Burst Your Bubble??

Sometimes it seems that when it rains, it pours. Being the week before finals with 'never ending' study sessions, busy schedules, activities, Christmas shopping, and trying our hardest to finish the semester strong, and looking for the break can build up some stress. There were times that each of us felt that our bubbles had been popped and that we were ready to throw it all out and not care, so we took a little break and laughed as we "bursted our bubbles"! It is always good to find laughter even during some of the most stressful times in our lives. I have definitely learned that it is much better to enjoy the journey than to make it miserable along the way.


Haha, Sam kind of struggled getting a bubble blown and each time we went to take the picture it would pop or just wouldn't go. I love her face in the second picture! :)

....And, after a couple more tries, we were all able to get a bubble! It's funny what can entertain a bunch of girls for a long time.

Lights at Temple Square

On Saturday night Dallen took me to see the lights at Temple Square. Kaitlyn and Spencer met us there and we had a fun night walking around looking at all of the lights that were set up. I like learning about the symbolism of the temple and it is amazing the thought and planning that went into the building of the Salt Lake Temple. This time I went, I noticed the big dipper on the West side of the temple on the middle spire. The East side also has stars that are pointing up which resembles our prayers going to heaven, and the stars pointing down is revelation and blessing that God pours upon us. I thought that was pretty cool. Always learning new things every day!

“I went through frozen mud and slush with my feet tied up in rags,” wrote one anonymous Latter-day Saint who attended the icy ground-breaking ceremonies for the Salt Lake Temple on 14 February 1853. “I had on a pair of pants made out of my wife’s skirt—a thin Scotch plaid; also a thin calico shirt and a straw hat. These were all the clothes I had. It was go that way or stay at home. … I was not alone in poverty; … there were many who were fixed as badly as I was.” He was one of thousands who arrived at an early hour for the ceremony, scheduled for eleven o’clock that morning.

The first stones, weighing from 1,134 to 2,540 kilograms were brought by teams and wagons from the quarry in Little Cottonwood Canyon, some thirty-two kilometers southeast of Salt Lake City. Oftentimes, it took as many as four days for workers to haul one huge block from the quarry to the temple site. Annie Wells Cannon “remember[ed] the sight of the great stones … being hauled along the streets by two yoke of oxen and we would all stand for them to pass with a feeling of awe and reverence.” Smaller stones were hauled on wagons, but larger stones were hung under them. Many wagons broke down while transporting the stones, and the road to Salt Lake City was often littered with old wagons during the summer seasons.


According to a story told by his family, John Moyle “climbed up the scaffolding on the east side of the Temple and carved ‘Holiness to the Lord,’ as his contribution to the Temple building.”

Yet with undaunted faith, President Woodruff requested sufficient funds from the Saints to finish the temple. Among those who sacrificed to meet that request was a young boy who had found employment on a nearby farm where, after several long hours of work, he was paid twenty-five cents. “I clutched the coin and ran home,” he recalled. He immediately sought out his father. “Pa, look what I have!” he announced. “The next time you go to Provo,” he continued, “I can get a new pair of Levis with this money.” The father reminded his son of President Woodruff’s request. “President Wilford Woodruff needs ten cents of this quarter for the Salt Lake Temple. Here, I’ll give you fifteen cents for the coin, and we’ll go together to give the dime to our bishop, who will send it to Salt Lake City,” the father gently suggested.

In the year that followed, carpenters, painters, plasterers, and other skilled craftsmen worked unstintingly to complete the interior of the temple. The inside of the temple was adorned with fine wood and plaster ornamental carvings, beautiful murals and paintings, mirrors, elegant curtains and draperies, the best carpets and furniture available, fine light fixtures, chandeliers, and specially ordered stained-glass art windows. All things were made ready for the dedication ceremonies, which were to begin on 6 April 1893. In an effort to complete the temple on time, workers labored even on holidays. On Thanksgiving Day 1892, “nearly all the men were at work as usual,” one worker noted.

After the dedication a Brigham Young Academy student, Amy Brown, recalled: “It was one of the most thrilling spiritual experiences of my life. … [As President Woodruff] stood there before the people with hair and beard as white as snow, the essence of purity, gentleness, and faithfulness, he reminded me of the prophets of old.” UAdd a Note

For President Woodruff, the occasion was the fulfillment of a dream. He confided in his journal, “Near[ly] fifty years ago while in the city of Boston I had a vision of going with the Saints to the Rocky Mountains building a temple and I dedicated it.”

