KATELYN HARTLEY this is for you! 

I miss you.  

63 Days and we will be together again. 

Valentines Day/Presidents Day

Valentines Day wasn't very much different for me. I did a lot of homework because I wanted to do as little as possible on the weekend. It was fun to see a myriad of people walking around campus with roses, chocolates, and teddy bears etc. They all had cheesy grins on there faces and it made me happy. My Mom made me special Valentines Day surprise that I wasn't allowed to open until February 14. It was the first thing that I thought of when I woke up. However, I made myself work for it by doing homework first and opened it later in the afternoon. It was worth the wait.

Chapstick 

Magnet 

This thing is sweet. It is solar powered. When it is in the sun the pigs wings move! It is my favorite thing! 

Picture frame for my desk. 

Candy!

Things for the roommates. 

I am so grateful for my Mom. She always does the little things that are so meaningful. I am grateful that I had this to look forward to on Valentines Day. One day I will have someone special to share it with. Until then, I am grateful for a family and roommates that love me and would do anything for me.

Today is Presidents Day which means that we had a long weekend! I had a great opportunity to got to Blackfoot Idaho with my friend Tylie Polatis. I am so glad that I could meet Tylie. We have become such good friends. They way that we met was to random to be coincidental. I met her and Makayla walking home one day from new student orientation back in August. I know that Heavenly Father placed them in my life and I am so grateful. I hope we can continue to become better friends. 

Tylie lives in Blackfoot Idaho which is 3 hours from Provo. I had a great time at their house. Pulling into Blackfoot reminded me instantly of Cardston, only bigger. Tylie's family is awesome! I loved getting to know them. I felt so at home. They reminded me a lot of families from home. It made me realize how the gospel brings people together. 

Friday: It was Tylie's birthday! 19! We drove to Blackfoot, sang Happy Birthday to Tylie and watched "The Lucky One" with some guy that looked a lot like Zac Efron. (: 

Saturday: We went to Rexburg to rent cross country skiing gear where I got to see Travis! It was so good to see him. I didn't realize just how much I missed him and wanted to see him until I did. I am very glad and grateful that I got to see him. We drove to their families cabin in Island Park. We got settled and had lunch. The only unfortunate thing was, that the water pipes were frozen, so we were unable to stay the weekend like we had originally planned. We ended up just watching a movie, then went skiing, and then packed up and headed back to Rexburg for dinner. Even though we couldn't stay the whole weekend at the cabin, I still had a lot of fun! We got to go cross country skiing which I had never done before. It was a lot of fun and I am so glad that I got to do it. It took me a while to get used to it, but once I did I had a blast. 

Sunday: We went to church. I always like going to other peoples wards and seeing what they are like. Tylie has a really great ward and I am glad that I got to experience it. Unfortunately, Tylie was sick most of the weekend and was unable to come to church with us. I feel really bad that she felt bad for the entire time. I hope she can get feeling better soon. School is really hard to keep up with let alone being sick. After church we ate dinner and then Kara and I (Tylie's little sister) ended up napping while Tylie and her mom went to the doctor. We didn't mean to sleep that long but ended up sleeping 3 hours! Whoops. . . I don't remember the last time I did that. It felt good though. We were both pretty tired. We played Monopoly watched a bit of a movie and then headed to bed. 

Monday: We mostly did homework in the morning, and then headed back to Provo at 3. 

It was fun to talk about Canada with them. I showed them Canadian boarder patrol on youtube and they all loved that. Tylie's grandpa thought it was ironic that Tylie was bringing a canadian friend to play in the snow. I am so glad that I could go. I really needed a break from school and this was the perfect thing. 

Tylie and her Mom relaxing at the Cabin. 

Seth, Tylie's 12 year old brother. Since I don't have any younger siblings it is fun to see what it is like. Seth has a great sense of humor and it was fun to get to know him. 

Kara brought a Quincy along. This is her and Tylie's Mom staying warm by the fire. I love Tylie's mom! She has such a great relationship with each of her children. It is evident that they trust her to talk about anything. I admire that. 

