A Slice of Zion

     Three years ago today, I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I was taught by a beautiful missionary (Sister Stratton ) and her two companions, Sister Willes and Sister Morris (now Sister Holyoak) . Sister Stratton somehow (God probably knew I wouldn't want anyone else) managed to stay in Niceville to teach me all of my baptism lessons, attend my baptism, teach all of my parents' baptism lessons, and see their baptism as well. I'm pretty sure we got almost through the second round of lessons before she was transferred to Fort Walton Beach, a 20 minute drive from Niceville.      In honor of my three year anniversary of baptism, I wanted to share three things I've learned these past few years about Christ, Heavenly Father, and living the gospel: 1. CHRIST AND HEAVENLY FATHER ARE ALWAYS LISTENING: Even when you don't feel like They're listening, when you feel like They don't care...They DO. Hea...

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...

As senior year is winding to a close, I have begun to reflect on the past year. Since my last post, a lot has happened that has put my faith to test. Lyndon, the person who baptised me and I was dating, broke up with me and cut me out of his life. The personal details of such will not be discussed. All I will say is I miss my best friend dearly, but I guess the Lord is putting us on separate paths for now. Who knows...maybe I'll bump into him at Walmart in like 5 years and I can be all like, "Hey, still hate me? *finger guns*" and he can be all like "Yup, go away, weirdo-meanie". All in all it will be a fantastic and so very loving reunion that it will bring even the Queen of England to tears. A  wonderful quote by D. Todd Christofferson I look a lot now is "Challenges are are at times an indicator of the Lord's trust in you." I truly believe that the Lord is helping me get through this year and the person I have to thank for knowing that is...

  Tonight, we had the missionaries over for dinner. Like any typical visit with them, it ended with laughter and smiles. But, before, we had a wonderful, wonderful spiritual conversation.   After a delicious dinner of omelets, the sisters played for us " Only a Stonecutter ". If you haven't watched this video released by the Church, then totally do. It's so touching. Anyway, the whole video was about magnifying our callings in the church and a reminder about the things the pioneers did for us so many years ago.   The man, John Rowe Moyle, in the video was a pioneer and convert from England. He walked all the way from Boston to the Salt Lake Valley with his family. After he arrived, he was called as a stonemason for the Salt Lake Temple. For over 20 years, he dedicated his life to building the temple even though that meant walking 22 miles to Salt Lake on Mondays and 22 miles back home on Friday evenings. That left only a day for chores at his family farm.   We...