Just Some Thoughts

I feel so very blessed today for the knowledge I have of our Savior Jesus Christ. I feel humbled before him of my nothingness without him and my ability to accomplish all with him. We all fall short sometimes and I've come to the point of finally being grateful for our weaknesses and trials because each one is an opportunity that he is allowing us to experience so that we can draw closer to him. When our heart and our mind are in the right place then no outside influence can take away our happiness. We truly are the master of our own souls.

(ENJOY)

I've watched this video over and over. It helps me to keep perspective and stay grateful even when life is frustrating or it feels like we're walking on a rocky path. Things happen and the thing to remember is our relationship with God. God always knows how to turn our weaknesses into strength and help us to overcome things that only he could make possible. I have so many personal experiences of this in my own life. One of the most recent being when I was sick on my mission and even after. While I was sick on my mission it was for the whole last year of it. It was literally through the enabling power of the atonement that I was able to make it through the mission. The Lord literally carried me through the day and blessed the lives of those I was able to serve. It wasn't me it was all him. Being sick allowed me to religh on him more then I would have been able to which in the end provided a lot of stretching and growing that I didn't even know was possible. After my mission with all the expectation of getting better it only got worse. From that point I experienced many hardships but as a result I've somehow ended up with more blessings then I could ever have imagined. I live in Provo, I have switched collages, I got an amazing job, and being in an other wise impossible to have relationship (because of distance). Would I trade any of these things? Of course not. The only thing that got me through those hard time were the many prayers that I said pleading "Dear Father, I don't know why I'm sick but please let it be worth it." It was worth it and it wasn't until I relaxed, trusted in him, and stop fighting myself (kicking against the pricks, figuratively speaking) that the Lord then said okay here you go. Literally my life changed for the better in the span of 1 week. It wasn’t just for one reasons but a lot of different reasons that I needed that experience.

I know that all the blessings in my life are a result of our loving Heavenly Father. Through our Savior Jesus Christ we will be able to return and live with Heavenly Father if that is what we choose. It does take effort and we can't make it back to him without using the beautiful gift of the atonement. That's the only real way to be happy. That is the only real way to live. "Any other way is chaos." -Elder Christopherson 

I just wanted to share my thoughts with anyone who may be interested. My heart is so full of gratitude! My Mother always taught me ever since I was a child that "there is something good that can be found in any hard experience." I believe this to be true with all my heart because it is a part promise of the atonement. Never give up and always keep pushing forward. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Pain is just for a moment. Life is about being happy where you are now and not waiting for some future point.

...For those of you who do not know. I haven't been sick lately with the same things from my mission. Fybromyalgia has been so much better. For the most part the only symptoms I get from that is when it is cold and my muscles get tense. That's nothing to complain about. Sometimes I get the common cold but I'd say most people do. Where I am now is a miracles and blessing from our tender and loving Heavenly Father. May we all recognize our blessings and say an extra prayer of gratitude each day.

The Start of Something New

For those of you who do not know who this is, this is my boy friend Josh Feriante. It's a long story so I will try and give you a somewhat brief update...

(The picture above is the first picture we ever took together when we started dating. We were at Flat Iron Park in Sandy Utah) Sunday, August 19, 2012.

Josh and I met on our missions while serving in The Ogden Utah Mission, both of us serving speaking Spanish. The first time I saw him he was in one of my district meetings for a day. His companion at the time was Elder Lautaha. My first impression was, well I couldn't figure him out. He seemed kinda distant yet was nice and kinda kept to himself. Little did I know he would become my district leader for the next two transfers. Not only that but he was also serving in the same ward as me for both of those transfers. His companion was Elder Morel and mine was Hermana Lundstrom. 

(The next 4 pictures are the only pictures I could get my hands on of us on our missions)

Family Home Evening Mondays at Hermana Bluvans house (in the Picture with us is Penelophe. She was here for a while from Mexico.) 

