gratitude at a late hour

Heavenly Father is patient with me. He is kind and forgiving when I make the same mistake for the thousandth time. He knows every thing about me. Every weakness, every imperfection. & yet somehow he still manages to love me and bless my life in countless ways.

 

He is blessing me with this wonderful place called NYC, and I don't think I could ever explain how grateful I am.

Chelsea Babbitt said it better than I could:
 

 

It was then I realized
I am truly happy. Not for the moment, not for a time, but for everything.

I am thankful for everything that has brought me to this point with no end and no amount or number calculated could describe how happy I am to be exactly where the Lord has brought me to right at this exact point in my life.

I have a long ways to go before I am satisfied however, there is always something more to learn and develop and grow to be better from, but I know I am on the right path to that end.

It's amazing what happens when you submit to the lord to guide your life. He has greater things in store for you than you could ever imagine.

For the 12,333,543,232,343,545,454 time.

THANK YOU. 

 

 

 

p.s. i survived the hurricane and came out without a scratch. i can't say the same for this unfortunate car down the street from me. 

 

 

 

Lighten Up

About a year ago I posted a quote here on the blog. During my talk yesterday I used more quotes from Chieko Okazaki's* book Lighten Up and I thought I would share here as well.

"If there is one great constant in the universe is the unfailing love of the Savior, the other great constant is his unfailing respect for human agency. He will not override your will, even for your own good. He will not compel you to accept his help. He will not force you to accept his companionship. He leaves you free to choose.

I beg you to open the door and let him in. give him your whole heart, all the pieces, and let him heal you.

He's not waiting for us to be perfect. Perfect people do not need a Savior. He came to save us in our imperfections. He is the Lord of the living, and the living makes mistakes. He's not embarrassed by us, angry at us, or shocked. He wants us in our brokenness, in our unhappiness, in our guilt and our grief."

Chieko N. Okazaki, Lighten Up

*Sister Okazaki was the 1st counselor in the relief society general presidency but did you know she passed away just a couple of weeks ago? I am so grateful we have her talks and books to go back to. She was an absolutely incrediable woman.

New York, you've made a liar out of me.

Now listen. This post.. well its a bit sappy. But i've just embraced my sappy-ness and learned to love it. So if sappy makes you squirm in your seat folks feel free to just skip this post. 


When people back home ask me how New York is I lie. I lie because when I left Utah I was so ready for things to go the way I wanted them to. I had this picture in my mind of the way things were going to go. So when I got here and the excitement of being in a new place wore off, I realized this was not going to go the way I had planned. When people would ask me how it was going in their "oh my gosh you live in new york now how is it??" excited voice I hated admitting that everything was not perfect.


And not until today did I realize this:


Being out here doesnt mean that I can't admit its hard, because it is.
And it doesn't mean that I can't admit that I am unhappy sometimes.


But,

I am grateful things don't turn out perfect. I am grateful that Heavenly Father forces me out of my oh so little hermit shell to make me grow and learn.
There is no doubt in my mind that this gospel is what gets me through it every day. 
I am very blessed to have family and friends back home that are constantly reminding me I will always have a place to go. And I am grateful to be out here because I know this experience is making me a better person. After seeing everything Japan's experiencing I felt like I needed to express how blessed I am that I have the life that I do. 


I recently stared writing down at the end of the day at least three things I am grateful for that day and its helped me stay on the more optimistic side of things.


So peeps,


What are you grateful for?

manhattan temple

I went to the manhattan temple this morning.

It's amazing how I always feel at home in one of these, 

even when i'm miles away in a very very large city.