Tylie, Me, Quincy, and Kara 

On our way to go skiing. 

We skied along a river most of the time. It was really pretty. 

I managed to only fall 2 1/2 times.

I couldn't decide which of these two to include so I just figured might as well do them both. 

It was a great weekend. Very relaxing. I am so glad that I was able to experience it. 

Thanks Polatis Family! 

 I want to conclude with 3 experiences that I had this past week. The first was on Valentines Day. I was just heading out the door when I remembered that  I wanted to get a chocolate bar to give to one of my friends for Valentines day. I quickly ran back to get it. As I was grabbing it, the thought came to me to grab two instead of one. I was in a hurry so I didn't hesitate. I grabbed two and was on my way. As I went throughout the day, I kept thinking about who I should give the second one to. As I sat in my American Heritage lab I noticed a girl who I had talked to a couple of class times before. I felt that I needed to give it to her. I was nervous of how I was going to do it though as I didn't really know her well enough to just go up to her and say Happy Valentines Day here's a chocolate bar. The thought of doing that scarred me. I knew that she was indeed the girl that needed it though. After class I tried to catch up with her, but it proved harder then I thought. I felt like I literary chased her down. I was running up the stairs to catch up with her. Luckily she was heading in the same direction as I needed to go. We just small talked most of the way but as we parted I got the chocolate bar our of my pocket and told her that I hope she had a good Valentines day. She looked puzzled at the Caramilk, but when I told her it was Canadian chocolate she just laughed and smiled. I don't know why I needed to talk to her and give her the chocolate, but I am so glad that I did. I know that it was the spirit that put the thought into my head to grab an extra chocolate bar and then led me to the girl who needed it.

The second experience happened the next day. I was walking to the Brimhall building from the HFAC. I usually go around the SWKT by the ESC, but I felt like I should go the other way. The longer way. I didn't think much of it and turned to go the different direction. It wasn't long that I ran into one of the girls from my ward. We stopped to chat for a few minutes as neither one of us was in a hurry. It was so good to talk to her and I know that my day was better because of it.

The third experience happened wednesday night. Sorry I guess I could have put them in the order that they happened, but I didn't realize that I wasn't until now. I had a long day where I was on campus from 8am to 9 pm. I decided that since it was such a long day I would treat myself to subway. My original plan was to take my quiz and then eat, but I had a thought that I should eat and then take my quiz. This thought appealed to me because I really did want to eat. (: At subway I ended up running into one of the girls in my ward who I didn't know all that well. I was ahead of her in the subway line so I waited for her to get her food and then asked if she wanted to eat together. She agreed and we ended up having a really good conversation together. I learned so much from it. I am so glad that I could change my plans and eat before taking the quiz because if I hadn't I would have missed out on a growing experience.

I know that these experiences were much more than just thoughts and feelings. I know that the Holy Ghost placed those thoughts in my head and feelings in my heart. I am learning that the Holy Ghost doesn't always manifest itself in powerful ways as it often does when I pray or read the scriptures. It is often just little thoughts and feelings that I have. Often times I don't even connect the spirit with them until after the experience. I know that whenever I have a good feeling about doing something that I just need to do it, for everything that is good comes from God. I am so grateful for these growing experiences that God blesses me with. I know that the more I listen and act on the promptings I receive, the more the Lord will trust me with. I pray that I may never ignore a prompting and that I may always act immediately.

Tonight, as it is our ward conference on sunday, I had the opportunity to go to the Provo temple with my ward to be instructed by a member of the temple presidency. I am so glad that I went. My heart was touched and my testimony grew. The brother from the presidency told us that if we were to remember one thing from his talk it should be this:

"Be true to your eternal companion even 

if you haven't met them yet."

