Temple Trips

I've been lucky enough to go to the Cebu, Philippines Temple not once, but twice!  The first time I went with the Institute.  We had a great time!  The second time I went with Angie, Yet-yet, Rix, Lillian, and some members of our ward.  We also had a great time!  

Our travel arrangements were the same both times, so I'll just explain it all once :)  To get to Cebu we hopped on a boat around midnight that went through the night.  The seating arrangements were bunk beds.  It looked like this: 

Top Bunk

Bottom Bunk

Both trips I slept like a rock!  No covers, lights on, people chatting--I'm a pretty good sleeper :) I woke up just in time for the sunrise and getting off the boat :)

We got there first things in the morning, around 5:30-6:00 and headed straight to the temple grounds.  The temple grounds in Cebu is kind of like a compound.  There is the temple, a stake center, the mission home, and a pension house.  The pension house has rooms for members attending the temple as well as a cafeteria and locker rooms.  Both times we were able to get cleaned up and get some breakfast there before we attended the temple.  I was able to do a total of 3 sessions of baptisms in my two trips. While we waited for people to get dome I got to spend some time walking and sitting around the temple grounds.  They were beautiful, as usual.  

The pension house is quite nice, and it was so convenient to be able to eat right there while we waited for other members of our groups to finish with their sessions.  I was able to find these 2 pictures painted by Grandma Minerva, as well as her painting of Christ in the Red Robe that was inside of the baptistry.  

The temple workers are called there on missions.  I was able to meet two different couples, both from Utah.  They claim it's the best mission on earth, and I believe them!  All of the senior couples live on the 3rd floor of the pension house, right next to the temple.  They get to go out and eat at different places around the city.  Then the temple closes for 2 weeks every 6 months, so then they get to go and vacation for those 2 weeks.  Sounds pretty great to me!

Both trips we stayed in Cebu for one night.  With the Institute we stayed at a place that was kind of like a hostel.  Then the second time we stayed at the Pension house.  To get home we caught a bus that drove us to the south eastern tip of Cebu Island.  That ride was about 4-4.5 hours with a nice stop in the middle.  Then we caught a short 20-30 minute boat back to Negros Island, and from there a short jeep ride to Dumaguete.   It was good for me to see the sacrifice that the members here go through to attend the temple.  

We had some neat experiences with members in my groups in both trips to the temple that helped to strengthen my testimony.  There are some strong members here and it has been so good for me to experience The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints here in Dumaguete.  It's the same.  There are valiant leaders, strong members, missionaries, and the same special spirit.  I love this gospel and I love my Savior.  I love attending His temples and the renewed energy it gives me each time I attend.    

A Wedding of Friends

The start of this week (ya know when all the storms were and stuff), we headed down to a wedding of two of our dear friends.  Tess and I both lived with Brittanie last year and we just love her.  She ended up not living in the house this year, but she was our most frequent visitor, and we love her!  She's always just so happy and full of life and energy.  I admire how she always looks on the positive side of things.  She is so good at looking at the big perspective and having faith that everything will turn out for the best.  She's always so fun and we always have a good time when we're with Brit.

Luckily, Brittanie married a guy who is just as fun and full of life as she is!  Adam has this special way of making everyone in the room instantly happier when he enters.  We passed each other between classes a couple of times each week this semester, and it always brightened my day talking with Adam for a minute or two.  I'm just so happy for those two and I'm so glad they let Tessa and I be a part of their day :)

Between Tessa, Eden, and I we were able to get some fun pictures.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Brittanie asked me to do her hair for her big day.  I was both honored and excited!  I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  She seemed to be happy about it too :)

 I have been loving the dutch braids lately! 

That temple is just so huge and beautiful!

 Me and my sissy :)

Mary, Tess, Adam, Me, and Eden.  What a guy!  

A great group of friends that all showed up to party at the reception.  We had so much fun talking, laughing, eating, and dancing.

Brittanie and the bridesmaids from the Sherwood House

The fastest stretch of traveling.  Good visibility, 3-4 inches of snow on the road, and no other traffic!

