain boy (who will not be named)

i have this class...there are only 13 of us...and we meet MWF from 12 to 1. id say about 90% of the time a certain boy (who will not be named) comes into class about 10 or 15 minutes late. maybe its even 100% of the time...im not quite sure.

to add to his lovely reputation, not only can everyone hear him opening and closing the door when he walks in late, everyone can smell him when he passes by...and the smell lingers when he sits down! dont worry, it isnt a stinky smell--he doesnt stink. its a cologne smell. and it is so extremely potent that sometimes i wonder if the bottle accidentally spilled on him. seriously, it is THAT strong. (but then he smells just as strong the next day, which causes me to rule out the accident, and leads me to believe that its intentional.)

this certain boy used to be the victim of many of dr. wildes jokes. dr wilde enjoys teasing people (all in good humor) and Certain Boy was the easiest one to pick on...but he was always a good sport about it.

this happened today:

Certain Boy walked into class 15 minutes late, as usual. he also brought his so-strong-that-it-makes-you-wanna-cough-cuz-it-gets-stuck-in-your-throat smell, as expected. 15 minutes later (12:30ish) he walked back into class (apparently he'd left without me noticing) carrying/reading The Daily Universe. brock leaned over to me and asked, in a rather appalled tone, "did he seriously just leave to get the paper?"

lol. i had no idea. it wouldnt have been completely out of character for him to do something like that. but then again, id never seen someone get up in the middle of class just to get the newspaper and to come back in, reading away. how rude is that!? :p talk about making a statement! lol. but knowing Certain Boy and the kinda guy he was, i just had to laugh.

to make it even more funny, dr. hawkins started erasing the whiteboard just as Certain Boy walked in. seeing as he'd missed all those notes while he was out, he asked him to wait. but dr. hawkins assured him that it wasnt the most recent notes and he probably already had them. and THEN, he called him out! lol. he asked, "so you had to go get the paper, huh?" and Certain Boy said "oh no, i had to use the restroom." and quickly set it aside on the chair next to him.

lol. the whole exchange was so funny that i kept on laughing to myself...for probably a good five minutes. i would stop for a while and then replay dr. hawkins question in my mind and just start laughing all over again. brock kept looking over at me and laughing at me for thinking it was so funny. he didnt get what was so funny about it. but i didnt mind. i just wanted to laugh. :)

the little things

lately ive just been so tired and i have no idea why. the days seem to be dragging on and on... :S

today it was the little things that helped me remember that life is good:

• my neighbor offered me a ride to school.

• i met up with shanna to watch the forum.

• brock knew the pages for the prelab reading.

• i finished my 450 assignment.

• i managed to avoid tripping over myself in front of my entire class...TWICE.

Tonight, and tomorrow night, you might pray and ponder, asking the questions: Did God send a message that was just for me? Did I see His hand in my life or the lives of my children? I will do that. And then I will find a way to preserve that memory for the day that I, and those that I love, will need to remember how much God loves us and how much we need Him.

-Henry B. Eyring

there is no formula

"I am convinced that there is no simple formula

or technique that would immediately allow

you to master the ability to be guided by the voice

of the Spirit. Our Father expects you to learn how to obtain

that divine help by exercising faith in Him and His Holy Son,

Jesus Christ. Were you to receive inspired guidance

just for the asking, you would become weak and

ever more dependent on Them. They know that

essential personal growth will come as you struggle

to learn how to be led by the Spirit."

-Richard G. Scott

blueberry pies

“Now is the time for each of us to work toward our personal conversion, toward becoming what our Heavenly Father desires us to become. As we do so, we should remember that our family relationships—even more than our Church callings—are the setting in which the most important part of that development can occur. The conversion we must achieve requires us to be a good husband and father or a good wife and mother. Being a successful Church leader is not enough. Exaltation is an eternal family experience, and it is our mortal family experiences that are best suited to prepare us for it.”

-Dallin H. Oaks

we did it again!

february 11

the memo: white

february 21

the memo: black

...totally not even planned...

i am learning

today i learned two very important things.

the first: obedience is not simply doing what is right. obedience is doing what is right for the right reasons. without the right motives and the right reasons it is merely compliance.

the second: the way to prevent getting caught up in (or frustrated by) the "numbers vs individuals" struggle is to focus on the doctrine and the message being taught.

the house of god

saturday is my temple day. i have a goal to attend at least once a week because its a commandment to go and i know there are beautiful blessings promised for those who obey.

