So last week when I posted, I talked about how much I was missing my mission. Well this week, I guess the mission has been thinking of me too because I've had some GREAT experiences!!! Last night, Maria Hernandez, one of the most amazing members I know in Riverside called me. I was soooo excited to talk to her that I almost cried!! It's been months since we've really been able to chat because of many things going on in both our lives (she moved, didn't have a phone, didn't have internet service, I got married, moved, moved again, etc.). She is so incredible and makes me so happy just hearing her voice!
Then, Ashley Warrick, a daughter of a woman I taught in Temecula, came to visit us in Provo!! Jessica (another friend from T-Mec) and I had lunch with her today in the cougareat on campus, and had so much fun catching up with her!
Then, later this afternoon, just before I left work at the MTC, I went to the cafeteria to return something to them and I almost couldn't believe my eyes! Walking toward me was Sister Lia Batchkoff, one of the cutest and sweetest girls I met in Moreno Valley. We both were soooooo excited to see each other, it was so unreal! I have seen her a few times already, but it's been a little while. She is soooo incredibly strong and I can tell she has the spirit with her constantly. She is going to have SUCH a TREMENDOUS impact on the people she serves in Albuquerque, New Mexico!!
One thing I haven't shared with many people, is that when I was set apart for my mission, I was told that the people I met would not be new acquaintances, but they would be great friends from the pre-earth life. I totally believe that is true, and I'm soooo grateful that I served where the Lord wanted me to be, so that these amazing friends could be a part of my existence in THIS life, as well as the one before, and the one to come!! All of you that I served, or served with, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!! :)
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Thoughts on Life
Well, today I've had a lot on my mind, some things funny, some things sad. Some things important, and some things just whimsical. But that's why I started this blog, to have an outlet for all my thoughts! :)
I started the day early! Monday, I have to be to work at 6. I had a dream that I woke up and looked at my phone and it was 6:04! It scared me enough that I jumped out of bed, realized my phone was across the room so I couldn't have checked it yet, so I ran over there, and thank goodness it was only 4:50, so I got to enjoy another 25 minutes of precious sleep! :)
Then I headed to work for a pretty eventless day, except for one thing I found funny. A sister missionary told me she really liked my sweater, and said that she had the same one. I thanked her, and then as she walked away, looked down to remind myself what I was wearing. Ummm, I had on a t-shirt . . . layered over a tank top, so maybe it looked like a sweater? I don't know! I looked around thinking maybe she was talking to my co-worker Jessica, but she was wearing a 3/4 length jacket. Haha, oh well, thanks for the compliment at 7:30 AM!
After work, headed straight to school where I had a difficult time staying awake. Lucky for me, Jeff bought me some of my favorite cereal, Reeses Peanut Butter Puffs, so I took some in a bag to snack on. After, I thought about going home to take a nap, but knew I should stick around for my stats lab. That ended up being a waste of time, since the TA spent more time confusing everyone than she did teaching. I eventually tuned her out and just started my homework so I could make some use of my time. Looks like I'll be shopping around for a new lab to attend! :)
After the lab, I took a nap outside in the warm sunshine, and woke up to see another stats TA of mine being all lovey-dovey, mushy-gushy, PDA-ish with this boy. That was more than I needed to see, so as I turned away thinking "TMI . . . TMI!!!" something else caught my attention, and I'm glad I didn't miss it! A sort of chubby girl was apparently trying to interest the boy next to her, as she shouted, "DIE SPIDER DIE!!!" while simultaneously taking her flip flop off and whacking it several times. I'm sure just once could have sufficed. And I admit, I am absolutely terrified of spiders . . . like my biggest fear ever. BUT, at least in public I hold in my shouts! LOL :)
Next was history, my most boring class of the semester. Don't get me wrong, though the reading for the class is tedious, it's actually REALLY informative and interesting. But the professor (who by the way looks like the un-handsome version of Jeff Goldblum who plays Dr. Malcolm on Jurrasic Park) likes to read directly from his powerpoint, which is basically a plagiarized version of the text, and he reads it word for word. But to add a LITTLE excitement, he likes to pause every 5 seconds and say "ummmm . . . . ummm . . . so . . . well . . . yeah." Each class also ends with him saying, "I'd like to talk a little about (glances at the clock) . . . well let's take a minute (everyone starts putting their stuff away) . . . well we're out of time. We'll discuss this next time in class."
