Practice What You Teach

Today in Relief Society, we had a wonderful lesson on President Uchtdorf's talk from this past General Conference entitled "Of Regrets and Resolutions." The link to the talk can be found here .  This is a talk that I have read often since it was given. In the first part of the talk, he discusses regrets. He recounts a conversation with a nurse who often treats patients who are terminally ill and on the brink between this life and the next. She often asks them if they have any regrets. There are a few common answers that patients give. The first is that they wish they would have spent more time with their loved ones. I started to think about all of the people in my life that I love. My family were the first people that came to mind. They are everything to me; my best friends, my confidantes, my cheerleaders, my eternal family. The distance between us is no excuse for me to not show them how important they are to me. I make time to talk with them on the phone, text them, ...

I have a wall of quotes that I love right above my desk. I looked at my wall today and came across a quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland that got me thinking. It says, "God is anxiously waiting to answer your prayers and to fulfill your dreams, but he can't if you don't pray and he can't if you don't dream." I've always been a notorious daydreamer. I've been known to completely zone out and become lost in my dreams without even realizing it! It's safe to say that I have a lot of dreams! First and foremost I dream of getting married to my best friend in the world in the temple and having our children born into an eternal family. I want to love this man and I want him to love me more than anyone else in the world. I want us to be prepared to face eternity together with all the trials it may bring hand in hand as a team. I don't know who that man is. Maybe I already know him. Maybe I haven't met him yet. Maybe he will walk into my life when ...

One of my goals for myself for the semester has been to write in my journal every day. I've been doing a pretty good job so far! Last night, I was thinking about the quote that is on the cover of my journal by Marjorie Pay Hinckley that says, "Everything you are learning now is preparing you for something else. As I was lying in bed about to go to sleep, I started thinking about what I have learned in my short 19 and a half years of life and came up with a pretty good list! 1. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. It's interesting, because I know a lot of people have one single experience when they realized that the Church was true. For me, I've kind of always just known. I've had experience after experience that have confirmed to me time and time again that the Gospel is true. Seemingly small things such as, hearing a quote that seems to be directed right at me, feeling the Spirit during a lesson at Church, receiving comfort and guidance fro...

Christmas break this year was such a great one! I had so much fun being at home in Virginia with my family! I got to take two of my finals before finals week, so I got to go home the Wednesday of finals week! After a flight that seemed like an eternity because I was so excited to get home, I arrived at the airport where Dad picked me up! It's always a pretty great feeling being greeted at the door by three very excited younger sisters and my mom! Jenn quite literally leapt into my arms without warning! Don't worry, I caught her. My poor siblings still had another week and a half left of school when I got home, so I got to spend quality time with my mom! We shopped, talked, watched our shows, did some kickboxing videos that were pretty hard core, and had so much fun! It was so much fun to see so many people from home that I love and missed! I spent an afternoon helping Mrs. Van Slyke organize her music library and catching up with her, got to babysit the adorable Buhler kids a f...