Hello family!!

Thai Missionaries

   
I knew it would be hard, everyone told me it would be hard, and now I can testify that it indeed is a fact!  This week was overwhelmingly hard. I felt very slow in the language. We are teaching two investigators, who happen to also be our teachers. Their investigator names are Nikee and Phii Tom. Let me tell you one thing about the mtc, you are never in your comfort zone, everything you do is uncomfortable. You get used to it, but it's still strange and difficult. Let me share a little poem with you by Elder Holland.

Come to the edge he said
No I will fall
Come to the edge he said
No I will fall
Come to the edge he said
So I came to the edge
He pushed me and I flew

We are being pushed to our edge, but I am so grateful because we are preparing to fly.  Everytime we leave a lesson, I am determined to work harder. But on Monday after we left out lesson I was just completely and utterly discouraged. I wept and my wonderful, amazing companion just listened and gave me comfort. We take turns comforting each other. Having a companion is both hard and wonderful all in one. I couldn't do it without her.  I had no motivation to work hard to help our investigators.  I had such a mix of emotions.  Look up the song in tangled where she has mixed feeling about leaving her mom.  On one hand she is excited and the other she is not sure if she should leave her mom haha.

Anyways I think mostly this week was extremely difficult because the Phii Thai's and Phii Cambodians left us. Let me tell you these people are so incredible. They shaped the way and excitement of our missions for all us young'ns. Now we are the old ones here haha.  On Monday the Phii Thai's left us. I cried, I am so terrible at goodbyes maybe I will get used to it because there are going to be many goodbyes in the next 18 months. Then on Tuesday our Phii Cambodians left. As their bus drove away I was overwhelmed--that bus is going to CHANGE THE WORLD ( or at least Cambodia)

So Tuesday was already really difficult because some of my  favorite people in the world had left us, I was feeling really sick in personal study, and all the sudden I could not breathe.  I quickly excused myself to the hall where I basically just fell to the ground. It was the scariest feeling. I kept saying, Karen snap out of it, just breathe but the air wasn't there. I couldn't open my eyes and finally I got enough energy to open the door to my class and motioned for help. The elders quickly gave me a blessing, and called the clinic for some help. SOOOOOOOOOO embarrassing but I had no idea how I was going to get air. I tried to breath deep but it was just so fast. It was a blessing that I couldn't open my eyes because there were a lot of people trying to help me. Oh I felt so bad. The class next door which is another district going to Thailand was locked in their class and they thought someone had been murdered. I was taken to the clinic and things got better. The lord works in mysterious ways. I am grateful for the priesthood, I am grateful for prayers. Many prayers were answered that day and our zone was strengthen. I am totally fine. While I was in the clinic Glenna and Sam's wedding announcement came and a nice note from them. It made me so happy.

But with all bad things come amazing experiences. Amazing days and lots of hope. This week I was called as the Sister Training leader. I feel so humbled and grateful for this calling. It is an easy calling because I already love these sisters  so much. It has been a privlidge being able to help the girls in our district. Serving a mission is hard, but we have all had the same feelings so we know how to help and support one another. I have already been directed by the spirit in helping specific  people and asking specific questions. The lord is so aware of each of us.  I am just so happy, I love callings it helps me to look outward.

The language is extremely hard, but we were all called to Thailand and he did not call us to fail. On Saturday we had our first TRC. It is basically where we teach RM's. It was incredible. It gave us all so much hope because they were kind and not intimidating like our teachers. They told us that they knew the language would come. They told us to bear our testimonies if nothing else. I can bear my testimony and say the baptismal invitation and our purpose in Thai. Lessons are hard because I want to be personal but I just don't have all the grammar and vocab. It's a good thing I am a pretty simple person because Thai forces us to be simple, which I really love. My companion is more complex and it's harder for her. But we are working hard and it will come I know that. But I don't want anyone to think it is not hard here. It is, many days I have no idea if the language will come. We accidentally said kill God instead of Ask God because of tones. But I have learned I am a pretty optimistic person and laughing makes it all better. WE LAUGH a lot. Mostly everyone laughs at me. Maybe that is why somehow I snort when I get scared or really every other time in between.
 

