Valentine's Day

My Valentine's Day was a pretty good day! I was lucky enough to get work off but I still had to go to class. So that was boring and went as slow as ever... Something happened at Brady's house that we had to help take care off (tons of water everywhere) so we spent most of our day at his house. We left to my house to watch some Fringe and just relax. I wasn't really in the best mood ever and I felt so bad but relaxing and just being with Brady was nice. We made some caramel shortbread but I didn't each much cause it's so rich! Brady made it a lot on his mission so he was pretty excited to make it for me :) Sawyer came over and so we played with baby and watched him. He was a good baby so it was nice:)

Brady gave me a pretty funny card, some chocolate and beautiful roses. He's the first boy to ever give me flowers:) So it was pretty awesome. He got a new computer that came with a free nook so he let me have it. I'm excited to start using it! :) I am really glad he's home for this Valentine's Day instead of me opening a package and just hoping the next 10 months go by faster. I can't believe that was me only a year ago... GAH! Anyway, very happy, happy day :)

Grandma Bronson

I feel like as I get older my perspective on things change.
Like the things that used to drive me crazy when I was little, I love more than anything now. Or how I thought my parents were totally out to get me, they're my best friends now. How I felt they were so unfair and didn't understand me, they are the only ones who do. I truly appreciate my parents and all they did for me when I was younger, and still to this day. I gave them something hard to work with but I'm grateful they never gave up on me. They truly loved me unconditionally and I am so grateful now, that I have parents who didn't back out on me, who have kept their end of the deal because it is their earthly calling from our Father in Heaven, and that is so important to me.

But today is my Grandma's birthday (my moms mom). She passed away when I was about... 3? or 4? I can't remember, I was so young. I only have one vivid memory of her, it was when her hair color starting changing and she started losing it, I asked her why she had different hair and she responded, "Because somebody stole it from me, and they haven't given it back yet." That's the only memory I have of her. The next would be at her funeral, when I noticed her hair color was back to normal. I remember telling my mom, "Mom! They gave her hair back!" And I just thought that was so great.

Sometimes I feel angry that a sickness took her away at such a young age. I didn't have the privilege of getting to know her like some of my other cousins, but it's okay now, and I understand more than I did back then. But boy, what I would give to see her again. To get to know her. My mom talks so highly of her, and same with her siblings. I grew up listening to stories of my Grandma and the crazy, silly things she did. And I love them. I love each and every one of them and I get so happy every time my mom shares a story, even if we've heard it a million times. And let me tell you why I cherish them so much...

First, because it's my grandma, it's all I have of her, but mainly because the things that happened to my grandma, or things she did are the EXACT same as my mom. I cannot tell you how much my mom is her mom. She looks like her, and when I hear stories I just KNOW my mom would do that. I see my mom do silly things every day. I get to tell others silly stories about my mom. She is such a fun, selfless, loving person. She sacrifices so much. I can't even begin to explain it. I truly have the best mom in the world.

I want nothing more than when I have kids, to be EXACTLY like my mom. She is everything I want to be and more. She does so much for my siblings and I. She always says she hopes she's doing her very best, but in reality, she's going the extra mile every single day for all of us, including my dad. She's amazing. She is someone I can talk to about literally anything. I can go to her for comfort, advice and we just connect.

I am so grateful to have been blessed with the mom that I have. And even though I never knew my grandma, I know that one day, I will get to meet her and get to know her. But for now, I'm grateful for her daughter, who is just like her; who is amazing in every way. I'm so grateful that I get a piece of my grandma in my life every single day. And I cherish every moment I have with my mom.

I love you mom, thank you for everything. And a happy birthday to my grandma! Can't wait to meet you someday!

Dance Besties

One of my best dance besties was married today :) I'm so happy for her!! We became really good friends when we danced together on Varsity! We did everything together and I miss it so much! We have so many fun memories:) So I'll share a few pictures from memory lane for ya!

Sometimes I miss dance so much, but I'm really glad I had such great friends to make it such a wonderful experience for me. Even thought SCS no longer exists, it still does in all of our hearts and I'm so grateful for our teachers and our director. They made part of my childhood the greatest! :) So happy for Roni, that she's found someone to share her life with :) I hope we stay in touch because I miss her!! We had the greatest "jiggle dance," but please, don't ask us to perform it for you ;) Hahaha and our moms became good friends and it just was a great time in my life :)

 We had a party at my house. A sleepover which consisted of food, laughing, and prank calling.

Such a blast! We were the besties :)

 We left dance to get halloween candy, and took longer than we should have.

But it was fun. Oh well :)

 Team dance pictures:)

 Nationals in Vegas :)

 Oh just one of my favorites:)

And this is us today :) It's been crazy how long we've known each other, but I'm so gosh darn happy for her! :) Love you Roni Foxy Mama!!

