A Slice of Zion

February 14th of this year will mark two years of me being a member. I’m so thankful for the people that helped bring me to this church and the love the Lord shows me every single day. I’m very excited to be in the YSA ward at my university. Everyone seems very nice and I can't wait to make new friends. Also, I'm very excited to announce I have been called as the Assistant Ward Chorister! Man, I knew I should've tried out for drum major in high school. This past week I debuted as the Assistant Ward Chorister and I got to speak in sacrament meeting. First lesson of the day is...don't ever, ever, ever pray to have a calling and to speak in sacrament. Don't even think about it.  In this post, I really wanted to talk about the topic I spoke about in church. My bishop asked me to speak about what we need to do to see the Lord's hand in our lives. I couldn't think of a more perfect topic for me to speak about. I love the Lord so much and finding the ...

Merry Christmas, everyone! Like always, this post seems closer to the New Year instead of Christmas. I honestly have no excuse this time. Uni is on break and I have become a regular ole lounge lizard. Believe it or not, but I've been clocking a healthy 9 hours of sleep almost every night. My body is thinking, "Oh, yay! She's stopped doing those late nights! We can rest!"  Don't tell my body, but it's in for a cruel awakening in about a week. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas season. I know I did. The week leading up to Christmas was a whirlwind of fun and activity including a trip to Louisiana and to the Birmingham, AL Temple. The day after finals ended, I was waking up early to go to the temple. It was a beautiful day and I was able to be baptised for my Mimi (mother's mother). Also, it was my boyfriend's first temple trip! How awesome is that? Chrismas was on a Sunday this year so my ward held a beautiful sacrament meeting filled with ...

Amazingly, I have somehow survived my first four weeks of college. I nailed my first exam and am proud to say I'm sporting pretty much all A's. But, to be honest, it's been a whirlwind of stress, late night Walmart runs, numerous calls to my mom about laundry and classes, and ice cream. Thankfully, one thing has remained constant in my life and that is the gospel. I am so thankful for the restored gospel in my life. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten to read as much scripture as I like, but I am slowly learning to tear myself away from my work and dedicate some time to the Lord each day. College is a whole lot different. There is no mom or dad to remind that you should probably stop doing homework and eat something. Despite all the hard work, it has also been a lot of fun. My suite-mate and I get along really well. My roommate is nice. My boyfriend came and visited me and this past week and then him and my parents came to my college for Parent's Weekend. And of cour...

A year and a half ago, I was baptised and confirmed into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Sister Stratton claimed that I was overdosed on the Spirit. However, I have come to know of the huge importance of baptism by fire. In Matthew 3:11 it says, "I indeed baptise you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost, and with  fire."  Often, baptism is referred to the cleansing of our spirits. This allows our souls to be worthy vessels of His Spirit. Receiving the Holy Ghost completes the sacred covenant of baptism in my mind. It is our baptism by fire. The fire of the Spirit is often likened unto a refiner's fire. By receiving the sacred gift of His spirit, we are able to be more aptly shaped and guided by His will. His Spirit confirms and testifies of our identity as beautiful sons and daughters of a gracious Heavenly Father.  When you think about...

I know this post is like majorly late, but I just wanted to tell you guys about my Fourth of July. Why? Because it was fun. That's why. The day started with a fun shopping trip with my mom. We went searching for things for my dorm room. (Move in is in a month!) Of course, I managed to pick out the most kiddish things like a stuffed unicorn. Yes, I am 18, going to college, and I bought a stuffed unicorn. Her name is Matilda and I love her. I also got a nice throw pillow, but the unicorn is the most important thing here. Yeah, yeah, I guess technically the unicorn has no practical application. Like, at least, you can rest on a throw pillow. I think Matilda offers more of a moral support component that is essential to survival in college. That's the story I'm going with. Anyway, after a very exciting shopping trip where I laid on a mattress pad on the floor of Bed, Bath, and Beyond (my mom told me to), I went over to Man-friend's house where I can't quite remember w...

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats  is a special book. I mean, it is  an international best seller, but that's not the only reason why this book is a diamond in your library. I honestly feel in classrooms 20 or 30 years from now this book will be a topic of discussion. At least, I hope very hard that it will make it that far. This novel has two stories going on. One is of Julia Win who travels to Burma to try and find out why her father disappeared from her life. The other is the tale of Tin Win, Julia's father, told by U Ba. Julia is shocked by the things U Ba tells her: her father used to blind, he had another lover named MiMi, and much more. While on one hand I wanted to be upset with Tin Win for just up and leaving his father in New York, his life story brought me to tears. A basic overview is that when he was born, he was born on a Friday in December. To his mother, this was a bad sign. After repeated "bad luck" such as the chickens dying, his superstitious moth...