Temple Trip

Saturday I had the opportunity to got to the Mount Timpanogos Temple with Tylie and Makayla.

Catch the Wave

One thing that I will forever remember about my freshmen year is the excitement and advancement of missionary work. With President Monson's historic announcement lowering the mission age for both men and women it has been really neat to see all of the changes that have taken place.

Missions are a constant hot topic on campus. You can't go a week, a day or even an hour without hearing something having to do with missions. Over 40 people from my YSA ward have gotten calls, many of which are already in the MTC. In my book of Mormon class (200+ students) at least 5 kids would stand every class and say they got a call. I bet it is safe to say that over 85% of that class are going on missions if not more. My chemistry class was no exception. Each class students would stand and say where they got called. Dr. Nielson started to make the tradition that however many people got calls that was how many things we got to blow up that day. However, it didn't last long because there were so many it ended up taking to much time! Constant Facebook posting of people getting calls constantly fill up my home page. The MTC recently announced that it has acquired both Raintree and Wyview housing complexes to to house more missionaries. In addition, 58 new missions have opened. It is so exciting to see it all unfold. God is truly hastening his work and it is wonderful to see so many young people eagerly heeding the call. I am happy to say that I to have started my papers. It took me a long time to decide if it was right for me or not. I really wanted to make sure that it was right for me and I just wasn't going because everyone else was. It took a lot of prayer, fasting, studying and a trip to the temple before I felt it was what the Lord wanted me to do. I feel so good about it. I know that going on a mission is what he wants me to do. I never thought I would go. It is a reassuring testimony to me that God has a plan just for me. I may have an idea of what I want to do or go, but in the end God is in complete control and he will guide me in all that I do as long as I listen. Along with the mission fever, many memes, youtube videos, Mormon Messages, Ensign and New Era articles, talks in church, Devotional talks, and General Conference talks have been focused on missionary work. In his most recent conference talk, Russel M. Nelson coined the phrase "Catch the Wave". He talked about missionary work and how people can be involved. He encouraged people to "Catch the Wave" and indeed get involved in any way they could. 

It is such an exciting time to be a young person. I don't mean to be cocky when I say that I believe that there has never been a more chosen generation. Young people today are so strong in testimony and have such a desire to serve. I can't wait to join the ranks! I have all of my papers that I can done except for the health care that I have to do at home. Mom already has my doctor's appoints made for when I get home. 

Katelyn has also caught the wave! She has always known that she wants to go on a mission. With the announcement she to fasted and prayed about it to confirm it was right for her. Because she already had decided she was going, she was great help and strength to me as I pondered going. We are going to send our papers off at the send time. Here is her mission picture. Doesn't she just look like a sister missionary? 

Love this girl! I can't to serve the Lord together! I am so grateful that I can be alive to see all of this unfold. God is in complete control and doing things according to his timetable. I hope and pray that I can do my part and be actively involved. I want to be the best missionary I can be. I am trying to prepare each and everyday. I pray that where ever I go I can find the people whose hearts the Lord has prepared. I love this Gospel and can't wait to share the joy of it with others. 

This song was playing on my itunes as I wrote this. How fitting?! I love this song and wanted to share it. 

Army of Heleman 

1. We have been born, as Nephi of old,

To goodly parents who love the Lord.

We have been taught, and we understand,

That we must do as the Lord commands.

2. We have been saved for these latter days

To build the kingdom in righteous ways.

We hear the words our prophet declares:

“Let each who’s worthy go forth and share.”

3. We know his plan, and we will prepare,

Increase our knowledge through study and prayer.

Daily we’ll learn until we are called

To take the gospel to all the world.

Chorus 

We are as the army of Helaman.

We have been taught in our youth.

