WHY I LOVE EASTER

When people ask me about my favorite holiday, and I give the answer EASTER I am often given strange looks. I get remarks about how I love it because of all the candy (jelly beans or chocolate rabbits), or even that I have to be so wonderful for the Easter bunny. However, even though all of these reasons are wonderful it is not why I love Easter so much.
Easter is special to me because for me it has always been a time to reflect upon the life I live. Growing up in a home where my mother had been raised Catholic and then converted to Mormonism helped me even more to have that love for The Gospel and The life Christ lived. For me, if it weren't for Christ's atoning sacrifice and Him rising on the third day there would be absolutely nothin else. I love Easter in all because it shows with a sign of rebirth (being in the spring) that The Father truly cares about each of us. He allows us to attend church, and remember Him in all that we do.
 In Louisiana I often remember how the time leading up to Easter is most precious to other churches. There are altars and masses given that allow the people of other faiths to reflect on the fact that He is there for each of us, and has a great devotion to care for us. He allows on this day to have a full reflection of who He is and in turn figure out who we are. The Lord has a desire to help each of us, and through this desire He has shown me personally that I am His daughter and I am He knows me by name. He has made me not only His hand maiden, but His elect daughter to serve Him in every possible way. He has given me much to be grateful for, and love and Honor Him in all that I do and say.
At times I often think back to my youth when I first got my patriarchal blessing and how I felt when I was told that the Atonement would become a meaningful part of my life. When this occured I did not fully understand what was meant by this. I thought that I would have some HUGE TRIAL that would nearly shorten my life, or I'd have some BIG DISEASE where I would have to struggle to stay strong with my health. However, NONE of this has happened to me. I went to college at Brigham Young Universtity-Idaho, and it was there I began to understand the truth behind all of it.  It was hard being far away from family, and the place I had long called home, but I came to understand that I could have my family close no matter where I was. I learned that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we never need to feel alone or as though no one is out there rooting for us as we play the great game of life.
As I left college I learned that the Lord truly works in mysterious ways. My parents had moved from Louisiana to Utah thus making it possible for me to come and live with them. As I moved to Utah I realized I was leaving behind all that I knew thus far in my life. I was now to live somwhere that I knew absolutely no one, and be a child in my parent's home. In college I did have family close by (a grandmother in Idaho Falls) so it wasn't as foreign. Moving to Utah I began to search of what my point in life was. All of my friends from college were moving on in life and I felt like I was thrust into the world without a purpose. I began reading the Pearl of Great Price and the first part of the Old Testament so that I might more fully understand what the Lord asked of me. Soon, I decided I should talk to my Bishop where for the first time I really told someone outside my family (as far as the gospel goes) what my thoughts were. It was there I first began to realize my purpose. As I told Bishop about all the times I prayed about going on a mission and receiving the answer of no, and then I discussed that I knew I was almost done with school and I earnestly did not know my next journey to take. I told him of how when I prayed about going through the temple I didn't really receive an answer one way or another which really bothered me. Then, my Bishop looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Frances, you are ready to enter the temple. I want you to begin attending Temple Prep. Today." Temple Prep started that day and I went. I felt at peace and at home with my place in that class. I knew that the Answer received through my Bishop that day came straight from my Father in Heaven. for the next 2 months as I went to temple prep I earnestly prayed to know of the truth of what I was being taught.
I received my endowment on June 19, 2010 and it was on that day that I began to realize the sacrifice HE made for me. As the next few months and couple of years unfolded and friends were lost, and new journey's presented to me I have been able to see that even though parts of us die (or so we believe) He has given us a wonderful blessing. His atonement and resurrection has given me the strength to wake up in the morning and keep going. I know some of the greatest people now. I am so glad I have been blessed to have certain friends especially right now. Some of these friends I got to know in the most awkward of circumstances. Others, I have been intrigued with since the first day I saw them. But no matter the circumstance I am eternally grateful that I have them in my life!

As I end this ramble of Why I love Easter and why it is all so special to me I am reminded that it is okay to sometimes just not want to do anything at all. I am grateful to those people in my life (family and friends) who have taught me how to live righteously throughout my life. ESPECIALLY, my Savior, elder brother, and redeemer! HE has given me the greatest example of all. May GOD BLESS each and every one of you on this EASTER SABBATH and throughout the year as you reflect on your happiness! :)

Crazy Saturday + Palm Sunday + Insane week ahead + EASTER = I'm grateful to be alive!