Anyway, needless to say, I fell asleep during the class. And then I got to thinking . . . why is it that when we're dead tired and we're trying to fall asleep, if others around us are talking and loud, it's hard to sleep; yet, when we're trying to stay awake and we're surrounded by others, it's so easy to fall asleep! In both instances, you're tired. Hmmm . . .
So, after that enjoyable hour, I proceeded (with almost as much JOY as on the weekends) home from school, sooooo excited to just take a sec to relax. Well for the first time since school began, my "second" turned into an hour. I turned on the tv to Dr. Phil, which I hardly EVER watch. But it was a really interesting story. It began with a mother who irately runs into her daughter's hospital room just after she's delivered a baby. The mother quite condescendingly asks the daughter how the delivery went and says "Well, I hope you have it tested for drugs." The woman totally seems out of whack, and they even call security to have her escorted out of the hospital.
BUT, as it turns out, the mother was right. Her daughter, though she denied it all during her pregnancy, was taking methamphetamine. The girl's boyfriend filled a prescription for himself of 150 pills, and the next day only had 5 left. The worst part is, the baby, though it seemed completely healthy at birth, had to remain in the hospital for 4 weeks on morphine because it was going through the drug withdrawals. Even with the morphine, after being allowed to go home with the grandmother, the baby was still convulsing, feeling pain in every muscle and bone from the withdrawals. And yet the daughter claims she doesn't do drugs, the baby isn't addicted to anything, the baby is fine. In 5 weeks after the daughter had the baby, she only went to see it twice. These poor grandparents talked of how this is her third child. And the mother KNEW something wasn't right when she entered that delivery room. That is why she was so upset, but even the hospital staff thought she was just crazy.
Now the parents are trying to decide whether to have their daughter arrested, and sent to rehab, in order to save her life. I just want to say one thing and then I'll leave it alone. I've had family members, and friends and I'm sure you all have too that have used drugs. And I don't judge any of you for that, you are capable of making your own decisions. What I don't want to hear is, "I can do what I want, it's not like it affects anyone else!!" Well, you're wrong! It does!!!
What an emotional battle this is for those grandparents! Do they adopt the baby to protect him and love him and raise him as their own? Or do they give him to another family to try to let him have a normal life? Do they send their daughter to prison and rehab to protect her, or try to go around the issue to save their relationship with their daughter. The thing that stuck with me the most was when the mother said she would let her daugher be arrested, because they had nothing to lose. "We've already lost her." Were her words. Wow, this story affected me a lot!
Anyway, it's things like this situation that lead me to be a sociologist. I'm fascinated by people, in both the good things and the bad. I just hope that some day I can help people out there who are struggling, because none of us are immune to challenges in this life. It might be drugs, it might be depression, it might be teen-pregnancy, it might be family pressures. But whatever it is, I hope to be the one that is always there to help. I feel such a great love for EVERYONE!!!
I started the day early! Monday, I have to be to work at 6. I had a dream that I woke up and looked at my phone and it was 6:04! It scared me enough that I jumped out of bed, realized my phone was across the room so I couldn't have checked it yet, so I ran over there, and thank goodness it was only 4:50, so I got to enjoy another 25 minutes of precious sleep! :)
Then I headed to work for a pretty eventless day, except for one thing I found funny. A sister missionary told me she really liked my sweater, and said that she had the same one. I thanked her, and then as she walked away, looked down to remind myself what I was wearing. Ummm, I had on a t-shirt . . . layered over a tank top, so maybe it looked like a sweater? I don't know! I looked around thinking maybe she was talking to my co-worker Jessica, but she was wearing a 3/4 length jacket. Haha, oh well, thanks for the compliment at 7:30 AM!
