I've been meaning to do this...

I've been meaning to take a little photography trip to the Salt Lake Temple for a while now. I've been dying to flex my new photo taking muscles and figured today was the perfect day. It was sunny, the lighting was wonderful, and it was almost 50* out! Perfection! 

This Girl = Amazing

This video couldn't have come into my life at a more opportune moment. Heavenly Father sure works in funny ways doesn't he?

I discovered the amazingness that is Al Fox tonight. I watched her video of a letter to the Missionary that helped her covert to the Church first. Then I discovered she had a lot of videos posted (yay!) and I watched those. THEN I discovered she had a blog. (double yay!) and I've now been reading her blog for the past hour or so. 

She is the sweetest girl and is such an amazing example. Her latest post on the different journals she uses for different things is...genius...seriously. 

Go. Read. Subscribe. Learn. Be uplifted. 

:)

First Presidency Christmas Devotional

(Todd...you have the better version of this picture...I know you're reading this! Send me that picture! please. :) love you!)

I'm not really sure how this keeps happening, but I keep getting lucky. First, we got last minute tickets to General Conference in October and then we got tickets to the First Presidency Devotional (you can watch the whole thing here) that was last weekend. But I'm not complaining. :) 

Every time I go downtown and just sit in the presence of this Temple is so overwhelming. It's one of those places that no matter what, you can always feel the spirit. And the Christmas lights make it even more amazing. 

Anyways, the devotional was exactly what I needed to really get me into the Christmas spirit. President Monson talked about how we need to not forget the true meaning of Christmas, which is the birth of Jesus the Christ and not to let it turn into a commercialized holiday. I've made an effort to do that this year. The reason we get to celebrate is because Christ chose to come to earth, knowing he'd have to die for all of us. THAT is the true meaning of Christmas. 

Happy Birthday to Me!

I can hear it already...

Uh, Jack...your birthday was a few months ago. You wrote about it on here, remember. Don't you think it's too early for you to be losing your mind?! 

I'm not talking about that birthday though! I'm talking about my other birthday! My baptism birthday is today. On this day one year ago (at 11am Detroit time I believe) I was able to begin my life again with a clean slate because I was born into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

It's kind of crazy thinking about how much my life has changed in a year. I think this year was one of the most exciting, terrifying, fun, and intense years I've ever had. 

- I found my place in this world. 

- My relationship with Christ and my Heavenly Father is stronger than it has ever been. 

- I moved 1,600 miles away from the only home I've ever known. 

- I met the man I'm going to spend time and all eternity with. 

- I graduated from college. 

-I became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

(I'm going to warn you now, this part is going to get all mushy and stuff. I won't be offended if you want to smack me because I'm being sentimental and I won't blame you if you stop reading :) ) 

I am so happy with where I am in life. I've been searching for this happiness my entire life and I can't really remember a time before this that I was this blissful. I really owe it all to Heavenly Father. I know that I'm where I need to be to fulfill my purpose and I only hope I can live up to His expectations. 

Getting married and starting a family is going to be so fun. And hard. And trying. We're going to struggle and we're going to probably fall on our butts a few (or a lot) of times but the funny thing is, I'm not scared. This is what my purpose on this earth is: to be a wife to a worthy priesthood holder and a mother to the children that Heavenly Father entrusts me with. 

I am so thankful for the missionaries that sacrificed two years of their lives in order to better mine. I couldn't have done any of this without them. Especially the first two missionaries I met. Both of them are home now and I'm so grateful I got the chance to meet them. The three Elders taught me so much and I miss them so dearly. 

I am so thankful for a supportive family who have been there for me no matter what. Especially my mom. Even though my baptism was something that she didn't understand, she still supported me and came. That meant more to me than I think she knows (although she will know, because I know she's reading this. HI MOM!) 

I am so thankful for my future husband. He makes me a better person and makes me want to live more like Christ. He's an amazing example to me and I couldn't do this without him. He makes me laugh when all I want to do is break down and cry. And when I do break down and cry, he's there. He's one of the few people in this world that can actually calm me down when I'm freaking out. And believe me, I'm a pretty emotional person so that can be a challenge. I'm so thankful he wants me to be able to stay at home with our kiddies when we do have some and I'm thankful that he's willing to work to support us when that time does come. 

I am so thankful for the Book of Mormon, the Bible, Joseph Smith, Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. I am so thankful that I have finally found a religion that has everything right. The Gospel is a beautiful and perfect thing if you take the time to study and understand it. I'm still learning, but I'm on my way to being able to do it. 

Everything that I am thankful for is a direct blessing from God. I know it is. I couldn't have done it without the Gospel, Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for the decision I made to devote my life to Christ exactly one year ago. It's made all the difference in the world. 

Please pretend I'm not wearing a hideous white jump suit ;) 

Conference Weekend! Yay!

