At the end of each month, I look through all my photos from the past month or two and I remember all the stuff I’ve gotten to do. The past couple months have been full of new adventures. I am so glad that I don’t go up to school until September because I’ve had so many opportunities to do things this summer. I’m grateful for the time I have to hang out with people and to go on adventures near home that I would have otherwise missed. I have had a lot of time to hang out with some pretty cool people before everyone goes off to school. My sister has been home from school for the summer and it has been a blast to have her home! Sophie and I have gone on a lot of fun little adventures. Including lots of beach days and random photoshoots. I’ve gotten to hang out with the raddest people and I’ve realized that I may not get to see them after I leave for school. Soph is pretty much a pro photographer, so I have lots of pictures from this summer so far. We have found our new favorite beach and I am so stoked about it. It isn’t ever crowded and the waves aren't super rough either. It is private so we have to get one of our friends to call us into the gate (it’s not illegal. I promise, Mom.) But it’s the nicest beach I have ever been to. I never like going to the beach because I always used to see people that I know there and I just don’t like that.
I’m so glad I have gotten to do this fun stuff before I go up to school! I don’t leave for another month and I was worried that I would get more nervous about going to school. But I really think I’m ready and I know it is the right thing for me to be doing right now. I’ve been getting everything together to move up with me and I’m getting more and more excited. I’m grateful for the opportunity to go up to school and I can’t wait to see where it takes me!
0 Comments
A couple weeks ago, I was jammin’ in the car with Sophie at a stoplight. One thing you need to know about Sophie in order to catch what I’m throwing at you is that Soph likes to jam in the car with the volume way up. Whenever Soph is driving, there is a lot of dancing in the car (car dancing is my favorite sport ;). And it can look wierd to other people when the windows are up and they can’t hear the music. People might think we are crazy (and we kinda are), but because they can’t hear like we can, it is confusing to them.
I have a bunch of friends that don’t know much about what I believe, so when I do things and make decisions based on my faith in the gospel, they don’t understand. There was a kid in one of my classes last year that knew I was a member of the church and he would always ask me questions about my faith and the church and he was always really respectful about it. When he learned about how we went to church for three hours instead of one on Sundays and that we fasted and gave tithes once a month, he was confused as to why people were willing to do such things. I did my best to explain that we do these things because we want it to become closer to our Savior and our Heavenly Father. He proceeded to ask what we got out of it, so I explained to him that we make these small sacrifices because in return, we get blessings from Heavenly Father. After talking to him for a couple more minutes, I could see that he wasn’t exactly getting it. So I explained that I have received so many blessings for going to church and paying tithing. He asked me if I thought that the blessings I received were worth the things I did for God. I responded that they were and told him that the blessings well outweighed the sacrifices I make. Just as people don’t understand why we dance when they can’t hear our music, they don’t understand why we keep the commandments and make sacrifices for our faith because they haven’t felt the spirit and recieved the blessings that we have. But the best part about it is that we can help teach them and we will be able to help them come to be familiar with feeling the spirit. In the beginning, the dance may be a little awkward, but as we become familiar with the teachings of the gospel, it will become second nature. Last year in seminary, we had a girl start coming that wasn’t yet a member of the church. You could tell that in the beginning she was a little uncomfortable, but as she learned to recognize the spirit, she grew to know the spirit so well. I can tell you that some of the coolest experiences have happened when I am around people who are learning about the gospel. A couple years ago I got to watch one of my friends start coming to church. It was really cool to watch as she learned more about the gospel. I’ll never forget when I got to be in the room when she said her very first prayer. You could tell it was a little awkward for her to be talking to Heavenly Father for the first time in front of a bunch of people. But He doesn’t care if it’s awkward, Heavenly Father is always happy when you choose to talk to him. I felt so blessed to be there and get to see this person change and grow so much. I’m so grateful for all of the opportunities I’ve had to share testimony with people. I know that the more you share your testimony, not only does it help other people’s grow, it helps yours grow too. If you listen to the spirit, you will know what to say to others. Remember they may feel awkward at first, but eventually it will become second nature. You just have to go for it! |
My name is Ellie. I am a sophomore at BYU Idaho. I am excited to live life and to share a small piece of it with you!
Archives
May 2019
Categories
All
Links |