AO and Sushi

Ao from camp came into the mtc last Wednesday. SO happy I basically attacked her when I saw her. She is amazing. she is going to Japan and can already speak so much, not surprised at all. The atmosphere here is excitement. I have met so many people from other countries, I love it. and we are all going across the world for one purpose. WOWZA!! Still blows me away. I made a goal to meet as many people as possible. I know so many people. It is so orderly here though. You don't know how crowded it is until devotionals.

We know all the secrets since we have been here for so long, okay it's not that long but it seems like it.  We go to the temple on Wednesday mornings and we eat there. Today the temple really made me appreciate and love the earth. I had a waffle today. YUMMM. Four square is the best game ever. You will find me and Sister D skipping most of our days. Everyone says they look up to our companionship, which is so interesting because we both have strong opinions which can cause conflict in planning lessons. This week when I was feeling really discouraged  I met a sister from Thailand who will be serving in Washington.  She said my Thai accent wasn't bad. She was so nice and It made me so excited to meet the Thai people.

That is crazy Chelsea saw me she should have said hi!!!

I have many more meetings now as the Sister Training Leader (STL). But I am getting  excited for the new group of Thai's and Cambodians to come in June.  I pray for Grace Jackson and Emily Ference all the time. They are coming in with 40 other Thai missionaries and 9 Cambodians.

Sisters Phelps and Stack

 SO MANY!! AHH we are just preparing everyday so they can feel comfortable here and can love the mtc as much as we do. My prayers just keep getting longer and longer. I know I say this every week but I think about you guys and all the amazing people back home ALL the time. I pray for you all. I got the package. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I am so happy to have those shoes and the goldfish were amazing. your letters and packages just make my life. I am sad I didn't send more letters to my friends in the mtc because it is just so amazing. I can only write you back on P day though (new rule). So today I will be writing as many letters as I can. If you can't send me dear elders please email me. I don't have a lot of time but I would rather have email than nothing. In your email just leave your address so I can hand write you back.  Man I am so grateful God has let me cross paths with all the amazing people in my life. Even though it was just three weeks those Elders and Sister that just left have imprinted on my heart (and not in a creepy twilight way). Also if somehow you put this on the blog and Eliza Smith sees this HOLY COW! COCOBEAN CUPCAKES? She sent me cupcakes and the sweetest note. Came at the perfect time. Eliza send me your address I want to write you. Everytime I write these emails it makes me realize more and more how blessed I am. I testify of the importance of families everyday. I have the best family ever and ever. I'm sorry it has taken me so long to write each of you, but trust me you are not far from my mind. If I could explain to you how much I love you it's crazy!!!!!!!!!!!

LOVE,
   Sister Karen Stack

Dear the ones I love!

  

This place is unreal and weird I do not feel like I am even in Utah. I do feel that I'm changing and growing in heart and mind. On Thursday one of my teachers, Brother Shipley taught us an incredible lesson on taking ourselves out of the equation. We are just instruments.  How much are we willing to give to the Lord? I am working hard to give everything.  Here at the MTC you are digging down deep in your heart to find what you truly believe and cleaning out the junk that doesn't need to be there — like feelings of inadequacy. Every time I say I can't do it, I am reminded that I can with God's help.

 It´s interesting you still have a lot of agency here, you decide what kind of missionary you want to be.

We are told amazing things are happening in Thailand. Those people have the light of Christ, there are miracles happening and the Lord is working hard to prepare these people. We heard two apostles are going to Thailand to talk about possibly a temple. It is so exciting!!

