In the midst of Adversity, light will show

So, money is just wonderful isn't it? haha, well, not so much in my neck of the woods. I've been blessed with a job and that provides for the necessities and I am very grateful. However, this month has been extra tight with money, and last week I had $10 to my name. I was really stressing out, thinking how many groceries I could get for that amount, on top of paying utilities and paying my friend for gas when we drove home. I also had wanted to get gifts for friends, visiting teachees, etc. because that really helps bring the holiday spirit into my life. So I had some books from last winter semester to sell back, and I had not idea how much money I would get. As I waited in line, I began thinking that perhaps I would not get any money at all for this books. I prayed and prayed while standing in line, that if I could just get $50 for these books, I could make that work. I got to the cashier, and she started scanning the books, she took all of them and told me the total. "That will be $176.50 for the books. Does that sound good?" I almost cried right then and there. I of course said yes, and she handed me the cash. In my mind I was praising the Lord over and over again for this miraculous experience. This is no small tender mercy. This was a giant miracle. When I got home, I knelt by my bed and poured out the gratitude I felt in my heart. Life can be hard, Life can be crazy, but the Lord is always there and I will never forget this experience.

When you are willing to sacrifice, the Lord will bless you

For the last month and a half, I have been looking for a job, in order to survive while living at college. I have turned in more than seven applications, usually receiving no response. It has been overwhelming, but I realized that as long as I keep trying, that is all I can do. Finally, I got an interview with a receptionist job in the Church History department that I was really interested in. The interview went well, not super amazing, but not horrible either. I did not know what to expect, but I was grateful for the opportunity to have an interview. A couple of days later I received the rejection call. The Supervisor said I had been in the top three, but, well, I basically just did not make the cut. It was hard to be rejected, but I just went back to the drawing board. I knew the Lord would provide a way. There have been some jobs available that were in the middle of the night, or early in the morning that I had previously refused to even apply for. I realized that perhaps I needed to be more willing to sacrifice in order to pay for college. There was a custodial job everyday from 4:30AM-7:30AM. As painful as that sounded, I decided I needed to suck it up, so I called and left a message that I was interested in an interview. A few hours later, when I got home from school, I got a call from the Church History Secretary saying that a girl was quiting, and they would like to hire me on. I couldn't believe it. She said, "Hopefully this makes your day." and I replied, "It most definitely has!" I was ecstatic and felt overwhelmed with God's love. Why did I possibly deserve this? I realized that because I was willing to make a sacrifice, the Lord then blessed me. I had faith all along that everything would work out the way the Lord would have it, and I know it has. My job is perfect for me and I love it. I am so incredibly blessed, I am at a loss of words that truly express my gratitude.

5-sec-butyl-3-ethyl-2,7-dimethyldecane

You are probably thinking, what on earth does this have to do with everyday miracles? Yes, I am ultimately a science geek, and I always will be. So this week I had my first organic chemistry test, known to be one of the hardest classes offered at BYU. Most people make it out barely alive. Needless to say, I was kind of freaking out about it. Every night it was O-chem for at least 4 hours. I was doing problem after problem that eventually added up to over 250 O-chem problems in one week. O-chem was completely taking over my life. In my Church History class, I dozed off for a moment, and when I woke up there were Newman Projections (a certain way to draw a molecule) drawn on my History notes while I had dozed off. By Thursday night, I was absolutely sick of O-chem, I just couldn't take anymore. I had done so many practice problems, and I understood most of them, but when I went to do the practice test at 11 on Saturday night, I just could not handle it. I needed sleep. My brain was absolutely fried. I went to bed feeling miserable. I can't handle this, I told myself, I'm not good enough for BYU, what am I doing here? I felt completely inadequate and truly sobbed myself to sleep, knowing that I would fail my test the next day. The next morning, I felt better, I felt refreshed and ready to begin the day, even with my O-chem test looming over my head. I went to work, and it was a wonderful day. I was retyping The Juvenile Instructor and everything I typed pertained to me. It spoke of how if we do all we can up until we are completely spent, the Lord will do the rest. So many have gone to battle, completely overwhelmed and outnumbered, but if the Lord was with them, they succeeded. My eyes filled with tears as I typed this article. It gave me complete confidence in myself. I know that I can do this. Right after work I headed to the testing center, ready and excited to take my test. I sat at my desk, prayed, and felt overwhelmingly calm and comforted. The test was not nearly as horrible an experience as I expected. I answered every question to the best of my ability. Who knows, maybe I will still only barely pass, but what matters is that I know the Lord was right next to me as I took the test. Faith is so pivotal to every action and ever thought we have.

Jesus Loves me this I know!

So, overall today has been a good day. I loved being involved with New Student Orientation and recruiting freshman to be a part of my service program. I hungout with several of my good friends today and that made me really happy. Underneath it all though I am stressing about getting a good job in order to have money to live on. I came home around 9:00 and none of my roomates were home. It felt kind of lonely, but I didn't really have anyone I could go talk to yet because a lot of people aren't here yet, and I also haven't met my ward yet. So anyway, there I was sitting on my bed in my room, playing my guitar, reading, and feeling pretty lonely. My roommate came home with her boyfriend around ten and invited me to watch a movie with them. I seem to always hangout with her and her boyfriend and I feel like they have to have pity on me because I have no one else to hangout with. I didn't want to bother their cuddle session so I stayed in my room to feel sorry for myself. I prayed that I could feel loved and not as lonely and then I started reading my scriptures. Then my phone rang unexpectedly and one of my best friends Christina, from home called. We talked for a while and she said she missed me a lot. It was amazing how quickly my prayer was answered. It took like 10 minutes for someone to call and make me feel loved. I know I don't deserve what happens to me, yet I continue to be blessed. I know that the Lord truly answers all of our prayers!