For many of the Saints, the temple dedication provided a spiritual seal for their efforts to gather with the people of God in the Rocky Mountains. It also confirmed the Lord’s acceptance of the covenants they had made with him and the sacrifices entailed in fulfilling the vision of modern and ancient prophets that a temple would be “established in the tops of the mountains” in the last days. -Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, "Every Window, Every Spire Speaks of the Things of God", Liahona, Nov. 1993, 8


The Salt Lake Temple is and has always been an amazing one to me! Every temple is special in its own way and is the House of the Lord, but the Salt Lake temple took so much time, dedication, sacrifice, and hard work to complete. It strengthens my testimony that the gospel is true and also deepens my gratitude towards those who sacrificed their time to such a great cause so that my generation, the ones before me, and the ones to come have the privilege to attend the temple and have the fullness of the ordinances on the earth. How lucky are we to benefit form their hard work!

Mommy-Daughter Night Out

Our lovely moms were all able to come up for the weekend so we had a fun night with them. We all went to dinner at Chili's and then went home and made gingerbread houses. We (roomies) all decided that we need to bring our moms around more often because we never before got whistled at until tonight when they were walking with us! lol above is Sherrill (my mom), Kim (Ashlee's mom), Fenece (Sam's mom) and Julie (Anna's mom). We were so happy that they could all come with us to dinner and we could all meet each other!


Anna, Sam, Ashlee, and me! Don't we all look like our mothers!


After dinner we went back to Ventana Apartments and made gingerbread houses! Sam's struggled a little and so she ended up making a church. My mom and I couldn't get the house roof to hold up so we made ours an outhouse. haha! Anna and Julie were pro's at it and they got theirs decorated all cute and it was still standing. Ashlee and her mom had a hard time getting theirs to stay together for a while but they kept working on it and by the end they looked wonderful as well!



This is just a little video of the fun we had making the houses :)


And of course we couldn't end the night without a frosting fight! Ashlee started it by putting a dab of it on my face and I was holding the whole tub of frosting so I used it to my advantage and we had fun with it.

After Ashlee and I got all cleaned up she distracted Anna so that I could get her. My clean face didn't last very long and was covered in more frosting after no time! It was super fun though! Well worth the mess we had to clean up after wards.

CAL Christmas Dinner

Once again we had a formal activity for CAL and again I borrowed my whole outfit. It's nice having roommates and friends that share the same size because I haven't had to buy one thing for our activities yet. On the way there, Dallen, Anna, and I jammed out to Shania Twain with the windows rolled down, dancing and singing at the top of our lungs! It was great! For our Christmas party, everyone got dressed up and we went to a catered dinner. After that, Comedy Sports came and performed for us. They did a great job and we were all laughing throughout the night! Just another memory to remember of a good time with friends and colleagues.


Anna, Janessa, and Ashlee

Be Thou Humble

There are often little life experiences that bring me to humility as I look at others and the lives that they live. This past week I have been worrying about a doctors appointment I have for vililigo, a skin pigment mutation, but as I have gone throughout the week and focused on others I have realized that I am so blessed and that my problem is but a small one. I have been to a couple more of Friday's Kids Respite hours and have worked with kids with disabilities. They are so innocent and pure and have sweet spirits that is contagious to me as I tend to their needs. I feel so bad for them when they have to struggle and can't explain what they need or do it themselves. They are reliable on others and will never be able to live their life on their own. I do believe that some of them are sent here on this earth with a physical disorders to protect them from being tempted from Satan and the world. I was once told they are the ones who escorted Satan out of heaven when he denied Christ and chose to not follow Heavenly Fathers plan. They played vital roles in Heaven and have significant importance's to the plan of Salvation. As I lose myself in their lives and try to imagine what it is like from their point of view, I lose the pride and pity of my own problems and they become small and simple.

I kept this on my mind for some time but it faded and I started remembering my appointment. I get scared, nervous, and embarrassed and it is really uncomfortable for me at these times. I know that the doctors are only there to help me and that they are very educated individuals that are only willing to help, but just something about it makes me not want to go every time. I also have had problems with my bladder my whole life and am still battling with side effects from that. Each time I have a mishap or something that goes wrong I often get down on myself. It has become a nuisance or annoyance and I try to just let it slide by like it is nothing but every now and then I let it get to me. These fears and worries often take my thoughts throughout the day, but it seems that when it is the worst, God is able to use others as instruments to lift me up. As I went to institute this week our lesson was in Alma 10-13. This quote was of comfort to me and brought peace to my fears....

"Deformity will be removed, defects will be eliminated, and men and women shall attain to the perfection of their spirits, to the perfection that God designed in the beginning. It is His purpose that men and women, his Children, born to become heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, shall be made perfect, physically as well as spiritually, through the obedience to the law by which he has provided the means that perfection shall come to all his children..." -President Joseph F. Smith when speaking at the funeral of Sister Rachel Grant, the mother of President Heber J. Grant.
My concerns that I have now are only temporarily and I can't imagine the joy that not only will I be made physically, but SPIRITUALLY! To have a spirit that is perfect is going to be so amazing!

