SUPER SUNDAY!

Oh my goodness!  Today was wonderful!  It all started this morning at 6 when I woke up feeling so much better than I have for a week!  I finally feel like I am going to feel better someday...hopefully within the week!  I met Tish in the kitchen and we threw together our Taco Soup dinner.  It was so fun to be up early and preparing for the Sabbath.  It reminded me a lot of being home and doing those same kinds of things with my mom.  I then took some time to finish up the final preparation on my Temple Prep lesson.  Karlene, thank you so much for the comment you left on my blog about blessings that you receive from going to the temple!  Your comment helped and inspired me!  As I was eating my oatmeal and looking back through my notes for my lesson, a thought came to my mind to share this story:

If you haven't read this book, I would highly encourage you to do so!  You can even borrow mine!  I received this book a long time ago from my parents for Christmas and I just love the message it shares...and it happened to go right along with my lesson.  I am so thankful for the inspiration that comes from a loving Heavenly Father!  Church was wonderful!  Sacrament Meeting was all about charity and it just got me so motivated to work on developing that Christlike Attribute.  I am so thankful for the example of the Savior and so many others around me who have that attribute.  I am thankful that I can look up to them.  My lesson went so good!  Not that I presented it amazingly or anything but because class members were so excited to learn and participate!  The Spirit was there.  It made me fall in love with my calling even more! 

After church, we had another apartment over for lunch.  It was so much fun to get to know those girls better!  By the time we had finished our lunch, we had a whole apartment full of people and we were having a great time laughing and talking.  I am loving where I live because I am surrounded by such good people!  We all decided at about 3 that we were ready for a nap.  At 5:15 we headed up to campus as a group for the 1st Annual Valley-Wide Young Adult Devotional.  Elder Ronald A. Rasband, Senior President for the Presidency of the Seventy, spoke to us.  It was sooo good.  He focused on reaching out to the lost sheep and bringing them back to the fold.  

It helped me reflect on the many amazing miracles I saw throughout my mission as inactive or less-active members came back to full activity and enjoyed the wonderful joy and blessings of the gospel.  It reminded me of the awesome experience I had during my mission to be taught by Elder Rasband and Elder M. Russell Ballard.  It was a little push to remind me to continue doing things to reach out to those that are lost.  It was a great opportunity to make new goals and recommit myself to be a better disciple of Christ.  

Also, during the fireside, I had a few other random pieces of inspiration: some having to do with how I can improve my personal prayers...yes!, some having to do with people I needed to call tonight.  So when I got home, I made several phone calls and had some great conversations!  I love when Heavenly Father tells me to do simple things and I actually do them because sometimes He also lets me know why, and sometimes those little simple things produce miracles.  Love that!  Anyway, today was just a really, really good Sunday.  And, to top it off, my little brother Corb called me and told me that his mission papers were submitted tonight!  He could get his call in a week and a half, which is the same day that I would be in SL for my doctor's appointment...PERFECT!  So please pray that Corb will get his call on October 19th.  Thank you. 

I am the luckiest girl!

Mom, Brooke, Lincoln, and Carter came to Logan this weekend!  My family is so good at making weekend trips to come and spend time with me but I never want to make them feel like they have to because their lives are so busy, especially during the weekend!  But my mom had planned to come up this weekend about a month ago with my dad, Carli, and Corbin.  There were a few things that came up so they all couldn't come but my Mom still wanted to and Brooke ended up being able to come too.  The timing was perfect!  After being sick in bed for 3 days and still not feeling well I wanted my family!  Don't get me wrong, I was very well taken care of others during the week, but there is just something about family that is different.  So they came and it was absolutely wonderful and a blessing for me!  They arrived at about 4:30 yesterday!  When they arrived we were all hungry so we went to dinner at Cafe Sabor.  It was delish!  We stayed in a hotel and just had a relaxing and chill night!  We watched Monsters Inc. with the boys and, after they had fallen asleep, we stayed up talking and laughing until midnight!  We all slept in this morning until 9...unbelievable!  We all must have been really tired!  We grabbed a bite to eat at the breakfast room, got ready, and then headed out for the day!  I had heard that there was a little "Boo at the Zoo" day at the Willow Park Zoo here in Logan so we took Carter and Lincoln.  It was so cute and the boys had so much fun!  We stayed there until 1:30 and then stopped to get some lunch at Firehouse.  Mmmmm.  Lincoln kept saying that he wanted to go back to Logan.  We couldn't figure out what he was saying until we made the connection that in his mind, Logan was my apartment.  We had to laugh about that one!  We came back to my apartment and just hung out for a bit.  The boys found the gun to the "Duck Hunt" game for the super old Nintendo sitting on our TV cabinet.  We had never hooked the Nintendo up but I decided that it might be fun for them to play with.  It was fun for them, but it became a serious competition between Brooke, my mom, and me.  We kept trying to beat each other's records with the number of ducks we could shoot per round!  We were cracking up!  At about 4:00 everyone was tired, especially the little ones.  They packed up and headed out.  It was hard to see them leave but I loved the weekend with them!  I really am the luckiest girl alive!  Thanks so much for coming!  I love you!