After work, headed straight to school where I had a difficult time staying awake. Lucky for me, Jeff bought me some of my favorite cereal, Reeses Peanut Butter Puffs, so I took some in a bag to snack on. After, I thought about going home to take a nap, but knew I should stick around for my stats lab. That ended up being a waste of time, since the TA spent more time confusing everyone than she did teaching. I eventually tuned her out and just started my homework so I could make some use of my time. Looks like I'll be shopping around for a new lab to attend! :)
After the lab, I took a nap outside in the warm sunshine, and woke up to see another stats TA of mine being all lovey-dovey, mushy-gushy, PDA-ish with this boy. That was more than I needed to see, so as I turned away thinking "TMI . . . TMI!!!" something else caught my attention, and I'm glad I didn't miss it! A sort of chubby girl was apparently trying to interest the boy next to her, as she shouted, "DIE SPIDER DIE!!!" while simultaneously taking her flip flop off and whacking it several times. I'm sure just once could have sufficed. And I admit, I am absolutely terrified of spiders . . . like my biggest fear ever. BUT, at least in public I hold in my shouts! LOL :)
Next was history, my most boring class of the semester. Don't get me wrong, though the reading for the class is tedious, it's actually REALLY informative and interesting. But the professor (who by the way looks like the un-handsome version of Jeff Goldblum who plays Dr. Malcolm on Jurrasic Park) likes to read directly from his powerpoint, which is basically a plagiarized version of the text, and he reads it word for word. But to add a LITTLE excitement, he likes to pause every 5 seconds and say "ummmm . . . . ummm . . . so . . . well . . . yeah." Each class also ends with him saying, "I'd like to talk a little about (glances at the clock) . . . well let's take a minute (everyone starts putting their stuff away) . . . well we're out of time. We'll discuss this next time in class."
Anyway, needless to say, I fell asleep during the class. And then I got to thinking . . . why is it that when we're dead tired and we're trying to fall asleep, if others around us are talking and loud, it's hard to sleep; yet, when we're trying to stay awake and we're surrounded by others, it's so easy to fall asleep! In both instances, you're tired. Hmmm . . .
So, after that enjoyable hour, I proceeded (with almost as much JOY as on the weekends) home from school, sooooo excited to just take a sec to relax. Well for the first time since school began, my "second" turned into an hour. I turned on the tv to Dr. Phil, which I hardly EVER watch. But it was a really interesting story. It began with a mother who irately runs into her daughter's hospital room just after she's delivered a baby. The mother quite condescendingly asks the daughter how the delivery went and says "Well, I hope you have it tested for drugs." The woman totally seems out of whack, and they even call security to have her escorted out of the hospital.
BUT, as it turns out, the mother was right. Her daughter, though she denied it all during her pregnancy, was taking methamphetamine. The girl's boyfriend filled a prescription for himself of 150 pills, and the next day only had 5 left. The worst part is, the baby, though it seemed completely healthy at birth, had to remain in the hospital for 4 weeks on morphine because it was going through the drug withdrawals. Even with the morphine, after being allowed to go home with the grandmother, the baby was still convulsing, feeling pain in every muscle and bone from the withdrawals. And yet the daughter claims she doesn't do drugs, the baby isn't addicted to anything, the baby is fine. In 5 weeks after the daughter had the baby, she only went to see it twice. These poor grandparents talked of how this is her third child. And the mother KNEW something wasn't right when she entered that delivery room. That is why she was so upset, but even the hospital staff thought she was just crazy.
