Leavin' For Lubbock on Monday!

Hello Everybody!

There have been SOOOO many things that have happened this week, I'm going to hardly have time to go over them all! But good news though, I have tons of pictures to send as soon as I get out to Lubbock!!

First I'd just like to say, I'm sorry you got that call from the MTC Health Clinic Mom. I PROMISE everything is okay, I just took a soccer ball to the face during gym time on Wednesday, and the blind spot I had for about 20 minutes after the impact was sitll there in low light. Sister Heward (the wife of one of the members in our Branch Presidency) made me promise to go to the doctor if I woke up on Friday with the blind spot (in low light), and since I did, I felt obligated to do it. Dr. Neilsen at the MTC referred me to an opthamologist, just to make sure everything was alright, and Dr. Meyers (said opthamologist) dialted my left eye and took a look at my optic nerve and retina. The upper left (mirror of the bottom right where my blind spot was) wasn't the normal brownish/pinkish/orange that it should have been, it was kind of white. He called it a mild form of commotio retinae, which would heal on its own (it's just a little bit of sheering injury from the impact of the soccer ball). Missionaries truly are blessed with health! (There are pictures to come of the little bruise I had, and me with Sister Hoover who is the one who got me with the ball! She is such an energetic sass bucket! :D) (And it was way cool to be out of the MTC, as a MISSONARY!! People called me Sister Lagrosa! :D)

Something I've really come to realize this week is the power of prayer. As I've struggled a bit with feelings of inadequacy, among the other usually new missionary feelings, I realized that there truly is so much power in going to hte Lord with all of the desires of your heart. As most of you all know I am really a people person too (which is why I'm so excited to get to Texas soooo bad!), and it's been hard to not have the time I usually spend talking to people, and my roommates seem to get so much mail lol, but I know that there are so many people out there praying for me individually, but also for me as one of the Lord's missionaries!
Also, we kneel so much every day here, my favorite parts of the day are kneeling with my companion after a lesson (even if it wasn't successful at all) and having a prayer of grattitude for our investigator, and for the gifts the Lord has given us.
Sister Metzger (one of our teachers) had us do an activity with prayer that was so powerful. After we talked about some instances of prayer in the scriptures, we identified this patter of preparing to pray, and spending more than five minutes on our knees. After that she had us take a few minutes to write a letter to our Heavenly Father, preparing for a prayer about anything weighing down on our hearts, and then we all got on our knees and prayed. It was so impacting for me to feel my Father in Heaven's love for me with so much strenght, that I've made it a goal for me to follow that pattern (think, write, pray) at least once a week for the rest of my life.
One last thing about prayer I'd like to share is a really uplifiting experience as a zone (our two Lubbock districts) that we had on Thursday. One of the sisters (Sister Scott) going to Lubbock is from Australia, so she has had quite a bit more of an adjustment to the missonary schedule than a lot of us have. During our morning block of classes she passed out on the floor, and started hyperventalating. Two of the elders in her district were able to adminsiter a priesthood blessing for her while another called for the EMTs. She woke up just as the blessing was finished, and she ended up being okay. It was a really emotional expereince for us as a zone, mostly because we didn't know exactly what was wrong, and it was a trial of faith to know that she would be okay. We knelt together as a district and had a prayer together. And then we sang the hymn: "The Spirit of God", and I just started crying the Spirit was there, and it was so strong. After a short testimony meeting, we had some time for personal scripture study about the Atonement, and we shared some of what we learned with our class. I read in John 14, and my calling as a missionary was reaffirmed to me again as I read the words that Christ spoke and understood a little bit more that His power can truly heal us in whatever way we need it.

It seems that during almost every time I have to study the scriptures I am reminded that it is this knowledge that I have that I get to share with others. It's not fair for me to know so deeply that Christ is my Savior, that I not share that with others. Our purpose as missonaries is to: "Invite others to come unto Christ by recieving the restored gospel through, faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, recieving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." I know this is going to be a difficult calling, but as I've settled in to being Sister Lagrosa, I KNOW with all of my heart that this is the Lord's work, and I cannot let my own reservations keep me from being a bold missonary and do my best to share the gospel with eveyone around me... even if it just by my actions.

