Friday night we left with Ben, Courtney, and Avi to go to a multistake YSA campout and Zion's Camp. I hadn't been there for years nd it was so fun! We started a game of volleyball, mingled with some people, hung out at the lake, and then made some s'mores. We weren't super stoked about staying there so we ended up driving the hour back home and crashed at Grandma's.
The next morning Grandma made us breakfast and we played some pickleball.
We then headed down to Yelm to spend the afternoon at Lake Lawrence. It was an absolute blast. Nothing beats spending the day at the lake.
And you got to see this stellar view of Mt. Rainier
One thing I always learn from my mom and her friends when I go home is how the most beautiful things can be found in the simplicity of life.
We took a roadtrip down to Portland, OR and first went to visit the rose gardens. It was unreal! The smell permeates through the air and it is pure bliss! There are hundreds of varieties in all colors and the whole place is just to die for!!
One of our favorites was the Queen Mary rose on this tree!
It's hard to tell from the picture but there is an old railroad trestle that goes through these trees. It was the coolest!
Also, I can't get over the green whenever I come to the PNW. It just has it's own sense of beauty that can't be found anywhere else!
Luckily this fun ice cream shop was right down the street! They have the most unique flavors and they were so nice about letting us taste test as many as we wanted!
We ended up getting pear and bleu cheese, honey and lavender, salted carmel, and balsamic and strawberry. They were all divine!
We also made a stop at the best stationary store down there! This was the first typewriter I had seen that was in cursive! There was also one in Hebrew. So cool!
There are many things I'm grateful for but one of them is good friends. When I showed up in Provo, Utah in June 2011 I did not expect to meet such a beautiful person like Emily Lloyd. She was one of the best roommates a girl could ask for! She was sweet and kind and always ready for an adventure. She also had a strong testimony, the perfect temple going buddy and study buddy. We went on walks, shared lots of secrets, went to movies, and sometimes were the only faithful FHE goers. I couldn't imagine leaving her after just 8 short weeks. We lived across campus from each other fall semester but still found ways to see each other whenever we could and then ended up in the same hall for winter semester.
Over the next 5 years, nothing could separate us! We were RAs together in Heritage Halls for what some would say is way too long. We both received mission calls to serve stateside and spent the 18 months bonding over good times and hard times, way too cold weather for her, way too hot weather for me, difficult investigators, companions, our testimonies. I cherish those letters and emails we sent. And standing in the airport waiting for her to come home was one of the best days. Tears of joy were shed as my best friend came back!
We hopped back on the RA train for another year and then finally made the leap off campus minus our summer jobs which both kept us in Heritage.
A year and a half later we both GRADUATED. It was so fun to start and finish our college career together. BYU would not have been the same experience without her.
Emily is one of the most genuine people you will ever meet. She lives her life dedicated to serving those around her. She studies harder than anyone I know. She has great relationships with her family. She is prayerful and is always thinking about the needs of others. She keeps her covenants and is a great example to others. She knows how to laugh and finds joy in a lot of the simple things of life. She is little (only 4' 10") but her heart is SO BIG.
And for each of those reasons, she is absolutely so deserving of having a man who exemplifies all of those things as well and loves her for them. After she got engaged we were talking about how we just couldn't believe it! She said that she had spent so much time praying for each of her friends and their relationships and hoping that they would get married. That girl is so selfless! So of course her wedding had to be absolutely perfect and IT WAS!
Once again I had to hold back tears of gratitude sitting in the temple watching this incredible friend of mine get sealed to her eternal companion! It was such a special day and I just felt a flood of memories come back of everything we had done and accomplished. We spent so much time together enjoying the other's company, laughing, crying, and figuring out life. I often get told that I don't have enough girl friends but the ones I do have are absolute GOLD.
I'm beyond happy for you Emily and can't wait for the future adventures we'll have together.
This life is full of trials and challenges. They may be big or small, self-inflicted or the consequences of others' decisions, but no one is immune to them. When faced with such challenges, we have a choice. We can respond with faith, trust, patience, and long-suffering, turning to God or we can become bitter, frustrated, disloyal, and turn away from God. Now, even if you respond in a positive way that does not mean that you aren't going to have hard days or that you won't shed some tears or that you'll feel ok about it all the time. But the Lord has promised us many blessings if we simply endure.
