Tomorrow's Leaders

        At Girls State we were known as "Tomorrow's Leaders of Mankind". By looking at this picture I'm sure that is a very comforting phrase. Let me help you feel better!

This is what we were by the end of Girls State. It may just look like two girls in pretty dresses but really there are two girls who have more love for their country then you could ever imagine.
       My Girls State experience is one that I will never forget. I not only learned how to use Parly Pro but I had a better understanding for how our government runs and the process everything goes through. I also found me some more sisters. You can never have to many sisters. Girls State also exposed me to many new religions. For once I think I was a minority for being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. It was weird. I also saw how differently each of us pray. Some people pray as if God was sitting right next to them. I have been taught to talk to God as if you were talking to your own dad but with more respect by using, thine, thee, thou and thy. It was very interesting.

Sing to Girls State

       The Capital Building was the highlight of my week. We all sang in Harmony the National Anthem, The Girls State Song, America, and the Idaho State Song. It gave me the chills it was beautiful. All week I was surrounded with amazingly talented women. When we would sing I was always amazed at how good we sounded. America was my favorite song. It just sounded fantastic in that marble building.
        I learned so much at Girls State and made amazing friends that I will never forget. This was an experience of a lifetime and I was so very blessed to be given this opportunity.

"Become as Little Children"

       

www.trying2staycalm.com & http://davidbowmanart.com/ 

   We are constantly told to become as little children but I never fully understood this concept. Why would they want us to be this way? I have now come to a full understanding of this teaching. I have had the amazing opportunity to sub for primary teachers for about two months now. The children are so innocent and humble. I feel like they are more in tune with the spirit then I ever thought of being. I am not saying these kids are perfect, we have definitely had our trials but you can see the veil starting to close.
           I got to teach the Sunbeams for one week.  It was all boys! I have learned with teaching little kids you have to plan LOTS of activities or you have lots of fights. Our lesson was on water. What in the world do you teach about water to three and four year olds? So I took little fisher price animals and a bowl of water and cups and pictures of baptism and fields and stuff that needs water. We washed our hands and then filled the cups up with water and went and watered the trees then we watered our little fisher price animals. Then we talked about baptism. They are smart but very funny. One time in sharing time we were talking about baptism and Sister Larsen was like Baptism washes away our________. And this little boy shouts out "Our Soul". I couldn't help but laugh. The teachers were like uhm.... haha Sister Larsen was like not quite it is our sins. I LOVE little kids.
           The main thing that has really strengthened my testimony is listening to little kids pray. A little girl in my CTR 6 class once said a prayer which consisted of her saying, "Thank you for this day and my birthday is tomorrow and I am going to be six and I am really excited." She said more but this is what stuck with me. I soon learned her birthday is July 6th but all well that is okay. We should all pray like this and be excited to talk to the Lord like we would our dad.

Alma 34  26 But this is not all; ye must ^apour out your souls in your^bclosets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness. 27 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your ^aheartsbe ^bfull, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your^cwelfare, and also for the welfare of ^dthose who are around you.

            Our Father in Heaven wants to hear from us. He is our Father and wants to hear what we have to say. It is not silly it builds a relationship. I feel that little kids understand this and they apply it in their prayers. 

I teach the CTR 6 class the most often and I often call them mine. My mom thinks it's funny. But we made this prayer chain. The first link is their written promise to pray and then they would put a yellow link on for every morning prayer they say and a black link for every night prayer. They were so excited and telling me how they say they prayers all the time. 

"I kneel to pray twice every day each morning and each night. I talk to Heavenly Father, and ask for help to choose the right." 

                  My favorite person to sub for is Sister Hillman She is the music person. I have always loved music and it is the one way that helps me feel the spirit the most. My Sr. Primary is getting to the age where they are to cool to sing. My favorite thing to do is make the boys come sing in front of everyone because they are way to cool to even be in primary. I get them to sing though... sometimes. Haha I am most successful when we make it a competition to see who sings the best and the loudest. My Jr. Primary gets so excited about singing. Even when they don't know the words they just mumble or make up their own. This last week a little sunbeam was just making noises but hey it works. He was still trying to participate.  Even when I go into nursery they are so excited. All the kids in primary and nursery love the song Scripture Power. They sing so well and put their scriptures in the air proudly. The little nursery kids just put their fists in the air but they are so excited about singing that song and it always impresses me how well they know the song. The spirit is always so strong for me during singing time and I feel an overwhelming love for these little kids. I know that our Father in Heaven loves us all and there is something to learn from these children. 