I don't have much more time, but I did want to say that it is crazy to think this time next week, I'll be in an area I'll be serving for 12 weeks! In the Lubbock Texas Mission! Something we learned during in-feild orientation is to get to know the ward as soon as possible, so if the Bishop where ever I am agrees, I'll hopefully be able to speak or bear my testimony in sacrament meeting next week!

If you get an opportunity please watch Elder Holland's Mormon Message "God's Work Never Ceases". He loves you!

I know His grace is sufficient for us all.

Love always,
Sister Lagrosa

p.s.  I just want to say Happy Fathers Day! I hope you got my cards, and happy Birthday William! When I get home I"ll be 23! :D

I love you all!

Day 3 of the MTC

Hi Family!!!

So our district (our class basically) has 10 missionaries who are ALL going to Lubbock! Also there is another district next door to us with another 10, so in total there are 11 Sisters and 9 Elders departing the MTC on Monday the 17th!! We already received our travel plans, and we are leaving here at 4:30 in the morning!!! Arriving in Lubbock at 4:30.

Since we only have 30 minutes to e-mail here, I'm going to try and keep this short, also, I don't think we can upload photos yet... but I'm out of here soon, so you'll get some!!

First thing first though, wow, getting dropped off!!! Eliza, drove me down and Jen and Steph (aka ginger bear) met up with us for my final minutes of pre-MTC-ness. It was a whirlwind that night, everything went so fast I found myself forgetting to take a breath. After getting a brand spankin' new black name tag, I went to drop off my luggage, literally we just dropped it in the room, and went to the classroom to meet our teachers and our companions. My companion is Sister Bradford, a wonderful 20-year old UT grown Aggie (USU) from up north, and she is SOOOO GREAT! We are really different, she's quiet, more reserved, etc. but, wow is her faith BRIGHT! She is a hard worker, and I've felt over the past few days that it's difficult for her to feel discouraged, she is so strong and it's really amazing to be with her all the time.

Our days are jam-packed here, I love how perfectly they are scheduled, but I feel so rushed, and my heart is just aching to be in the mission field! Classes are amazing, and it's interesting to be back in them since I've graduated. The BEST part about classes is that it's more apparent to me more and more every hour my purpose as a missionary!

I'm inviting people to come unto Christ. How great is that?

The gospel is so simple, and it is testified to me over and over again here that Heavenly Father loves ALL of his children all that He wants for us is eternal happiness.

I'll have to admit though, my multiple inadequacies and shortcomings are MORE than apparent here. I've had to really rel on the power and strength of Heavenly Father and my calling to keep me from getting too discouraged. Sadly our first lesson was like a train wreck in slow motion.

But it's the little things that help us pull through. I've run into both of the Sumsion Sisters here (Tabitha and Kelli) and actually had a great conversation with the latter last night. And I've seen so many young sisters from the Brambleton Ward and from my time at BYU. I even ran into some return missionaries (RMs) that are now teachers here (you know they are teachers because they are walking by themselves lol).

I love the Spirit that is here, even though my heart is yearning for Texas. I am trying (and succeeding quite well may I add) at being an exactly obedient missionary (following all of the rules) and reading my Book of Mormon everyday for 30+ minutes! Our branch president gave us those commitments last night.

I love you, and my time is just about up! I want to share one more thing with you before I go though.

One of my teachers, Sister Metzger shared this scripture with us

D&C 100:1 "Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my [friend Sister Lagrosa], your families are well; they are in mine hands, and I will do with them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power."

I know Heavenly Father is with you, and I know that you all are blessed.

Love Always,

Sister Lagrosa

<3

Graduation: BYU Undergraduate Class of 2013!!

If someone asked me 5 years ago what I'd be doing after college I would have just laughed.

But that's me, just a few days ago... with a nice little cap on my head. (And the shirt that lets you know I'm trouble when I walk in ;)

In all honesty I never had plans for after graduation... I think that's why my mind was so set on serving a mission before, so I would have something concrete to come back to. And I was really upset (well mostly scared) when I realized that I needed to stay and finish up school. But I would have missed out on so much.

Namely: The craziest wilderness therapy [presentation] group ever! 

feat: Nicole a.k.a. Munchskiez, Me a.k.a. Abu, Yarelly a.k.a. Ali and (not pictured: Karen a.k.a. Chumpskiez)

we all graduated together (even though Karen missed out on the best part!) :P

I would've missed this girl (Kelsie)

Who was my awesomesauce co-TA in the fall.