So, as normal on my Saturday mornings I woke up EARLY and went to the temple. I went to the 6:30 session and then had breakfast. As usual the Lord has a way for me to stay longer than originally intended in the temple and then still be able to do all that I am needed to do. Before me in the breakfast line was a huge line of youth. And they ran out of French Toast so I had to wait on mine. I thought to myself of how amazing it was that I could stay in the temple just a little longer just nourish my body after nourishing my Spirit and mind! Well, after the temple I went home to get ready to go and send out fliers for work. Well, again the Lord has different plans, and so does work. This is where I'm eternally grateful to my sister! I had to go help get things organized just to make sure all would run smooth, and she went and did the fliers. I was only at work for a few minutes, but at the time I thought of it as a huge pain. However, I have learned that despite what I may think at the time all works out for the better. Let's go back a little bit... I have learned that without sleep I am not a happy camper, but this also means that I need time to myself to learn and grow even if that is just relaxing my mind in some sort, but rest still helps me. So, Friday to Saturday I got a total of 3 hours of sleep. Therefore, when I got called to go to work I realized I wouldn't be able to rest before going to a baby shower that I at first thought was at 11:30 only to look at the invite and see it started at 11. Yeah! CRAZY! So, I went from the temple to home to Layton to home to Roy! I am very grateful I went to that baby shower cause I got to see a friend from college and yeah, all part of the healing process that I've loved! Well, then I came home and got invited to watch the REAL game at my friend's cousin's house and they would have bbq chicken and peach cobbler all made in a dutch oven! The game started at 6:30 and we'd all go over around 6:00. This gave me some time to take a well needed nap and I was smiling when I awoke from it! I like smiling when I wake up! So, on my way to watch the REAL game I stopped to get oreos for that night. See, last night around 10pm we would be at improv in Clearfield to see another friend perform. :) Brewskies (ibc cream soda) and oreos. Let's just say everything went as planned.

Now today being Palm Sunday I reflect and realize that the Lord has truly blessed me in life. First in college he gave me some pretty awesome friends and now I have new pretty awesome friends. I spend much of my fun time with these two guys who have been simply rock stars. Yes, they are way flawed and are imperfect, but they still rock! I am grateful to have met them both and the friendship I have with both of them.

As the week comes along and even though it will be absolute craziness due to how much I'm working I am still VERY grateful to the Lord! I'm excited for Easter because even though it's coming fast this year I am so happy about it! I love my Savior! He is remarkable! :D

FANTASTIC FEBRUARY to Marvelous March

WOW! I can't believe how fast February went by. Every day was a new lesson and a new journey and so much good to come from each detail. I went to San Deigo for a day and that was an adventure in and of itself. I got connected with one of the best families EVER more so than I could have imagined. The next weekend I went up to Rexburg, Idaho and was blessed with the most amazing healing I've ever experienced. Sometimes we don't realize how much the Lord is shaping and scaffolding us to become sturdy and refining us to be more than just magnificent, but remarkable and a Servant of God. I never knew exactly how much I would be shaped until that journey. One day before going up to Rexburg I started a 60 day Transformation challenge. I started this on Valentine's Day! YEAH! I KNOW! I'm CRAZY!
      So, the day after I went to work and then went to my friend's house who I was going to Rexburg with. We ended up driving her new used car and headed on our way to Idaho when we started hearing a funny noise around Tremonton. We got to Portage and decided it sounded like a flat tire and we should pull over. It wasn't a flat tire though cause we checked! We looked under the hood and so much else. WE FOUND NOTHING WRONG! We got back in the car turned it on, and put it in drive and it wouldn't go... Yeah, let's just say we weren't happy. We began to try to figure out what we would do. My friend called her parents and I tried to call my dad and sister (they were in the temple VERY NOBLE). I called another good friend and asked him if he would go into my house and grab my spare key and take it to our friend's dad. He did and I am thankful to him for that. My friend's dad then drove my truck to us and well, in the mean time we had a cop stop and tell us it was the transmission and to be safe, but as we said a prayer of gratitude and what to do next another car pulled in front of us. Out of the car came 3 guys and they said there were 2 more girls in the car. They were coming from Provo and headed to Rexburg area. God answers prayers. Little known fact is I had to go to the bathroom way bad at this moment! So them coming was a blessing. Well, sitting in the back seat talking to these new angels in life I decided to ask if they knew someone I knew from BYU and one of the girls popped off and got all excited cause she knew her! MADE MY NIGHT! We laughed and joked around and I don't even remember everything we discussed. Went to the rest stop just the other side of the Idaho border. There was laughter everywhere as we ran around and acted like children! :D On our journey back to the car where 2 of the guys stayed we passed the Portage exit and kept going since we were like right there all weird. Well, the driver decided he would take an emergency turn around... We got stuck! Yeah, we had to get out and push the car and it started going backwards fairly fast, and they had to run to catch it with tons of cars flying passed. Yeah, then three of us were about to cross the road and we nearly got hit by a semi! Talk about heart attacks. Well, we hopped in the car and got back to the other car only shortly to see my truck coming up behind us. That night we stayed with some married friends of mine and then throughout the weekend there was a billion circumstances of love shown to me!
   Now, it's March and well, I didn't realize that it started off perfectly with a text from a friend asking if we'd split the price for Improv to which another friend would be performing in that night. I didn't realize until today that March started off that way! WHAT AN AWESOME WAY TO START! And the fact that it will end with Easter just makes me smile even more. Who knew that text messages from unexpected friends and being able to wander around Wal-Mart and walk from across the street could be so much fun at 1:30 in the morning. And deciding that you want so badly to buy a CHEESECAKE SAMPLER and some EXTREME BACON PIZZA. Which just means now we have to actually go back and do it for reals! I am so grateful and just beyond happy that I have the friends that I do. In just a short time period I have grown so much! I am in love with my life and I have learned to love myself more than I ever thought possible. I have been able to spend time with many that I love, and I have learned to love even more. I am grateful to that family I've grown to love, and the healing they have helped me with and the two friends that just allow me to be joyful with them when we are all just beyond tired! Then to go to an event where there is so much love and devotion that I feel from others. Then, to attend the house of the Lord and feel a magnificent love and joy beyond belief! And then to have THE BEST testimony meeting so far! :) I know this month will be full of even more growth and learning and I'm ecstatic about it! Especially since the end of it will be Easter! I'm excited to spend time with my sister for her birthday and to see friends get married! And to continue to go to the temple weekly! :)