“Now, by virtue of the sacred priesthood in me vested … I promise you that, with increased attendance in the temples of our God, you shall receive increased personal revelation to bless your lives as you bless those who have died.” -David B. Haight

i have come to love the temple and what it offers. today i went seeking guidance, peace, inspiration, love, and answers. although i didnt receive any immediate answers i was blessed to feel god's presence. it was a beautiful feeling.

truth

i found this talk tonight: Building Bridges to Faith by elder loren c. dunn of the seventy. i liked it a lot because it was simple and beautiful and i knew it was Truth. he says,

"There are many steps a person can take to develop the gift and power of faith...I would like to suggest six of these steps.

Number one:

Faith is the ability to recognize the Lord as

all-powerful and the giver of all blessings.

...

Number two:

Faith is the ability to do what we are prompted to do,

and when we are prompted to do it.

...

Number three:

Faith is the ability to live the laws of God

that control the blessings we are in need of.

...

Number four:

Faith is the ability to act “as if.”

...

Number five:

Faith is the ability to be charitable

and to believe in people.

...

Number six:

Faith is the ability to allow ourselves

to be guided by the priesthood."

isnt that just lovely? you should read it some time. :)

Love One Another

this video is inspiring.

it makes me wanna be a mom. and a wife.

it encourages me to be a good visiting teacher.

it makes me wanna give somebody a bandaid. and a hug.

it reminds me that im gonna be a missionary!

it motivates me to offer a hand in service.

it teaches me of the beauty of Love.

it confirms the importance of Family.

it reminds me to make time for the people i love.

it shows the value in relationships.

it invites me to be a disciple of christ.

it makes me happy.

locker, anybody?

my locker neighbor has been trying to sell his locker for about a week now...he even taped a sign to the door...and im assuming he's getting anxious cuz the last time i stopped by he'd slashed the price from $10 to $5.

ive read the sign several times before...never really paid too much attention to it cuz ive already got a locker...but it wasnt until today that i noticed something rather funny. there was a handwritten note on the paper saying,

You forgot the last digit

lol...how funny is that!? :p i'd never even noticed it! the poor guy is never gonna be able to sell his locker unless he comes back to add the last digit. yikes! i guess the only other way is if some very desperate person tries ten different combinations of the phone number:

801-750-7560

801-750-7561

801-750-7562

801-750-7563

801-750-7564

801-750-7565

801-750-7566

801-750-7567

801-750-7568

801-750-7569

one of them is bound to be right. :) anybody up for it? :p

we made shirts

making progress

1. i didnt have to hang on to the wall
2. i can circle the rink all by myself
3. it was fun and not dreadful
4. i didnt fall

trust me folks...this is progress. and i was very proud of myself. :)

a simple thought

at the end of relief society the elders quorum came in to give us roses. we each got our very own rose! and charles read us a poem. it was cheesy and corny but so sweet. :p i liked it.

sometimes all it takes to please a girl (or at least this girl) is a simple thought. its as easy as that. :)

at the end of the night my roommies and i went to deliver this plate of letters.


we took it to the west virginia house and matt was the only one home. he invited us in and sang/played for us for close to an hour! he was very entertaining. :p


we enjoyed our visit. :)

closest ever

peter and i went to the basketball game today and we sat right in front of the band! it was the closest ive ever sat...i could actually see the boys' faces!

sitting there reminded me of whs football games cuz we always sat by the band. i felt right at home. :)

peter thought it was supposed to have been a good game...as in good competition. but he was WAY wrong...we smoked 'em! final score:

yeah. pretty sad. but we still had fun. :)

after the game we went and got jamba juice and i tried a pomogranate something or other for the first time. then we walked to my place and played his favorite online board game. i forget what its called. but that was just the training round...and we werent even able to finish it cuz he had to catch his bus home. he'll just have to come back again some time so i can beat him!!! :)

it was a fun night. peters a good guy. and a good friend. i was happy he finally made time for me!

