Great Read

So this is a book that we have been reading for our Relief Society book club. I started it in January and finally got it finished last night. (I never claimed to be a fast reader). In the book, Sister Oaks has so many profound things to say. One of the first things that she talks about it not just having faith in the Lord, but also having faith in his timing.

"Faith means trust - trust in God's will, trust in His way of doing things, and trust in His timetable."

At times I find this very difficult to do. I have faith in the Lord, but I want things when I want them. At times it is hard to see the big picture. Ultimately the Lord can always see the big picture, so ultimately He know what is best. Sister Oaks also reminded me that,

"Faith is believing that although we do not understand all things, He does. Faith is knowing that although our power is limited, His is not."

At times I want things to work because of what I'm doing, but I must remember that ultimately if I have faith and turn to the Lord he has the power to do ALL things. This being said I must remember that He will do them as He see fit.

"The Lord is going to give us the life that is best for us. One way or the other, it is not going to be easy."

I think that sometimes I wonder why life couldn't be easier, or why so and so has such an easy life, but mine isn't. It's at times like these that I need to remember that first of all I don't know all the struggles that so and so goes through, but also that this life wasn't meant to be easy. We can here so that we could learn and grow and often times the we grow the most when we must struggle.

Another thing that the book talks about a ton is being happy with where we are in life. President Harold B. Lee said:

"Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you but on what happens inside of you; it is measured by the spirit with which you meet the problems of life"

I think something that is key to truly being happy is understanding that I am a child of a Heavenly Father who loves me and wants the best for me. As I draw near to my Savior Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, I will only find more answers to the questions I have. Who better to ask for answers than those who know all.

"If we look to Christ for answers, He will give them. It also follows that with our increase devotion and understanding of Him, the happier and more complete we will become and the more we will comprehend our true worth in the sight of God."

I think sometimes the hardest thing to do is to see myself and others as our Heavenly Father sees us. I think if I truly did, I would understand the great worth of each person on this earth as a child of a Heavenly Father. Knowing this I'm sure I would treat myself and those around me with greater love and compassion.

Another things that Sister Oaks talks a ton about in the book is marriage. She wasn't married til later in her life (in her 50's) so she talks about the struggle to wait for the blessing of marriage to come, but also the importance of marriage. There were a couple things that specifically stood out to me since I'm looking forward to being married this summer (a post to come on that soon I promise). Sister Oaks says that

"We should realize that a good marriage does not require a perfect man or a perfect women. It only requires a man and a women committed to strive together towards perfection."

I think that at times we talk so much about perfection that we assume that it is something that will ultimately be achieved in this life, but it is not. So if I will never attain perfection how is it that I would expect to find a perfect man to marry. Marriage is ultimately a partnership in which two people come together to work towards perfection. I'm sure there will be good days and there will be bad days, but as long as we are committed to working together with the Lord, the marriage will be blessed. Another thing that Sister Oaks said that I really liked was

"Marriage is a dynamic interaction between two growing, changing people, and it requires constant focus on the quality of that interaction if the marriage is to be close and meaningful."

As I move forward building a relationship with Dan, I realize that we are two different people, with two different backgrounds, with two different lives full of experiences, but that as we work together and trust in the Lord that we can continue to build a relationship that will be meaningful not only in this life but in the life to come.

Last but not least I just thought that this was overall and very good thought on the ability that we have in our life when we trust the Lord. Sister Oaks says

"We have the capacity to change our lives for the better."

And so if you're looking for a good read I would highly recommend this one. Not only do I think that it strengthened my faith, but it lifted my spirit and brought to me a greater understanding of my worth to my Heavenly Father

The nerd in me....

Wants to wish all of you a happy PI DAY! (3.14...) Go out and celebrate with a piece of pie :)

Good Thought

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

I heard this and thought that it was a wonderful question. I think it's good to do new things because it stretches me as a persona and I grow in ways that I never imagined. So here is to doing something for the first time more often.

So yes I did have the day off and I feel like not only have I been able to catch up on my blog, but I was also able to finish the book that I started reading sometime last summer. (Yes, I know I'm a slow reader, always have been, but that doesn't stop me.) The book is called "The Paradox of Choice- Why More is Less". It's written by Barry Schwartz. Even though it was a slow read it was definitely an interesting read. The book is mostly about the idea that having more decisions isn't necessarily a good thing. As the book discusses, more decisions can lead to more time making decisions and ultimately depression. I think my favorite part of the book was at the end (and no I'm not ruining it for you if you want to read it). There is a cartoon of two fish in a fish bowl. The parent fish says to the other fish "You can be anything you want to be - no limits" The author goes on to explain this idea

"Living in the constrained, protective world of the fishbowl enables this young fish to experiment, to explore, to create, to write its life story without worrying about starving or being eaten. Without the fishbowl, there truly would be no limits. But the fish would have to spend all its time just struggling to stay alive. Choice within constraints, freedom within limits, is what enables the little fish to imagine a host of marvelous possibilities.

I think that it is this last idea that I connected most to. Even though this wasn't a church book in any way shape or form the idea of "choice within constraints and freedom within limits" is how I feel about living the commandments that have been giving to me by my Heavenly Father. I know that some people feel like living the commandment can be restricting on choices that I have in life, but I feel like living the commandments opens up a "host of marvelous possibilities". Anyways even though it took me so long to read, it was still a good read and I would highly recommend it. By the way this should be the last blog of the day :)

Finally getting the hang of it...

So this year I had a couple of friends convince to to join VOTs. It's a ultimate frisbee league here in Phoenix. I've been playing pick up ultimate for almost all five years that I've been here in Phoenix, so I thought that it would be an interesting challenge. And it has definitely been that. The season definitely didn't start out very well. Our first game was on an especially cold and windy night here in Phoenix. About half way through the game I ended up getting cleated by someone on the other team. My foot was so numb that I couldn't feel anything which is probably a good thing, since the cleating did some damage. Fortunately I got over that and we are now 5 weeks into the season and I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of things. Strategy is a little different than when we play pick up and I'm never sure where I am suppose to be on the field. Last night during the game I think something finally clicked. It could be the fact that I caught the frisbee in the end zone for a score, or it really could be that I stopped thinking so hard about things, but either way I'm starting to get the hang of it, so hopefully it only gets better.

Add a little personality

So my most recent project was something to add a little personality to the new cubical that I have moved into at work. Since I spend a majority of my time during the day in my cube, I like it to be a place that makes me want to be there. One thing that I always like to have up is pictures. Both pictures of people and places I've been. So I decided to take these things... do this... and this... and this is what I got. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I love having projects to do, because I think I just really like to see how things turn out. This one was super easy, but I love it!

Hoover Dam Bridge

So on the way back from Gunlock we stopped to check out the new bridge. It makes traveling across the dam so much faster. The view from the top of the bridge is pretty impressive, but I think I still like it better from below.

St. George

Over President's Day weekend I traveled up to Gunlock (one of my favorite places to relax) to spend the weekend doing just that... relaxing. The weather was a little more wet than we would have liked, but that didn't stop us from getting out Saturday morning to go hiking. We found a cool little place on the bluffs above St. George where we could run around in the rocks. It was a little wet, but we stayed dry enough climbing through, over, under and around the rocks. I think every time a travel to southern Utah I remember how much I love the red rocks.