Edification, Happiness, Wish Fulfillment, and Reality Checks...

Here's my 2 cents on General Conference this past weekend, as promised...

This past year, my grandparents started a tradition of taking the grandkids who've recently turned twelve up to General Conference. This weekend, it was my brother, Jace, and my cousin, Parker's, turn. Lucky for me, they came down from Salt Lake to pick up a refugee for the weekend from Provo.

Me and Jace being "G"...p.s. That's Jace's hat. I own no such thing :)

Jace, Karli, Parker

on the tram to Temple Square Sunday morning

"The Morning Breaks..."

An Ensign to the Nations

Holiness to the Lord

They even had an extra conference ticket, so I got to go to the Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning sessions. Needless to say, I spent the weekend stuffing myself on delicious food and spiritual edification.

This is what I got out of it, personally:

• I need to continue to build my testimony of the living prophets
• Ponder on my eternal roles. ex: ...great-granddaughter, granddaughter, daughter, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother...
• Optimism!
• Be an influence for good in others' lives. Be assertive and intentional in being a part of other people's lives
• Don't spend too much time thinking about the things I don't need to know yet. Be content with just knowing I'm doing a good job.
• I can be doing better!
• Trust the Lord through everything so He can use me for His purposes at a moment's notice.

Of course there are countless lessons to be gleaned from that huge tidal wave of spiritual strength we received, but those were my immediate afterthoughts. Can't wait for the Ensign!

Moving on...I always feel like I start writing, and then I can't stop, so my posts are always huge. Oh well. Here goes!

Happiness...

Weather tonight, accompanied by hail!

Need I say words? The running joke here is that you can always tell who the AZ kids are because it starts raining, and they all go outside. But seriously? Sitting outside the HFAC on a bench with my best friend in the rain? Life doesn't get much better, folks. The weather this week has been glorious! 50's with random rainstorms. And there's officially snow on Mr. Timpanogos! I walked out of work into the rain this afternoon and literally started giggling like a mad person. I was so happy! I flew down the hill on my bike with my hair down, getting soaked in the process, while all the silly people with umbrellas looked at me funny. I'm just sad I missed all the crazy AZ storms...

And of course BYU football provides some occasional fun... Honestly, I could care less about football, and I know we've been playing like crap. Good news: the defensive coordinator was fired after our last game, so hopefully this week will be a bit better. Nevertheless, it's still so much fun to go to the games with my group of old MVT friends.

Aaron and Emily

Me, Nathan, and Markie walking down to the game.

so my best friend eats melted fruit snack goo....so what?

Let's go, Cougars!

It being Homecoming Week, BYU is full of crazy traditions right now... Some schools celebrate Homecoming with crazy parties and getting drunk...Today, Cougars celebrated despite the rain, by sliding down giant slip-n'-slides of BLUE FOAM! At the bottom of the hill, the foam literally came up to your knees. People were laying down in it and disappearing. It was freezing, but so worth it! And everyone came out stained blue.

 

 It was almost as good as I imagine swimming in Jell-O would be. My friend summed it up best when he said we'd fulfilled a childhood dream we never knew we had!

So much for BYU being a bubble....Reality Check.

I was under the impression that I understood people. That my first impressions are relatively accurate. I know I had a sheltered life, growing up in the East Mesa bubble (which really is a bubble), but I was aware of the world and the evils in it. Guess what. It all happens at BYU, just a little more hidden. Funny, though, no one seems to be making any sort of effort to hide it. Couples making out in the parking lots, despite the lack of tinted windows. Smoking behind buildings?! Dude, you're gonna get caught! People can smell it!!! Outbursts of profanity in casual conversation. The worst was the other night, I walked into the hall lobby to make a phone call, and my RA, an FHE sister, and one of the ward Relief Society Presidents were sitting there in hushed, giggly conversation. I finished my call and sat down to join them. They were swapping kissing stories. Ok, no big deal. I had nothing to add to the conversation due to my complete and utter lack of experience in said topic so I was just listening in mild amusement, but soon they moved on to the make-out stories. 12 guys last year?! seriously? and these were the parents-out-of-town make-out stories. Then they started swapping hickey-hiding and removal tricks and the most embarrassing spots where they've had to try and hide them...or not try to hide them because normal modest clothing should have covered just fine... I'm not even going to mention what they went into after that... What am I missing here?! Or what are they missing?! I'm not trying to judge. Just understand. These guys they're talking about are pre-missionaries! Don't they get that we're supposed to be helping them be ready to leave to serve the Lord for 2 years??? Don't they understand how much potential harm they're causing? That boys are programmed differently and that it's dangerous? The attitude with which they talked was just casual and silly and fun. They have no clue. I wanted to say something! To stand up and defend those boys! But mostly I was just in shock. Sometimes, girls are shallow. Myself included, but honestly, I'm so glad was the only sister for so long with 4 little brothers, have only boy cousins my age, and a dad who drilled into me the way boys work. So, just know pre-missionaries, I've got your back, and there are those of us who can't wait for you to save the world by serving the Lord.