And I would've missed out on being the SHORTEST one of my friends! :P

And pictures proving that I'm (even though it's ever so slightly) taller than BOTH my Mom and Father!

even though I'm shorter than my "Daddy-Paul"

and we'd have missed out on this awesomesauce 3:1 parent-kid ratio pic! :P

In short, I'm happy to be a graduate. It's total weirdsuce to me. I've gone from having it all: 2 jobs, an apartment, a car, and a full-time student status in full-productivity mode to being completely job-less, homeless and unproductive in about 2 days... 

I am pretty darn excited for the mission though. :P And the family-time I get to spend before then! 

Why I Want to Serve A Mission

     So as most of you know I am going to serve as a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I've been called to serve for 18 months in the Texas, Lubbock mission! AND I"M SUPER EXCITED!! I got my call about 1 month ago, on February 1st 2013... but it's taken me awhile to get a blog post up, because I haven't really been able to fully express the reasoning behind why I want to serve. 

     I started a countdown to the day I could start my papers during the summer of 2011, I was just excited to get them going, but, clearly, my papers didn't get in a year later. They went in January 6th 2013, after a whirlwind fall semester I spent wondering why the Lord wanted me to wait to go serve. As always though, things really fell into place for me, I have received so much comfort in my call, and I know I am so much better prepared to serve the Lord after the few months that I delayed in turning in my papers. 

     But none of that explained why I want to serve. It's easy for people to be excited for someone to serve, and I know there are a bunch of reasons why I want to go, but I haven't been able to pin-point it down well. Aaand, believe it or not, I don't like to talk about things of importance, unless I really know what I'm talking about (which might be why I'm a little long-winded sometimes... but yeah) sooo here goes nothing:

Some people say that this definition is why they decide to serve a mission (young men get to serve for two years). I learned that families can be eternal when I first started talking with some of the wonderful LDS students at my high school, and learned more about this doctrine when I met with the missionaries and took the discussions. I've learned so much more since those lessons 5 years ago, and I feel that I can appreciate the reality of an eternal family so much more. I know that some of the greatest lessons we can learn, the greatest sorrows we can experience, and the most profound blessings we can experience come from the family. 

     As the only member of the LDS church in my family, it may seem like this definition isn't exactly the best fit for my outlook of missionary service... and if that was your thought, yeah I'd say you'd be right. I think that a lot of people think it's crazy for someone to be totally off the grid, facebook, e-mail, smartphone - free for 18 months!?! Only being able to e-mail family members once a week, and talk to them only on Christmas and Mother's day? Yeah, it sounds pretty crazy, but it's not my work I'm going to be doing it's the Lord's work. I find my reasons to serve rooted in the next three scriptures, the first two explain my faith, and the last one my strength and confidence:

     Moses 1:39- "For behold this is my work and my glory -- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." 

     John 3:17- "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

     2Tim 1:6-10 - "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, 10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel

     I know that Heavenly Father knows and cares about each and every single one of His children. He wants us to know the goodness and potential that we have, and obtain a desire to work to become the best we can be. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer, and that it is through His grace and mercy that I, personally, have been able to slowly become a little bit better every day. The gospel is simple, and it is true. Heavenly Father loves His children, His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ came to the earth to atone for our sins, and it is through our acceptance of Him that we can use His power to make the changes we need to in our lives so that we can one day return to live with our Heavenly Father again. My God is loving, merciful, kind, and just; He knows what we need, and His timing is perfect (especially if we aren't feeling it... kinda like that saying "If you wanna make God laugh just tell Him your plan." yeah, there's definitely some truth in that). Heavenly Father knows how to succor His children, even if it doesn't seem like love to us when He lets us go through those difficult times to make us stronger.