Isn't that beautiful? What does he mean by "be true"? When I hear this I think of multiple things. One meaning I think is the obvious to be chaste and morally clean. I want my husband and I to kneel across the alter and look into each other's eyes and know in our hearts that we are loyal to each other. What a joyous day that will be. I think that "be true" also refers to our progression. More specifically, am I working continuously and faithfully each day at being the person the Lord wants me to be? In essence, If I am being true to my eternal companion then I am living a virtuous life, I am striving each day to be who the Lord wants me to be, and I am living in harmony with the Spirit. 

Sister Oldroyd and I had another family history lesson today. We got a lot accomplished which I am so grateful for. I am so excited to actually be starting! I have such a strong desire to be active in this great work. I hope I can make a difference, that I can help out my ancestors in even the smallest way. I am so grateful to Sister Oldroyd for helping me. She is an amazing woman and I am so blessed to be able to get to know her. I look up to her so much. Being around her makes me not miss home so much. She reminds me a lot of my own mother. I think this is why I love being around her so much. It is evident that the gospel is the center of her life. It is the basis to all that she does. She is one of the most humble and tender woman that I have ever met. I am so grateful that I can live where I am and be in the ward that I am. I have met multiple people that I know God placed in my life because they had something to teach me something that only they could. I truly feel that this is where I am supposed to be at this time in my life. 

I am so grateful for the desire I have to know more about my ancestors. I know that by increasing my knowledge about them I will grow to love them more. I know that by doing this work I will grow closer to my family. I know that God wants me to do this work. I know that if I live close to the spirit he will tell me the things that I need to do and give me the means to do them. 

Picture Update

Two weekends ago Saydi was busy with her family and Lexy and I were trying to think of something to do. We decided that puddle jumping would be perfect. It was a lot of fun. There are lots of BIG puddles around Glenwood. 

Unfortunately we both slipped and fell... it was still lots of fun though. 

My amazing mother sent me Valentines decorations.

I had fun decorating our apartment. It makes it feel more like home. 

I made this for dinner last night. It is Taco Pizza. It turned out really good! I was really happy with it. It took a lot of work making the crust, cooking the meat, and cutting the tomatoes, onions, pepers, and grating the cheese. It was all worth it though. I am learning that I really enjoy cooking. It is a good stress reliever, and although some recipes take a lot of time and preparation, it is very rewarding in the end. I cannot wait to have my own family to cook for. I am really glad that my roommates and I can cook meals together. We are each others families right now and eating dinner together brings us closer together. 

I have also really enjoyed making smoothies with my Magic Bullet that I got for Christmas. This one is pumpkin banana. It is green because I put spinach in it. I know it sounds nasty but you can't even taste it and it is a good way to add nutrients. I have really been enjoying them. My roommates are often grossed out by it, but I promise it tastes way better then it looks. 

Book of Mormon Reflection

I am so blessed to be able to take a Book of Mormon class here at BYU. It is amazing. I am learning so much and loving every minute of it. The teachers are amazing. The students are amazing. The feeling is amazing. It is a great experience. One of the things we are to do is a weekly reflection. We are to write it with someone in mind to send it to and then send it.
However, this week I felt I should post it here. I hope it can help somebody as it has helped me.

            The Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ, contains an innumerable amount of messages that can be related to any individual. No matter what trials you may be going through or whatever heartache you are experiencing the Book of Mormon has something to help you. One message really struck me today in my Book of Mormon class at BYU. That being, that humility is  one of the foundations of a righteous life. This is clearly demonstrated in the book of Helaman chapters 6-12. Being humble leads us to recognize all our weaknesses and shortcomings. This in turn leads to improvement and repentance and ultimately blessings and prosperity. It is a beautiful, clear cycle. I have seen this pattern work in my own life. When I take time to recognize all that the Lord has given me and how imperfect I am, it drives me to want to be better. It drives me to my knees to beg for repentance. When I make an effort to do better, I feel his love more abundantly and recognize his blessings bestowed to me. I truly believe that the foundation of all blessings and prosperity are rooted in humility. 

Humility--> Repentance--> Blessings--> Prosperity = a Celestial life