Now the parents are trying to decide whether to have their daughter arrested, and sent to rehab, in order to save her life. I just want to say one thing and then I'll leave it alone. I've had family members, and friends and I'm sure you all have too that have used drugs. And I don't judge any of you for that, you are capable of making your own decisions. What I don't want to hear is, "I can do what I want, it's not like it affects anyone else!!" Well, you're wrong! It does!!!
What an emotional battle this is for those grandparents! Do they adopt the baby to protect him and love him and raise him as their own? Or do they give him to another family to try to let him have a normal life? Do they send their daughter to prison and rehab to protect her, or try to go around the issue to save their relationship with their daughter. The thing that stuck with me the most was when the mother said she would let her daugher be arrested, because they had nothing to lose. "We've already lost her." Were her words. Wow, this story affected me a lot!
Anyway, it's things like this situation that lead me to be a sociologist. I'm fascinated by people, in both the good things and the bad. I just hope that some day I can help people out there who are struggling, because none of us are immune to challenges in this life. It might be drugs, it might be depression, it might be teen-pregnancy, it might be family pressures. But whatever it is, I hope to be the one that is always there to help. I feel such a great love for EVERYONE!!!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Mission Journals
Today I discovered one of my most FAVORITE things to do with my Jeffy! That is, to read our mission journals together!! It was an idea we had yesterday after talking about how we wanted to get to know each other in a new way, rather than just being together every day. So we started with him reading about his first day in the MTC, then mine, then his next day, then mine, etc. It was soooo great to see how similar and different our days were, to see our likes and dislikes (gym time and eating healthy were both favorites of ours), and to see our testimonies as they began to develop. We've decided that in addition to our scripture reading every night, we will each share a journal entry. This will make our experiences more personal to one another, and help us to form better friendships with the people the other met while serving.
Lately, I've been thinking A LOT about my mission. Like incredibly a lot. Yesterday I actually met an elder in the MTC that is going to be assigned to Riverside California on visa delay, until he can head out to Argentina, his real mission. BOY WAS I JEALOUS!!!! I told him what wonderful people he would meet and how President and Sister Reeves would become like parents to him. It really made me really "homesick" and made me wish I could serve another mission. On that note, I can't WAIT for our mission reunions coming up Oct 1st!!
Today was also our first Sunday in our new ward!! (It's our 5th ward for the year, -singles ward, moving into our apt together in the married ward, trying the family ward, moving again and attending the family ward, and now the married ward!!) and we're REALLY planning on this being a permanent change! Our new bishop, Bishop Clare seems to be sooo in-tune with the spirit. Today we had a new member meeting and he discussed how he wants to help build Zion from the ground up. Stakes consist of wards, wards consist of families, and families consist of the fundamental husband and wife team. This covenants made in marriage make the husband and wife more important than anything else in the building of Zion, because if they can center their marriages on Christ, and the families become righteous and zion-like, then so will the wards, and so will the stakes. He pointed out that it doesn't matter how great a prophet is, if the people aren't willing to follow him. Thus Zion can't be built from the prophet down, but instead, from the people UP!
The ward is organized a little bit differently, but I definitely felt the spirit as he explained it to us. We are divided into 10 districts in the ward, each district containing 6 couples that live near one another. (reminds me of the mission!) They are entirely responsible to look out for one another. Cool thing about this is our District is having a group FHE tomorrow night! They also get together every Saturday night to play games, and they came over one of our very first days here to tell us that!
Another difference in the ward is that callings are not extended permanently. Instead, each district takes turns. One week they will be in charge of Sunday School, the next week the nursery, the next week, the activities, etc. This provides for a lot of variety, a lot of learning, and assures that no one will simply just "blend into the background," everyone will be working on something!! I think this is an incredible idea, to train all of us in all the various callings so we will have more skills in the future. The most amazing thing I've noticed about this ward so far is that it seems as a result of this different structure, everyone is more friendly than I've ever met. Even the people you would expect to be shy, seem to be very confident, outgoing, and social at church. They have truly become a ward family, and we're excited to get to know them all!