     2Tim 1:6-10 is probably my favorite passage of scripture in the entire standard works. The apostle Paul is writing to his son Timothy, and is reminding him that he has been given gifts from God, that even though fear is natural, that Heavenly Father has given us power, love and soundness of mind. With these gifts, we should not be ashamed of our testimony of Him, and part of that requires us to partake in uncomfortable afflictions. But the best part is that we are never left alone, because God is always with us. We can do no work on our own, only through Him. It's through Christ, through His gospel, that we can truly, truly, progress, and obtain eternal life.
     I think everyone should question themselves on a daily basis, and give serious thought as to how they are living their lives. When I've felt fear, or temptation to stray from the gospel, I've taken the time to ask myself "Do you seriously believe in this?" As I prepare to partake of the sacrament, and review the promises I've covenanted with the Lord I think to myself "So you're in this for life huh?" And when I sit down to read my scriptures every day when I could be studying for a test, or sleeping in, I ask myself "Is this really how you want to spend your time?" I don't always get a positive answer when I'm being honest (especially with the morning scripture study, it's hard for me to get to sleep as it is...), but in the end I know that even though it's hard, and even though I'm weird, (let's be honest Mormons are pretty weird, and I was way weird before I was a member...) I know I'm living my life in a way that I'm being the best me I can be. Even with all my imperfections, unhappiness, and clear shortcomings, Heavenly Father provides a way!

      So over the past couple of months, as I was waiting in agony to get my call, feeling absolutely alone and forgotten at some times, to the day I got my call, the evening I was able to go through the temple, and the past few weeks I've been so terrified to go to a new place where I don't know anyone, and I'm going to be the most stationary I've ever been in my entire life (meaning no traveling), I've asked myself again and again "Why did you sign up for this?" I want to bring people closer to Christ and share the gospel in the way that Heavenly Father has provided me (I've always done stuff my own way, and I'll have the rest of my life to make up my own schedule). I want people to learn about their greatness from His perspective. The world teaches us that we need recognition from others to be great, which I think keeps us from fully being able to accept ourselves. I know that the greatness we can achieve doesn't need to immortalize our names in any history book, but greatness comes as we take upon ourselves an eternal perspective. Then, we can share this love, and confidence with others. Christ is my rock, my Redeemer, the reason that I am alive today, and I want to sacrifice a bit of my time and my desires to understand His life a little bit more, and to share that understanding with others. I know there is a living prophet on the earth today, Thomas Spencer Monson who is the President of our church. A church that was restored by Joseph Smith, who saw God the Father and Jesus Christ in a grove of trees when he was only 14 years old.
     I want to go share the gospel because it is simple, and it is true. I don't have all the answers, and I know that I don't need all of them, because the truth is simple. Heavenly Father loves me, He knows me, and He wants me to return to Him. This is true for everyone, and I want to teach those who are willing to learn, testify to those who can hear, and just generally try to be a good influence to the people I have the privileged of interacting with in this life. My whole life-career goals are centered around helping people become their best them by forsaking things that are holding them back (helping teenagers with substance use/abuse/addiction issues). My deepest desire in life is to help people see their own personal goodness and the goodness in those around them through all of the negative crap that weighs upon us in this life. I want people to make positive changes in the world, and understand that there is more to life than "greatness" or money or the next awesome fruit phone. You are your most important investment, and your purpose has no earthly value.

     So Lubbock, watch out! Sister Lagrosa is on her way! June 5th is when the adventure begins. :)

