We drove our bus onto a ferry and took the ferry across the Irish Sea to Wales.
It was a beautiful ferry ride, but what awaited us on the other end was beyond beautiful!
I was in heaven as we drove through Wales to get to Preston, England, our next destination.
I wish I could describe Wales, but it's something you just have to see. Let's just say that it definitely made my list of places to return to and explore later in life!
Once we got to Preston we headed straight to the Preston temple to do some work.
They aren't accustomed to such big groups at this temple, so it was quite an adventure getting over thirty of us through the baptistry!
Afterwards we were fed a traditional meal in the cafeteria.
There were some parts of it that I wasn't such a big fan of, like the rhubarb pie, but everything else was pretty delicious!
The temple workers were all so welcoming, and it was a truly great experience.
The rest of that day was spent back at the hotel resting up from jet-lag and a crazy two days we spent in Ireland.
A big group of us took over the lobby with some fairly intense games of Egyptian Ratscrew and Catch Phrase.
It was a great day :)
The next day we met a church historian, Peter Fagg, who took us on a really incredible walking church history tour of Preston!
We saw so many amazing things, including the home where Gordon B. Hinckley stayed on his mission in Preston, and the River Ribble where the first church members were baptized.
It was an amazing experience to spend the day learning about the early Latter-day Saints in Preston.
River Ribble, Preston, England
This is the home where President Gordon B. Hinckley stayed on his mission in Preston.
He was sitting in his room in the top right hand window when he was feeling a little discouraged about his mission and why he was there spending so much of his family's money for such little reward.
He opened a letter from his dad and in it read, "Forget yourself and go to work," which we heard President Hinckley quote so many times throughout his time as a general authority for the church.
That is such a powerful lesson that we can all learn no matter our situation, whether as a missionary, a mom, or a mechanic.
Just forget yourself and go to work.
Serve one another.
Our stay in Preston was an unexpected surprise and I am very thankful I had the opportunity to visit a city so rich with the history of this gospel!
I have had quite a few requests from family and close friends to read the speech I gave at the Department of Education and Human Development convocation just over a month ago. So, if you're interested, enjoy!
Congratulations
to all of my fellow graduates! I am sure I am not alone in feeling that this
entire day has been so surreal. I have experienced many emotions including
excitement, humility, and relief! We made it to this very important milestone
in each of our lives, but it was not without effort. We are all sitting here,
about to walk across this stage and receive our diplomas because we put in
time, effort, and a lot of sacrifice to make it to this point. Fortunately, I
believe we can all look back and see our efforts were not wasted. We are not
sitting here today feeling like we wasted our time, or that we could have done
something better with the last 4 or more years. This is because this time in
our lives has been filled with growth. As we walk across the stage and receive
our diploma, we are being rewarded with an incredible amount of growth; growth
in faith, growth in knowledge, growth in experiences, growth in relationships,
growth in character, and growth in testimony. Our ultimate reward is that over
our time at this remarkable university, we have experienced growth in more ways
than we can possibly realize. Our diploma, simply a piece of paper, is
meaningless without the realization of what it represents – our sacrifice of so
many things to be able to grow personally, emotionally, spiritually, and
academically.
So
what now? I for one know that I have experienced all of those great emotions
today, but over the past few weeks I have also experienced a lot of fear and
anxiety over what lies ahead. I have felt a resistance to the big changes that
are going to occur in my life now that this stage is over, and this is coming
from a girl who has moved more times than she can count in the last 22 years. I
have never felt more resistance to change than I have lately. As I’ve thought
about this, along with all of the positive emotions I have felt, I’ve realized
a few key things.
First,
fear cannot dictate our choices. Elder Neil L. Andersen, in the October 2008
general conference stated, “Challenges, difficulties, questions, doubts – these
are part of our mortality. But we are not alone. As disciples of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we have enormous spiritual reservoirs of light and truth available to
us. Fear and faith cannot coexist in our hearts at the same time. In our days
of difficulty, we choose the road of faith. Jesus said, ‘Be not afraid, only
believe.’” Ultimately, we have to make the decision to place faith over fear.
