Well, my oh my has March been quite the month for me! For some crazy reason my roommate, Brooke, and I decided to participate in BYU's Lazy Iron Man. Yeah, I know, we're weird. Basically we had a month to run 26 miles, bike 112 miles, and swim 2.4 miles. This involved many early morning trips to the gym and interesting experiences at the pool to put it lightly. And if any of you know me or went to early morning seminary with me, you'd know that I am not a big fan of getting up early...BUT WE FINISHED!!!! Somehow, we made it!!
Towards the middle of March we had a wonderful session of stake conference with some amazing speakers! We also had a Relief Society meeting as a part of that where we had someone dress up as Joseph Smith and told some really interesting stories about Joseph's life. The Spirit was strong, and life was good! On a sadder note, that Sunday was also the day that one of my old childhood friends, Sam Huntington, had his mission farewell! Brooke knows him as well so we went and heard him give a fantastic last talk in his home ward before he left.
The last weekend of March was pretty psychotic...but well worth it! My family plus Amanda and Owen came down for the weekend for Bethany's bridal shower! It was so much fun to be with them and enjoy all the wedding extravaganzas. They even met me at work and got lunch one day!
The semester is almost over and I AM SO EXCITED!!! Don't get me wrong, I have loved my time here at BYU! But...it's BYU. So it's been a lot of work, a lot of late nights, essays, tests, working, and so much. It's just a lot all at once! But there have also, of course, been many fun times here with all of the wonderful people who I have met this past year and am really going to miss when I leave!
Speaking of leaving....I've got quite a bomb to drop for you all! After PLENTY of thoughts, prayers, scripture reading, and temple visiting...I have decided to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!!!!! I know this must come as a shock to a lot of you, probably the majority of you. Trust me, it was quite a shock for me as well and one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. I had it all planned out to go back to BYU for Fall semester, do an internship in DC for Winter semester, and graduate next April, a year from now. But if this experience has taught me anything, it's that the Lord has a plan for everyone, and sometimes your plan is not exactly in line with His. And that's okay. The important part is to learn to listen, which I had a hard time doing. I had it so set in my mind that I wasn't going to go (which there is nothing wrong with staying home), so it took me a while to even consider going as an option. But I finally reached that point, and all of my worries about going were calmed. I know that everything is going to work out. I know that this is going to be a very challenging experience, but one well worth it. I am so excited to share this gospel! Right now my plan is to work on my papers as soon as I get home, in May, with my availability date (the soonest day I will say I can leave) as sometime in the beginning of September.
As you can see, March has definitely been full of madness for me. But it's a beautiful madness that makes up my life. Amid the trials of life it's so important to try to find the good in the world, and focus on the positive things. Focus on what you can do. I hope you all had a wonderful month, wherever life may find you!
Towards the middle of March we had a wonderful session of stake conference with some amazing speakers! We also had a Relief Society meeting as a part of that where we had someone dress up as Joseph Smith and told some really interesting stories about Joseph's life. The Spirit was strong, and life was good! On a sadder note, that Sunday was also the day that one of my old childhood friends, Sam Huntington, had his mission farewell! Brooke knows him as well so we went and heard him give a fantastic last talk in his home ward before he left.
The last weekend of March was pretty psychotic...but well worth it! My family plus Amanda and Owen came down for the weekend for Bethany's bridal shower! It was so much fun to be with them and enjoy all the wedding extravaganzas. They even met me at work and got lunch one day!
The semester is almost over and I AM SO EXCITED!!! Don't get me wrong, I have loved my time here at BYU! But...it's BYU. So it's been a lot of work, a lot of late nights, essays, tests, working, and so much. It's just a lot all at once! But there have also, of course, been many fun times here with all of the wonderful people who I have met this past year and am really going to miss when I leave!
Speaking of leaving....I've got quite a bomb to drop for you all! After PLENTY of thoughts, prayers, scripture reading, and temple visiting...I have decided to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!!!!! I know this must come as a shock to a lot of you, probably the majority of you. Trust me, it was quite a shock for me as well and one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. I had it all planned out to go back to BYU for Fall semester, do an internship in DC for Winter semester, and graduate next April, a year from now. But if this experience has taught me anything, it's that the Lord has a plan for everyone, and sometimes your plan is not exactly in line with His. And that's okay. The important part is to learn to listen, which I had a hard time doing. I had it so set in my mind that I wasn't going to go (which there is nothing wrong with staying home), so it took me a while to even consider going as an option. But I finally reached that point, and all of my worries about going were calmed. I know that everything is going to work out. I know that this is going to be a very challenging experience, but one well worth it. I am so excited to share this gospel! Right now my plan is to work on my papers as soon as I get home, in May, with my availability date (the soonest day I will say I can leave) as sometime in the beginning of September.
As you can see, March has definitely been full of madness for me. But it's a beautiful madness that makes up my life. Amid the trials of life it's so important to try to find the good in the world, and focus on the positive things. Focus on what you can do. I hope you all had a wonderful month, wherever life may find you!