Just a few thoughts for the night

So I definitely have like 10 blogs I want to write (I'm sure you will all be on the edge of your seats until then), but I was just thinking about some stuff, and I feel like writing it down. I have been meaning to, and now seems like the opportune moment (1:21 AM is when all the best thoughts come into play)

A few weeks ago on the front of our program for Sacrament meeting, there was a quote by Elder Neal A. Maxwell that has definitely become one of my favorites since. It goes:
"When in situations of stress we wonder if there is any more in us to give, we can be comforted to know that God, who knows our capacity perfectly, placed us here to succeed. No one was foreordained to fail or to be wicked. When we have been weighed and found wanting, let us remember that we were measured before and we were found equal to our tasks; and, therefore, let us continue, but with a more determined discipleship. When we feel overwhelmed, let us recall the assurance that God will not over program us; he will not press upon us more than we can bear"

There is also another quote that I absolutely love that was in the New Era a few months ago, and it kind of ties in with this quote and what I'm writing about.

"Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays. But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come. No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, in this life or the next, Sunday will come."--Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

Honestly, both of these quotes have brought me comfort over the past few weeks. Like, it's not like I've been having all these horrible tragedies happening to me. Really, most days are pretty good, and I'm happy, but there have been times where I have felt so alone, and like I was completely worthless. Starting college is definitely an exciting time, but it is also a lot of changes. I mean, I'm out here, living with a bunch of people I never knew before, and away from my family. I'm somewhat of a shy person, so there have been times lately where I feel like I don't fit in and that no one likes me, and that everyone would be better off without me here. I really don't let it show, because like..no one likes being around a Debbie Downer, but really, I think a lot of people at college can relate to it. My mom always said that no matter how confident a person may seem, there is something in their life that they are struggling with. Like I was saying though, both of these quotes help me to put things into perspective and have helped me realize that no matter how down I'm feeling, Heavenly Father has a plan for me, and as long as I keep the commandments and try my best, Sunday will come. Sometimes it's hard to remember this, especially when everything seems to be going wrong, but I have realized that I just need to have faith that everything will work out. I hope this all doesn't seem too depressing. I promise, I really am not that depressing of a person..But I absolutely love these quotes, and because they have helped me a lot, I thought I'd post them for you all to read. :) I really do love it here at BYU, it is such an uplifiting and happy environment, and I am grateful to be here. I know I'm living where I am supposed to be, and I've seen the Lord's hand in bringing to me to where I am. I'm excited for the months to come, and even though at times I really may feel lonely and lost, everything will work out perfectly in the end. I love being Mormon!

Two Sundays ago we had an amazing fireside by our stake presidency. I was so excited to find out that Brad Wilcox is in it, he's one of my favorite speakers! All of the talks were kind of different, but tied together in the end. One talk was on Indexing for Family History..I had never heard of it until that night! I really enjoy family history, and I really have been wanting to do more, but never know where to start, but the person who gave us this talk challenged us all to do Indexing (basically, converting documents from like the 1800's into electronic files so people can find their family more easily and online) on a weekly basis, and if we did, we'd be greatly blessed. Well, I went home that night, and I downloaded the program, and seriously, this sounds really nerdy, but I LOVE doing the indexing. I've done over 1,000 names, and I just find it so fascinating! I mean, I have no connection to these names and dates that I'm inputting, but it's really so cool. Just to think that because of this, more people will be able to be found and have their Temple work done for them, is really cool. My goal is to do 5000 names by December..I think I can do it :-D

Another talk was on text messaging. These seems to becoming a more prevalant topic in Church as of late. This was given by Brad Wilcox. He gave us all these crazy statistics, like in 2000, only like 3 million texts were sent in the month of June, but this last June, there was 20 billion, or something like that. I'll be the first to admit, I text a lot. And it's probably not the best. But something he said really kind of hit me. He was like "you may think that the more you text, the more popular you are, but in reality, it stunts your social circle because you're constantly looking at your phone instead of engaging in actual conversation with the people you are around." I mean, I've been told that before, but just hearing him say that kind of made me realize that it really does make you kind of seem socially inept if you all do is text, instead of talk with the people around you. Since then, I have really started making an effort not to text when I'm with people, and I've started noticing that when people start texting while I'm with them, I feel kind of like they aren't caring about what I'm saying. I'll admit, I haven't completely cut texting out while I'm with other people..But I'm trying harder than I have in the past :)

The final talk was about families, and how the sanctity of families is being destroyed at times. He talked a lot about how we should be so grateful for our families and do everything we can to always be worthy to be with them forever. It was a really great talk, and made me realize once again, how grateful i am for the family I have :-) They are the best!

Anyways, I'm done with my soapbox lecture for now. Look for new blogs to come soon :-D