4 weeks remaining in life as we know it

Don't worry, this isn't a post on how I'm getting married in 28 days.

As you may or may not know, Psych is a major part of my life and has been since it started. It's my favorite TV show and has been an uplifting source of comedic relief for my otherwise dramatic life. It's on its last 4 episodes and I just don't know what I'm going to do without it. The following is a conversation I had with my friend Jessie about the afore mentioned event. It's a very traumatic time in our lives and I believe because we had Psych, we are able to cope with our loss in such a healthy manner.

Me: ...I just want to cry every time I think about it

Jessie: I must be a better fan because I do in fact cry Every time.... This is awkward.. For you

Me: Hahaha I was crying while I watched it.

J: Oh... Well I bawled like a baby and because I did I got asked if I would donate my tears to the ocean because they were running low and were afraid the sea life would die... So I basically saved the ocean

I: Hahahahaha! Good thing because as I was crying and watching the show, mermaids came to me and told me that my devotion to psych has inspired them and given them the drive they need to stand up to their oppressors and gain their freedom back. They were so oppressed, man. Now they're free. And it's because I'm such a big fan of psych and the whole Santa Barbara police department.

J: Hahahahahahahahahaha I'm dYing! But not as bad as those poor baby belugas! I sad to them "oh baby beluga, oh baby beluga, is the water warm? Is your momma home with you so happy? Way down under where the dolphins play. Where you swim and splash all day.... "And you know what that sweet beluga said "Yeees Jessie, thank you for saving my life and all of the aquatic wild life!" And alas another tear fell and one more but from baby beluga as he said, "Jessie, oh Jessie... I am so sad your show is coming to an end, but you saved millions of lives so rejoice in that!" And I said, "So you're saying this isn't  so much of an end as it is a beginning?" And I swear on my pet ducks grave baby beluga said, "Ehh I've heard it both ways." And the most incredible thing happened, he bestowed upon me a glorious pineapple... A pineapple so glorious it made all other pineapples taste and look like 💩

I: Hahahaha would you believe that the mermaids are really close with the belugas. They told me of this happening and I did not realize it was you they were speaking of. Oh what joy my heart feels for you. But not as much joy as the mermaid kingdoms feel for their rediscovered liberty. It has literally given them powers beyond imagination. So much power that they weren't sure what to do with it. So after blessing me with the name Geronimo Jenkins and dubbing me an honorary mermaid free to sail the 7 seas however I may wish, they set out to free other sea creatures, magical and benign, and tell the tale of the devoted psych fans who saved their lives, homes, and their freedoms.

J: Ok you are the true Penelope! Just when I thought I had topped the story, you pulled that right out of your ass like a true BSer and I am Impressed! Beyond! Belief! Hahaha I love you so much :)

Letter from a missionary

My friend Katie is on her mission in Peru. She sends me e-mails every week to let me know what's going on. Her experience this week was too awesome not to share.

Here's what happened.

I had to go to the immigration office with another Hermana to get some stuff worked out to get my visa soon. So we get there, and our guide has us sit down to wait.

My appointment was scheduled for 3, and my temporary companion, Hermana Bott, hers was at 2. So we go and sit in the 2pm appointment waiting area. After 20

minutes or so of waiting and not doing anything, I pull out the Book of Mormon and start memorizing Moroni' Promise (Moroni 10:4-5), in Spanish. In this scripture,

 there are a lot of verbs in the vosotros form (ex: podréis, habláis, ect.) and Im pretty sure I was butchering all of them.

 

So, without really thinking about it, I turn to the Latino who was sitting next to me, and in my mediorce-american-accent-spanish, I asked him how to say one of these

 kinds of words. He answered, and it was WAY different than I thought it was going to be. He obviously saw right through my confusion, and explained that he might

say it differently though because he has a Brazilian accent. Cool right? We started to talk about why we were in Peru, and I explained that I was on a mission for my

 church for a year and a half. Talked about where I was from and how long I had been here, I talked about how I was here to teach people and do humanitarian work

 as well. He asked if I was going to a lot of different countries, like a kind of tour or something. I explained to him that I was only here in Peru, and that I was called here,

as in it wasnt by my choice, but that I still loved it here. He asked who chose for me, and who is able to go on missions, and I explained how the whole application and

assignment process works, and I talked about prophets and apostles, and how they are all inspired of God and how they recieve revalation from Him. He definitely

thought that pretty cool! We talked about a lot of other stuff like what we do at the CCM, what I did before my mission, and a bunch of other stuff.

 

He then asked, ''So when you go out and knock on peoples doors and want to teach them, what if they dont want to be taught? What if they dont want to listen to your message?

 What if they dont accept it?'' I told him that there are definitely going to be people like that, and Ive already encountered people like that in Peru and back home. But thats just

 one of the great parts of being a missionary. You are a representative of Jesus Christ, but many people still rejected Him when he was on the Earth. I just told him that ultimately,

 we can do everything we can, but God's timing is ruler over everything else. So maybe it wasnt that persons time to have the gospel. I told him that I knew God had a plan and a

 time for each of us to change. Once I said this, things got REALLY GOOD.

 

He started to talk about how he loved studying the Bible, and loved learning about other religions. He asked me about our CCM training, and if we learn about other religions.

 I told him that I actually took a class at my university in the states (BYU) about a lot of different religions around the world. We talked about that for awhile, then he really started

 to talk. He talked about how he knew that God loves us all, and that he gives us each our own gift. ''I have my gifts and blessings, you have your gifts and blessings. But God

 says he is the same before, now and forever. But yet, the Jews seem to get such speical treatment in the Bible. Why isnt God the same with all of his children? Why hasnt he

 blessed and taught the rest of the world in the same way?'' Holy moly, like how perfect of a question is that?!