In the sixth chapter of John, Christ is giving his living bread sermon. He is trying to teach the people that just as he fed them temporally, he can also feed them spiritually so that they may have eternal life. This conversation did not go over so well and the scriptures tell us that many of his disciples left him. In the next verse:
67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
69 Andwebelieve and are sure that thou art that Christ, theSonof the living God.
I absolutely love these verses!! I was thinking about how regardless of any trial I have gone through, I have never questioned my testimony. My first thought was never to abandon the things that I know to be true. Of course I have gone through times when I wasn't as willing to reach out to Heavenly Father, but never have I wanted to leave the church or turn away from the principles of the gospel. Jesus Christ is the one true way to return to our Father and in a world of shifting values and temptation, the only way that we can be safe and find any sort of peace and happiness in this life is by following Him. Our lives won't be perfect, our trials won't go away, but he can strengthen and uplift us during them as we continue on our upward journey back home.
This school year I had a travel theme in my classroom. Traveling and culture is so important to me that I wanted to share that with my kids. I decided that they would have their very own passports and that we would "travel" to different places around the world each month so that they could learn about places that may seem completely foreign to them from their perspective in Santaquin, Utah. I had some amazing people that were willing to come and help me!! Each of them was so unique and it was so fun to see them put their own little spin on teaching the kids!
FRANCE
Literally every kid mentioned something about how gross the cheese was ha! But I was just proud of them for trying it!
SOUTH AFRICA
I was seriously laughing the whole time during this one. Tyler is a crackup! He got the kids involved which I loved.
ISRAEL
I taught them about Jerusalem, but it's not as exciting when your teacher that you hear from every day shares. They were still great listeners though!
HONDURAS
Emily did a cute little treasure hunt for them through powerpoint. It was the cutest! They also got to have a little dance party and loved that! THAILAND
Kenz was in America for like .3 seconds but I made her come in and share some of her travels! This was cool because she got to show them pictures of the school she worked at and the kids could connect to other students around the world! AUSTRIA
Gabe legit had them convinced that his name was Hans and that he came straight from Austria. It was the best.
TONGA
This was such a unique culture for them. I love hearing them try all the different languages. Edgar got dressed up in traditional clothing, we talked a lot about Moana ha! and then they learned this cute dance!
It still amazes me how diverse our world is and how unique each culture is. I'm so grateful to have caught just a small glimpse of each of these countries and to learn about what is important to them and how the people live. I hope it was as meaningful to my kids as it was to me!
This past week I took up President Russell M. Nelson's challenge that he gave in this address. He invited us to:
-study everything Jesus said and did in the Old Testament
-study His laws in the New Testament
-study His doctrine in the Book of Mormon
-study His words in the Doctrine and Covenants
using the Topical Guide as your core curriculum
His PROMISE was that:
-your love for Him and God's laws will grow beyond what you can imagine
-your ability to turn away from sin will increase
-your desire to keep the commandments will soar
-you will be better able to walk away from entertainment that mocks followers of Christ
In his general conference talk this past April he outlined his experience with this. He underlined and studied every single verse under the topic of Jesus Christ in the Topical Guide as well as the 57 subheadings under this title. When his wife asked him what impact it had on him he said, "I am a different man!"
I have absolutely loved my experience thus far! The first couple days I didn't think that I was going to learn anything new. I have studied the Savior often and have had many experiences, including my mission and my time in Jerusalem to really come to know Him. But then I thought, if a 93 year old apostle could learn something new and become a different man, then it must be able to have an impact on me as well.
I was surprised to find that I didn't have majority of the verses marked. I started making lists, thinking of cross references, reflecting on past experiences, and finding myself completely shocked when I looked at the clock and realized an hour had already passed by.
I bore my testimony in church today about my experience and shared most importantly that I know my Savior lives. I know He loves us. This week I have seen my faith increase. I have begun to expect miracles and to look for the hand of the Lord in my life. I am most grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ and His suffering for us. I am grateful for the opportunity to change and to become more like Him and to then go out and share His teaching with others and bless their lives.
I look forward to the rest of my studies as I complete this challenge and invite you to do it as well!
Here you'll find all my favorite things and get to read about my adventures with friends, family, and my third graders. I'm Mary Abigail and I'm so happy you're here!