Sunday was the best day, each week we all have to prepare a talk because  they just call on you from the congregation. They do that all the time here (I think about how much you love that, Dad). This week our topic was enduring to the end. So in the morning I turned on some “Mormon Messages” for all the Thais. We watched a bunch of Mother's Day ones and it got everyone crying. Then we watched, “Men's Heart Shall Fail Them” by Elder Nelson.  Watch it. I want to live a life so I will feel calm about meeting my maker.

I felt so much love for you, Mom. I'm so grateful for all you taught me. I was so happy this entire day. Just ask anyone that saw me, I could not stop smiling. I can't wait to be a mother someday and I know this mission will help me. We were watching a mother's Mormon Message and it showed a picture of Mary, looking up at Jesus on the cross. I had this overwhelming love for Mary. I can't imagine how hard it was for her.

Then we went to “Music and the Spoken Word.” It was a beautiful day outside. Again, that overwhelming feeling of love came. Love of God, love of Christ and love of all the people I am privileged to call friends and family. 

The choir sang “What a Wonderful World.” It truly is a wonderful world.  Music is my favorite part of the MTC. All my senses are so strong here, so clear, no distractions. Then came Relief Society.  Sister Janice Kapp Perry was the speaker. She wrote “As Sisters in Zion,” and 10 of my favorite Primary songs – “I love to see the temple,” “A child's prayer,” and all the great songs. The whole talk was amazing and we sang a medley of all those songs. But then she did something so amazing. She just wrote a new song for sister missionaries, it has the same tune as "As Sisters in Zion." We were the first ones to sing it ever. It is coming out soon. To give you a little taste of what is was like, after we finished the song, I turned to my dear friend, Sister Tilley and said, "This was the climax of my life thus far." It was so personal, so beautiful. I will never forget that moment for the rest of my life.

That night we had choir practice. I have convinced all my zone to go to choir. The choir director is so hilarious and so insightful. We were singing “Come Thou Font.” He really made us think about the lyrics so by Tuesday devotional we would be able to sing lyrics that mean something to us. He talked about Ebenezer Scrooge, and how he changed his heart. 

That night you can choose a devotional to watch on TV from past MTC experiences. We watched Elder Holland's, it was phenomenal. In it, he talks about how we need to keep the flame and the fire of missions forever. He says when you come home and people say it´s time to get back to real life, just know that mission is the closest we will ever have to real life. He also said this is the closest we will ever have to being apostolic, with a lower case a of course. We are as close as humanly possible to the Quorum of the Twelve in everything we do. Man, did that make me want to work harder. He said we should astonish somebody, like thunder and lightning. He said, “If you meet the Gadiantan robbers, ask to use the bathroom and move on.” He is so eloquent and hilarious.

Humor is so important here. On Monday night we were going to say the prayer and somehow we got in a laughing attack and of course I was the one saying the prayer.

On Tuesday night Elder Nelson was the speaker for the devotional. I had been thinking about “Come Thou Font” so deeply for the past two days. I sang from my heart – “Here´s my heart Lord take and seal it.” I have sung that song many times and it has never meant so much in my life. Oh and guess who was the musical number after us? Ariel Bybee, who sings with Uncle D. So many small connections. AHHH I wish I could share more but time is so short.

Thank you for your dear elders and letters. They are so wonderful. Thanks, Mom for the delicious cookies, everyone loved them!!! Thanks Aunt K for the umbrella. Jamie and Laura, I miss you so much!! If you have time I would love to hear from you. The food is good, just the same everyday. Burgers, wraps, and some mysterious food. I always have salad wraps or salads.

Pday is hard because we go to the temple and I miss you guys so much but I am so happy for all the exciting things your doing with your life. I am so grateful I decided to serve a mission. It is amazing. I have been sharing clothes with many sisters. Already sick of my clothes. Lindsay gave me that dress because she didn't want to take it with her. I love it. Life is so beautiful. Utah is so beautiful. I am so grateful I get this time to commit to the Lord. I apologize if it´s too much sharing of my testimony but that is what I do all day everyday and I absolutely love it.