Love, Sister Heather Ann Lagrosa

Sometimes Unaware of Social Appropriateness or Protocol: Personality Theory

     So, sleep has been evading me.. which I don't think is unusual around this time of the semester... but with all the excitement in my life, I don't think I'll be sleeping normally for awhile. :P
     I feel like I have a lot to share about my life, and that this whole blogging-as-an-online journal thing is pretty sweet, especially for me because I think everyone's individuality is awesome and SHOULD be shared. :P And I feel like a blog helps capture that because someone's actually gotta put some thought into what they're writing, instead of just like "checking in" on FB or twitter.
     ...but yeah, anyway. I really feel like I should've posted something super exciting about my mission call by now, and the awesomeness that is now, and also up ahead :P But I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about everything yet I guess... I mean in addition to the excitement... and I don't think I'd be able to articulate it in the best way at this point anyway... but yeah. So I owe a few blogs, about Christmas, Dad's surgery, my 21st birthday... lots of that kray.
     For now though. Personality theory. I'm an ENFJ/ENFP... definitely more Judging than Perceiving (meaning I need a bit more order than chaos... I like to call it designated unstructured time :P... which is contradictory... not unlike my color personality which is blue-red) :P But I wanted to take a second and word vomit/reflect on one of the 'weaknesses' of this personality type --> "Sometimes unaware of social appropriateness or protocol" Now I laughed out loud when this was read to me, because I am a little bit on the uncouth side of the social appropriateness scale. Part of me LOVES it, I mean, lezbihonest. haha, but at the same time I feel like it's that part of me that has gotten me into a bit of trouble/ kept me from acting more my age. :P
     And sometimes I wonder... dang, how am I going to be a good adult? I mean, I've been sober for a decent amount of time now; and since I don't drink or do drugs... so I can't blame some of my crazy on substance use. And, I know I'm pretty dang mature, because I have a deep desire to commit to the few things in life I know to be true. Also I'm a nurture-er at heart, and I think that being able to take care of people in a non-co-dependent way is a mark of maturity. So there is a lot of that. But I just wonder sometimes... since a lot of social behavior is learned, and since I grew up in a pretty normal white-upper-middle-class-classic-broken-mended-mixed-family-American home; how am I not more aware of social appropriateness/ more inclined to be more in this category?
     It is a flaw of mine to over-think a thing or two, but  I mean, what can I say? If I'm gonna be a missionary for a year and a half, and then try and be a therapist who inspires kids who have been labeled "anti-social" or "substance abusers" shouldn't I be a little more orthodox? I mean sure there's all kinds of people in the world, but I'm already treading on grounds that aren't exactly docile--in the mission field I'm already weird because I'm LDS; and in the psych field I'm weird because of the adult-teen relationship tension--so I mean, that's enough going against me already right? Can I really afford to be socially inappropriate?
     Hm. Well, I guess we'll find out. Thankfully, I do have a sense of decorum. I interview like a boss, and so far my employers have still liked me when my personality has shown through, so that's comforting. Hopefully... hopefully one day, I'll find myself a bit more secure about this particular trait in myself, but I think until then, I can laugh about how I care about social acceptability towards my tendency to be socially un-accepted-ness :P
     And with that, I believe it is time to turn the beat around and get my eyelids some sleep.

God is great, life is good, and people are crazy! :D

p.s. this website (http://www.personalitypage.com/html/ENFJ_rel.html) is a pretty accurate description of the general personality types. :)

No Day But Today

     So there are a few different ways to look at turning 21 I guess. I guess I could mark it by my accomplishments, or evaluate my few years through various shortcomings. I'm not usually one to non-jokingly build myself up when I speak; indeed I'm actually usually prone to be more negative about the things inside myself, especially the thought processes that precede my actions... But I can see, and I have learned to find joy in my accomplishments and hope for the continuation of positive experiences in my life.

     From age 11-16 I viewed turning 21 as being a bad-a college kid who didn't have to commit status offenses when she wanted to have fun with her friends. Then about 5 years ago I woke up in the emergency room of a hospital. I don't remember much about that visit, but the parts I have are vivid. My first thought, crap... now my parents know I've been drinking... What I didn't understand then is that even an invincible, limitless teenager (like myself) could become an alcoholic. I had the special predisposed genetics that sent "dang-this-is-the-bomb!" signals to my  developing brain when I would have a drink, and it was cool when I was 12 to like the burning that comes from sipping on straight liquor.

     A short 4 days after my 16th birthday, 1 December 2007, I drank an entire bottle of rum in about an hour, a small one, but it was still about 16-20 oz of this really cheap rum. For those of you who don't know what a drink is, a 1/2oz of hard liquor is considered 1 drink. And it takes about an hour for the alcohol dehydrogenase in your body to break it down. So in an extremely short time period I downed the equivalent of more than 30 drinks even though my mind blacked about about half way through the bottle, my body kept going, and my blood alcohol levels shot through the roof.

     Somewhere between comatose and complete-heart-and-other-organ failure I was on the phone with my friend Jacy. She was semi-used to getting  a drunk call from me every so often, but there was something different about this time. She knelt with her mom and prayed for me. Even though she knew that I might hate her for telling my parents that I was drinking, she felt that I needed help. An ambulance came and EMTs carried me down the 2 flights of stairs in our townhouse after my parents found me stumbling around my bedroom.

     I woke up strapped to a hospital bed, among the blur that is my memory of that night I remember someone telling me that it was a miracle that I was alive, and my blood alcohol was over 5x the legal limit... somewhere between coma and death.  I remember not even caring that I'd just escaped death, and then questioning why I didn't care. In the days that followed I asked myself what I was thinking drinking that much, and why the heck I survived that night...