Brooke and Mom enjoying chips and salsa!

Carter was not too happy about taking a pic...all he wanted to do was go outside and see the train track.

Linc is such a good little buddy!

I was so happy to have these two little dudes in Logan!

It is a MUST to stop at the Bluebird and ice up a few chocolates for a late night snack:)

Carter and Lincoln LOVE Thomas the train!  They had so much fun playing with Thomas at the hotel.

Cart loves his hat from Grandpa B.!  The hat was needed with the chilly weather that has blown in!

The first two pictures with Curious George are cute but this third one is definitely my favorite!  Love you, Mom!

The kids had so much fun playing games, winning prizes, getting their faces painted, making crafts, and looking at all of the animals!

By the time we got to lunch after the zoo, both of the boys were pretty tired, but they were still troopers!

I have a HUGE favor to ask

This Sunday I have to teach a lesson.  A few weeks ago I was called as Temple Prep teacher in my student ward.  I have taught a lot within different church callings and assignments but this is definitely the most intimidated and humbled that I have felt.  I have a wonderful class and it keeps on growing so that makes me excited.  The lesson this Sunday is "Temple Work Brings Greater Blessings into Our Lives".  With General Conference, I have had almost two whole weeks to prepare this lesson.  It has been on my mind and the topic of my scripture study.  I have learned a lot but I still feel a little stumped as to how Heavenly Father wants me to present this amazing lesson by the Spirit.  I think about the blessings that I have received and they seem to be custom-fit for my life and circumstances.  It came to me last night, that I should ask all of you wonderful followers to comment on this post and share what blessings you have received from going to the temple or just from having temples around us.  I don't care if it is one word or a few paragraphs...anything would be appreciated!  Thank you so much!

Just in case you don't have anything better to do...

Yes, I should be in class right now.  Normally I have class from 8:30-3:45 on Thursday's, however, when my alarm went of at 6:30 this morning I was feeling just as crumby as I was yesterday....sore throat, cough, ear pain, achy, chills, headache, fever....and I knew I wasn't going to make it to class.  I was thankful that I was prompted last night to send an e-mail to my professors telling them that I might not make it to class today because of how I was feeling yesterday.  I was really hoping that I would be feeling better today since I started my antibiotic for my ear infection yesterday around noon, but, it obviously needs a little more time to kick in.  I do have to say that I have been soooo blessed since the beginning of the semester that this is the only time that I have been in bed sick during the week.  With how the summer went, I just wasn't sure how I was going to do school, but Heavenly Father is watching over me and helping me.  Yesterday wasn't bad being sick.  I slept a lot, tried to get some homework done, listened to a few conference talks, and enjoyed watching "Despicable Me" with Tish and Wendi last night.  But I can already tell that I am going to go a little stir crazy today because I don't feel like I can do anything of worth.  A second day in bed is enough for me!  So now I return to the title of this blogpost, "Just in case you don't have anything better to do..."  If you live in the Logan area, if you just happen to have a few hours of empty time, and if you are in the mood to watch a movie or do something way chill, please let me know!  (This is kind of a joke, but kind of not.  If you really don't have anything better to do, seriously, I would love to watch a movie with you.  I don't have any make-up on and I am chillin' in my sweats but I did take a shower this morning:))

General Conference Reading Calendar

So, as I mentioned a couple of days ago in my blog post, I made up a reading calendar of all of the conference talks that were given this past weekend, plus the talks that were given during the General Relief Society Meeting a few weeks ago.  I figured about 4 days per talk so that I could really study it in-depth.  I would love for any of you to read along with me.  You can find all of the conference talks here.  I will probably post often about my feelings and what I learn from the conference talks...so please feel free to leave your comments as well!  That way, we can all learn from each other!  Dayna, thank you so much for your cute comment on my blog!  It made me so excited to know that you want to read all of the conference talks as well!  For those of you who don't know, Dayna and I first met when we were in 1st Grade.  Now she is married and has 2 adorable little boys of her own!  I am so thankful that we are still in touch, due to all of the amazing technologies we have available to us.  I hope things are going well, Dayna!  And happy reading to all of you!