I was reading some quotes about humility and came across this one by Thomas S. Monson... "Should there be anyone who feels he is too weak to do better because of that greatest of fears, the fear of failure, there is no more comforting assurance to be had than the words of the Lord: 'My grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them' (Ether 12:27)." "Our Sacred Priesthood Trust," Ensign, May 2006, 57

This morning in my history class I found out that one of the girls I have studied with and sit by in class has cancer and the doctors are having a hard time controlling its spread. She is only 26 years old, has two children, is divorced from their father, is going back to school to attain a degree so she can find a job, and is now battling cancer. I am in awe at her strength to continue to come to classes and the stress that she must have trying to pay the bills for the hospital as well as being single, taking care of kids, worrying about daycare, and everything else that plays a factor into her life. We have finals all of next week and she is continuing to participate in class lectures so that she can hopefully pass a semester of classes that she has had to pay for. Her last final is next Wednesday and she is going to have surgery that night, just 10 hours after she finished schooling. What courage and strength that must take to have to go through that and to have the determination to finish out the semester. She said that she has battled small cases of cancer previously, but the past few weeks they have not been able to control its growth. Of course it has taken a toll on her physically, mentally, and spiritually as she is trying to take on so much all at once.
How humbled I am as I think of her and the many other people who have had similar trials throughout their lives. I am blessed that I can still function normally, I can socialize well, I have shelter, food, love from others, and the gospel that provide for my basic needs. Experiences such as this have been a great reminder to me of what is important in life and has helped me reflect on the many blessings that I have. I hope that I might be able to remember times like this throughout my life so that I can appreciate the life that I have been gifted with.

Ugly Sweater FHE

Ashlee, Anna, and I went to the ugly sweater FHE activity. We had a really good dinner, listened to a live band play some christmas songs, and then went ice-skating on the roof! It was a super fun night and I'm glad that I was able to go!

All of us PLP friends dancing to the band and showing off our beautiful sweaters.



Ashlee and I were trying to skate gracefully... and this was about the best that we did. It was supposed to be a ballerina pose with one leg in the air but we couldn't stay up. haha
My favorite part of the whole night was probable skating and being able to see the Mt. Timpanogos temple all lit up in the night!

Winter Holidays

I love it when the snowflakes start to fall and the Christmas music starts to fill the air, and the lights go up around the town. This past weekend I was able to spend time with my family as I watched Hunter wrestle in a tournament in Price. He did very well as he won all 9 of his matches as a freshman playing for the varsity team. After his tournament I went with Dallen to watch the new movie "Tangled" and then went to a Park in Nephi filled with lights.




It gets me excited for the next couple of coming weeks as Christmas is just around the corner!

Roomies

So I have been living with these wonderful girls for months and it took us forever to get a picture with all of us there! (L-R) Anna Barnum, Janessa Bowring, Ashlee Head, and Samentha Dort! Love Love Love these amazing people. We are all so different and unique but all seem to get along so well. They continue to put a smile on my face and I find something different each day to laugh about :)

ANNA- My next door roomie! We share a bathroom and live next door to each other. Anna loves to dance, sing at the top of her lungs to classical song, disney, and christmas music, has a very loud and funny laugh, and is a very loving person. She can always find a way to laugh at anything and always has a good time. Anna is a hard worker and does well in school. She is very smart but is excited for math to be over after this semester ;)

SAMENTHA- Sam is the blonde in our little family. She has rubbed off on us all with the things that she says, "Oh bloody... I look like death... I'm going to be smart today... Death to England... bueno.... ohla" and many many more! She loves to dance and has about 10 coats in our coat closet. She could never have too many shoes and she can make you laugh any time of the day! Sam studies 24/7 and is going to become the worlds greatest nurse!

ASHLEE- Most definitely is the entertainer of our home. If the house is quiet you know that Ashlee is not there. She is the mother to us all and has a heart of gold. Ashlee has about every leadership position you could imagine and is a very hard worker. She, also like Anna, loves to sing at the top of her voice but she often forgets the lyrics and makes up her own. Ashlee is very clean and likes to have the house tidy. She has a strong testimony and is a dear friend to me. Any time I need a good laugh, I can always go to her.

I think it is a blessing to us all that we were assigned as roommates. When going to college it is always a worry as to who you will be living with and I don't think I could have picked better friends to be with if I had the choice myself. My testimony has grown as well as the friendships I have gained and I am very glad to have been able to get to know these girls.