Jeff has a mission companion in the ward, and I know a kid from high school that is in it. I also have two friends from work at the MTC that also attend our ward. So it looks like we're off to a great start in this ward! I'm just soooo grateful for the Lord helping me to be able to switch my shift (which can be very difficult to get covered on Sundays) so that we would be able to attend this ward! The Lord truly blesses us soooo much!
Lately, I've been thinking A LOT about my mission. Like incredibly a lot. Yesterday I actually met an elder in the MTC that is going to be assigned to Riverside California on visa delay, until he can head out to Argentina, his real mission. BOY WAS I JEALOUS!!!! I told him what wonderful people he would meet and how President and Sister Reeves would become like parents to him. It really made me really "homesick" and made me wish I could serve another mission. On that note, I can't WAIT for our mission reunions coming up Oct 1st!!
Today was also our first Sunday in our new ward!! (It's our 5th ward for the year, -singles ward, moving into our apt together in the married ward, trying the family ward, moving again and attending the family ward, and now the married ward!!) and we're REALLY planning on this being a permanent change! Our new bishop, Bishop Clare seems to be sooo in-tune with the spirit. Today we had a new member meeting and he discussed how he wants to help build Zion from the ground up. Stakes consist of wards, wards consist of families, and families consist of the fundamental husband and wife team. This covenants made in marriage make the husband and wife more important than anything else in the building of Zion, because if they can center their marriages on Christ, and the families become righteous and zion-like, then so will the wards, and so will the stakes. He pointed out that it doesn't matter how great a prophet is, if the people aren't willing to follow him. Thus Zion can't be built from the prophet down, but instead, from the people UP!
The ward is organized a little bit differently, but I definitely felt the spirit as he explained it to us. We are divided into 10 districts in the ward, each district containing 6 couples that live near one another. (reminds me of the mission!) They are entirely responsible to look out for one another. Cool thing about this is our District is having a group FHE tomorrow night! They also get together every Saturday night to play games, and they came over one of our very first days here to tell us that!
Another difference in the ward is that callings are not extended permanently. Instead, each district takes turns. One week they will be in charge of Sunday School, the next week the nursery, the next week, the activities, etc. This provides for a lot of variety, a lot of learning, and assures that no one will simply just "blend into the background," everyone will be working on something!! I think this is an incredible idea, to train all of us in all the various callings so we will have more skills in the future. The most amazing thing I've noticed about this ward so far is that it seems as a result of this different structure, everyone is more friendly than I've ever met. Even the people you would expect to be shy, seem to be very confident, outgoing, and social at church. They have truly become a ward family, and we're excited to get to know them all!
Jeff has a mission companion in the ward, and I know a kid from high school that is in it. I also have two friends from work at the MTC that also attend our ward. So it looks like we're off to a great start in this ward! I'm just soooo grateful for the Lord helping me to be able to switch my shift (which can be very difficult to get covered on Sundays) so that we would be able to attend this ward! The Lord truly blesses us soooo much!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Seen at BYU
Alright, I've never blogged before, but I figured I better do one! Why, do you ask? Because I post way too much on facebook, and instead should be making these more like journal entries, to record past events!
First off let me just say that I am looooving being married to my hubby Jeff. He is the greatest guy I could EVER ask for!!! We are having so much fun and have been married just over 6 months now! YAY! Recently, we started school. Amazingly enough, we actually get to see each other MORE now than we did during the summer when we were both working full time jobs. Unfortunately for me, most of the time we "see" each other, I am doing homework while he is chilling watching tv! I am taking lots of hard classes this semester which I really enjoy. But the 5 classes with about 50 pages of reading per class equals about 125 pages of reading I'm doing every single day!!! YIKES! But, I am working harder than I ever have in school before, and I hope to maintain that attitude throughout the semester. Okay, confession, I'm actually supposed to be reading for History right now, but I'm so dang excited that it's the weekend, and so burned out from school this week that I don't want to do it! :)
Well, the title I gave to this post is "Seen At BYU" because lately i have been seeing a LOT of odd things!! First of all, I saw a REALLY creepy pedophilish guy, you know with the UGLY mustache on campus the other day. Well, as if I wasn't creeped out enough already, I look down to see that his t-shirt says "Creepy is the new cool!!!" Thank goodness he cleared that up for me! Especially because the next day I realized he is in one of my classes! EW!! I also saw him again on campus yesterday, and guess what, his shirt was pink and it had a carousel on it. YUP!!!