Our zone is leaving this week so there will only be 18 of us for a few weeks. It makes me so sad I love this people and look up to them so much. It´s crazy to think all these people are going all over the world for one purpose.

I love you all to the moon and back,

Love,

  Sister Stack

My First Week In MTC

My Yoodiam family and Friends!!

     That means  wonderful.  "Reverence is the atmosphere of heaven"-MTC  Pres. Nally. The MTC is heaven I am sure of it. This is what it is going to be like. There is a beautiful reverence here.  I have so many thoughts running through my head and I have been waiting so long to tell you all about my incredible week.  Has it really only been a week? CRAZY seems like months. It was a surreal experience for me too when I left you last Wednesday, but I was also so excited and knew if I really thought about leaving you it would have been harder so I just rushed away.

So here I go.

With companion Sister Du Plessis

After I left you I had some paper work and then I was off to meet my companion and district. I was the last one there and I had to introduce myself in Thai. I had no clue how so I said  "Hello my name is ELDER Stack." The first of many unintentionally humorous moments.  My companion is great!   Her name is Sister Du Plessis. We will call her Sister D.  She is from Wisconsin and her dad is South African. We balance out each others weaknesses and have so much fun. We became fast friends.  After having a lesson in Thai we went to lunch. I was praying so hard that I could see my friend, Sister Hall.  I didn't see her during lunch and then we were walking to our residence hall--not dorm--- and I happened to turn around and there she was.  It was such a huge blessing to see her.  I was able to see her everyday until she left on Monday.  After lunch we had an orientation with the MTC presidency, they are AMAZING. I am afraid I might say incredible, wonderful, amazing way too much in this email.  In this orientation we sang Called To Serve and I was moved to tears. There is no possible way to describe singing in a room full of missionaries that are here for the same purpose. That song has a whole new meaning here. Oh and Giggle (from camp) I sat right behind Ellie Ott.  I introduced myself and now we are friends!! All because of you...

Sister's Hall and Stack

I would describe the first four days as feeling like I had taken sleeping pills but also so happy that I couldn't stop smiling so it's constant smiling, then falling asleep, but wanting desperately to be awake.  Hopefully you can imagine that.  Later that night I was turning around to tell Sister D and the others in my district "This was the best da…….." and I ran right into a Samaon elder.   Everyone who witnessed this was on the floor crying with laughter. There has been a lot of laughing til you cry moments.  You have to have some humor to get through the hard times here.  I do feel like I am in a bubble.  For a while I hadn't received any mail and It seemed as though you  all had disappeared.

Wednesday to Sunday was mostly a blur of sleepiness and confusion. I doubted that I could do this and felt inadequate.  Sister D had taken Thai for a semester before she came so I felt she was so far ahead of me.  But then I thought of the  blog post about Drops of Awesome.  You should look it up.  Every time I learned something new I would add it to my drops of awesome jar.  So I decided to make a journal dedicated to drop of awesome or improvement or miracles.  On friday night we taught our first investigator.  His name is Sam he is from Thailand.  This language is so much fun. We are learning two languages here at the MTC the first is the language of the spirit and the other is the language of the people we are going to teach.  I have felt so strongly that the language doesn't come unless I work to improve the language of the spirit. you.  As of right now I can pray, bear my testimony and teach some simple lessons in Thai. Sometimes I think I am learning so slowly and then I think it has only been one week and I know so much and have grown so much. I spend most of my time in our classroom.  Our zone includes Thai, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Myong .  We spend a lot of time with our zone and our phii Thais (they are older, been here longer).

My Thai District

We finally had some  gym time on Friday and we played sand volleyball. When we were walking to the field we were skipping because it was so amazing to be outside by the temple and the incredible mountains.  You can't really see them from the MTC because of the buildings.