Ultimately, we all have to come to believe and know that with the Lord, it will
all work out. This leads to my second point.
Putting
our faith in the Lord does not mean we will not experience difficulties. As I’m
sure we already have, we will all continue to face challenges and trials in our
lives. This is what allows us to grow! Think back to some of the hardest
classes you have taken – were those challenging courses not so rewarding in the
ways you grew as a result of your time and effort? Without challenges, we would
not experience growth. Elder Dallin H. Oaks has stated, “We may have to struggle
to achieve our goals, but our struggles may yield as much growth as our
learning. The strengths we develop in overcoming challenges will be with us in
the eternities to come. We should not envy those whose financial or
intellectual resources make it easy. The stuff of growth was never made of
ease, and persons who have it easy will need to experience their growth with
other sacrifices or forego the advancement that is the purpose of life.” Growth
occurs as we push through trials, realizing that with the Lord, it will all
work out as long as we have placed our faith and trust in him. Proverbs 3:5-6
reads, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding. In all thy way acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
This brings me to my third and final point.
Elder
Russell M. Nelson, in the October 2013 General Conference began his talk,
“Decision for Eternity” by saying, “My dear brothers and sisters, each day is a
day of decision. President Thomas S. Monson has taught us that ‘decisions
determine destiny.’ The wise use of your freedom to make your own decision is
crucial to your spiritual growth, now and for eternity. You are never too young
to learn, never too old to change. Your yearnings to learn and change come from
a divinely instilled striving for eternal progression. Each day brings
opportunities for eternity.” We have been given the beautiful gift of agency.
We have the ability to make our own choices, to choose each day if we will put
faith over fear, to choose each day if we will trust the Lord in our trials. We
have been given the gift of being able to choose to put our circumstances to
work for us, no matter how ideal or not ideal they may be.
These
are all things that we have all learned in some way or another over our time at
this University. These are all things that we know, that we have gained a
testimony of, that we truly believe.
So
now, as we all move on, to graduate school, a career, marriage, motherhood or
fatherhood, or whatever it may be, we do so remaining steadfast to these things
we have learned. We know that our efforts have not been wasted, that our growth
has not been wasted.
I
would like to close with an excerpt from a talk President Gordon B. Hinckley
gave at this very pulpit as he dedicated this Hinckley building. In a very
powerful closing statement, which I will do my best to emulate, he states to
students just like us, “Be faithful, be true, go forward, be ambitious, don’t
short circuit yourself, don’t stop now, keep going. Educate your minds and your
spirits, and never lose sight of the fact that you’re a child of God with a
divine destiny, and capable of doing great and good and wonderful things, don’t
sell yourself short, don’t cheapen yourselves. You know who you are, you know
that you are a Child of God, and that your Heavenly Father expects something
great and noble and good of each of you… keep the faith, you’ll marry, you’ll have
children, you’ll have grandchildren, you’ll go out and do the work of this
world, but maintain your integrity, be honest, be good, be decent, be
prayerful, and the God of heaven will smile upon you and bless you, and give
happiness into your heart and a sense of peace in your lives. There’s no end in
sight for the good you can do, you know it? You’re just simple kids, you’re not
geniuses, I know that. But the work of the world isn’t done by geniuses; it’s
done by ordinary people who have learned to work in an extraordinary way.”
To
all of my fellow graduates, I would say – over our time at this University we
have learned to work in an extraordinary way. Utilizing our education and the
growth we have experienced, we will be able to go out into the world and do
extraordinary things, whatever they may be. As we go forward in life keeping
these things in mind – to remain faithful, to put our faith in the Lord, and to
use our agency wisely, we will be blessed and be able to overcome trials,
growing and learning as we were sent here to do.
I am so thankful for the lesson we had today about hope, given from President Uchtdorf's talk, The Infinite Power of Hope, found here.