October 9, 2011 - RS - Julie B. Beck

October 13, 2011 - RS - Silvia H. Allred

October 17, 2011 - RS - Barbara Thompson

October 21, 2011 - RS - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

October 25, 2011 - Sat. M - Elder Richard G. Scott

October 29, 2011 - Sat. M - Barbara Thompson

November 2, 2011 - Sat. M - Elder L. Whitney Clayton

November 6, 2011 - Sat. M - President Thomas S. Monson

November 10, 2011 - Sat. M - Elder Jose L. Alonso

November 14, 2011 - Sat. M - President Boyd K. Packer

November 18, 2011 - Sat. M - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

November 22, 2011 - Sat. A - Elder David A. Bednar

November 26, 2011 - Sat. A - Elder Neil L. Andersen

November 30, 2011 - Sat. A - Elder Ian S. Ardern

December 4, 2011 - Sat. A - Elder Carl B. Cook

December 8, 2011 - Sat. A - Elder LeGrand R. Curtis Jr.

December 12, 2011 - Sat. A - Elder D. Todd Christofferson

December 16, 2011 - Sat. A - Elder L. Tom Perry

December 20, 2011 - PS - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

December 24, 2011 - PS - Bishop Keith B. McMullin

December 28, 2011 - PS - Elder W. Christopher Waddell

January 1, 2012 - PS - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

January 5, 2012 - PS - President Henry B. Eyring

January 9, 2012 - PS - President Thomas S. Monson

January 13, 2012 - Sun. M - President Henry B. Eyring

January 17, 2012 - Sun. M - Elder Robert D. Hales

January 21, 2012 - Sun. M - Elder Tad R. Callister

January 25, 2012 - Sun. M - Elaine S. Dalton

January 29, 2012 - Sun. M - Elder M. Russell Ballard

February 2, 2012 - Sun. M - President Thomas S. Monson

February 6, 2012 - Sun. A - Elder Russell M. Nelson

February 10, 2012 - Sun. A - Elder Dallin H. Oaks

February 14, 2012 - Sun. A - Elder Matthew O. Richardson

February 18, 2012 - Sun. A - Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita

February 22, 2012 - Sun. A - Elder Randall K. Bennett

February 26, 2012 - Sun. A - Elder Devn Cornish

March 1, 2012 - Sun. A - Elder Quentin L. Cook

March 5, 2012 - Sun. A - President Thomas S. Monson

Monday

Tonight I am posting about all of my thoughts and feelings at the end of another Monday.  I am going to be completely honest.  Honesty has become so important to me over the past couple of weeks...I am so thankful for all in my life who are always honest, and I want to be honest as well.  With that little note, here are the things that have been on my mind.

Letters

This weekend I arrived home to find a pile of letters just for me!  I couldn't believe it!  I felt like a missionary again!  It was so wonderful to take some time and read through all of the letters that were sent.  They were filled with words of kindness and love (except for the one from Wells Fargo...I can't say that a bank statement is always kind:)).  Because I appreciated the letters so much, I decided to take some time and give a little shout out to all who sent them!

Thanks Ruben and Nadeline!  I loved the card and the picture!  They brought back many memories from the Netherlands!  I am so excited that you have a job, Ruben, and that you will both become parents in a number of weeks!  I love you!

Zuster Everton ( in the middle), you were the senior sister missionary that I had prayed for throughout my mission!  Thank you so much for your letter and kind words!  You have blessed my life more than you will ever know!  I love you!

Zuster Harrington ( second from the left), you are such an amazing missionary!  I am so thankful that the work is going so well in Belgium!  Even though you were my first greenie, I learned more from you than you learned from me!  I love you!

Zuster Perry!  You are so kind!  Although we were never companions, I feel like we are sisters!  I am thankful for all of those tender mercy exchanges that we had together when I needed it most!  You are training...Congrats!  I love you!

Caroline (second from the left), it was so good to hear from you!  I am thankful that your letter got to me safely, especially with its extra worth!  I hope that you get feeling better soon!  I love you!