Eternity with the people I love!!(:

      We may act like we hate each other at times but in all reality my family is very close. I love them with all my heart. Summer has made it so I could spend more time with these darling people!

I got to go to Carston's graduation. He looks like he isn't very happy to see me but don't let his face expression fool you, he was super excited I came. I love this kid he is my best friend and an amazing example to me. He is preparing for a mission and I am going to miss him SO much.

 I also go to hang out with these hooligans. I'm not quite sure why the picture is up side down and I can't figure out how to flip it. They were very entertaining during the own thing. It was outside which made it a little more entertaining especially when the band's music went flying everywhere when the wind decided to join us. It was quite hilarious if you ask me. They kept things interesting. Sure do love them.


   My favoritest thing in the whole wide world is being Aunt Ris. There is nothing better in my opinion. Since school has been out I have been able to see my Shayci and Emy! They are the cutest little girls in the whole entire world. I love it when Emy comes up to me and says, "Ris you want to play with me?"

Not sure what is up with these pictures again but they are cute! I cannot pass up a moment of watching a movie with Em or playing pretend. She in the stage of having a fun imagination. She is constantly bringing me imaginary animals in her hands to have me hold. Her favorite is her baby duck. That is the one I hold most often. In this picture to the right she wanted to sit by me while on was on my lap top thinking I was watching a movie. But due to the size of the couch she ended up on my shoulder and became my little parrot. I love this little girl with all my heart.

 Then there is miss Shayci. She is getting so big. Constantly on the go. She is getting so vocal. I have decided she will grow up to be a singer just like me. I have started her and Em young by having Kaysh play classical music for them when they go to sleep. They are already geniuses. Shayc cracks me up she has learned how to wave. It is the cutest thing ever. She just goes crazy with her wavin and squillin.

 This picture requires a middle position because it is history. Kurt has been home and of course he still views me as his personal punching bag. Haha well I'm getting braver and I started punching him back. I'm tougher than I thought. I turned his arm red. He won't admit i'm getting stronger, he only says "It feels like a mouse kicked me." haha all well. The next morning he had an indent where my ring hit. Booya!! I know it's horrible to be excited but he has left me many bruises and I got an ounce of revenge.

 This girl has missed me so much that we are going through a phase of space issues. Haha just kidding I don't know what her deal was. But I am so grateful for her. She has been coming home more often and I LOVE it. Even if she is all up in my business. My sisters are my best friends. When we die I just want us all to go together or just me because honestly I couldn't live without them.

My little Chipmunks! These two are the ones I have been with the most. Some day's I want to stuff their heads in the toilet and flush it a couple times but I have refrained from such activity. I know my parents would frown upon it greatly. These two keep life interesting that is for sure. Pictures can on;y explain. 

 I often convince them to take the polish off my toes and then they turn into a lovely foot rest!

 I still don't know what is up with these pictures. But Kel is my funny faced lil bug. He loves pulling faces. He is such a Petey. I love how protective he is getting and he is only 7! Today he informed me he was going to beat up any boy who liked me. I thought it was cute. Better watch out boy's he is getting tough and boy does he have a temper! ;)

 Miss Re is the sweet and innocent one... when mom is looking that is. She trys so hard to be big. She reminds me so much of how I was when I was little. She is definitely less violent. I love her to death.

 I love spending time with these 2. They make me feel like I'm worth a million bucks. Being a big sister is kind of a lot of pressure. I have these two watching my every action. I try so hard to be a good example to them and involve them as much as I can.

 Turtle races. YAY!! Haha Frazala is the big fat one an she is Kiera's and George is the lil guy which is Kel's. Frazala won all the races. That was a  lot of fun.