These past couple of months I have been realizing even more how important it is that I marry someone who is not only going to take me to the temple to get married, but who will take me back frequently. The Gospel is not something to be casual about, and being on the temple grounds and waiting for all of my friends to come out from the sealing strengthened my testimony of the importance of the gospel in my life.  

Tessa. My BFF Forever.

It's Tessa's birthday today.  She's seriously the best little sister anyone could ever ask for.  I can not imagine life without her.  Here are some of the reasons I love Tess.  

She always has an awesome attitude, even when times are tough.  

She likes to watch sports with me.  And she came to BYU.  

She has the coolest/weirdest talents.  

 She likes going to concerts with me.

She's always got me laughing out loud.

She has the best booty.

She's my favorite ski buddy. 

 She loves America, and she loves going fun places. 

She went on a million hikes with me and only complained once. 

She accomplishes any goal she puts her mind to.  

Really though--always laughing!

Our names just go together.

She loves hanging out with me and my parents.  

She lets me cut her hair. 

She's just so pretty.  

We have the same brain which often leads to us saying the same things and dressing the same.

 Again...

and again.  

I really don't know what I'm going to do without this girl being there for me basically every second this next year and a half.  I'm so happy for her though and her decision to serve a mission.  She is going to be such a great missionary.  She is going to bless so many lives.  I know that the message she is taking to the people of Argentina is true.  God loves us and has a plan for each of us, and right now His plan is for us to be apart.  I know this is starting to sound dramatic, but people!  She is my BEST FRIEND!  You don't just go without seeing your best friend for 18 months unless it's for a very worthy cause (a mission just so happens to be the only qualification...).  Anyways, happy birthday Tess.  You're the bomb.com.  

My Body

Guys, I figured out my favorite gift.  It was the gift of a body.  My body.  Now, before you think I'm conceited and love my body or something like that (cause I've got plenty of problems with it, I promise!), let me explain to you a little about why I'm so happy with this gift.  

First of all, my body houses my spirit.  My personality, my ideas, everything I think about gets to happen because I have a body.  I get to feel.  I get to love.  I get to hurt.  If I didn't have a body I wouldn't be me (obviously...).

Second, my body works perfectly!  I get to hike, ride my bike, run, jump, play sports, walk, cook food, and the list could go on and on!  Would I love to be more athletic?  Certainly.  Am I grateful for what I have?  Definitely.  It just blows my mind how I can just work my body to the point of complete exhaustion, get a little rest, and go right back at it.  I'm so blessed!  

Finally, by having a body it means I chose Heavenly Father's plan during the war in heaven.  To me, that is the most significant part of having a body.  All of you reading this chose to come to earth and have a body!  You made the first biggest decision correctly!  I'm thankful everyday that I made that choice.  

Sometimes I focus on the negative parts of my body.  Most of the time I wish I was skinnier, or my muscles were more toned, or I had better skin, but when I'm thinking negatively, all I have to do is remember all of the amazing things my body can do!  How did I get so lucky to be given a body that functions properly and allows me to do so many things?! I mean, I can do this everyday:

I was gifted with this body, and I'm going to try to use it the best I can.  I'm going to take care of it.  I'm going to be grateful for it, and try to make my Heavenly Father proud by using it for what He would have me do.  Next time you're feeling down about your body, just think about all of the great and amazing things YOUR body can do! 

Project 1

So, I have some cool news.  I now have my very own sewing machine!  I'm more excited than I should be, seeing that I'm only 22, but it is what it is.  

It's a 1987 Bernina and it runs like a champ.  My great aunt Mary was a master seamstress and she passed away in December.  My mom went with my Granny to help clean out all of her things and they brought me the sewing machine.  I'm one lucky girl.  I feel so honored to be able to have her machine.  My first project was just a quick alteration.  Because of my body type I tend to have a hard time with button down shirts.  I have to buy them big enough to button through the chest without gaping, but then they're huge through the torso.  So, after one of these purchases, I get to whip out the sewing machine and tailor it.  I'm going to start being in the classrooms more so I've been looking for some more professionaly clothes, which often entails button downs.  The other day I found an adorable shirt, brought it home and fixed it right up.  Pretty happy about my first project on the ol' Bernina.  