Oh  Zuster Jillian Fritz Christensen (on the left)!  Thank you for your thank you note!  I am so thankful that I was able to attend your sealing and reception!  I am so happy for you...and that I could make your marriage possible:)  Love you!

Sue Haina/Sister Martha (on the left)!  It sounds like you are enjoying every minute of your mission and that you are a valiant and diligent missionary!  Thank you for your caring words!  I love you so very much!

Zuster Wieland (second from the right)!  You are getting married!  You look absolutely beautiful in your announcement picture and your fiancé is a stud!  Congrats!  I love you and will be thinking of you on your special day!

Today I made sure that I took some time to respond to the letters I had received!  I have more than half written and I am hoping to get up early tomorrow morning and finish the rest.  These letters sure brightened up my whole week!

Roommate Dinner


If you have been around me much lately you might have heard me sharing my testimony of roommate dinners.  I LOVE them!  There are four of us who live here and we have become the best of buds!  We decided at the beginning of the school year to do a dinner rotation.  We each took a night, Monday through Thursday, and cook for each other.   Every Monday it is my turn.  I love to be able to prepare dinner for people I love so much!  We often have visitors and I love that too!  We always have oodles of food so if you are ever hungry and looking for a nutritious meal, please stop by!  I have seen how much unity it has brought into our apartment by eating together every night.  We also save money, eat more nutritiously, laugh a lot, and have a few minutes of down time to just relax and get rejuvenated!  Since I love to cook, my goal for this school year is to try out something new each week...even if it is a new side dish.  Like tonight, I tried out baked broccoli.  It was amazing!  I got the recipe from "Our Best Bites".  All you do is take 4-5 cups of fresh broccoli, toss in 3 tablespoons of olive oil, spread out on a foil lined baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper, bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, and then toss in a few tablespoons of parmesan cheese!  I really liked the crunchy crispy texture and the flavor!  I would highly recommend it...and roommate dinner (or family dinner if you don't have roommates)!

Emotions


My emotions have been running wild for the past couple of weeks.  I can't even tell you how many times I have started crying in the most random of places.  I have realized that sometimes it is good to have a good cry.  I have also realized that it is very important for me to be able to express myself in a way that others understand how I am feeling.  With the autoimmune disease and being tired and sick a lot, I find it harder to express my emotions.  Things are either over-dramatized or under-dramatized.  So if I am not giving you a reaction that you would normally expect from me, know that I am probably just tired or not feeling well.  I know this might sound kind of silly, but it goes back to the honesty thing.  I want to be honest with you and I want you to be honest with me.  Since my emotions aren't really dependable right now, you are just going to have to rely on what I say and know that I am telling the truth.  Thank you.

General Conference


During general conference I am usually on this spiritual high.  I just want to be better and follow the counsel of the prophet and other leaders!  I want to change and repent and become more like the Savior.  I set several large goals and then, inevitably, nose-dive the day after conference because my goals are a little extreme.  I am thankful that I know that I have a tendency to do this after every conference so I kind of know that on the Monday after, when I begin to fill a little overwhelmed or like a failure, I can actually just make my goals more realistic to actually succeed.  This conference was amazing!  I do want to do the things that I was prompted to do or change the things that I was prompted to change.  But instead of doing it all at once, I have decided to make a calendar with all of the 39 talks that were given and study a new one in-depth every couple of days.  I am really excited about my plan!  If anyone wants to study along with me, let me know and we can discuss together and support one another!

Sick

The last thing that is on my mind, not by choice but more by force, is the fact that I am not feeling well.  I don't really know how to balance my life right now so I don't get sick.  I knew, by the way the weekend started, that I would probably hit a wall today, so it is almost like I did it to myself.  There wasn't anything that I wanted to miss out on this weekend so that meant no naps, going to bed late, and getting up early.  It is kind of lame how wimpy my body has become and sometimes it becomes even a little discouraging.  But I was amazed at how blessed I was today even though I wasn't feeling well.  Heavenly Father can definitely work miracles!  I didn't get out of bed until 8 and then I spent some time cleaning our apartment because it was desperately in need of a little care.  By the time I was getting in the shower my body was signaling to me that it was tired.  I quickly got ready and then took a 2 hour nap.  After the nap, I ran to the grocery store to get a few ingredients I needed for dinner and then I through dinner together.  By this time, I was ready for another cat nap and then I hit the books.  Okay, I don't know how it happened, but I got all of my assignments done for the week before it was time for dinner.  Miracle?  Yes, miracle.  Major miracle!  Now, if I happen to be sick for the rest of the week, at least I have everything ready to turn in:)

It is getting late and I am tired.  I hope that you sleep well tonight!  I love you all!