Who's the Best Weatherman?

We have learned now which Weatherman to listen to. I invited my parents to come over for Easter weekend and to watch General Conference with us. The weather over the mountain passes had been fine for a long time. But, wouldn't you know it, a big storm came in when they were supposed to come over, on the Friday before Easter. I really wanted them to come--they are such a lift to me--but I also wanted them to be safe, so I told them to watch the pass conditions and play it by ear. They had heard about the incoming storm on Thursday and wondered if they should cancel their Thursday night blessing appointment and head over right away. They prayed about it and each of them independently got the impression to wait and come over on Friday afternoon (instead of Friday morning as planned). Friday morning, the forecasters implied things would get worse throughout the day (two feet of snow was forecast), so Mom and Dad threw their things together and decided to leave in the morning to try to get through before the worst of it. As they were driving, they called the 511 and found out the pass had been closed to clear out too many wrecks. They called me, and I told them to go home and monitor the situation. In the afternoon, I went online and looked at the webcams for the passes, and they didn't look too bad. The passes were open and had no restrictions. I called Mom and Dad to tell them it looked good, and they were already on the way. They got here in time for dinner. I guess the Lord knew what He was talking about in the first place!

We had a wonderful visit, exchanging Easter baskets, watching the terrific conference, and eating great food. I'm so glad they listened to the Lord and He helped them come and return in safety!

Mom

To Run or not to Run?

So, life is good. Of course there are hardships along the way, and I have to say this semester has been a toughie. Working 15 hours a week including Friday nights has put a little damper on my social life. Luckily I am really tight with my roomates and there are often people in our apartment. Anyway though, it has been tough every now and then. I am also not doing in well as school as I would like, but I am improving. Needless to say, my confidence may not have been at its peak. However, this week my really good friend and running buddy Avery registered for a 10k and wanted me to do it with her. I have just recently started running everyday again, so I haven't been in the best shape to run 6.2 miles. I also have been getting horribly painful shin splints because I need new shoes. Although I thought about how it would be nice to sleep in on Saturday, then I thought, "No. This would be good for me. I'm doing it" I registered, got my T-shirt the day before and started to get really excited. When I woke up this morning for the run, I had a stomachache and was nervous about run so much compared to what I have been doing recently and the shape my shins were in. I prayed that I would get through it and not be sick. Well, Avery and I had the goal to not walk. WE DID IT! We totally ran the whole time and kept a really awesome pace. We sped up a lot in the end realizing we had saved a lot of energy. We sprinted the last 200 meters or so into the finish line. It felt sooooooooooo good! I felt so accomplished and so proud of myself. I know that I could not have done it without the Lord! My shins felt nothing and for that I am incredible grateful. There is something about running that really calms the soul and rests your mind. I feel so incredibly blessed to have a healthy body that can run 6 miles without preparing hard core for it. I am so grateful to have legs that can take me anywhere! How wonderfully blessed we are without realizing things like health and able bodies! Running is probably my favorite activity ever!

More "Tender Mercies"

We have had or have coming up a lot of unbudgeted expenses, and I've been praying for a way to bring more income into the family. Though I am doing research on freelance writing, the Lord responded right away by giving me a lot more calls for work--two of them were even teacher-sub jobs, which pay more.
Mom

A Nice Day

One of the latest "tender mercies" was on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. We didn't have any special plans for a fun way to spend the day off, but Thad needed to open ballot boxes all over the county, so we decided to go with him. Emily invited her friend Lucy to come with her. It had been overcast for days here in the valley, but soon after we headed up river, the clouds parted, and the sun shone brightly in a blue sky. We stopped at the Cider Works, which I hadn't been to, and got their made to order ice cream, their hot, fresh donuts (amazing!), some apples and some of their awesome cider. That was yummy! Then we drove on up to the plateau. It was so beautiful to see the sunshine on the snow-covered fields. We went to several different towns. We ended up at Grand Coulee Dam, which I had never been to. It was pretty cool! It was almost warm enough to eat our picnic lunch outside--we did, at the visitor's center park. The wind picked up as the sun started to go down, so we had dessert in the car. We went through the visitor's center, took pictures of the dam, and headed toward home. We stopped at Dry Falls on the way, too. It was a really fun, relaxing day--a nice break!

Winter Mercies

I think the Lord has given us great tender mercies by tempering the weather for our holiday travel this year. We've had to go over the mountain passes a total of 4 times in December--more for Thad--and they've been bare each time, with no heavy snow or anything. It made the holiday so much more relaxing to not have that worry. And Rachel and Annie had no problems with their flights, which is another tender mercy in itself. We were able to have a perfect Christmas!
Love,
Mom