Creole Wisdom

the weekend review: sun-day, sunday

•So Curtis was begging and pleading for me to go down to his town for Church, and meet his parents (okay, he didn't beg- he kindly asked, but it would of sounded better the begging way, huh?)
•He came and kindly picked me up, under the disclaimer that I would not make fun of his car (I did not, at least he has one- don't get me started ; )
•Church was good. I am 100-percent-positive I distracted Curtis enough where he could not pay attention to the speaker.  It was a great older building with pretty wooden pews, and neat ceiling work.  It was a really nice break from the 1987 wannabe fashion show that is the King Henry ward on Sundays.  I know that was mean, but come see for yourself!
•And because I know you wanted to see:

•Disclaimer: he did not wear that to Church.  This was taken by his littlest brother after dinner. 
•And how fun was it to go to Church and be able to hold hands/mug on each other bwahaha I am so bad, I mug on my very own RM (return missionary).
•I got to meet the family, eat dinner (mystery jello, ahh!), and then play games.  I won phase 10- and as a result Curtis will never play another game with me ever again.  He also has trouble eating in my presense, as he dropped not only his drumstick, but dessert on his lap.  His parents were cracking up and they say he never does that- hilarious.  Ingrained in my mind forever.
•It would not be a fun weekend without a little "crisis"- Curtis got a flat on the way home.  I pretended to "learn" how to fix one:

•Oh no, a flat.  Images of the swearing scene in A Christmas Story were rushing through my mind!

•Jacking the car up.  Look at those sexy arms?  Puny, skinny arms are not my thing, give me some workin' mans arms.  Yum!

•Because I was not really learning car care 101 from Mr. Citris, I decided to do a self-portrait in the pitch dark. 
•After that "crisis" was resolved we drove on down to the baby capital of the world, i.e. where I live, and sat by the Temple and talked for an hour.  I was tired.  Then he took me home so I could go to sleep- at 2am!
•Good Sunday!  Loved it.

general conference

I absolutely love conference.  What is better than snuggling yourself up in a blanket with your notebook and getting spiritual enlightenment?

All the great talks are still reeling in my mind, but one thing that I truly learned for sure is that I need to serve more.  I love that, at least for me, each conference has sort of a theme. 

Here are some of the many things I learned:
Kenneth Johnson
•Never be satisfied with anything less than your best
•Service equals satisfaction
Dallin H. Oaks
•Speak the truth in love
Susan W. Tanner
•Remember sources of delight during hard times
•Nurturing is part of our pre-mortal, mortal, and eternal life

I cannot wait until some of these talks are up on the church website so I can download and read them over and over. It was fun to think of being there for conference in October, especially to see Gordon B. Hinckley speak before he passed away.  What a blessing!  I am really looking forward to going out to conference there one day again, it was such an experience.  Still, I cannot help but think of what I was doing last conference: watching at the institute building and eating lunch between sessions on Saturday with, you guessed it Curtis (at the time Elder D).  Fun memories.

I am really thankful for The Church, and especially for General Conference.  I am very lucky to have been able to watch all the sessions and reap the spiritual rewards of such.  What a faith strengthener! 

With Conference over I think it's safe to say that spring has begun!  Now I just need some sand to dip my feet into:

Yes, that's me.  Back in what looks like 1989. 

where I went today

Sitting on top of a massive hill, that can be seen from the road is...

The Boston, Mass. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Temple. (And this is one of my favorite parts of traveling. Seeing new temples! Oh, and if you really wanted to know I am still Miss Barf as of 1am this morning. Yes, nothing is hotter than vomiting!)

 

in the spirit of sundays

So you obviously know what I do Sunday mornings, but what about the rest of the day? So, in the style of the blog-famous Nie I present:

Don't I look pensive, serene, and calm? That is what Sundays do to me! They chill me the h-cough-heck out. I love em'

I like to look around my surroundings (in this case, my parents' home). In this room alone (counting behind me) there are over 9 antiques. My mother is always dragging me to antique stores! She has great taste!

Walking around the living room, for the millionth time that day. Just thinking about things and drinking sparkling water (common).

Something fun to do...

Happy Sunday afternoon. And would you believe my self control? I did not take a nap... not once!

big day

So today I gave my first talk! I feel like I've crossed some sort of a threshold.  How exciting!  A few weeks back one of the members of the bishopric asked me if I would talk about "enduring to the end" and gave me the 3rd article of faith as a scripture reference. 

It has been a long journey, and the final-final-final draft was not completed until 12am last night.  Did I mention I had to print it out in dark green print because my black cartridge was out? Oh yes, it has been a busy semester so far.

Delivering my talk, which was what I was most nervous about, actually went well.  I heard my bishop whisper behind me as I finished, "a great talk." So I ended up focusing mostly on how endurance is tied directly to finding joy and to do that we need to a) follow the commandments b) perfect ourselves. 

