Till We Meet...

President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away just over an hour ago. I will miss this man!

I feel very blessed to have heard him speak just two weeks ago in the Southern California Regional Conference broadcast from Salt Lake. He revisited a talk given some time ago and spoke of four corner stones of marriage. I thought I would share with you all my notes from his talk.

1. Mutual Respect: We all have differences and are, by nature, individuals. Though we must work to ameliorate them, differences are not undesirable. They can make companionship more interesting. We need to focus on the comfort and well-being of the other and stop looking for faults and start looking for virtues. There is no basis in the gospel for superiority/inferiority. We need to respect each other and be deserving of respect. Relationships take patience, forgiveness and true affection.

2. Soft Answers: Communication is mostly just conversation. Let your conversation be quiet. The voice of heaven is a still small voice. Be slow to anger.

3. Financial Honesty: Pay an honest tithe. Consult with each other and agree on big purchases while having a degree of freedom on everyday, smaller expenditures. Live honestly with each other and with others. Be unified in decisions.

4. Family Prayers: Companionship will sweeten and love will strengthen through couple prayer. Children will be blessed by the security of parents who pray together and hold family prayer. You will be directed by the Spirit as parents and as a couple.

What a legacy he is leaving on this earth! What a reunion in the courts on high! I can only imagine the abundance of joy as he reunited with his sweet wife, Marjorie. What kind of reunion would there have been with the Savior and His prophet and friend?

I am very grateful for a testimony of living prophets and continued revelation. I cannot express in words the comfort and hope of knowing that the Lord has not left us, His children, to our own devices. He has provided a structure and process for the continuation of prophetic guidance and leadership.

flash back

I like the concept of the "Flash-Back Friday" . There are so many things that I would have blogged about had blogs been invented . I was looking through my photos and found these, pics from when I worked at the Missionary Training Center in 2002-2004. I think I refer back to this time more frequently than any other. I LOVED teaching missionaries how to teach the gospel. I loved watching their testimonies grow along with their knowledge of and love for the scriptures. I only had each group for three weeks, since these missionaries didn't have to learn a new language, but it always amazed me how much we would bond in such a short amount of time. Every group/district that I taught was different, with a different dynamic and I learned different things from all of them. I kept a small notebook that I had all of them write in before they departed to the mission field, with a picture of each district. Sometimes, when I need a "pick-me-up" I read their comments and testimonies. What a blessed time in my life. I have run into a few of the elders I taught. At first it was really strange, but now it's just fun to see what they are doing with their lives now.

This pic is of some of my fellow teachers at a BBQ we had.

joke

How do you make God laugh?









Tell Him your plans.

Today:

I'm feeling more like this...

And I have to remind myself of this...

"Elder Neal A. Maxwell linked patience and faith together when he taught: 'Patience is tied very closely to faith in our Heavenly Father. Actually, when we are unduly impatient, we are suggesting that we know what is best--better than does God. Or, at least, we are asserting that our timetable is better than His.'

"We can grow in faith only if we are willing to wait patiently for God's purposes and pattern to unfold in our lives, on His timetable." (Robert C. Oaks, "The Power of Patience," Ensign, Nov. 2006, 16-17)

Memorial.

I haven't frequented the subject of God here. However, not for lack of feeling or focus.

My heart is full of gratitude for a God who not only knows who I am, but is as invested in my eternal outcome as I am.

At work today I spent about an hour (and about 2 hours yesterday) updating the status on expired listings, a very monotonous job to say the least. I don't know how many times I clicked my mouse on the words,

"Change Current Status."

So easy. Two clicks and a "Control V" to enter today's date and done. The listing goes away.

In terms of the heart, it's not quite so simple, but sometimes just as quick.

One day you're attached and the next day you're not. Or rather, one day I was attached and the next day I wasn't. Nearly two years to the day. Life is so strange!

It takes a lot of courage to follow your "gut." Courage because it's scary.
Courage because it's painful.

Sometimes love means letting go. It's so hard...

But, when the next day brings Peace, The peace that passeth all understanding, well it's hard to deny a feeling like that. As if the Universe was confirming what my insides already knew.

"Love is the most difficult and
dangerous form of courage. Courage is the most
desperate, admirable and noble kind of love."

And so I say farewell. Farewell to a chapter of my life that I will never regret and will always look back on fondly.
I am a better person because of you.

~Always...

I can be so melodramatic.

depression

I feel abandoned.

Last night at 1:37am I finished the book Eclipse and felt the darkness start to settle in. I miss him (meaning Edward) already. It's a good thing I'm single, because I don't think any man will be able to live up to my expectations after Edward Cullen and I wouldn't want my husband to feel less than satisfactory.

What City Do I Belong In?

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city soul with a small town heart Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand And gorgeous Italian people - could life get any better?

What City Do You Belong In?

Please preface with "Late Bloomer" below:

I have no qualms admitting that I am unconditionally and unequivocally obsessed with Edward Cullen. I'm pretty sure I've started my own hallucinations, hearing his velvety voice telling me to wait for him.

I read Twilight in two days.

I started New Moon today and am on page 243. Yes, that's me above, engrossed and my roommate Holly reading Eclipse. Our other roommate, Ashlee who took the picture was reading Twilight. So there we were, three fully-dressed girls on the beach on a Sunday reading the Trifecta.

There are things about today that could have been better, but geesh, for a few hours I was in heaven. 78 degree sunshine on the beach (in this pic, it had cooled off) with a seductive vampire was the best distraction I could ever dream of...well, except the real deal sharing my towel.

Can real life pahleaze be this intoxicating?

As a side note, In the Land of Women is playing in my DVD player right now (I know, hard for me to keep from going to my room to read) and I'm thinking that Kristen Stewart will make a pretty good Bella.

Feeling like this....

Waiting for this...