Utah, Utah, and Thanksgiving

It has been a crazy couple of weeks. With school and the semester winding down(I am almost done with my first semester of school what) and Thanksgiving. I am alive and well don’t worry!

  

Life has been pretty hectic. I was so stressed that I was just crawling to break.

Heavenly Father has kinda had a field day with me the last couple of weeks. Trials are not my favorite things. Learning from them on the other hand is another story. Miracles happen though and I am so grateful for that.

I have so much to say that I don't even know where to begin haha.

I really really wanna talk about my recent trip to Utah hence the title.

I am so thankful for the Youngs for letting me stay with them from Wednesday through Today. It was great to be in a family setting again. They also reminded me a lot of home and my own family and I basically got adopted this week so I mean no harm there.

Utah is so beautiful. I am so in love with the mountains. I love the fact that every couple cities there is a temple and lots of church buildings.

I got the opportunity to go to the Brigham City Temple yesterday! I brought 15 names out of the roughly 42 I have reserved to get done. I did five myself and then had a family friend do the ten boy names including both of my grandfathers which made it so much more special.

I got to check another temple off my list. I have a goal in life to visit every single temple in the United States. I want to visit the grounds and do a session there. I have done sessions in three temples and visited four temple grounds.

A cool part of my trip is that in the temple right before I did baptisms is I saw a now return missionary who served in Mount Vernon. That was pretty sweet to see him especially since he lives in Brigham. He was just as excited to see me as I was him. I loved catching up for a couple minutes or so.

Blessings happen! I am so thankful for my trip to Utah this week. It was such a stress reliever and it truly opened my eyes.

Now unto the crazy miracles. Let a lesson be learned not to ignore promptings. You will get a huge slap in the face for sure.

When your best friend asks you for girl advice and then proceeds to tell you that he told someone else he likes them it kinda isn’t fair especially when you can’t really tell him anything… so being mad at him from a distance works.

Well when Heavenly Father decides to teach you a lesson on forgiveness it is the biggest slap in the face ever. I got into a situation a week or so ago where someone did me wrong over something really dumb. I was angry and mad at this person especially when they were close to me.

I had this feeling that I was supposed to be excited for Monday. Behold, forgiveness is funny when your best friend gives you so many reasons not to be mad at him. You also then realize how the stupid situation was meant to put you in the right direction.

Things worked out. I forgave him and I am forgiving her.

I guess my miracle is that if I didn’t have that dumb situation happen then I wouldn’t realize what Heavenly Father really wanted me to do and focus on. If I have to wait for it then I will so wait for it patiently.

This gospel is amazing. Don’t ignore promptings! He will answer your prayers! Patience is key. I got to go to the temple and church and I wasn’t even in Rexburg this week. Blessings happen!

I am thankful for so much! I would just annoy you all if I listed everything.

Sorry this is so long! I promise I won’t go weeks without blogging again!

-KyrstenhH

Grief

Recently I have come across more grief than I have wanted to deal with for awhile.

A girl I knew from my high school was ran over by a car and died from her injuries. I knew her. We dated the same guy at different points. At some points I didn't like her. But no matter what she was always so happy. She was smiling.

She had so many friends and family members that just adored her and loved her unconditionally. My heart breaks that she is gone. I can't imagine it.

My hometown is just shattered because she touched the lives of so many people.

No matter if I personally got along with her or not, her death brings so much sorrow and grief. My heart breaks for my friends who are affected by this. I was mad at myself for a long time for being mad at her for something now pointless.

Life moves on. I have learned to not be so angry with people especially over stupid stuff. I have learned to never let a moment pass by. Always tell the people around you how much you love and appreciate them.

I can't take anything for granted anymore after that. I know what I want in life and you bet I am going to go after it 100%.

I am going to try to better myself too. I am going to work on myself so I am not angry and sad over little stuff anymore just for her. She deserves it.

It is funny because thinking about it, I could've been friends with her because of one thing but I let my pride get in the way and I let myself be mad over it.

I won't mention her name in this post only because I just think its fair not to.

I have been thinking about her and everything the last couple of days and I wish I got to say I'm sorry.

Grief sneaks up on you when you think you are okay. It is so unfair what happened to her. Gosh she was just a year younger than me and was going to graduate high school in just a matter of months. She was gonna grow up and get married someday and yet she got hit by a car and died.

I am so thankful for my friends and my family who put up with me. I am thankful that they listen to my random stories and talk about the same thing over and over again.

I realize I shouldn't be ashamed of how I am crazy for some guy 1000 miles who's wearing a white shirt and a black name tag. (not a huge shocker there but lets be real) and who knows what is gonna happen there but gosh I am not gonna be 80 something years old being like oh I never told him. Now don't think I sat Sunday night writing him an email telling him. Besides my whole world changed Sunday night and his pday got changed to Wednesday because of transfers so ha.

Haha good try friends.

Nope. That won't be until after February or maybe May idk thats still up in the air. He will know sometime if he doesn't already have some suspicion  but can't tell me.

Anyways, I am going to live my life to the fullest and I have her to thank for inspiring me to change my outlook on life.

I am so sorry. I wish I could tell you why but I can't. Just know that everyone here loves you so much and misses you. It is so unfair. I can't change what I've said or how I have acted but I promise you that I will work so much harder to be better. Rest in Peace friend<3

Sorry this is super personal today. I really needed to just get that off my chest. Death isn't easy for me at all especially under certain circumstances but I have had a great support system and great friends and I am forever thankful for it.

-Kyrsten

My Views on the LDS Church Policy

As many of my readers know, I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We are also known to many people as Mormons.