(Forgive the "proof I attended the Book Fair for my class" photo, but it's the only one I have in the finished product...)

While the machine was out we cut up a bunch of hearts real quick and sewed them together for some valentinesy decoration for our wall.  I like how they turned out too :)

(Isn't Tessa just the best?)

So, thanks Aunt Mary.  Your machine will continue to be put to good use.  

A Little Bit of Perfection...

After Spanish this morning I sat down to do homework in the JFSB in front of the large, east facing windows.  I had been doing homework for about 10 minutes when this was my view:

Oh how I love the sunrise.  It feels me with hope, joy, and love.  I am so blessed.

Livi's Logic #5

I love my parents.  The problem is that sometimes I take them for granted.  I saw this quote a couple of days ago and I decided I need to do a better job of making my time with my parents count.  

This weekend I was able to spend quite a bit of time with my parents.  I went to the state basketball tournament where my dad was coaching his high school girls' basketball team.  Tess and I stayed with my parents and had a grand ol' time!  His girls did so great and pulled out an upset in the semifinals to play in the championship game Saturday afternoon.  They played so well but ended up taking second.  I'm still so proud of them!  

Mom, Tessa, Violet, Sedona and I got to do some shopping and swimming and sit together at the games.   We had so much fun just being together and visiting about life.  It was so great!  My mom is just so loving.  I know she cares about me so much and I love being with her.  Nothing makes my day more perfect than a being with my mom.  She's the bookkeeper for the team, so she travels with them and my dad.  I thought it might end when Tess was graduated, but she still keeps going!  She loves going and watching the girls and supporting my dad.  

I had a lot of great moments this weekend, but my favorite one was with my dad.  It was pretty personal, so without going into too much detail, Dad basically told Tess and I how he knew we had worked so hard to be the best we could be and how bad he wanted us to accomplish our goals.  I almost cried.  My dad's not a one to dish out compliments or really tell us that he's proud of us.  I just always pretend he is :)  So, this moment had a big impact on me and I am so glad I was there to support him in his coaching.  He loves basketball, and he loves these girls.  They work hard and he was so proud of them this weekend. 

Summer's just around the corner, and I'm heading home!  I'm not going to lie, I'm a little nervous…  I feel like I'm heading into social Siberia.  I have great friends here and it seems like something is always going on!  When I head home there's going to be like no one my age!  I've been kinda bummed about this and wondering what I'm going to do.  Even Tessa is going to be gone!  I've never spent a summer home without at least 2 of my siblings home.  This week though, I decided it's going to be awesome!  I'm going to get some quality time with my parents.  I'm excited to spend some time with just us three.  Hopefully they don't get too sick of me bugging them about doing stuff with me…  I guess it'll keep 'em young :)  

Anyways, so all of you out there, love your parents.  They need us.  They need our friendship.  They need our love.  Just like we need theirs.  

Happy Birthday Uncle David!!

Today has been a special day.  My Uncle David had his first birthday in Heaven.  I haven't written about my experience with his passing yet because I've been having a hard time with it.  I just kept asking myself why it had to happen to him, why it had to happen to his family.  He passed away from complications due to lung cancer.  He always kept the Word of Wisdom to a "T," so it seemed so strange that his body would fail him in this way.  The only way I can make sense of it is that Heavenly Father needed him up there more than we needed him down here.  I can only imagine the marvelous work he is doing up there!  

Tonight Mary, Tessa, and I had a birthday part for him.  It was so great!  We made a cake, lit up the candles and sang our little hearts out.  When the candles were out and there was that birthday candle smell I was flooded with memories of birthdays around their table, David at the head.  He always made sure we sang the song quick and with gusto!  No song was ever finished without the follow up phrase: "What a windjammer!"  

