Today we celebrated Meagan's 25th birthday at the park. She was kind enough to let me invite the Ta'alas because I haven't seen them since being home from the mission. Ever since I found out they moved to West Valley from Minnesota I've been trying to visit them but it's never worked out. Today, it finally did! It was great to catch up with them and spend some time together.
Then I went to Sarah Logo's wedding reception. Her new name is Sarah Le. I met her four years ago when we were both SOAR counselors. Sarah and I were roommates and I remember talking about Daniel one night...I asked her if she was dating anyone and she said she was writing to this guy on his mission. Eventually he came home, she left for her mission, they kept in touch, dated when she got back, and now they are happily married.
Right after Sarah's reception I picked up Marisa Jane and we went to Shanna's baby shower. Her sisters threw it for her and it was a very lovely little party. Shanna was my roommate four years ago when I lived in Cinnamon Tree. The summer after being roommates together she got married to Tim and now they're expecting their first baby girl.
I am grateful for the good people in my life. Sometimes I forget how blessed I am to be surrounded by such great friends. Today was a nice reminder of a few of the friendships I've built over the past few years and the memories that come with them.
While on my mission I contacted Dr. Hawkins to see if I could work for him as a grad student.
In other words, I was asking him to be my advisor. He said yes!
I told him I wanted to get a Masters...he told me to get a PhD. :S
I didn't want to be in school for another four to five years!! I expressed my hesitation and here's what he told me: "If you're in a race, are you gonna go for the Bronze??? Or the Gold???"
That's all he had to say and I was sold! That was my answer...if I was going to work under him he wanted my very best and that would be the PhD program.
I wasn't personally convinced that this is what I wanted to do (PhD as opposed to Masters) until today. I went to Yue's graduation ceremony and it inspired me.
Dr. Hawkins and Yue
Yue has been my mentor for the past three and a half months. She taught me everything I know about my current research project and now I'm basically taking over where she left off. She's been a great teacher/helper/friend and I wanted to support her at her graduation ceremony.
I'm really glad I went! Something inside me changed...
I remember when I was in high school and a similar thing happened to me. We were at the scholarship assembly and I must've been a freshman. As I watched a student accept the Kekaha School Scholarship I told myself, "That's gonna be me one day!" It was like my own self prophecy. I could feel it in my gut and I was determined to work for it. Four years later, I was the one who walked up to the stage to receive that scholarship. My "prophecy" came to pass.
Today I had that same feeling.
As I watched Yue accept her diploma I thought to myself,
Hermana Monica Blood was my companion for two transfers in Faribault. We had some good times together. :) This past Wednesday she came home and today I went to her Sacrament meeting homecoming talk. It was so great to be there.
As part of the program, she and her three sisters sang Lead Kindly Light in English and in Spanish and it brought back so many fond memories of the mission. As she bore her testimony at the end of her talk my heart yearned to be back in Minnesota, living the missionary life. Some days I miss the mission so much and today was one of them.
We stayed for all three hours of church and I LOVED the Relief Society lesson. Sister Davis, the teacher, was so well prepared. She taught with her heart and spoke by the spirit. I came away feeling inspired and uplifted. Two things I got out of her lesson:
Number 1
"YOU ARE O.K."
She shared a personal experience about how she came to know that her Priesthood leaders were called of God. There was a time in her life that she was going through some very difficult trials. She was in an interview with her Bishop, literally sobbing, and pouring her soul out to him. In a quiet moment her Bishop softly said, "You are O.K." His words caught her off guard but she was immediately soothed. "How did you know?" she asked him. She went on to explain that those were the very same words her husband always told her to calm her spirits. They had been used numerous times throughout her life to remind her that everything would be okay. The Bishop simply responded, "I didn't."
That day, Sister Davis was reminded that her Bishop was simply a spokesperson for the Lord. The Lord knew exactly what those magic words would do for her. He knows each of us personally and individually. He knows our struggles and sometimes he uses our Priesthood leaders as conduits for revelation. I appreciated the simple reminder from Sister Davis that I am O.K. No matter what's going on around me the Lord is aware of my needs, my desires, my fears, and my potential. As long as I continue to put my trust in Him and follow His servants, I will always be O.K.
Number 2
Exodus 17:8-12 8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. 10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
Part of the discussion had to do with supporting/sustaining our leaders and especially supporting each other. One of the sister's comments caught my attention and I really took it to heart. She said, "one of the most beautiful manifestations of Christ-like love is a wife supporting her husband in his calling."
