Searching For Answers

I've recently read a talk given by S. Michael Wilcox. It's an amazing talk that really inspired me to have a greater and more true faith. Here's my favorite excerpts from it:

"When I was younger, I often read Jesus’ promise regarding prayer: “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24). I thought this meant I would get what I wanted if I simply believed strongly enough. But there was always a doubt in my mind, and I felt the doubt showed lack of faith. I knew the Lord could grant my requests, but would He? I was trying to manufacture faith in a request instead of in the grantor of the request. While our requests of God may be righteous, our faith must be in a being, and that being is merciful and kind and delights in the happiness of His children. We have the assurance that the Father we address in prayer “giveth liberally.” But there are also times when all we desire is not granted. Knowing the character of our Father in Heaven, we can be assured in these cases that His wisdom is best, and we demonstrate our continued faith in Him by accepting His answers."

"...Before he went into the Sacred Grove, the Prophet Joseph Smith’s “mind was called up to serious reflection” (JS—H 1:8). I believe our Heavenly Father anticipates that we will reflect seriously about the concerns we bring to Him. This lesson was taught to the brother of Jared when the Lord asked him to ponder the problem of light in the barges (see Ether 2:22–25; Ether 3:1–6; Ether 6:2–3). Sometimes when I pray, I can imagine the Lord saying, “What do you think about the matter?” There is something very humbling in knowing He really does care what we think. Perhaps this is what Alma meant when he taught his son Helaman to “counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good” (Alma 37:37; emphasis added). Serious reflection allows me to bring something to our counseling session when I approach my Father in prayer."

"...When life’s answers don’t match our expectations, it is important to realize that the Lord “doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world” (2 Ne. 26:24)."

"...One of the greatest lessons I have learned from the First Vision is the need to act on the answers God gives us. The Lord can shape and transform our lives when we are willing to respond. But when He answers, will we believe? Can we meet the challenges the answer may bring? Are we willing to testify of the truths we receive? Will we follow the Lord’s counsel? Our responses to these questions largely determine the life-changing efficacy of our communication with our Father in Heaven."

The italicized portions are the portions that really hit me the most. I feel like I've come to a crossroads in my life, and have been searching for an answer as to what path I should take. As I've prayed about this decision and studied it out logically as well as spiritually, I've felt at peace with my realization that I need finish up my last bit of school and then focus on my career right now...and that God will direct me otherwise if I need to be somewhere else. Reading this talk this morning really reaffirmed that and made me realize what an amazing sense of peace and comfort comes from God when we truly have faith in Him. Gosh I love morning scripture/talk study :)

Peace It Together

Found this on Ad Age this morning. It's a not for profit film program in Canada that helps kids from Isreal, Palestine, and Canada better understand each other, in an attempt to eventually stop the hatred between their countries. It really touched my heart, you should check it out if you have a chance...

Sleep? Who Sleeps?

Friday. First week under the belt. Phew.

Recap

work: roughly 40 hours
sleep: 32 hours
play: 25 hours
parties attended: 4 (made the VIP list for 2...NBA draft and S.I.C. ...crazy)


New York is a crazy non-stop place. I love my internship, and have learned so much already in the first week here.

I miss being able to see landscapes though! It's crazy only ever being able to see buildings and sky. Definitely would have to have weekend getaways every single weekend if I ever moved here.

New York, NY!!!!

First impressions about the big NYC...
1. NYC=the Paris of America=Awesome
2. oh my gosh endless amounts of fun
3. do people ever sleep? doubt it.
4. umm...what's with this rain business in practically July?
5. LOVE MY INTERNSHIP!!!

The things I miss...
1. the mountains
2. the ocean
3. the girls
4. climbing
5. clean air :)


New York City has been amazing so far. It reminds me so much of Paris...minus the French thing of course. Ok, so maybe it's mostly the HUGE city and Metro thing. I have met the most amazing and friendly people out here! I love my internship, I love my cute little apartment, and I love my new friends. Pictures to come shortly :)

Powerful Beyond Measure

I have to admit, I've been slightly nervous for the big internship to start...ok fine, when I actually sit and think about it, I'm scared to death for the first day of it!

