A Prophet's Prayer

Every so often something touches your heart in a way that you will never forget. I remember the night President Hinckley gave his address to the youth, his famous 6 B's.

It was this moment that I will always remember feeling the special love of a prophet.

O God, our Eternal Father, as Thy servant I bow before Thee in prayer in behalf of these young people scattered over the earth who are gathered tonight in assemblies everywhere.

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Please smile with favor upon them. Please listen to them as they lift their voices in prayer unto Thee.

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Please lead them gently by the hand in the direction they should follow. Please help them to walk in paths of truth and righteousness and keep them from the evils of the world. Bless them that they shall be happy at times and serious at times, that they may enjoy life and drink of its fulness.

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Bless them that they may walk acceptably before Thee as Thy cherished sons and daughters. Each is Thy child with capacity to do great and noble things. Keep them on the high road that leads to achievement. Save them from the mistakes that could destroy them. If they have erred, forgive their trespasses and lead them back to ways of peace and progress.

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For these blessings I humbly pray with gratitude for them and invoke Thy blessings upon them with love and affection, in the name of Him who carries the burdens of our sins, even the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

Goal #32

Goal 32: Own a horse

Over the years I'm sure I've exasperated my poor parents into letting me own a horse. I was 6 years old when it all started. I'm 22 now. Poor parents. I have bugged them perpetually for 16 years now!

9yrs old

Well I still don't own a horse. Bummer I know. But I had a great experience last semester that came close to my goal.

I had to beg the teacher to allow me into his Advanced Animal Behavior class. I'm not an Animal Science major, I hadn't taken the pre-reqs, and he only accepts 10-12 students a semester. He didn't even know if I could ride. But somehow he let me in. And I will always be SO grateful!

Although its an Animal Behavior class, really it was a horsemanship class. We learn to work with horses. But it gets cooler than that! We learn equine psychology and natural horsemanship: learning to think like a horse and how to develop a relationship of trust. Oh man, after all my years of riding and training no one had ever taught me anything like that.

My semester project: Milo.

Each student was assigned to a horse- a difficult horse- to work with the whole semester. I got Milo. We spent at least 10-12 hours a week outside of class together. It took a lot of time, energy, creative problem solving, and hard work. Sometimes with little success. But by the end of the semester I realized Milo and I had come a LONG way. My goal was to build his confidence, and it wasn't until the end of the semester that I realize he had built mine too.

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I wish I could explain in one post everything I learned this semester. Believe it or not, there are some POWERFUL doctrine and principles that I observed and learned through this experience. But I can't. It would take way to long, and my words probably wouldn't do it justice.

One thing I did learn, was the power horses have to heal. There is something truly incredible that takes place when we realize our duty to God's creations around us. Adam was given dominion over all the living creatures. Today we have that same responsibility to care for those beings, and to allow them the same agency that we have been so blessed with. My experience with Milo taught me to be more Christlike. I tried to develop the same relationship with Milo that Christ would have had with him. And in turn, I think it was a tender mercy for Milo to help me in my own healing process.

Hopefully my next post about Goal #32 is that I will finally own one of my own! I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Maybe I should just marry a cowboy.

Called to serve...

Cincinnati Ohio Mission!

Reporting to the MTC June 10, 2009

High Anxiety

ITS HERE!

Well its not here- here. It's in PROVO and I'm in REXBURG!

MY CALL!

So I just wanted to share that I have a major research paper that has to be turned in soon and all I can think about it getting my call, and how on earth I'm going to wait that long.

Pray for me... no... just for my paper. It's the one suffering from all this.

Create

I watched this movie everyday last week. It seriously inspires me.

A thought...

Missionary thought for the day! I love this one!

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"Investigators are not only hearing our testimony of Christ, but they are hearing echoes of their earlier testimonies, including their own testimony of Him, for they were on the side of the faithful who kept there first estate and earned the privilege of a second estate. We must always remember that these investigators, every man, woman and child were among the valiant who once overcame Satan by the power of their testimony of Christ! So when they hear others bear that witness of Christ's saving mission, it has a familiar feeling; it brings an echo of truth they themselves already know. "

-Elder Holland

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Challenge: Go bear YOUR testimony! To anyone!