     I didn't understand then, and I still don't quite understand now why exactly impacting events like this one have to be in my life. How I'm the luckiest person I know escaping near-death situations, and having the best of friends to be examples to me when my head starts to straighten out. I didn't understand that the actions I was taking to try and control some emotions or give me an illusion of control over my life, were actually taking control away from me. I never thought I would be scared to turn 21.

     Just a few weeks ago I felt some anxiety about becoming fully legal, the idea of being able to buy alcohol whenever I would want to just filled me with guilt, and hopelessness... Even though I have intense desires to drink sometimes, I know that my desire to stay sober is greater. So I found myself again questioning why? How can I desire something that I really don't want, with enough intensity to induce some anxiety? Well, that's how addiction works sometimes.

     In some moments over the years I've forgotten just how simple the gospel is.
 
 2 Tim 1: 6-10
          6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
          7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
          8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
           9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
           10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel

     In verse 7 Paul states that God hath not given us the spirit of fear. We are all here to work together and to help each other out, humans are not solitary creatures. I've been able to meet many individuals from quite a few countries in my short time on this earth, and it's interesting to see how uniquely amazing each person's light is. Many apostles have continually reminded LDS church members that others should come to know Christ by knowing them; how you live your life a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should testify of Christ. The first example of that I had was with my friend Jacy, we were so opposite, but she was patient; she and her family got to know me, and let make mistakes, let me find who I was without forcing my potential upon me. They encouraged me to be better, even though consistent mistakes were more than prevalent in my actions. But it was in large part because they were partakers of the afflictions of the gospel, that I was able to survive that night in December. Simple, consistent actions testified of Christ. And when looked back at what made sense in my life when my head cleared up enough to have sober thoughts, I was able to make a decision that the afflictions of the gospel would be better to suffer than the afflictions of the world.

     I've experienced 21 years of life, the last 5 years of which I've been sober from a drug that introduced me to some of the darker of my character traits, as well as some other addictions... but life is worth it. I know that the time we have on earth is short, it's full of heartache, and sometimes a couple of hospital visits. We all learn in different ways, but in the end all the answers are simple.
   
     A Jewish proverb states: "Who you are is God's gift to you, what you make of yourself is your gift to God."

     A friend of mine once told me: "God will make more of me than I could ever make of myself."

     I have to choose every day, and sometimes more often than that, to give my life to Heavenly Father. It's kinda like my ADD meds, I can take 'em and focus, but I still need to DO. Heavenly Father gives me strength, Christ's Atonement justifies my sin, and sanctifies me, I am given opportunity to BECOME better. God's hand is everywhere in my life, especially in the details. I'm the luckiest person I know, and even though there is an abhorrent amount of adversity, guile, sadness, rudeness, disrespect, and hate in the world, there is nothing that can't be overcome with some help. Bad stuff happens, and so does good stuff. My trials aren't easy, but no one's are, and I know for a fact that my life has been infinitely more simple and easy than the lives of many others, but I'm becoming, I'm progressing, I'm preparing; and while I am thinking about and planning the future, there is only need to take my life one day at a time.

The Church is True!
God is great, life is good, and people are crazy... just like they should be :)

<3>

Day 1: A Picture of You and 15 Facts

So I've decided to do a 100 day picture challenge. :) Get excited!

1. I am a grateful, happy member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints.
2. Hugs are my favorite.
3. I feel weird without a knife in my pocket.
4. Purple and sparkles are my two favorite colors.
5. I'm turning 21 tomorrow.
6. I'm the luckiest person I know.
7. I'm soon to be a college graduate.
8. I love to learn, but I'm not the biggest fan of tests.
9. My favorite scripture is 2Timothy 1:6-10, especially verse 7 (:
10. I've escaped death at least three times.
11. Airports are like another home to me.
12. I love the idea of being a minimalist, but I feel like I need to be prepared for everything, so I have a decent amount of crap.
13. I want to work with "at-risk" adolescents and addicts when I get a big-girl job.
14. I dig research and writing about stuff.
15. I'm extremely normal... meaning, I'm pretty normal over all, but I live at the outliers. ;)