- Gramma Gertrude

Entering the House of the Lord

Happy February everyone! :)

This morning, I woke up a whole hour and forty minutes before I needed to be up. What better time than that to dive into the scriptures and catch up on what I haven't read this past week. It's amazing how easily it is to forget to read your scriptures... yet so easy to remember to read them as soon as you wake up. I'm so glad that thought always enters my mind when I wake up.

This morning, the only scripture that stuck out to me, as there were many, but this one just added to what's been on my mind these past few days is 2 Nephi 12:3.

"And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."

Isn't that so wonderful? I mean really. That's what happens when we attend the Temple. We learn of God. We learn of his ways, his teachings, what he wants us to do in this life, and then we will walk that path doing absolutely everything we can to remain faithful to him, so we can, one day, return to him forever. The Temple is a wonderful place to receive answers. It is the holiest place on this entire earth. I am so grateful to be surrounded by so many of these gorgeous Temples. To be blessed enough, and worthy enough to enter in and do the work of the Lord for those who have passed on, and one day, enter for myself :)

That is my biggest desire right now, and I'm really having a hard time not thinking about it. Entering the Temple is literally all I think about. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just wanting to enter in because everyone else has, or I'm still the only 20 year old girl who sits next to the 12 year olds doing baptisms; and getting asked if I'm endowed every time I go. It's a bit rough but I have to remind myself this is still amazing work, and for any other work in the Temple to be done, baptism must come first. It's really special. The Temple is such a humbling place, it makes me forget my complaint of not having been endowed when I go.

I know what is inside the Temple. I know what awaits me. But.... do you want to know the BEST thing about the temple?

It will ALWAYS be there.

The temple isn't going anywhere. The temple is eternity. The blessings which are inside, still await me and always will until I make it through. It will still be amazing, it will still be wonderful and spiritual and prolly the best experience of my life. And maybe the time for me to go isn't right now, or maybe it is. Whichever, the Temple will always be there for me, no matter how long it takes for me to enter in, readily making sacred covenants with my Father in Heaven.

So, to satisfy my current desire while I pray about it daily, I'm currently reading a book called Prepare Now for the Temple by Brittany Mangus. It really is one of the best books I could possibly read. She wrote it for sisters who are getting married or going on a mission, but still says this book is good to read if you're not doing either. She starts off the book by pointing out our desire to enter the Temple. Do we truly know the work we are doing? Are we truly prepared to enter in? It's just amazing and I'm grateful for this book.

So while I wait for my answer of when I can enter in, I will continue to enter, and do the work of baptism and know in my heart that no matter what I'm doing in the Temple, at least I'm at the Temple. It is where the Spirit dwells and I can receive answers to my prayers. I know these Temples to be the house of the Lord, and for those of you who are endowed, please continue to enter in his house. You will blessed immensely. It is the one place for escape from this world. I say this in his sacred name, Amen.

2 Nephi 9

The Lord was definitely watching over me this morning and the Holy Spirit was filling my heart with comfort and love.

I have always loved this chapter, as long as I can remember. Okay, I'll be honest, I have loved it ever since my sweet Andy passed away. But I have loved it for a happy reason. This reason is comfort. This chapter is full of promises and happiness and reasons why we are to be righteous, what we are promised if we are and what happens if we are not. It tells us where we end up and that is with the Lord and our Savior. I cannot think of anything greater than that.

I miss Andy; alot. It comes in spurts, even 4 years later... It still hurts and every time I see a picture of him, my heart aches to know the boy that could have stayed and grown old, and turned his life around. But I can't change that. I can only accept it. I can only remember that he is doing AMAZING things with our Father in Heaven right now. He is happy, and he is truly in a better place. I'm so grateful for the knowledge that I have of this gospel. To know that I will see him again. To know that families are forever.

I woke up this morning, thought about how I had 30 minutes to read my 4 pages a day, and I wasn't going to but the thought kept coming, you know you should read this morning. You know you need to read. And so I read, and I knew it wasn't just to get my 4 pages in for the day, but the second I saw my next 4 pages were chapter 9 of 2nd Nephi, I almost started crying. The Lord has not forgotten me and continually reminds me of the blessings I can obtain if I stay faithful to Him. I could not have read anything better this morning.

I testify that I know the Lord is aware of us and our needs. He is ALWAYS looking after us, and even when we feel He isn't answering our prayers, He is, but on HIS time. This is His plan and we must have faith in it. He is the one who knows best. He knew what I needed to hear, without me even asking. I'm so grateful for this gospel. I say this in His sacred name, Amen.

Read 2 Nephi 9 here.

I'm So Happy

I am so incredibly happy with my life right now. I am so blessed. I'm so blessed with the family that I have, the relationship I have with my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ, the best friend ever, and the best boyfriend ever. I have had a tough time with relationships and letting it get to me but I'm working on getting over that and just really enjoying and appreciating the people who are in my life right now.

