A voice from the dust

I've read the Book of Mormon and know that it is true. It contains the words of God as received by prophecy. Living the principles outlined in the Book of Mormon has brought so much happiness to my life--a happiness I have never found elsewhere.

Reading the Book of Mormon has helped me develop a stronger relationship with my Savior Jesus Christ. It testifies of His life and His teachings.

I treasure up His word.

Three months in review

I can't even remember the last time I clicked on my Blogger bookmark. My last post was in mid-August. I miss blogging. I miss writing in my journal. So many things have happened, but I haven't taken the time to stop to record them. I'll have to refer back to my facebook status updates to try and remember the noteworthy things that have happened in my life recently to begin recording them. Until then, I'll generate a list of some important points. I can't promise that they'll be chronological, nor will I promise that they will make sense to everyone.

I stayed home sick today from work. I have a cold, although part of me wishes it was swine flu. I still don't believe that disease exists (despite the number of confirmed cases in Tooele County).
Speaking of Tooele County, I'm officially a resident.

I didn't vote this year which makes me very sad. It's the first election I've ever missed in all my voting years. I never took the time to familiarize myself with the candidates and proposals for this county. I didn't want to go to the polls uneducated and pick the name that sounded the best. I was ashamed that I neglected my patriotic duty to be informed and to share my voice.

I really like Tooele. Or at least I did until it started to snow.

My car broke. The transmission gave out. That wasn't the only thing wrong with it. It would've cost more to fix than it's worth. It was a blessing in disguise. Well, actually it wasn't even disguised all that well. I was certain to die in the car I used to drive if I were to have driven it in the snow.

That means I bought a new (to me) car. It's number one selling point for me was traction control. I told myself if I ever lived in the snow again then I wanted a car with traction control. I was sold on that feature years ago when I lived in Provo and dated a boy who drove a car with traction control. I was never scared when I drove his car, but I was always scared when I drove my car.

So far, I love my car.

Second only to traction control is my other favorite feature. It has a tape deck. That's right. I can listen to cassette tapes any time I want in my car. The only problem is, I don't have any cassette tapes. So I'm adding that to my Christmas List. As a matter of fact, it's the only thing on my Christmas List (since the last item was satisfied a little over a month ago). I want a mix tape from each and every one of you. PLEASE. And make this wish come true faster than my wish for a Snuggie.

Speaking of Snuggies, I got one! YAY! My life is complete now. My younger sister, Casey, got one for me. I'm using it right now. To show my appreciation for her wonderful gift, I created this photo album of me enjoying my Snuggie. View the album here. You'll be ever so grateful you did. (Of course, I have to thank Casey again for taking the pictures for this gratitude photo album.)

I'm the in the Relief Society Presidency of my ward. I was a little, make that a lot, intimidated by the calling. I've never felt like I was the woman that I imagined all members of Relief Society Presidencies to be. As always, the Lord has helped me to grow into my calling. This calling has been the source of great happiness and countless blessings these past couple months. I look forward with great anticipation to the tremendous blessings that will continue to occur in my life as I serve diligently.

I really like my ward. It's smaller than I would like, but there are new people and visitors every week. We'll be busting at the seams before you know it.

I've made some really great friends in my ward as well. I have something to do every night of the week. We go on amazing adventures. Click here, here, here, here, and here for some photos of the great things we do.

I like teaching. Teaching is fun. The rest of my job isn't as fun. Well, I take the back. The social part of my job is fun. I have made some really good friends in my colleagues. One of the other fifth grade teachers has become one of my favorite friends. We went to St. George together during UEA and hiked in Zion and caught a couple shows. We went to The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) at the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City and to Aida at Tuacahn.
Gosh, I miss St. George. I almost drove there last night. I just didn't want to drive back today. Oh, well. Thanksgiving will be here in a week-ish. I can hardly wait.

My students are amazing. They are adorable. They are smart. They work really hard. They make me giggle all the time. I had a student say to me the other day, "You laugh more than anyone I know." I took that as the highest compliment. I like them, and they like me. They like me so much, that they want me to have the finer things in life...including a dreamy boyfriend. They invented a boyfriend for me a couple weeks ago named Chad Hotpants. He has been the source of many a conversation since then. I even had a student bring in a picture from a magazine of Chad Hotpants. He clipped out the cartoon of a man climbing a ladder with the seat of his pants on fire. Hahahaha! They had a heyday the one time I ever let them write on the white board. Enjoy these photos of their graffiti.

Well, this post is entirely too long. I'll have to save some other random information for another day, but I wanted to get these posts under way so that I could post a few days worth of "I'm thankful for..." posts. I really enjoyed that last year.

Easter

Against all odds and with none to help or uphold Him, Jesus of Nazareth, the living son of the living God, restored physical life where death had held sway, and brought joyful, spiritual redemption out of sin and hellish darkness and despair.
One of the great consolations of this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone we do not have to do so.

I'm grateful for opportunities to speak in church

I spoke in church last week. I posted my talk. It's inspired by the talk from October Conference titled "Testimony as a Process". I would love for you to read it. http://seekinghappinessandjoy.blogspot.com/2008/11/testimony-as-process.html

I love to sing

I sang the musical number for the fireside tonight. Read about my experience here. More specifically here and here (since I posted a few things there today).

Happy Mother's Day

In my ward today, we opened the meeting by singing "Joy to the World". Yes, you are thinking of the right hymn. As the music chairperson, I was meeting with my Bishop a month ago. I wondered out loud why we don't sing certain songs all year long. During that meeting, he decided for Mother's Day he would assign talks about Mary, mother of Jesus, Lucy Mack Smith, the Prophet Joseph's mother, and about modern day mothers. He suggested we sing "Joy to the World" for the opening hymn and "Jesus Once of Humble Birth" as the Sacrament hymn to remind us that Jesus was born and was raised as was every child.
During the talk about Lucy Mack, I was pondering the hymn that I knew was coming up, "Joseph Smith's First Prayer". Joseph's parents, particularly his mother, raised him to be God-fearing, to read his scriptures, and to pray. Had he not been taught these principles growing up, he may have never read and pondered the scripture passage in James. Had his mother not been such a great example of faith and seeking truth, he may have never been desirous to seek out his Father in prayer.
As we sang the hymn, I imagined Mary and Lucy. I became very excited to be a mother in Zion. I want to teach my children the gospel principles so that they may also bring about great works and be a contributor to the Kingdom of God. It is a great responsibility, but as I pondered this I felt peace in my heart that I could do it. Even now as I type, I am not overwhelmed but rather joyful at the opportunities to come.
I look forward with patience and faith for the opportunity to be a mother. I look forward to the extension of trust from my Father in Heaven to care for His children. I will teach them the principles of the gospel, namely faith, repentance, and baptism. I will teach them diligently in love.
For things my mother taught me, read "As long as you know what you're doing is right" and "Education for Real Life" on my other blog.