This weekend was Conference weekend! And it was my first General Conference in Utah. T's mom got us tickets to the Saturday morning session. I can't tell you how blessed I felt that I got to go to a session my very first year in Utah. We got up far too early and got there far too early (I blame my mother for making me paranoid about being late to everything. ;) ) But it was way cool. 

I got to hear a Prophet speak. I got to hear the second Provo Temple announced and felt the goosebumps when the entire conference center gasped at the same moment. It was a pretty gosh darn good session, and it was only the first one!! 

I had a lot of 'favorite' talks this conference. I always do. I can usually find inspiration from all of the talks but President Uchtdorf's talk on Saturday morning was one of the best. (I about jumped out of my seat when he was introduced. He's one of my favorite general authorities.) 

Some of my notes from that talk (these aren't direct quotes, but close to them. I didn't edit anything that I put in my journal) :

We are nothing compared to God, but to God we are everything.
No matter how meager your appearance, you are not invisible to Heavenly Father. He knows your humble heart and he cares for you.
What you experience now is not what it is going to be what it's like forever. 

God sees you as his child. You matter to him. 

How awesome is it to think about those things? We DO matter to Him. No matter how forgotten, invisible, or sad you feel, you are not forgotten. You are not invisible. You will not be sad forever. 

Another one of my favorite talks was by Elder Niel Anderson. It was about the family, children and motherhood. His talk gave me two of my favorite quotes: 

"Motherhood is not a hobby. It is a calling." 

&

"Having children is not something you do if you have time, having children is what God gave you time for." 

I cannot wait to be a mother. I can't wait to start a family. Elder Andersen's talk reminded me of that and he reminded me of how important the family is to our happiness. 

In other picture related news, I failed to take ANY pictures of me & T at conference! Bummer dude! But here are some pictures from after. :)

Sunday morning, I watched the morning session by myself. It was nice to roll out of bed, roll onto the couch, turn on the TV and listen to amazing men and women teach me. I watched the afternoon session with T and his family. As much as I liked watching it alone, I like being with other people while watching conference too. :) 

We went on a little drive before dinner. Every day I have to pinch myself to remind myself that I do really live in this beautiful place. 

I hope everyone else enjoyed their weekend!!! :) 

Today I am thankful for a Prophet

On June 27, 1844 the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum were martyred by an angry mob in Carthage Jail where the Prophet was being held.

I haven't really sat and pondered about his martyrdom all that much before but today it struck me a little hard. Joseph Smith is a man who died for his religion. He died doing what he knew was right. He knew that what he was doing was unpopular but he did it anyway because he knew that it is what Heavenly Father wanted him to be doing. He made the ultimate sacrifice for me so that I could be blessed with the knowledge of the restored gospel. Joseph Smith listened to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and did what was asked for him, despite how scared he might have been.

Elder Jeffrey R Holland offers an amazing Testimony of our Prophet:

"[Joseph Smith's] life asked and answered the question 'Do you believe God speaks to man?' In all else that he accomplished in his brief 38 and a half years, Joseph left us above all else the resolute legacy of divine revelation—not a single, isolated revelation without evidence or consequence, and not 'a mild sort of inspiration seeping into the minds of all good people' everywhere, but specific, documented, ongoing directions from God. As a good friend and faithful LDS scholar has succinctly put it, 'At a time when the origins of Christianity were under assault by the forces of Enlightenment rationality, Joseph Smith [unequivocally and singlehandedly] returned modern Christianity to its origins in revelation" (Ensign, 2004) 

I have a strong testimony of our Prophet Joseph Smith. He was given the responsibility to restore the Gospel to this earth in these latter days and did it with an amazing conviction and passion that Heavenly Father knew he had. Joseph Smith was a modern day prophet that was given the authority to do what he did. I know that beginning with him and up until this very moment, there has been an unbroken line of prophets that have been called by God and put on this Earth to guide all of the children of God to ensure they can come back home one day. I am so thankful for what this man has done for me and my future children. I am so thankful for the sacrifices he made so that I can be happy and for his very presence on this earth. I am so very thankful for his obedience, passion and conviction to doing what is right and what Heavenly Father wants him to do.

Finding My Faith - part 1

This is going to be the first of a few posts...a series, if you will, about how I came to know about The Restored Gospel, Heavenly Father, and his plan for our salvation here on this earth. I've wanted to get this written down for a while and I figured I'd start now so I won't forget again. 

I can remember driving down Woodward as a kid and thinking to myself 'wow, that's a really pretty building' as we drove past the Detroit, Michigan Temple. I had no clue what it was or how precious it would become to me. All I knew is that I got this sense of wonder and awe every time I drove to work with my mom and we passed the building. 