I am so happy that my mom, stepdad, and two sorority sisters were able to attend. My mom called me later and said that she really enjoyed and agreed with what I had to say.  It is so nice to bring friends to church and have them meet all my other buddies.

Wait... did I not tell you what I wore? Oh just a little gray and navy number from this place complete with navy heels.  Did I mention how hard it was to find navy heels?  Worst fashion search ever-

Here is an audio of my talk, please be patient when you first click to play.  It takes a few minutes to load and for a little bit it is just silent, but I promise it is worth it to listen! You may need to move the little ball a bit until it starts playing. I am so proud that I figured out Garage Band then was able to add it to the post.

Edited to add:

What a man.  President Gordon. B Hinckley
June 23, 1910-January 27, 2008

p's and q's

Today was an amazing day. In fact, the past few days have been a full of emotions and thoughts for me. Much is going on, and I am not quite sure of how to take it all in. But it's all good! So you're probably wondering what all this mumbo jumbo relates to: I have been thinking about Ben. Yeah, okay, so you got me. He is pretty special. Not like "slow" special, like peculiar special. Good special. I said to the Lord, "okay. I'm willing to be surprised."

After Relief Society, my friend Kristi and I went into one of the class rooms and had a little heart-to-heart chat. She is the girl who was on the double date with Ben and I Wednesday night. She grew up with him in the same family ward when they were younger. We spoke for a while about the entire circumstance. And once again I was reminded by her that, "people do not just drop into your life with no reason. Sometimes God just has someone fall out of the sky and land on your lap." It was incredible to listen to her and hear what she had to say, as it related so much to what I had been thinking of.

I am willing to be surprised. I am not going to sabotage, and act all crazy (like I can be if nothing is at stake). I am minding my p's and q's.

{still} grateful

Today has been exceedingly stressful. Yet, I am still so grateful:

-Getting to my first 9:00 class on time, even though I woke up 15 minutes later than usual
-Having the chance to have a direct heart to heart with someone from my past: Matt's mom.  Interesting. Powerful. Affirming.
-This gorgeous, warm weather.  Just needing a Columbia zip up.
-Wearing new jeans for the first time, and loving them.
-Having my little, daily prayers answered time and time again.
-Being so damn blessed with family and friends: my cup runeth over. 

Sunday

It was so fun to bring a  friend to church. Sometimes I feel like I live in two very different worlds: church and sorority.  It is fun to bridge them.

Claire went with me and got to meet my bishop, who has lovingly donned me the nickname "HM" (for high maintenance) haha. She was only able to stay for sacrament meeting, and I think she like the service.  She later told me that she thought it was fun, interesting, and was happy where she was spiritually. And that is good. I am happy my friend would come with me and enjoy it, get to see all the people I talk about and understand the other half of my world if not a bit about my faith.

And I guess it's just about being a living example. 

(Oh, and I am so vain.  I paged through the Engsign looking to see if my photo was in there.  I am a nut).

Hilariousness of the day:
Over the phone,
Me: "people can really feel the spirit."
Jana: "yes, the spirit can creep up on people sometimes.  The spirit is a creeper."

The Holy spirit as a creeper, I am dying.

for something

My dear sorority sister Claire is one of my closest friends here.  She is amazing. I suppose we do all the normal college girlfriend activities: watch soaps together, eat out, go tanning. We like to have long talks. Just about whatever, mostly about our childhood and how these stories and peoples of our past have shaped and molded us into the women we are today.

We talked about Church for the first real time tonight. She has been asking about visiting one Sunday for a while and she wants to come tomorrow. "I want to go to church with you." I am so excited to bring a friend and introduce her to all my church buddies. And I hope it can be the experience she wants it to be-

As we spoke she said to me, "you just have such a sense of peace and joy that radiates from you." It is apparent how everyone can recognize the spirit, and how much peace the gospel really gives.  It is not a joke.  It is all "for real." I know it, and obviously others around me do, too. She was worried about life after death, and I frankly told her what I believe. It was such a bold moment for me... not knowing what her reaction would be (the whole concept of "spirit children" is hard to get your mind around when you hear it for the first time!) Not phased, she asked, "do you believe in guardian angels?" We talked about that, and then I said it as simply as I could: "before I got baptized I really just saw it all in black and white, and then after everything spiritually speaking was in color."

She then told me, "you're the only person who I really believe when they say that there's life after this, and if I was dying and my mom couldn't be with me- you would be the person I would want at my side because you would really comfort me and tell me it would be fine and I would believe it." And so then I cried a little bit, because that was such a nice thing to say (and you know I am not the crying type.)

I love her so much, and I just want to be a good friend. I know that I have been a missionary, mostly subconsciously, and that really amazes me.  Talk about something to be grateful for!

And I knew God needed me here for something!

grateful

today i am grateful for:

-spending a whole night just doing homework and snacking with miss jana
-being able to sleep in and nap
-knowing that in 4 weeks i'll know if i'll be headed to byu for the summer (eek)
-warm mittens
-scrapbooking three times in the past few days