Institute

Institute is amazing.
I can't get enough of it.
It definitely gets me through the week.

Remembering who I am

Yesterday, my roommates and I went to the Color Festival in Spanish Fork. On our way down, we had lunch at my house in Orem and I was able to spend time with my family. My dad wrote my roommates and I a card about how much he loved having us over for lunch, to remember who we are while we were at the Color Festival and to remember our standards. He included some money for us to grab dinner on the way back also.

The Color Festival was fun. There were all kinds of characters. Young families, crazy teenage girls, high school boys running around with their shirts off and many others. It was a great time for me to be with my roommates, who I love so much. I always feel like I can be myself around them and I know that we have the same standards.

As we were walking back from the festival, there was a group of guys with rainbow colored stomachs, running in between traffic and with cigarettes in hand. They were swearing, spitting on people's cars and jumping into people's truck beds.

I was really bothered by this. Sometimes people can be so disrespectful. I was bugged by how rude they were to the people around them and how stupid they acted.

That made me think about the kind of guy that I want to marry.

I want to marry someone like my dad.

My dad is always respectful of everyone, he recognizes the little things in life that may seem small to some (like giving us money, so us poor college kids could have a great meal) and showing me a great example of a loving man and father.

Believing in a God

A few of my good friends have experienced extreme heartache the past few weeks.
One lost her brother last week.
One has a friend in a life-threatening condition due to a bus accident.

Even though it's hard for some people to believe that there is a God when we are surrounded by experiences like these.

We MUST remember, God gives us trials to make us stronger. It refines us. It gives us chances to grow.

Through him, we learn to rely on him, look to him and search for comfort.

"Earth life includes tests, trials, and tribulations, and some of the trials we face in life can be excruciating. Whether it be illness, betrayal, temptations, loss of a loved one, natural disasters, or some other ordeal, affliction is part of our mortal experience. Many have wondered why we must face difficult challenges. We know that one reason is to provide a trial of our faith to see if we will do all the Lord has commanded" -Paul V. Johnson, a member of the seventy for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

God bless each of my friends. Their strength through these times are incredible.

service trip

last week, i went on a service trip as my spring break with the service center on campus.

i had an amazing opportunity to volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House.

if you are unfamiliar of the Ronald McDonald House, it is a non-profit organization that houses families who have children in critical conditions, going through constant surgeries and who possibly may die soon. it is across the street from the hospital and it gives the families of those children, a place to live for up to 8 week, meals, clothing and all the amenities of a hotel and more.

i met a woman named suzanne, who was in charge of scheduling volunteers, collecting donations, etc.
i have honestly never met such a humble person in my life.
she had such a deep heart and i know that she sincerely cared about all the families they were caring for.

i was assigned to clean up the exterior grounds of the facility and making food for the meals. i was able to get to know a few of the other volunteers and even though it wasn't as long as i would have liked, i am glad i was able to help out.

how would it be if your life was dedicated to service?

i hope one day i can be a woman like suzanne, who dedicates her life to bettering those around her.

the crew

i also was able to volunteer at a local park.

our group build compost bins, pulled out bushes, pulled weeds and planted flowers.
it was a ton of work, but so worth it.

hilary, kaitlin, joel, kenna & will

shelby & i

the crew

i was also able to volunteer at Feeding America.

myself, along with 21 other college kids had the opportunity to package beans-which will be sent out to families who are food insecure. one of the shocking things i heard was, one in four children in the San Diego area are food insecure. many of them have no idea where their next meal will be from.

can you imagine that?

even though i am a college kid with a tight budget, i have never been to the point that i don't know how i'll eat.
growing up, i was always blessed with food in the cupboards, hot meals and occasionally eating out. if anything this trip showed me, how truly blessed i am.

like the ronald mcdonald house, they survive based on donations. they have local farmers, local businesses and big name brand stores...constantly donating and brightening families' futures. god bless them.

angie, will, kaeleena, leah, me & kaitlin

the crew

another project we did, was cleaning up Flinn Springs, a county park in California.
 just your typical yard clean up job, we weeded, raked, picked up trash, etc.

me & leah

rachel, liz, me, kaeleena, joel, will, angie, bri, kenna & leah

another clean up we did was a beach clean-up on the border of Imperial Beach and Tijuana

it was super fun. we broke into teams and had competitions on who got the most trash, funkiest trash and other random prizes. haha.

minus running into mexican border patrol telling us we were in an unsafe part, it was pretty great.

even though a beach clean-up may seem a little less service empowering, for me... like the ronald mcdonald house or feeding america, it was still a great opportunity

the crew

i was so blessed to meet a lot of new friends and have a lot of crazy fun adventures.

spring break

i'm heading to california for spring break.
i cannot wait!
i'm going with the service center on campus.
we are going to be blessed to be...
volunteering at a homeless shelter,
doing some beach clean-ups,
going to the ronald mcdonald house,
hitting up the beach,
knottsberry farm.

Relying

Life is crazy.
Being overwhelmed gets me frustrated.
But, allowing myself to rely completely on my Heavenly Father to get through this week is making it much easier.
When you are willing to give the Lord some of your day (scripture study, prayer, service, etc.)
He is more than willing to magnify your time and speak peace to your soul.

Just woke up.
Slept for 12 hours.
I feel better a bit.
Hopefully, I will feel better soon.