And we will be the Lord’s missionaries

To bring the world his truth

Semester Summary

I will never take another freshmen BYU class again! Classed ended on tuesday and now we are in full swing of finals. I can't believe how fast these two semesters have gone! It seems like yesterday I was unpacking and meeting my roommates. Now some of them have began packing to leave! Time goes by so fast. It will swiftly pass if I don't take advantage of every second. I am so grateful for the classes I was able to take this semester. I feel that they really helped me to learn and grow. I had amazing teachers, met extraordinary people, and had many learning experiences. Here is a summary of the classes I took this semester:

Music 115 (Beginners Organ)-- I am glad I took this class. I feel I can now play the organ with more confidence. When I played before I felt that the organ was running me. Now however, I run the organ! I know how to make effective registration choices and how to properly prepare hymn scores. I have a better appreciation for organists and hymns. When an organist takes time to consider each hymn, phrase it, and add effective registration it can change the whole mood of the hymn and help the congregation to feel the spirit of the hymn. Music is a special kind of worship, one that I feel Heavenly Father deeply treasures and appreciates. I hope that I can continue to practice the organ and constantly be improving. I am glad that I had the opportunity to take this class as not many if any other universities offer a organ course specifically designed to play the hymns. 

American Heritage-- I was blessed to have an outstanding teacher and TA for this class, for if it wasn't for them I would have really struggled to enjoy it. Dr. Mason truly has a passion for history and it shows as he teaches. He really know how to deliver a lecture effectively. He asks all the right questions to get you thinking. I thoroughly enjoyed lecture each time. Jared, my TA, was exceptional as well. He explained things very well and offered prompt and immediate feedback. I enjoyed learning about the founding of America. It is no doubt that God's hand was in it and I am glad that Dr. Mason could bring in the religion side of it. Many miracles occurred to help this nation come to be. I learned the importance of each individual in a society. When we all unite together in a common cause great things can happen. In addition, one individual can make a difference. 

Chem 285 (intro to Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry)-- O this class. . . What can I possibly say about it? It was hard, time consuming, challenging, interesting, rewarding, stressful, and I loved it. Yup that about sums it up! I had an amazing professor--Dr. Nielson. She is an exceptional lady! She is very smart and accomplished. She is a great mother and wife. She can explain hard concepts very well. She was always ready to offer extra help. She has such a fun personality and did anything to dance in class, to sing in class, to even do yoga poses in class! I loved her. From this class I took away how special and amazing the human body is. We spent a lot of the class learning about the chemistry that goes on in the body--carb metabolism, fat metabolism, and protein metabolism. It was very, very, very, interesting. The processes that go on when I eat a cracker are something else let me tell you! I have no doubt that our bodies are divinely designed by a loving and caring God. This class showed me how hard work pays off. I spent many hours in the library going over each process and filling the whiteboard countless times. It really made me appreciate the miracle of the body. It is amazing to me that I can be human and have these processes going on in my body every second but yet it is so hard to understand and grasp what is happening. It is going on inside me as I speak but yet it is so hard to understand. It is just another testimony to me that there is a God and he is in complete control. 

Leadership Development-- I have already said a lot about this class, so I won't discuss it here. 

NDFS 100 (Nutrition)-- I LOVED THIS CLASS. Maybe because it is my major and I love nutriton already?! haha Dr. Brown is an inspiration to all as a teacher. She has been through so much in her life and has much great advice to offer. Her passion for nutrition and helping others is evident. I really loved learning about what the body needs to be healthy. If each individual would eat right and exercise it would eliminate millions (yes I mean MILLIONS!) of problems. I hope that I can remember what I have learned and apply it. I can't wait to get more depth in nutrition as I advance in my major. 

REL A 122 (Second half of Book of Mormon)-- Bro. Griffin is an amazing teacher, father, and all around individual! I can't express how much I have learned this semester from him in many topics besides the book of Mormon. The spirit was present in every class. I always left with gratitude to God for all of my blessings and a resolved conviction to do better and to be better. One thing that I will always cherish from this class was the humbleness and sincerity of Bro. Griffin. He would often say, "So what are you going to take from this? How does this affect you at BYU in 2013? How is this going to change your prayers?" It was the last question that always moved me to tears. He would ask it and then say, "Maybe your prayers would sound more like this _________." I have really tried to change my prayers so that they are more meaningful and sincere as he suggested. Doing this has brought me closer to Heavenly Father. I have felt our relationship deepen and have felt his love more readily. I will forever be grateful for Bro. Griffin. His testimony, example, and teachings have shaped me and will no doubt have eternal consequences. I love the book of Mormon and know it is true. It is written for me in our day and can bring comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable! 