always a reason

i am slowly (but surely) learning to recognize promptings from the holy ghost. i am also learning that when i receive a prompting to do something, there is always a reason for it.

this morning i did 2 things without knowing the reasons why. but by the end of the day i knew. it was cool to have obeyed first, and learned why after.

first thing: i unplugged my computer.

last night i tried to log in to my email but the internet wasnt working. this morning i tried again but it still wasnt working. i soon realized that it wasnt the internet that was having issues...it was my wireless adapter! i figured i'd have to take it in to the fix-it place later in the afternoon, especially if i wanted the use of my computer over the long weekend. i had a thought to unplug everything and get it ready to go. i didnt know why but i did it anyways.

my last class was at 3. before it started i called cam to ask if i could get the car from her at 4. but then we decided it was more convenient for her to take me to the fix-it place as opposed to giving me the car right away and having me take it myself. so in order to be more time efficient i asked cam if she could pick up my computer before my class got out and then we could go straight to the fix-it place from campus! she said yes! but if i hadnt unplpugged everything before i left for school it would've been such a hassle for her to have done it herself. :)

second thing: i uploaded all the mission call pictures back onto my camera.

notice i said back onto my camera? last night i transfered them all to my computer. but this morning i had a thought to put them back on to my camera. it seemed kinda strange and i had no idea why i was doing it but i did it anyways.

so...i took my computer to the fix-it place and it wouldnt even turn on. long story short: my computer wasnt even booting up so they gave me an upgrade and had all the files transfered over. it took a really long time but finally finished and after bringing it home and attempting to connect it all up, i realized that the upgrade required different connections. and that meant that my keyboad and mouse would not fit. so here i was, without a computer for the entire weekend...exactly what i was trying to avoid in the first place! how ironic.

BUT, because i had my pictures on my camera, i still had access to them. and i didnt have to wait a whole 3-day weekend to get the pictures back. i could show them to whoever i wanted and even work on my mission call post. and that was the reason for uploading the pictures back onto my camera.

i was grateful for these experiences. :)

god is real

today marks history.

I GOT MY MISSION CALL!!! :)

and i am SO excited!!! :D

i will attempt to recall all the juicy details of the afternoon/evening because it was so so good. but first, lets rewind to sunday. no wait...to friday.

last week friday (feb.5th)
this was the day i could submit my papers. the rule is that you cant submit your papers until 90 days before your availability date. and since my availability was may 5th (2 weeks after graduation), the earliest i could submit my papers was february 5th. aka last week friday. so this is the day my papers were supposed to be submitted.

now lets fast forward a few days to sunday.

this past sunday (feb.7th)
i got a call from my bishop around 9:45 pm. he said he logged in to the church website and saw that my call had been made on FRIDAY. as in the day that they were supposed to have been submitted! i was shocked! i was totally not expecting it!!! i was like 'how can that be!?'...i didnt know the reason. all i knew was that i was SO excited! (i figured maybe president heaton submitted them early...???) before hanging up i even had to clarify what he was saying...was it sent on friday? or just issued on friday? he assumed it was sent on friday. and that got me even more excited!

so i thought maybe it'll arrive by monday. but for sure it'd be here by tuesday. well...

monday
got home from school at 7pm.
no mail.
bummer.

tuesday
got home from school at 10pm.
no mail.
really?

wednesday
got home from school at 4:30pm.
still no mail.
dad was getting really anxious.

TODAY
i met up with steven at 10 am to work on our lab. but when we met up we decided to work on our homework instead. we haven't even learned the material in class yet so doing the lab would've been very unproductive. we finished the homework just in time for my dance class at 1. jesse and i took our dance test together and we finished with just enough time for me to make it to the bus at 1:57. i wanted to go home early to check the mail!!!

i thought for sure my call would arrive today. it HAD to...it'd already been almost a whole week since my call was sent (or made) and it was only coming from salt lake!

on my way home i told heavenly father that today wouldve been the perfect day to receive my call. i really wanted it today.

so i got off the bus and crossed the street to walk down my road. i passed the first house, and the second, and finally at the third......my eyes went straight to our mailbox.......and my heart sank. there was no sign of the big white envelope. i was bummed.