I love you all!

A Remarkable Journey

Two posts in two days... I'm on a roll....

Tomorrow will make 6 months since I took the biggest leap of faith I have ever taken. It has been both an extremely hard journey, but also one of the most rewarding. I am so thankful to those people who have changed my life fr the better. I never thought I would become so vulnerable in absolutely every aspect of my life and that the vulnerability would make me all the more stronger. When I took the biggest leap of faith I have taken thus far in my life I did not realize how rewarding it would be. Let me paint a quick picture of what the last 6 months have entailed.

To begin this journey I will go back 7 months to decisions that had to be made in my life. The first of which was to finally go back to Rexburg to take a test I was terrified of. I passed this test and began a journey of becoming certified to teach. Which also included me getting a job at Sylvan Learning Center. However, because of my past I was still extremely down in the dumps. I made a conscious decision that it was time for me to change my attitude on everything. I prayed more than I have ever prayed in my life. I went to all my meetings in my Singles Ward. I made the effort to move on. Then, one day at church I saw a friend that had moved out of the ward with someone that I did not know. As I was introduced to this guy I was intrigued by what he was talking about. I wondered how in the world could he be so young and have a plan of where he would be in 5 years. I tried doing that and it would change so much that I lost hope and my dreams dwindled. However, I was then introduced to an opportunity to join a network marketing company called REVVNRG. I was not in favor of network marketing prior to this. However, something was different about this. Something changed my mind and it was the exact thing I've learned over the past 6 months. I have grown in absolutely every aspect of my life. I have been taught that even though forgiveness is hard it is more than worth it for our eternal lives. I am so grateful for all I have been blessed with and I am so excited for the next 6 months and the amazing journey it will entail! All the people that are changing my life each day (including my family) I am grateful for, but most importantly I am thankful to that friend for allowing me to take this journey with him. :)

with my revv ladies!

My personal soundtrack

So, if it is not known it will be now known. I LIVE FOR MUSIC! Ever since I heard the song from Shaun Cannon I knew I had to change. I knew I needed to prove to the world that I love music. I listen to music in my car, I listen to music when I fall asleep, I listen to music at almost every moment of my life except when I'm watching a movie (which has music) or at the temple. Honestly though I have a constant soundtrack in my head for everything that is going on in my life. One word can remind me of a song. I could wake up thinking of absolutely any song. I work best when I'm listening to music or have some type of auditory thought. Bottom line is that since I was little my mind has been trained to listen to music. So, from day to day my soundtrack changes! I never know what it will entail, but just like the rest of life I am so excited to have my daily soundtrack! Here are just a few of the spectacular songs!