We cannot be replaced

I came down to WJ for the first time since Labor Day weekend.  School has been so busy that I haven't even had time to think about coming home.  But conference weekend is a big deal at the Sharp home and I wanted to see all of my family so I was set on being here!  On Friday, after my math midterm, I went to the temple to do a session before leaving Logan.  My goal is to go to the temple EVERY week so I had to squeeze it in before the week ended.  It was such a blessing!  I got there early enough that I was able to sit in the chapel for a while and read in the scriptures.  I felt so much peace and joy.  A cute old lady came walking in and asked if she could sit next to me on the front row.  Of course I said yes, to which she replied, "By the third session I am a little tired so if I can sit a little closer I won't have to walk as much."  I was in awe.  This 85+ year old woman was doing her third session of the morning...and I could hardly find time to make it to one session in a week!  At that moment I recommitted to attend every week...no matter what!  Also in my session was a sister receiving her endowment.  She must have been in her 60's and she was surrounded by family and friends.  Seeing the joy that she was experiencing reminded me of receiving my own endowment a few years ago.  The temple is such a blessing!  

I was on the road at noon and the drive through Sardine Canyon was absolutely gorgeous!  The leaves are changing colors and the sun was shining.  I thoroughly enjoyed the drive!  I made a stop in Centerville to see Kelly, Ryan, Landon, Trevor, and baby Zack.  It was soooo wonderful!  I got to hold the baby forever and also be a part of normal life in their home for a few hours.  Those are the moments that I cherish most...the ordinary things.  To me, those are the things that matter most.  

6 week old baby Zack.  He is so sweet!

After Centerville, I stopped at Brooke's and met my Mom there too.  It was super great to see them and Linc and Carter.  Poor Linc is really sick!  I hope that he gets feeling better soon!  At about 6:00 we all congregated at my parent's house to eat some Zupa's and to watch the Aggie vs. BYU game.  It was a fabulous game until the end.  Then it was just tragic!  Better luck next time Aggies!  By the end of the night I was really tired and knew I needed to get to bed early because....I had to get up at 6:30 to be ready to go to General Conference!  Steve had called me the other day and asked me if I wanted to go with him...and of course I did!  We had a great time and conference was marvelous! 

Steve and I at the Conference Center

I was so touched by all of the speakers and prayers and songs, and it was such a privilege to be in the Conference Center with all of the prophets and general authorities, and, of course, to be there with Steve. 

So, I know that this is a long blog post, but I needed to share all of the above mentioned details in order to explain how I am feeling now.  I have been studying the character of Heavenly Father for the past couple of weeks.  I feel like a made a huge break through this weekend.  It all started at the temple.  It hit me that I am a child of God, a daughter of Heavenly Father.  And then, as I was holding Zack, I had this overwhelming feeling come over me.  I made a connection!  I realized that even though Zack is the thirteenth niece or nephew that I have, my love for him isn't any less than what I feel for the other twelve.  That's when it hit me that Heavenly Father feels the same about us.  Sometimes it is hard to fathom that he can love billions and billions of His children, but I realized that He does.  He does not love one of us more than the other.  I also realized, as I spent some time with Lincoln while he was feeling so sick, that Heavenly Father cares for us and wants so bad to help us when we hurt or struggle, because that is how I felt for Lincoln.  I don't know how I have ever thought that Heavenly Father could love me less than another, or care for me less than another, or sometimes want me to suffer.  But that is not in His nature or His character.  We cannot be replaced.  He has always loved us and He always will.  The climax of my weekend was attending conference.  The talks that were given just reaffirmed how I was feeling.  I realized that I have never replaced anyone in my life, no matter how big my circle of family or friends becomes.  I haven't ever had to replace someone because love is not something that runs out.  It is something that increases.  I am so thankful for those who haven't replaced me.  I am especially thankful for a Heavenly Father who is constantly caring for me and will always love me.  I hope that all makes sense...it makes sense in my head, but it is a little difficult to explain in writing!

To end a fabulous day, we visited my Grandma and Grandpa, went to Cafe Rio, picked up some groceries for breakfast tomorrow, and enjoyed time together at home.  I am looking forward to two more sessions of conference!