Sunday was fast day.  I was so hungry because I didn't eat Saturday night because I needed a break from MTC food.  On fast Sunday they have something called Mission Conference. The MTC presidency spoke and I felt like God was talking to me. Then President Nally decided to call on random missionaries to bear their testimonies.  My heart dropped for a second.  Then I felt this confidence that if he called on me I would be able to do it because I have confidence in what I am doing.  He didn't call on me, but he called on a Sister and an Elder and both of them, without the presidents knowledge, had lost their fathers to heart attacks in the past few months.  When the Elder from New Zealand bore his testimony I have NEVER felt the spirit so strong in my entire life. Seriously I get the chills when I feel the spirit and my whole body was  chillin'.   I also feel the spirit 

the most when we sing.

The spirit is so clear here because there are no distractions.  After mission conference we had sacrament meeting with our zone.  It was a great testimony meeting.  Sunday evening I starting feeling really homesick and wasn't feeling well at all. But the Sunday night devotional changed that, It was Chad Lewis he played football in the NFL. It was a great motivational speech.. I felt so good afterwords. I could not stop telling everyone how much I loved them and the MTC.  Even though there are some negative things about being here the positive outweighs  the negative.  Chad Lewis said everything I needed to hear.

After that things started looking up.  I had more focus and I could focus for a longer periods of time.  Teaching Sam is so great we got him to read the book of mormon and pray and we are inviting him to be baptized tonight.  I just can't stress enough how much I love it here. It is also a great thing to know that at this time in my life Camille is doing exactly the same thing as me on the other side of the veil.  It gets me so excited. I feel it in my heart and I am so proud of her.  Being here has made me realize how grateful I am for all of you, I LOVE You more than I can even describe. Your examples continue to uplift me. I want to hear all about your lives, your spiritual growth. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE write me through dear elder.com or normal mail, I can only check email once for less than an hour every Wednesday. I had a hard time adjusting to having everything scheduled but I will be able to better write you back this week.  So Grandma,Suzanne, Mom, and Cathy B, and gigs I will write you today. Letters seriously mean the entire world to me here. Mail time is the best.

Aunt Jennie, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOU package. The note was so sweet and I have already had many of those delicious treat. and Gigs your cookies were so great and the letter was exactly what I needed, what an amazing friend you are. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! Keep the letters coming.

  

All the love I can show,

    Sister Stack

p.s. the food isn't bad. I have been eating salads a lot!! Life is magical.

Farewell Talk

In a talk given by Brad Wilcox he says,  There should never be just two options: perfection or giving up. When learning the piano, are the only options performing at Carnegie Hall or quitting? No. Growth and development take time. Learning takes time. When we understand grace, we understand that God is long-suffering, that change is a process, and that repentance is a pattern in our lives. When we understand grace, we understand that the blessings of Christ’s Atonement are continuous and His strength is perfect in our weakness

Today I just wanted to share with you how through “God’s long-suffering grace,” I overcame my weaknesses and decided to serve a mission.

A little over a year ago I was trying to get myself to sign up for summer classes and it just didn’t feel right I prayed to know what path I should take. I was guided by the spirit to go to the Brighton LDS girls camp website. The applications to work at camp were due in 2 days.

After my interview I just knew I would be working at camp. I am so grateful I was guided to go to the website.

Before camp started we were asked to share our favorite scriptures to be used in a book to inspire other staff members during camp. I could not just choose one, there were too many. So again I turned to prayer. The next day I was reading in Ether and I came upon a verse that really stuck out to me.

  Ether 12:27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

Before camp I asked my heavenly father to show me my weaknesses. And that prayer was answered.

The first week of camp was hard but so amazing.  We were forewarned that there would be homesick 12 and 13 year old campers, but I didn’t count on getting a knock on the door at 3 am the first night with a girl who missed her own bed so much she couldn’t sleep. Or learning to pray so hard because you just accidently served 13 campers raw chicken. (Don’t worry, my prayers were answered and no one got sick) Or loving these girls so much, I didn’t want to send them into the real world after five days of being with them.   