Other things I've seen? A guy laying on the cement in the plaza in front of the JFSB . . . umm weird? Is he dead? Did he pass out? Is he taking a nap? Ummm what the random? Not even on the grass, a bench, or a platform where people won't be walking all around him. OKAY! (funny sidenote, there was actually an Emergency Medical Services vehicle outside that building before I went into class, and that guy was laying there when I came out, but the van was gone. Did they forget to take their patient with them?? LOL!
As one of the few married girls on campus, I also find it really funny to watch guys try to flirt with girls they clearly have never met before. Ex: Yesterday while walking home I pass a girl and a guy both retrieving their bikes from the bike rack. Guy: "I think you're lying, I swear I know you!" Girl: "umm why would I lie about where I went to High School, I promise it was Springville." Guy (laughing): "Stop playing!! I know you didn't!" Girl (now looking weirded out): "I really don't know you." and she walked away. WOW!
Alright well, I really do need to do homework, but this will be my new place to vent, instead of facebook. When you're posting more on your own page than other people are, that's just sad! :)
First off let me just say that I am looooving being married to my hubby Jeff. He is the greatest guy I could EVER ask for!!! We are having so much fun and have been married just over 6 months now! YAY! Recently, we started school. Amazingly enough, we actually get to see each other MORE now than we did during the summer when we were both working full time jobs. Unfortunately for me, most of the time we "see" each other, I am doing homework while he is chilling watching tv! I am taking lots of hard classes this semester which I really enjoy. But the 5 classes with about 50 pages of reading per class equals about 125 pages of reading I'm doing every single day!!! YIKES! But, I am working harder than I ever have in school before, and I hope to maintain that attitude throughout the semester. Okay, confession, I'm actually supposed to be reading for History right now, but I'm so dang excited that it's the weekend, and so burned out from school this week that I don't want to do it! :)
Well, the title I gave to this post is "Seen At BYU" because lately i have been seeing a LOT of odd things!! First of all, I saw a REALLY creepy pedophilish guy, you know with the UGLY mustache on campus the other day. Well, as if I wasn't creeped out enough already, I look down to see that his t-shirt says "Creepy is the new cool!!!" Thank goodness he cleared that up for me! Especially because the next day I realized he is in one of my classes! EW!! I also saw him again on campus yesterday, and guess what, his shirt was pink and it had a carousel on it. YUP!!!
Other things I've seen? A guy laying on the cement in the plaza in front of the JFSB . . . umm weird? Is he dead? Did he pass out? Is he taking a nap? Ummm what the random? Not even on the grass, a bench, or a platform where people won't be walking all around him. OKAY! (funny sidenote, there was actually an Emergency Medical Services vehicle outside that building before I went into class, and that guy was laying there when I came out, but the van was gone. Did they forget to take their patient with them?? LOL!
As one of the few married girls on campus, I also find it really funny to watch guys try to flirt with girls they clearly have never met before. Ex: Yesterday while walking home I pass a girl and a guy both retrieving their bikes from the bike rack. Guy: "I think you're lying, I swear I know you!" Girl: "umm why would I lie about where I went to High School, I promise it was Springville." Guy (laughing): "Stop playing!! I know you didn't!" Girl (now looking weirded out): "I really don't know you." and she walked away. WOW!
Alright well, I really do need to do homework, but this will be my new place to vent, instead of facebook. When you're posting more on your own page than other people are, that's just sad! :)
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