It was a simple thought. But it affected me profoundly. In that moment I was re-convinced that I want to be that kind of wife; it is one of my deepest desires. I want to support my husband in all of his Priesthood responsibilities. I want to stand by his side and be a "help-meet" as the scriptures say. I want to be a quiet, loving, loyal strength to him as he fulfills his role as Patriarch. I want to have that type of Christ-like love.
This is my friend Ruben. I met him on my mission in the Twin Cities 1st Spanish ward. He was a very reliable joint teacher, was always willing to help the missionaries, and loved serving others.
This past week he came to Utah to visit me and we spent lots of time together. We met up on campus two Thursdays ago and I showed him around. He also wanted to see the MTC and the temple so we went for a quick drive around Provo.
On Saturday we went to General Conference. We got into the first session with the tickets dad sent us and we got more tickets for the afternoon session by standing outside asking for them! That was a new experience for me...
Sunday morning I stood outside asking for tickets again, kind of like these people here. We actually got in and had really good seats! We were on the main floor, right in the middle. :) In between sessions we said goodbye to Hermano Mejia and his boss because they had to head out for Vegas.
Ruben had previously gotten us tickets for the Sunday afternoon session and that's the only one we didn't end up going to. The Juarez family was in town and two of them hadn't been able to see a session in the Conference Center so we gave them our tickets and watched it in the Tabernacle.
Then we went to the Nelson's home for dinner. They live in Centerville and Ruben met them while he was living in New Jersey and they were serving their mission. We had a lovely dinner. I felt like I was in missionary mode again, being invited over to someone's home for dinner and sharing a nice meal together.
On Tuesday Ruben came over to our place for dinner and then we went to Utah Lake. We watched the sunset, chatted as we went for a walk and I even let him teach me how to dance. I think he has a pretty good eye for photography.
He picked me up after work on Wednesday and took me to Costa Vida for dinner. Then we visited Cam and Julia in the hospital. After that we went to institute. He drove to Idaho on Thursday morning for a graduation at BYU-I and was back in Salt Lake by Friday night.
Saturday morning he picked me up at 10am and we had a long day ahead of us! First we went to the cheesecake factory and shared a piece of blueberry cheesecake.
We didn't finish the whole thing. As we were heading back to the car Ruben stopped to give our leftovers to Pat Perry, a homeless man on the side of the street. Pat's eyes immediately lit up and he said, "I've been seeing these bags for the past 2 weeks and couldn't wait to try some! Thank you!" It seriously made his day and I was grateful for Ruben's generosity and thoughtfulness.
A few hours later we went to Tucanos at The Gateway. The rest of the Minnesota graduation gang was on their way back from Idaho and we all met up for lunch. It was SO great to see more people from the mission!
After lunch we had to hurry to Temple Square because we wanted to go to the 4 o'clock session. It was Ruben's first time seeing a live session and he was so excited!
We both enjoyed the spirit we felt and the peace of the temple. By the time we got out it was already 6:30 and we had to rush back to Provo for the Ballroom Dance Concert. We made it just in time for the first number! I was especially excited to see their show because of this:
That was the end of our Saturday. Ruben came back to Provo on Sunday and spent the day with me. It was a beautiful day to be outside so we spent some time on the temple grounds. After church we went up to the Y lookout while waiting for dinner. Meags cooked fish and rice with asparagus for Easter dinner.
Then he had to leave. He'll be back in Minnesota late Monday night after a very very long drive. I had lots of fun with my new-found friend and I'm glad he came to visit. :)
When Kaleb was born I was still on my mission. EVERYONE in the family got to be there for the birth except me! Now I can officially say that I have witnessed a live birth, and it was a beautiful experience. I hope all of my births are as easy as Cam made it seem. :)
Seventeen of them, all from Minnesota! They drove to Utah just for conference. Isn't that A M A Z I N G!?
I just love this family so much. We visited Hilda and her family every single Tuesday at 6:30pm and they fed us dinner after every lesson. The kids are recent converts but the parents aren't members yet.
We visited Silvia and her kids every Wednesday at 4:00pm and taught them the new member lessons. Same situation: kids members, parents not.
I spent 9 months in this area so I really grew to love them. Imagine my joy and surprise when I found out they were in town AND I could see them. It was such a happy reunion!
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