With dealing with these difficulties, I felt energized by the spirit and I learned to see these girls how Christ sees them. It was wonderful gift to see how they would grow closer to one another by the end of the week.

The spirit was so strong because there were no worldly distractions-we were surrounded by nature with no modern technology. Through camp, I felt more love than I had ever experienced in my life. I saw the beautiful spirits of every camper and staff member. And in return I felt completely loved. I have fond memories of the late night walks and chats to skunk and the bonding experience of not showering every day. And how they would try to startle me so they could hear my signature snort.

Throughout the summer I had several experience that made me remember my favorite scripture- “If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness.”  My own goal for camp was to make sure the campers have a great experience and know without a doubt they are great in the sight of God and I wanted them to know there was someone out there who truly loved them. I had a camper who, because of her home life situation, had never felt this kind of love until she was up at camp.  It was very difficult for me when I could not give my 100% attention to my goal because of an injury I sustained and other emotional weaknesses that I was shown.

 At the end of the summer when I left camp, where I had been surrounded by 30 close friends and campers at all times, I felt alone and weighed down by my weaknesses. Even though my roommates and family were a great support, I felt hopeless and a darkness creeping into my life. I felt like my weaknesses made me a bad person and I could never change. This feeling came to the lowest of the low on one gloomy Friday night. I was all alone in my apartment. Just like how the earth was sent into darkness when Jesus was crucified, I felt sorrow and broken. Could I ever be healed spiritually? I wanted to be back at Brighton, I wanted to fix my mistakes. I asked the savior to stay the night with me. As I was pouring out my heart I still felt pain and I questioned everything I had taught my campers. Where could he be? But like the resurrection, morning came, the sun rose and finally Christ returned to me through the words of General Conference. In that moment, I felt the spirit stronger than ever before and in every single talk, I felt like my Heavenly Father was telling me he loved me and that my weaknesses couldn’t hold me back any longer and that I could do hard things. I felt hope.

In Elder Holland’s talk, he spoke about the weaknesses of the apostles Christ left on earth, and asked the question that Jesus asks us “Do you love me?” and in that moment I could honestly say YES and felt healed! And knew that I wanted to share that with everyone.

Since I’ve found this new confidence in Christ I’ve had many experiences where I didn’t struggle with those weaknesses anymore and I have seen the hand of the lord guiding me and preparing me for what is ahead.

I got my mission call to Bangkok, Thailand in December. Life was looking upward but I still had struggles and Satan tried to get me to doubt my confidence and faith in Christ.

Could I really serve a mission, I was letting satan put a question mark where God had put a period.

One night I was attending a wedding reception of my brother’s friend. My sister and I chose a random table and started eating. When someone came over and asked me if I was excited about my mission call to Thailand the family across the table from us quickly asked are you serving a mission in Thailand? These relatives of the groom were from Thailand and the mother took a picture of me on her ipad and said she would find me. As I was leaving she told me in a soft voice your going to be an amazing missionary I can tell by your spirit. It was a simple gesture and yet a huge miracle it gave me confidence in the decision to serve and how perfect Thailand was the call for me, and how the lord was looking out for me.

Little things have started to happen for instance I am not a morning person and I like to sleep in, but lately my body just naturally wakes up early and I have really enjoyed it.

This recent April Conference my uncle Robert gave me his ticket to the Saturday morning session. As I walked closer and closer to our seats I saw there was a purse in my seat, in this particular section we were assigned seats. I could tell  the lady whose purse it was, was Japanese and I did not know if she spoke any English, so finally I got enough courage and asked her what her seat number was. She quickly moved it and I decided why not ask her more about her life. She did not know much english but we continued to have a great conversation where she told me she had been sister oaks mission companion all those years ago and how great going on a mission is, she congratulated me on my call. The language part of a mission has always scared me but through this experience I know it is important to have the spirit with me and if I work hard I will be able to communicate with the Thai people.