Just as we often hear that faith is the antidote to fear, hope is the antidote to despair.
When we are fearful or are in despair, we lose faith and hope in Heavenly Father and His son, and in their ability to heal us and help us through anything and everything.
"Hope is one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity. These three stabilize our lives regardless of the rough or uneven surfaces we might encounter at the time... Hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness."
We all have moments of despair or sorrow, where our hope may seem to falter or even seem lost.
As we learn to rely on our faith in those moments, He will be there to take our hand and help pull us through.
How thankful I am for my Father in Heaven and His patience with me and His willingness to always be there for me, even in moments where the last thing I might want to do is turn to Him.
For the past few years there's always been this special place in my heart for the night of Christmas Eve.
When the kids are in bed, milk and cookies have been set out and eaten up by Santa, when presents have magically appeared, and all of the adults settle in to get as much sleep as possible before the kids wake up with bright eyes and anxious bodies.
This is when I read the account in Luke chapter 2.
When I get to think about the birth of my Savior, Jesus Christ, and what that means for me.
When I think about His ministry, His example, and how I can reflect that in my own life.
When I think about the atonement and what a blessing it is in so many ways.
This is when everything slows down.
This is when I have this special time to remember the real reason for the season, and how grateful I am for every way that I have been blessed.
This reflection and application of the Christ in Christmas changes Christmas morning.
While opening each gift and watching gifts I've given being opened, I remember why we show our love by giving.
It's symbolic of something more... of what we can give of ourselves to others and to the Savior because He gave such an incredible and priceless gift to us.
"Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Day 25: Something someone told you about yourself that you'll never forget.
My first year going to EFY (Especially For Youth) was incredible. I think any teenager would tell you that it was definitely life-changing, but the most memorable experience from the entire week was the Sunday after I got home. I was at church waiting for Young Women's to start when one of the girls in my group sat by me and we started to chat. I was telling her about EFY because she hadn't gone.
Class started and our conversation ended. She leaned over to me and said, "You know, I just see this light in you. You're glowing. You look truly happy."
She has no idea that she gave me the greatest compliment anyone ever could that day.
Having that "light" in my countenance is something I've continued to strive for.
Thank goodness I have the Gospel in my life to cling to when the waters get rough. I finally put forth the money to buy a book I've been wanting for a little while. I've spent an entire day reading it and watching segments from the accompanying DVD. To say the least, it's kept me sane and kept me focused on the fact that this isn't the end of the world.
Life moves on. I'll move on, too. It means a new job, it may mean a new major, and maybe even a new school. That's the beauty of life. Time moves on and drags you along with it. You may as well make the most of it, because the time will pass either way.
"One of the unfailing facts of mortal life is the recurring presence of trouble... When these difficult days (and nights!) come - and they will - it will help us to remember that 'it must needs be,' that in the grand councils of heaven before the world was, we agreed to such a time of challenge and refinement. We were taught then that facing, resolving, and enduring troublesome times was the price we would pay for progress. And we were committed to progress eternally."
"An
old Baptist preacher told me once in a BYU meeting I was in with him,
he said, 'What I've learned in this life is we can all have what we
want, or something better.' I think that's the way God sees it. The only
time you wouldn't get what you want, is if He has something better, and
as a good parent, would overrule for your good."
"First of all, foremost, you will not be tested, you will not be tried, you will not be pushed beyond your ability to withstand and endure and prevail. Now that's a promise, it's God's promise, so I just work here. You won't be pushed beyond hope, you won't be pushed beyond faith, you won't be pushed beyond what the future has in store for you."
For Times of Trouble - Jeffrey R. Holland
"My convictions and my feelings for the Savior of the world have been born in the most desperate hours of my life, when I wondered whether the sun would ever come up again. It seemed to come up for other people, it seemed to come up every morning for everybody else I could see, but not for me. Now it isn't always like that and it's not supposed to always be like that, and we're a little self-pitying if we act like it's always like that, but some parts of the discipleship require that walk, basically His walk."