The cake :)

A quick memory of cakes with Uncle David:  When Tess and I were in jr. high we were up at David and Sally's when he asked us if we'd ever made a cake.  Neither of us had… So he promised us that each time we made a cake we would get more good lookin'--that's why his wife was so pretty!  Obviously I haven't made enough cakes yet…haha!  I'm sure he was proud at how quick I whipped up this cake :)

This next picture is one of my favorites.  It was the first time we went to visit him at the hospital after his stroke.  I remember talking to him as he squeezed my hand.  As I was about to leave he brought my hand up to his lips.  I started bawling, but was filled with so much hope!  I knew he was going to recover and be back to his normal, happy self.  

We went and visited him again after he was transferred to the rehab unit.  This visit we actually got him to laugh!  It was so exciting!  I told him a story that my dad had just told me about his football days at Ricks.  My dad's coaches had gone to one of Snow College's games and watched David play.  They were very impressed with David and brought my dad in to talk to him.  The coach asked my dad if he was as fast as David.  My dad replied: faster.  They asked if he was as big as David.  His reply: 10 pounds bigger.  The conversation went on and my dad was so thankful that his brother played so well because after that he became the punt returner.  This story now has a special place in my heart because I heard Uncle David laugh for the last time.  

As the semester went on and I was down here at school I called my mom everyday for an update on David.  Most of the time I was in tears.  It was tough on his family and my heart was breaking for them. I was having a hard time dealing with this reality and as I tried to put myself in their shoes I couldn't even imagine the heartbreak they were experiencing.  Sometimes things just don't work out the way we want them to, but the Lord is in charge and He knows what is best for us.  Healing definitely didn't happen overnight, and I am still receiving comfort each day.  It seems though whenever I think of him, a picture of him laughing pops into my head.  He was always the happiest guy and I imagine he's even happier now that he's back with our Father in Heaven.

Uncle David and his sweetheart.  What an amazing woman she is!  I can't think of a stronger, more loving and caring person.  

Aren't they perfect?!

I know that Uncle David wants us to be happy down here.  He wants us to love one another.  He wants us to find peace.  I know we can find that peace through our Savior, Jesus Christ.  He knows exactly how we are feeling.  He can comfort us and help us find peace if we will let Him.  So, Happy Birthday Uncle David!  I hope I made the right wish for you :)  I love you!  

Ashbee

Ashbee is fun, kind, smart, athletic, and gorgeous!  These are just a few of her traits.  Most of them I can't quite find words for.  Ashbee is one of my best friends!  I don't know what I would have done without her this last year at school!  It was so great to have her to talk to.  She knew about my life before college, and she could just relate with me so well!  

We've been friends since elementary school and Madi, Ashbee, Tessa, and I did SO much together!  We went school shopping together every year, had end of the school year sleepovers, and multiple sleepovers throughout the school year.  She was a great teammate, cheerleader, and friend.  I always knew I could count on Ashbee! 

When she came to BYU I was so excited!  I didn't know how much we'd see each other since we weren't living together, but we set a goal the first semester to go to the temple every week.  We set aside  Thursday afternoons to go to the temple and then lunch together.  It was so great!  This goal made sure we saw each other at least once a week, and I know those weekly visits to the temple and with Ashbee helped me out so much!  

Second semester we decided to work out together every morning.  We attended some super fun, super hard aerobics classes every morning at 6 am.  I always knew she'd be there.  We kept attending the temple every week as well.  We spent a lot of weekends and evenings together the second semester as well.  

This Friday, August 2nd, Ashbee married one of the best guys I know, Brady Thompson.  I am so excited for them!   It was a gorgeous day, and I was lucky enough to be a bridesmaid! 

It was so fun to watch them fall in love and to get the details from Ashbee along the way :)  I'm so excited for them, but I'm also a little sad for me...this means she's leaving BYU and heading to Laramie.  I'm pretty sure I'll cry when I finally come to grips with the situation. 

So Ashbee, thanks for being there for me.  You're a great friend, a hard worker, an awesome teammate,  reliable, honest, and you've got a good head on your shoulders.  The list could go on and on!  Most of all, thanks for always being willing to share your testimony when I needed it!  I love you girl!