The Church recently updated its policy on families in same-sex marriages. Desert News has reported that, “The handbook now includes being in a same-sex marriage under the definition of apostasy and as a circumstance that requires the convening of a disciplinary council. The handbook also clarifies that the ordinance of naming and blessing a child may not be performed for children living with a parent in a same-gender relationship.”

It is known throughout the Church that children cannot get baptized until they are eight years old. That age being the age of accountability.

It is also said that, “The handbook addition also states that "a natural or adopted child of a parent living in a same-gender relationship, whether the couple is married or cohabiting," can only be baptized, confirmed, ordained to the priesthood or serve a full-time mission with approval from the Office of the First Presidency. A mission or stake president may request approval and determine that: "the child accepts and is committed to live the teachings and doctrine of the church, and specifically disavows the practice of same-gender cohabitation and marriage"; and "the child is of legal age and does not live with a parent who has lived or currently lives in a same-gender cohabitation relationship or marriage."

I have seen numerous articles about this and I have also seen numerous reactions on social media and even in one of my classes today I have seen reactions from fellow classmates.

What runs through my mind when I think of this is how important families are. There is a primary hymn that comes to my mind. It is called “Families Can Be Together Forever”. The lyrics that come to my mind at this moment are as followed, “Families can be together forever through Heavenly Father’s plan.”

I cannot wait to have my own family one day. I think it is a wonderful gift to have families.

Why would we disrupt a family? Families are meant to live in harmony, peace, and love.

I believe in forever families. I wouldn’t want to put anyone’s family in danger. 

I am sure that no matter your stance on this issue that you wouldn’t want to put anyone’s family in danger.

It is a very hard and raw topic but in ways it needs to be addressed. It breaks my heart to see people fight and argue over this.

Never forget that the Lord loves His children. He has a plan for each and every one of us and knows us. We have to also be reminded that He knows what is best for us and has our best interests at heart.

 I may not understand why ­­this policy has changed but regardless I stand with the Church and the Prophets and Apostles who lead our church so wonderfully. They are called of God and will lead us and guide us if we let them.

I love this Church and the Gospel with all my heart. I have prayed to know that the Gospel is true. I sustain the leaders of the Church and I support them

If you don’t agree with my faith and my opinion please respect it and if you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment and ask.

-Kyrsten

Desire to Serve

*If you are super confused by this blog post please click on the link: my maybe call to serve   *

Most of my friends are ether doing one of three things: 1) on their mission 2)preparing for a mission 3) leaving on a mission.

Me?

Not doing any of those three.

Two of my closest friends have recently bonded at the fact that they are both probably gonna be on their missions by this time next year. It kinda hurts to not feel apart of the group in that sort of way.

I got my answer during last general conference that I shouldn't go right now. The Lord has other plans for me. Never thought I would be so disappointed in an answer.

I wanted to go serve basically since I reactivated two years ago. At one point I was going to not even attend my second semester of college just so I could go.

Ever since I got my answer, I have been kinda struggling to figure out why. All my friends are going or have come back. My best friend has three months left on his mission and then he's home and I am still here in Idaho trying to figure out my life.

Now, this isn't some sob story. I wish I could be out serving or turning in my papers like so many others but I am trying to deal the fact that maybe I am meant to go and it kinda sucks.

It is hard. I am not going to lie to anyone when I say it is a struggle to one day be like oh I am gonna start my papers and then have the feeling of how maybe this isn't what I am meant to do.

So many close friends say how wonderful a mission is and how it is the best decision of their lives. I bet. I have loved seeing my best friend grow since the beginning of his mission and I can't wait to see the progress when he goes home.

That doesn't mean that I am not going to go give up. Heavenly Father has a plan and I have to accept it. I can't give up when I have so much going for me.

Until next time!

-Kyrsten

Gratitude

Lately I have been thinking a lot about Gratitude.

In whatever I do, it just goes back to that. Gratitude means the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. Simple right?

So why does this matter and why am I spending an entire blog post about it.

Someone told me the other day how I was just a ray of sunshine. At first I was just a little school girl and was like aw that is one of the cutest things you could say to someone. Okay lets be real who wouldn’t want to wake up to something like that especially on a Monday. Not the point.

I don’t know it just got me thinking a lot about gratitude and what it means to me and how it has shaped me especially the last couple of months.

Things have not been busy. With classes and getting a job and finding free time and finding the perfect balance to survive has been one of the hardest things to do. Honestly though? I am making it work one step at a time. And if I didn’t have a great support system then I would probably be drowning in a black hole.

I have a best friend who has literally become my rock throughout the last two months. He takes time to email me and write me and to make sure I haven’t gone completely insane due to college. I give him props for dealing with my weird self on a weekly basis. He is pretty great.

I was pretty blessed with this semester. Even though I live on a hill that sometimes makes me want to claw my eyes out I still love it. I got lucky especially the fact that I have my own room when I wasn’t supposed to. Hello like that is lovely. I also don’t have too much of a heavy class load. I mean my visual media class sometimes makes me want to jump off a cliff but that’s another story for another day.

I am beyond lucky to have a job. Finding a job was probably the most stressful thing ever. I applied to a good four or five places and got a job at a place I was familiar with. My coworkers are cool and my boss is a trip to be around.

Heavenly Father has me at a decent place. I mean yes I would like some answers to some questions that I have. Patience is key and that is a fun little game Heavenly Father is teaching me currently. Especially when I am very impatient and I just want to figure everything out.

I am happy with what I have in front of me. Yes I am very excited for the future. I am very curious on where things are going to go but I mean I can’t plan every detail out as much I would like. I would like to know but I guess I am not to meant to know right now and I am going to be okay with it.

I am thankful for all of you whether I directly or indirectly mentioned you in this post. Thanks for sticking around in my crazy adventurous life.  ­­­­­­­

Until next time!

-Kyrsten