This morning I had more extra time to read the scriptures than I usually do. I've been slacking a bit, but I'm not perfect and at least I'm reading them. I'm grateful for the comforting words that I continue to read every single day. I can do this. I can do hard things.

Brady. Oh man. I can never say it enough. I love Brady so much. He is the most important thing in my life. He is so sweet. I love his smile, and how he kisses me on the cheek, only a million times a day. I love that he tells me I'm pretty, sporadically throughout the day. The way he answers the phone when I call him, and I love love LOVE how close he lives to me. He's still the same gentleman that caught my attention almost 3 years ago. I'm so glad that he has found a job that he really enjoys, and is excited to start school in the Summer! I'm so excited for this year :) It will prolly be a big one for us, both individually and together :) He is my best friend. My better half. My soulmate. My companion. He is the best person I have ever known. I love him so much.

I am also very grateful for my best friend. She is so amazing. I miss her so much, I haven't seen her as often as I used to but she still means the world to me. She hasn't left my side in my trials and my successes. I never want her to forget how much I appreciate her and all that she does. I will never forget her, no matter where our lives take us. I will always go to her first. I will always keep her in my life. She is my best friend, my other half, basically she's my sister. We have done everything together in life, and I'm so grateful to have shared so much with her. I love you so much Abby, thanks for everything.

And last, I'm very grateful for my family. They are amazing people. I am currently taking a Marriage and Family Relations class, and we've been talking a lot about families and what they mean to us, and what we consider to be "family." I love that I'm never going to be alone. Friends come and go, people in our lives come and go but family is forever. I will always have them and I'm so grateful that they love me unconditionally, and that I can always be myself with them. I'm grateful for my parents, who made the decision to be sealed in the Lord's Temple. Their example has influenced me so much. And their decision has made me happier than any decision they've made. I love my family so much. Especially my little guys.

I love my life and I am so grateful. I'm so unbelievably happy right now. I couldn't ask for more and I will always thank my Father in Heaven.

Spiritual Teachings

Today in RS we had a lesson on baptism and it really got me thinking about my baptism. I can (and don't really want to) honestly say I don't remember a lot of my feelings that day, and I don't think I wrote in a journal about it either.

This is what I can remember:

• I was SO scared. I bawled the entire morning.
• I was really upset that Abby got to go before me.

I'm really grateful my dad was able to baptize me and that I was also able to share that day with Abby. That's one of the best connections we have. I feel like, having been baptized on the same day, has caused us to be a source of strength to each other. 

I haven't done this in a while but I wanted to bear my testimony on baptism and other things. I'm so grateful for baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. I'm so grateful I was brought up into the church and that I was "born of goodly parents" who love me, and live for me, and guide me each day. I truly am blessed. I've been reading the Book of Mormon lately, and everything has been going well. My goal is to read it 3 times this year. Unfortunately, for a few days I forgot didn't read. Every day I would wake up, and my first thought, read the Book of Mormon, and I never did. But today, I changed that. I'm starting to study in a different way, which causes me to take longer with my studying but I love it. So far I love it. This journal I'm using is amazing and I'm so glad I decided to use it this time around.

I had a rough week, emotionally, but I'm really glad I have the Book of Mormon, my family and Brady. I have struggled really bad with friends. I feel like I have this expectation/responsibility to stay in touch with them, talk/text them, visit them, include them in everything, all.the.time. and it is getting really hard on me and I'm struggling. I don't know what more to do. All I feel is that I'm putting forth the most effort. So then I feel angry, and decide that I'm just going to forget them and all I need is Brady and my family. Then I get upset and tell myself that I'm not that kind of person. (It's this really tiring cycle that happens frequently) I will never forget my friends. I will always make sure they know how important they are to me, and that they matter. That they always have a friend in me. I have had way too many people leave my life for me not to care.

That is one thing this book has taught me. This book has taught me the tender mercies of the Lord. This book has taught me the pure love of Christ, and that I am NEVER alone. The Spirit is always with me when I read, and as long as I'm living my life in such a way that I'm blessed with the Spirit every second of my life, I will never feel alone. I will never feel angry towards my friends. I will never feel like nobody cares about me. I will never feel anything but happiness, peace and love. My Savior loves me. He lives and I know it. I know He is there for me. I know He understands me in good times and bad times. I know through Him, my heart can heal any pain. I am grateful to Him and His influence in my life. 

This book changes people. It definitely changes me every single time I read it. It humbles me and reminds me not to sweat the small stuff. I'm grateful for all of the examples inside this book, and that I can use those stories in my daily life. I will always love this book. I will always believe in this book. I will always stand as a witness that it is true.

And I hope you can too.

Happy Sunday. ♥