i texted everybody to say there was no mail today.

but deep down inside i had a feeling. i just KNEW it was supposed to be here today. i didnt know why it wasnt...but i still had hope. maybe the mailman just hadnt come yet...???

so i made myself a wrap. and sat on the couch to eat it. i had to keep my eye on the mailbox. :)


this was my view out the window:


and i just sat and ate and waited and waited.

every time i saw any signs of movement outside the window my heart skipped a beat. but there were no signs of a mailman. finally (at 2:29 pm to be exact) i decided to say a prayer. i told heavenly father that i really wanted my call today. i told him that i felt it was right and i needed to know if it was coming today or not. if it was coming i would sit there and wait. but if it wasnt i needed to go back up to campus and be productive. i just needed to know.

and then i continued eating....

at 2:33 (only four minutes later) there was a movement outside the window. IT WAS THE MAILMAN! IT WAS MY WHITE ENVELOPE!!! IT WAS HERE! MY PRAYER WAS ANSWERED! IT FINALLY CAME! and i pretty much went crazy. i was so excited i was beyond excited. i was bursting at the seams!

it was amazing. it was a miracle. god answered my prayer.

here is The Call in the mailbox


and here it is again, finally in my hands.


apparently it was mailed on the 9th. so that meant it only took 2 days to get here. :)


we decided to open the call at 9pm. the plan was to skype home so mom and dad and evan and ally could be there.

jesse and eva were the first to arrive. eva gave me a missionary journal which i absolutely love. and im excited to write in it.


jesse gave me cake. carrot cake, to be exact. and he also said "you can have your cake and eat it too" but i have no idea what that means.


amy is gonna be my faithful "future letter writer". and here's the first one. :) im looking forward to her letters cuz she is determined to be faithful.

we ended up having a lot of downtime (about an hour) because we ran into a few technical difficulties. james tried to figure it out while everyone else hung out and waited around.


meags entertained herself by jumping into erwins arms...


at one point the girls were having their own little dance party and i realized that we were all in white...but that wasnt even planned! :p so we had to take a picture. :)

james continued to mess with skype and tried to figure out what was wrong with it.


and everyone else just waited and waited. ever so patiently.

i finally got around to opening my call around 10pm.


it was so exciting! according to cami (and probably everybody else too) i "cheated" because i read ahead. so i knew where i was going before everyone else did! :p

i got yelled at for not reading aloud...somebody yelled "READ IT!"...im pretty sure it was jesse...and then EVERYBODY was yelling at me to read it. so i read it aloud.

"Dear Sister Wright:

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission."

i thought, minnesota? ....oh....

and then i said "and I report May 19."

then cam asked, "language?"

and my eyes scanned the letter as fast as they could...and then i screamed SPANISH! ahhhh!!!!!

it was a-MAZ-ing! i was so so so happy. and everyone else cheered and screamed along with me. :)


after my excitement died down i continued reading.


and of course, after i was done reading it, everyone wanted to see the map of my mission.


it was SUCH a beautiful letter. the words were powerful and inspiring. i LOVED it.



and then we ate! :) meags made a peach cobbler (and can now join the ranks of Professional Peach Cobbler Maker). i think erwin was pretty excited to eat it...

and i made pumpkin muffins with the trader joe's mix amy gave me for christmas. they were really ono!


before everyone left i made sure to get a picture with them. james was the first to leave. and if it weren't for him, we wouldnt have been able to skype home! it was a good thing he was able to come!


my visiting teachers also came. anya was an AMAZING photographer! she's the reason ive got all these pictures to share!



and then i took pictures with the fam. i love how excited cam looks in this one. :p



mauri came with rach.



and meags came with ry.

and erwin was excited about his new shirt.

jennie took off a few hours from work so she could be here. and candace came too.

and paco and fernando were the last to arrive.

and thats it! am i forgetting anything???

anyways, thanks everyone for coming to support. i greatly appreciated it. :)

at the end of the night i was exhausted. but so so happy.

im excited for the mission.

i feel ready for it.

and today was a testimony that god is real. he is so real.

p.s. for your viewing pleasure, i decided to include this. its as if you were there. :)