 We have been going to the park a lot lately. It is a lot of fun. We decided to do the spider with three people. Brilliant right? Yay I thought so until Kel slid down my tummy like a slide and I ended up on the ground with my feet stuck under Kiera's butt. Haha she tried convincing me she was stuck but we all know she just thought she was funny. Which she was. I laughed... a lot... and Kiera turned red as all the blood rushed to her head.

 I don't know if this video works but it is of Kiera and I "Stuck" in the swing!


        I am so very thankful for my family. They are the the most amazing people you will ever meet. They are my biggest fans and definitely accept me for who I am. I could not ask for anything more. I am truly blessed!

A Place of Love and Beauty

       One thing I really struggle with is sharing my testimony of the temple.I want to be able to put it into words so I can share my love of the temple with those around me and I hope to strengthen their testimony's. So this post I hope will help me to put my thoughts and feelings into words.
       I love to go to the temple and perform baptisms for the dead. I try to go as often as I can. Lately, I have been blessed with the opportunity to go once a week. I have been super stressed out so this have been a huge blessing in my life. It helps me to take off my worldly goggles and to see the big picture. I often feel like everything has plotted this plan to take me down. Of course that is silly and I am being dramatic but with being sick with some unknown deadly disease (Sarcasm but i really have felt like butt) and then with missing school for a week and quitting track from being sick and stressed, then my Grandpa Campbell was put into the hospital in critical care I have not exactly been on top of my game. But when i step through those white doors all my worries disappear. I feel complete peace.

        While my Grandpa was in the hospital my faith was tried like you would not believe. I began to question so many things that I knew were true. Like, will I see him again if he does no make it. Well of course I will. But I laid in bed one night just crying because I was not sure anymore. It is so easy to tell someone "Oh don't worry you will see them again" until it's you. I put his name in the temple, and then I began to question, will this even help. He doesn't believe, I'm not even sure if he is a member. After talking to my sister I knew that it would help. I exercised my faith by putting his name in there and God will take care of it from their. Another blessing of the temple. It is not just for the dead it is for the living too. And for those who do not attend. As i did baptisms that week, I knew that my Grandpa was going to be okay wherever he was. God is not a cruel God he is fair and just. He is going to give us all the opportunity to better ourselves. My mom told me something that really helped me. She said, "You will be able to visit him just like you do now."

        My favorite thing is when I am in the temple and I am not rushed. I love to look at the names I have and an opportunity to just ponder. One time I went with my friend and it was a time I was able to really feel the spirit. The temple was fairly busy so we waited for a while which was great. While I was being baptized I came up out of the water and I could smell my Grandma Egan. At first I was like what the heck then the second time I knew it was her. It was so touching. I knew she was there with me. Oh my gosh I'm crying just writing about it. My Grandma Egan is my role model. She would visit the temple weekly with my Grandpa. I love feeling like I might just be as strong as she was. She had an incredible testimony that could hold millions up. Even though she is gone now she is still holding me up. She is one of the reasons I love the temple so dearly.
          PROM 2013 date started off at the temple. How wonderful that was. There were three couple who came and let me tell you that is the best date I have ever been on/ There was a ward in there and in talking to one of the leader she told us we were going to shine at the dance. At the dance I was so happy and it was crazy because I wasn't feeling very good that day but at the dance I felt better. It was extremely interesting to me and I feel it was because of that ladies comment as strange as that seems.
           So, I think I have discovered while I struggle sharing my testimony of the temple! It is long. It is not a sentence or two answer. It is all my experiences that I have had with the temple. This is only a few of them that are close to my heart and have come to my mind as I type. But the one thing the temple has done for me is created a firm foundation. I will never do anything that will get my temple recommend taken away because without the temple I would be lost and so would my posterity.
          I know we have temples for a specific reason and they are a blessing to us not a chore or a hassle. They are here for a divine purpose and we must treat them as such. Some people are not granted such wonderful blessing as I to attend the temple. I am going to take advantage of this blessing and attend the temple as much as I possibly can because not everyone can and not everyone will. God is asking for our help and it is our duty to answer with a willing heart. I know that this church is true with all my heart and that Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet and I know that if we will visit the temple our lives will be blessed and we will be able to have a shield to wack Satan with.I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.