Flash forward to my senior year of high school. I'm in Mr. Chandler's 3rd hour (maybe it was 4th but I think it was 3rd) AP US History class. I was a shy kid and tended to keep to myself, so I didn't really have that many friends. By sheer luck and chance I ended up choosing a spot next to a girl named Amanda. She was quiet and reserved like me and we hit it off right away. I got to know Amanda and got to know what was happening in her life. In December, she met a guy. I still remember hearing her tell me the story of how they met at her uncle's Christmas party and how she had gotten into a fight with her mom or something and this boy offered to give her a ride home. He was a member of the Church and soon enough they were dating and he was taking her to Church. 

I graduated and we lost touch. I was 3 hours away and she was still in high school. I went through a lot of heavy stuff my freshman year and got pretty lost for a while. I made some bad decisions and was in a really dark place for a while. I didn't really have any hope at that moment and felt so far away from God that I often wondered if I would ever be able to find my way back into his presence. 

When she was 18, she was baptised and applied to BYU-I. I was shocked when I heard that she was going to school in Idaho. Over the next few months I watched (via Facebook creeping) as she grew and blossomed into this amazing, strong young woman. Somewhere deep inside, I knew it was The Church that was responsible for her happiness. 

Why am I telling Amanda's story in a story that is supposed to belong to me? Well, Amanda's story is linked to mine.  I watched a girl do something that I could never dream of doing at her age. I watched her meet her husband, fall in love, and get married. I regret not going to their reception in Michigan to this day. 

Flash forward again to 2 summers ago (2009) and I'm doing my homework late one night at school. I'd always been intrigued by the LDS Church and had been wandering over to lds.org for a few months before and was curious. I hadn't really done more than look at the front page, wonder a little, then stuff the wondering feeling into the back of my mind and continue about my day.

So, back to the night at hand. I was seriously avoiding doing my homework and was just staring at the lds.org homepage. I noticed a little sidebar that said 'chat with a missionary'. That really had me wondering. My mouse hovered over the button as I contemplated clicking it. Should I do it? What would it really be like? What would happen if I talked to them? Questions zoomed in and out of my head as I suddenly felt this intense urge to learn more.

I clicked it and that one little leap of faith ended up changing my life. 

This is Where I Belong

You know that feeling when you've been staring at a math problem for hours on end? Completely stuck on one step? Not moving forward towards the answer, but not wanting to give up quite yet despite the feeling that you want to slam the book shut and toss it out the window? That's been my relationship with Heavenly Father for as long as I can remember. I know its there. I can almost grasp the concept, but I'm missing one tiny piece of the puzzle. Despite the size of the last missing piece, it's the most important and integral part to the answer. Without that, you're not quite complete. You're not quite finished. I've spent my entire life starting blankly at a page that has all of the work done until the very last part. I wanted so badly to give up but something kept gnawing at my soul. I knew that I wasn't complete without that last teeny tiny piece of myself.

Then, I found it. Well, really, the piece found me. That piece was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. A small part in the beginning but once it was put snuggly into place, it grew outwards and attached itself to the rest of my soul. I received the Book of Mormon from a Missionary and read it. And after that, I started having some of the most important discussions of my life with some of the most amazing men and women that I had ever come across. I felt myself growing. Flourishing really. Flourishing in my faith.

One of the leaders of the Church says that your Testimony is a growing thing. You have to nurture it daily with love, respect, and plenty of food in order for it to grow. These last months have been dedicated to nourishing my Testimony. In one of the most turbulent, challenging and uncertain times of my entire life, I've found refuge in the words of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Prophets and the other leaders. I've found comfort in the words of Joseph Smith and his revelations. I've found refuge in the words given to us by Christ and Heavenly Father in the form of the Bible and Book of Mormon. Even in my angriest moments, I've felt the tug towards my Scriptures and prayer to keep strong. Despite my confusion at the loss of an innocent boy's life to suicide, I found solace in the words that Heavenly Father has given us. Despite the fear of not finding my partner for eternity, I have found answers in the words of the Prophets and teachers. Even in the words of the doubters and criticizing people I have found strength because I know how special my Testimony is to me.

Without a doubt, I know this Church is true. The Book of Mormon was directly given to us from Heavenly Father. Joseph Smith was the Prophet on this Earth that was entrusted to restore the Gospel and that Gospel has truly been restored. We have a Prophet here on this earth this very moment and his name is Thomas S. Monson. There is a plan of salvation for you and for me. Jesus Christ died in order for that plan to come true. He knows me by name. He knows you by name. He knows the person who hates him the most by his name and he loves them just as much as he loves me. I can do anything and everything with Heavenly Father's help and I finally have that missing puzzle piece that has completed my entire soul. I am so very thankful for the Atonement and Heavenly Father's infinite love for all of his children.

I say each and every single word in the name of the everlasting and holy name of Jesus Christ, the one who gave his life for me.

Amen