There are many more experiences I could tell you about the past 6 months and all the miracles that occurred but I am going to stop there. I am so grateful these people were placed into my life to teach me and to prepare me. I love meeting new people and look forward to all the people I get to meet.

 Some one I met through facebook who left to serve in the Thailand mission two months ago wrote “I entered the mtc with 29 other missionaries who will all be going with me to Thailand. WE are the largest group of Thai missionaries to ever come to the mtc in the history of the mission. They continue to say something big is happening in Thailand and we are going to be there for it. I don’t know what it is, but it makes the daily study and 16 hour days feel worth it.”

When I read this I could not contain my smile. The feeling I feel towards the mission is excitement. I am so excited to serve the people of Thailand ,my future companions and everyone else. The gospel excites me and brings me so much love and joy. Everything good that has come into my life has been through the gospel.

I am nothing without Christ and through having confidence in him I have faith that I will be able to handle anything that comes my way on my mission. I have seen many of you struggle with trials, and each time my heart feels for you. I have prayed for you.I hope that if any of you are struggling, you will find that God loves  you just as he loves me.

Just like in the song we sang- The darkness of the world creeps in on every side but through the shadows I can find the light. And so can you. I wish you all the very best. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Easter

pure joy

I just have to share my testimony because I can't hold it in tonight. The past ten days have been hard ones since I got my wisdom teeth out my life has been out of whack. I spent most of my days sleeping. Somewhere in the mist of it I forgot to do my gospel study. When I decided to serve a mission I committed to doing about an hour in the morning and an hour at night of gospel study time, which includes scripture study, preach my gospel, gratitude (tender mercies) journal, temple prep, personal journal, and spiritual journal and if time conference talk and nice notes. I did not realize how much this affected me until I stopped doing it. I was so negative, I started having serious doubts about serving a mission, I was just not a happy person. Today I finally got up early enough to do my study time. Let's just say today was an incredible day. I could not wipe this smile off my face all day long. I was more social at school and learned a lot more. When I got home from school I cleaned my room spotless, and did homework that isn't even due for a while.  The spirit prompting me to do a few very special things, I don't think I would have done on my own. I found a birthday letter from my brother that I forgot to read, and it was exactly what I needed to hear. I can get really lazy, but today I wasn't lazy at all. My roommates took me out to a belated birthday dinner, it was so nice to have some quality time with them.Then I came home did more homework and exercised and then there was plenty of time for more gospel study time. Today my heart was completely full of love and I could not stop talking to my father in heaven all day long, I kept telling him how grateful I was for this opportunity to come live, learn, and grow and all the amazing people in my life. This is why I am going on a mission so others can feel this special joy that only comes from the gospel. Now it's midnight..oops. Life is grand!

Pray for Ashtyn

Each week at Brighton camp I would dread Fridays, because it meant I had to say goodbye to many campers I had grown to love immensely. I wanted to keep them under my wing, safe from the harm of the world, of people telling them they aren't good enough, from struggling parents, really just from all sorrow. ( I know these trials are good for us, and teach us many incredible lessons) I just hoped with all my heart they could leave knowing they were loved and with a stronger testimony. This week Ashtyn, a camper, was diagnosed with leukemia. It broke my heart. How could this be? While I volunteered at Primary's I saw what cancer does to you, and it is not an easy road. I wish with all my heart I could take this pain away for her. But I was also astonished at how strong this girl is and her family. There is an army of people already surrounding her of family, friends, leaders, and strangers. Her mother has already posted about all the tender mercies that have happened in just the past few days. Their faith is an inspiration to me. Her mother inspired me to start a journal of tender mercies in my life. I spent all day praying and fasting for them and I know she is going to be okay. I hope you will join me, in directing your thoughts and prayers to Ashtyn and her family.