 

I immediately started to tell him about the Book of Mormon and how it was filled with teachings of Christ from prophets who were in the Americas, and teachings from when Christ

 came and visted the Americas. He asked who the authors were, and I told him that it was written by various prophets of God, just as the Bible is. I also then threw in José Smith

 and how he translated the BoM through the power of God, and that he was a prophet of today's age. We talked about that for a little bit, then he asked if we only believed in the

 Book of Mormon, and not the Bible. (Literally, this guy was the PERFECT investigator, so many good questions. Golden.) I then explained how we believed in both and relied on

 both. I also told him about how I have read the Book of Mormon a few times before my mission, but now being on my mission, Ive started to read the Bible more, and the similarities

 between the two testaments of Christ are insane! I then said, ''Well, I mean it makes sense that they are the same I guess. Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow after all right?''

 

He then started talking about how he had this intense desire to truly know God. Not just to believe in a superior being that is distant from us and doesnt know us personally, but he

wants to know the God that loves us individually. He wants to come unto Christ and follow His example in all things! He said he has had this desire to change his life for long, but

he has never known what to do and what was missing. He said he read the bible a lot, but something was missing. (By this point I was basically freaking out inside and having a

spiritual party in my mind - this guy had been SOOOO prepared by the Lord to be introduced to the gospel, it was blowing my mind.) So then I bore my testimony to him that this

gospel, and these teachings of Christ really would bless his life. I told him that I know he can come unto Christ and know God, through prayer, study, and obedience. I told him

that if we want this faith and we want this change, we have to act on it. I told him I knew this because I had personally been changed through this gospel and through Christ. It was so cool!

After I told him that he just sat there and smiled. I gave him the Book of Mormon that I had, and he just smiled more. It was amazing. I almost started to cry. He thanked me over and over

again, and then we talked for maybe 20 minutes more. And then we went our separate ways.

 

Talk about being prepared and placed by the Lord. I was so lead by the Spirit of what to say and what to do. Like there is NO WAY that God's influence was not a part of that entire conversation.

We talked for an hour and a half! ALL IN SPANISH. Me! And a Brazilian! I spoke spanish, in the present, past and fututre tenseee!!  Man, oh man. I mean, my spanish probably wasnt perfect,

and that man had SOOOO much patience with me, and was so willing to listen and was so willing to learn. It was the coolest experince of my life. Sadly, I didnt get his contact info... but I fasted for him,

hoping and praying that he would find the missionaries, or that the missionaries would find him. I had him read Moronis promise, and I know that he felt the Spirit. I know that he is going to find

answers to his prayers, and he is going to find what he has been looking for. Holy smokes. This gospel is so so true. God is so real.

 

Who knows. Maybe a few years from now, he is going to be giving a talk in his ward, hes been baptized, and hes talking about how this one sister missionary gave him a Book of Mormon in Peru.

Ya never know :) What I do know though is that God has prepared people out here in Peru and all over the world to hear the gospel and to come to Christ. They are literally WAITING for missionaries

to come and to teach them. They have this desire to know the truth, they just dont know where to find it.

My little girl's all grown up!!

I wanna be like Elizabeth Swan

The captain of my ship, sailing where ever my heart desires.

Don't let life

Keep you from living.

the snow has driven me to do this.

I found this post just hanging out in my drafts from about 4 years ago. Maybe it's because we've had such a mild winter but it looks like my feelings toward winter have changed just a little bit. I'd still rather not have to deal with the blasted season but it's more just a mild loathing rather than an all out hatred from every fiber of my bean.


Usually I don't like being a Debby-Downer, but I hate snow.

Hate it.

HATE!

I've met a few people recently (and by 'a few' I mean most of Boise) who absolutely LOVE snow and Winter and cold.

It sickens me greatly.

So here is my list of why I don't like winter.

1-People don't know how to drive in the snow. Once the fluffy white stuff starts coming down, they turn into morons and create havoc on any road they just so happen to be on.

2-It's cold. I can't get warm ever, and the cold makes me need to pee SO bad!!!

3-It's wet.

4-My car decides to be sickly.

5-The cold makes my windshield crack. Which I wouldn't have a problem with if that stupid pick up truck hadn't so rudely flipped a rock at my windshield and chip it!

Posilutely absotively.

Positivity is a hard thing to maintain. It seems like as soon as someone gives you the wrong look, your day is shot. I've been trying to be more positive as I've noticed I undersell things like how my day went. Maybe it's because I expect someone to feel bad for me, but even on days that weren't particularly bad, I find something to complain about like the girls at work just gossip and there's no unity or I'm not getting enough hours at work, or I got called into work on short notice, or my family is just the worst! But either way I find ways to complain about my life.

I recently had a conversation with a close friend who is just having a really rough time right now with her life in general. She's not getting enough hours at work and lives in a big city with little to no job opportunities for her and because of the demographics where she lives, she's under qualified for a lot of positions.

Not only is this hard on her, but it is wearing on her relationship with her significant other. She trying really hard to find another job but it's just not producing any results. Without getting into too much detail, basically her life is just about hell right now. As I was listening to her explain everything that has been going on I couldn't help but think I've really got nothing to complain about....yeah, wedding planning is stressful and hard when nothing goes how you envisioned it and it sucks to not be able to have as many hours as you would like sometimes but when you live with your parents and have amazing friends and an incredible fiancé, you really have absolutely nothing to complain about, at all. Even when you're having a fight with your sister over stupid things. Life is great. It's hard, but it's great.