This picture is PRICELESS! I love these converts. One reason being is probably because we worked so hard and long with them. We saw miracles and these Elders were a big instrument in helping them progress as Hermana Lundstrom had countless visits and lessons.

This was our whole district that transfer. I can honestly say that Elder Feriante was the Elder that pushed me the most in my Spanish. It was frustrating at times and liberating at others. That was an emotional transfer for me. Those Elders put up a with a lot from us Sisters. 

This picture was taken the last day of my mission at the mission office when I was saying good bye to everyone. I had forgotten this picture had been taken.

Little fact about our missions. Josh started his mission exactly 3 months before my mission and his ended 3 months after I got off my mission. Wow, what are the odds?

(Hehe Josh is the only one that was looking at this camera. I wonder where the photo is from the other camera that I'm looking at. In the picture with us is the Perdomo Family, we love them!)

When Josh and I first started dating we both didn't admit that we were dating because we were still adjusting from being friends on a mission to liking each other and actually openingly dating. This was at the reception of Hermana Marcia Lundstrom (my companion at the time that Josh was our district leader). We got to see some people from the mission and we played games with Janae and Jaymes after the reception. This was the night Josh met Janae and Jaymes for the first time.

I still wasn't sure about dating him until I went to Salt Lake with Megan Judd for a session in the temple. We went out to dinner at a Peruvian restaurant after and Josh came along with us.

This is the only picture that we had taken that night that I remember. (Josh took this picture of us.) It was so much FUN! The music was loud, dancing fun, and the food well it took a long time to get to us.

Even with so much going on, this was the night I knew I wanted to get to know Josh better and I was certain that he was interested in me.

From here things just kept on getting better and better. We went on more dates and started spending more time together. We didn't take a lot of pictures of each thing but there is definitely a lot that happened. 

Josh came and spend General Conference weekend with me. He was able to see a different side to me and hear even crazier stories when he met Sara and Josh Foster that weekend of General Conference before they left to go back to Tennessee. We shared old stories, laughed a ton, and he got to learn so much more about me. The more he learned the better things got for us.

(This is a picture of us at the Conference Center for the Sunday afternoon session of conference.)

As I am going back over the our experiences in my head and trying to capture it all in writing it just isn't the same as when we lived it and where things are now. Things are so much better where they are now and explaining the events of the past doesn't do justice for how fun and exciting everything was in the moment. This boy came into my life out of no where and swept me off my feet. The week he got off of his mission he looked me up on facebook, some how got my number, and gave me a call. He called me that week and once a week every week until he came to visit me once he was in Utah. I sincerely thought I had called him once or twice but he has a clear memory and reminds me that I didn't call him back, not even once, woooops. I couldn't be more grateful that he wanted to keep in contact with me so much that he kept on calling. When he would call I would tell him all about the different guys that I was dating and he would tell me about his life and ask me for advice. It was nothing more then a genuine friendship. Which for me it had to be that way because there were honestly times that it was hard for me to make the change from being missionary friends, just friends, and then dating was a big step for me. Josh has been more then patient and one of the parts that I love the most is how well we communicate. Even from the beginning we've been way open with each other sharing our thoughts, hopes,fears, and everything else that falls in between  He knows whats on my mind and he is good at explaining his thoughts and how various experiences affect him. Could I ask for better, hmmm I highly doubt it. The type of relationship that we have is what people dream of their whole life's yet some rarely find...

Each one of these events mean something different and special for us. There are memories and moments that will not be forgotten. 

One of my favorite moments is when we first said "I love you." He said he had been waiting months to tell me those three words and me on the other hand I waited a few weeks. He's the type of guy that knows what he wants and I'm the one that knows but has to make sure 1, 2, or even 10 times that I'm sure of something before I dive in because once I jump I don't look back. Needless to say I love this boy. I am not sure where things are going to take us but I am look forward to taking our time in getting to know each other and enjoying each experience along the way.

I dedicate this to Josh who has been wanting me to keep on blogging and update my blog for a while since he knows I haven't blogged since we've started dating! I love you, ENJOY!