Opportunities are plentiful if we just watch for them!

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No call yet. So cross your fingers for tomorrow. However, we've heard they don't send out calls the week before conference. Bummer huh. Patience, Carlee!

Did you know...

How are calls extended to missionaries?

Well if you didn't know, I will tell you.

All missionaries are assigned to specific missions by members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who have been authorized by the President of the Church. Each week, depending on the number of calls to be assigned, two to four members of the Quorum of the Twelve go to separate rooms at Church headquarters. After asking a prayer for divine guidance, they will sit down at a computer screen and one at a time, view prospective missionaries' pictures and information. Each missionary is then personally assigned to a specific mission and given a date on which to enter the MTC.

The way Elder Eyring described it: "We go into a room, and it will be a two or three hour session and sometimes longer. Because of technology, it is possible for us to have your picture and the information about you displayed. And then quickly, on that same screen, all the missions of the Church with all of their needs are displayed. Within minutes, and sometimes less than a minute, the impression comes so powerfully that it would be, if it were a single instance, something that you would never forget. Can you imagine sitting there for hours at a time, having that happen time after time without interruption? I testify to you that it is real...

...In a world so large, the Creator... somehow not only knows you but loves you enough to ensure that your call is where He needs you to go to teach the children of our Heavenly Father."

Um... wow.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

My papers have officially been submitted!

I will get my call in the next couple weeks!

Can you believe it?!?!

To guess where I'm going click HERE to see a list of all the current missions, then leave a comment! There will be something fabulous for whoever can guess the closest!

I can't even believe it! I am so excited!

Response to 2/25

I was reading this today and thought I would share:

"The Lord gives us a "new heart' (Ezek. 18:31). Our heart has to be broken, in a way, so that it can be re-made. By that I mean more spiritual sensitivity, more empathy, and more capacity to be responsive to people. The natural man's heart is pretty self-centered and hard. If we can put off the natural man (see Mosiah 3:19), we can be given a new heart, and it will be enlarged without hypocrisy (see D&C 121:42). Adversity can squeeze out of us the hypocrisy that's there. [So, for me,] its been a great spritual adventure, one I would not want to have missed."

-Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Isn't he cool! Man... I love that quote!

Today has been a...

College Life Part II

Pretty sure these speak for themselves... :)

College Life...

Before:After:Fastest way to get there:

Don't try this at home folks.

Goal #21

Goal #21: Make a difference to a child

This actually happened while I lived in Israel last year, but it just recently occurred to me as I was reading over my 100 Things To Do list.

After we finished a grueling set of mid-terms a few of us went out to explore the Muslim quarter of the Old City for the rest of the day. On our way home we happened to pass by these little boys playing with sticks when I saw one of them was crying. He was so sad! I asked him what was wrong and he just looked at me with these big crocodile tears. The older boy recognized what I had said and translated for his little friend/brother. Once the little boy had understood what I had asked he held up his pink swollen finger that had obviously been smashed. Thanks to working at Badger Creek the summer before I always carried a small first aid kit with me wherever we went (which- believe me- came in handy more than once). So I pulled out a bandaid and put it on his finger.

Did it really make a difference to him? I don't know. But it did teach me something. I realized how easy it is to reach past culture and language barriers to help someone, even if it is as small and simple as a bandaid. But come to think of it that might just be the answer to the world's problems. :)

You never know what can happen when you influence the life of a child.

Best part about Tuesdays...

Going on five years...

TAMALE TUESDAY

What?!?!

Alright Groundhog, do you realize I live in REXBURG, IDAHO! 6 more weeks of winter is 6 weeks to long! Seriously! How am I supposed to excel in school under these conditions? Do you understand my nose hairs continue to freeze as I slip and slide on the ice running to classes at 7:45 in the morning! Not to complain or anything, but that can't be healthy! I'm not trying to expose your bad judgements. I'm just politely insisting that you recall your prediction and try again. I would be ever so grateful!