Beginners Weight Training-- I was terrified to take this class! I just pictured me and all these macho big guys and it being awkward and humiliating. This wasn't the case. I loved every minute of it and am so proud that I did it. It took a lot of courage for me to go to each class and lift weights. I loved it though! It taught me that atitude is everything and that I can indeed hard things with faith. I had great teacher and made many friends. I got to know Amber, LeAnne and Lisa. LeAnne ended up being my DAP partner as well! It felt great to consistently exercise. I felt myself getting stronger which was very rewarding. 

In addition to taking these classes, this semester I was also blessed to be apart of the DAP (Dietetics After School Program) and the Adopt a Grandparent program offered through Y-Serve. It felt great to take time out of my week to serve others. I have a special place in my heart for the elderly and young children and it was great to do things with them. Seeing them happy made me happy. Doing service helped me to find balance. I was able to feel less stressed as a result. I made friendships and learned many lessons. I am grateful that BYU can have the Y-Serve program. It is so neat to see so many students take time out if their busy hectic schedules and heeds the Lord's commandment to serve. 

Devotionals were also a highlight of my semester. I am proud to say that I went to every one! I love them. It is like a mini general conference each week. I felt the spirit and was often impressed to do or change something. The things the that were said answered my prayers and guided me in decisions I had to make. My testimony and love for the Savior and his gospel deepened. 

I still can't believe that I have just about finished my first year of College at BYU. I love this place. It is special. I am learning so much. I have met so many great people. I have had so many wonderful experiences. I have seen the Lord's guiding hand in it all. I know he is mindful of me and is giving me the trials and experiences that I need in order to grow into the person that he wants me to be. I love learning and am so grateful for the opportunity to be here. There is so much to life. So much to learn. I am constantly making mental lists of things to look up or books to read. I am so grateful again for the opportunity that I have to attend this university. At the beginning of the semester my Dad gave me a priesthood blessing and one of the things he said was that the classes and experiences I had this semester would impact the rest of my life and would both direct and help me to fulfill my life's mission. I look back now and can see evidence that that blessing has been fulfilled. I have no doubt that I things I am learning and the experiences I am having will affect my life both now, in the future, and in eternity.

Book of Mormon Reflection--Moroni 7

Moroni 7:45 has always been one of my all time favorite and meaningful verses of scripture. It reads, 

“And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beaerth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” 

In seminary and Sunday school I was always taught that these qualities were something we should be working towards. My teachers often challenged us to substitute our name in for charity. “Melissa suffereth long. . . “ etc. The point of this was to be a measure of our progress. In other words, to see if our name could fit with all of those attributes. I have always thought of charity as love for others and doing service. However, I also attributed it to something that I generated myself. In book of Mormon today, Bro. Griffin showed me otherwise. In Moroni 7:47 the beginning reads, “But charity is the pure love of Christ”. He then went on to explain the significance of the word of. Of denotes ownership and possession. Charity, therefore, is Christ’s pure love. We can’t generate it ourselves, but rather he gives it to us. Bro. Griffin put it beautifully when he stated ,"We don’t generate charity, we reflect it!” We then talked about Christ who was the ultimate example of charity because he is charity. We went through each attribute in verse 45 and talked about examples from Christ’s life that displayed that each particular quality. It was powerful. I really felt the spirit as we did this.

 So what does this all mean to me? What does it mean that I am going to change and work on? I am going to ask the Lord everyday to bless me with charity—his pure love—so that I can better serve and enrich others lives. I am going to strive to live more righteously so that he can trust me with this love. I am going to live with the Holy Ghost as my constant companion so that I will be open to the spirit and know which of his children I can reach out and bless. I love what True to the Faith says, “The Savior wants you to receive his love and he also wants you to share it with others.” It then goes on to describe the blessings of having charity, “The Holy Ghost will be your constant companion, guiding you in your service an in your relationships with others.” I hope that when I am called home, people can look back on my life and substitute my name with charity and describe examples that showed that those qualities were my character, for then I will have reached my goal, for then I will be like Christ.