General Conference 2012

General Conference was so good this past weekend (though it's always good), with inspiring music and talks to draw knowledge from. I am so grateful to be a part of this church, led by such kind, loving, and inspired leaders who are blessed with revelation. I also enjoyed the company of my family, and it's too bad I missed out on the discussion, but I still liked being with my family - and the free food! =)
I feel like the first Session on Saturday was the one that touched me the most, and not just because of the missionary announcement at the beginning (I'll talk about that later). I really liked President Uchtdorf's talk about living with no regrets, and  Russell M. Nelson's talk: "ask the missionaries - they can help you!" there is also Sister Dibbs talk that asks what kind of message we would proudly proclaim on our T-shirt - for her it is “I’m a Mormon. I know it. I live it. I love it.” May we all learn to live without shame of our church! These talks influenced me the most, and are the ones I remember clearly. Of course, I also loved many of the other talks, especially the one by President Monson, but these are a cluster of some I easily think of.

Regarding the missionary announcement, where young men are able to leave on missions at age 18, and women can leave at age 19 (a jump from 21 years old), I think it is exciting, and a good step forward for the church. The work is hastening on. I have heard many different experiences and responses from this announcement, some wept, many gasped in shock, others open-mouthed in disbelief or perhaps even dismay (some will have to wait for their 19-year old girlfriends to return from their missions), but it is undeniable that a stir was caused, and everyone has something to say about it. Even the news took notice, and they should, because everything is about to change; this includes the very culture of LDS society, especially my age group. I think it is a good work to be done, and there are many who intend to leave as soon as possible. But what do I think? you ask; well, truthfully I don't know. Besides what I've stated above, that it is good and exciting, I don't have much else of an opinion, though many have asked. Even at the announcement I was not as surprised as everyone else seemed to be, and I believe my comment I made to my sister was (and she can correct me if she remembers), "Oh; that's exciting!" Then I talked to my parents for a minute or two before conference continued. I do not know whether to go on a mission or not, I find I lean neither to the right nor the left of the matter, but on the center. I fully support other people's decision to go on a mission, I simply to not know about myself. I did not even consider the prospect of going on a mission until I recieved my patriarichal blessing and my dad made a comment on one of the phrases! I have not thought to much of it since then! I thought I had more time to consider; now I find myself needing to come to a decision!
For now, I can only pray, and wait to see what happens... so we shall see what happens.

Off To College

Hello everyone! I am doing great, and I love being here at BYU-Idaho! The campus is absolutely beautiful, and I have some really nice roommates. All six of us are freshmen, and hopefully we become good friends by the end of the semester. I have actually been here for over a week, but what a crazy week it was! So many classes and so much homework to keep track of, I have been working hard to keep up on it so I do not fall behind. Sometimes there is so much information to take in and my brain feels stuffed, and sometimes I'll stare at my reading (math especially) at not understand a word of it. I am enjoying my classes though, and I like the teachers that I have.
It it so strange though to have a prayer at the beginning of class, as well as church principles taught alongside academic information. The Spirit of the Lord is here, and it is a wonderful thing. I hope that by being here I can become more spiritual and a better person.
How is it back home? I love being here, but there is a huge difference between Home and my apartment, and I wonder how my family is doing. And, I keep forgetting to call them, oops (I'll do better I promise!). I miss you all, and I hope you are all doing well!

My Bed: It's so yellow!

The shelf with my stuff on it, my roommates made a comment on how many books I had. What are they talking about? This isn't even 10% of all the books I own!

The living room: the couches are quite comfy, and that's a stack of my homework on the table.

The kitchen (while clean): on the far left there are some flowers my dad got me, if you can see the leaves poking out.

General Conference

I really enjoyed General Conference this last weekend, the talks are always really interesting, and I always especially like the ones from the First Presidency. Unforunately, I missed the fourth session because I got pretty sick, and I spent most of Sunday sleeping. I hope to be able to watch it sometime soon online. =)

LDS website
http://lds.org/?lang=eng

EFY, "Masked Mormon"

I went to EFY this past week! Wow, so many people! I really enjoyed the classes, the dances, and just hanging out with my cousins and friends. =) We had great counselors who are always so cheerful.

One of the stories our session director, Brother Mcmullin, told was when he was on a mission. Him and his companion were sent to an area where no new converts had joined for a long time. As it turned out, the families in the ward didn't like each other and said mean things about each other. The 2 missionaries were trying to figure out a way to bring the ward together, but couldn't come up with anything. There were actually 2 return army guys that lived in the ward that the missionaries talked to about the problem. A few days later, one of the families found a plate of cookies on their doorstep with the note "from the Masked Mormon". Soon, everyone was trying to find out who this Masked Mormon was. The missionaries found out that it was the 2 army guys were the Masked Mormon. However they said, "everyone's starting to suspect us, so we need you two to take this plate of cookies at 8 to the stake presidents house while we're there." The stake president's house was on the third floor of an apartment, and it was winter day, so it was icy, and they had to not get caught. The two guys gave the missionaries camo hoodies, because, you know, suits and ties are kind of distinctive. Brother Mcmullin said, "So I got a long stick, placed the cookies, pressed the doorbell with the stick and dropped it, then ran as fast as I could. The kids came running out yelling, "it's the masked mormon!" and their dog joined in the chase too. However, they weren't caught, and no one ever found out exactly who the masked mormon was. But it didn't really matter, because everyone in the ward started to become the Masked Mormon to their neighbors, and the families started being kinder to one another.
I really liked this story, it shows how such a small act can bring people together. Wow what a long post!