My mom sent me the following quote from Marianne Williamson and it just made my day:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Awesome.

NYC!!!

Excitement is starting to set in...

Plane ticket: check.
Apartment: check.
Car service: check.
Internship: check.
Packing: errrr...

I could jump up and down, I'm so excited!

Non-Stop Life!

Huntington Beach with the girls

Dear Life,

Do you ever slow down or become predictable? I'm starting to think you don't. Not that I'm complaining because I love you oh so much. I mean, hey, Southern California, beautiful Utah, and New York City all in one week? Nah, you shouldn't have!

xoxo

B

PS in case you didn't hear, I'm moving to NYC for the rest of the summer to intern!!! And I'm super excited for it.

The Girls

One word: Rockstars.
Life just would not be the same without these chicas.
Love you all
xoxo

Friiiiiiiiiiiiiday!!!!!

10 Reasons I'm excited it's Friday:

1. I'm having dinner tonight at my favorite restaurant with my favorite girl friends. Photos to follow, I promise.
2. I got A LOT done in the AdLab this week.
3. I should find out about NY today...
4. I'm going to California tomorrow for a long weekend!
5. Less than a week until I'm in MOAB for another glorious weekend!
6. My mom is back home so I can go back to calling her again every day.
7. I'm finally feeling not so sick, after an intensely sick week. blech.
8. I don't have to work again til Wednesday.
9. It's exactly 2 months to my birthday from today.
10. I talked to every single one of my family members at least once this week. Accomplishment, for sure. I just love 'em.

The Inner Workings

Ever wonder what I'm thinking about when you get a blank stare from me? ...here's the most recent list:

-why oh why is life so confusing???
-how much does housing in Manhattan cost?
-mmm I love long hot showers...
-and I love gyms...
-and my friends.
-dangit I forgot to buy groceries. again.
-how is it 2 am already? eesh.

I know, I'm deep.

Comical Observations from the BC 04/30/09

key guide:
BC=Belmont Clubhouse/pool area
Belmontian=Resident

best BC moment:
Ash and I brought bagels and a bag of Doritos down to the pool to snack on while we soaked up the sun. As we were laying there sunglasses on, ipods in, faces in our books, munching on bagels, our favorite Belmontian--whom we have since lovingly nicknamed D-Dud--came up and started talking to us. The conversation went as follows:

DD: hey what's up girls
US: oh, you know, just enjoying the sun
DD: yeah bummer it's cloudy right now. ha. Oh hey, you brought Doritos out here.
US: (still munching on bagels) Yup, just in case we're still hungry.
DD: (picks up the bag of doritos, flips it over...AND STARTS READING OFF THE NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION!!!) Yeah, I'm not really eating as much carbs and stuff right now with the image I'm going for.
ME: (no longer able to contain laughter)
DD: seriously though.
US: oh...well.......that's nice.

most bizarre:
After spending the entire day at the pool, Ash and I were about to leave, when suddenly we look up and a guy is walking into the pool area holding an ALLIGATOR. Yes, a real, live alligator. Granted, it was only about 3 feet long...but still. Shocked? Most definitely. The shock only increased as we shamelessly gawked at him as he put his alligator into the pool! As in the pool that we had been swimming in earlier. I think our thought process was the same. oh. my. gosh.

best quote:
Random girl in pool, talking to a guy she was with: "oh my gosh your nipples are like seriously close together." The look on the boy's face was priceless.


Oh the entertainment we find at the BC.

The Belmont Summer Extravaganza

It's a fact, the Belmont Pool is the most entertaining place to people watch in all of Provo. Everyone in P-town seems to hate on Belmont, and I in no way am trying to do that with this summer-time edition to my blog. I myself am a Belmontian, so trust me, I'm not a hater. I just like a good laugh :)

After spending a couple weekends at the pool with a few different friends, we've decided that some of the incidents we experience poolside at the good ol' BC are just too good to keep to ourselves. The proposal? Keep a summer-long blog complete with BC photos, quotes, and stories. We hope you enjoy the posts to come!