期末考试

The past few weeks have been extremely busy; the end of the semester always seems like a race to the finish, barely completing everything on time.

Today we had a special stake conference with four members of the Seventy.  The leadership of the church has decided to phase out student stakes and wards and integrate them with regular young single adult stakes and wards.  So today the announcement was made, and there will be no more BYU wards, only Provo YSA wards.  I lead the music, and Jonathan played the organ.  I'm grateful for opportunities to serve in the church and also to interact with and learn from general authorities.  They mostly bore their testimonies; the only consistent theme was marriage.  I've been thinking about that a lot lately, especially with my trip to China coming up in August.

I've been on several dates with Sarah Tomoser lately.  She will be going to Arizona for an internship all summer starting in the middle of May, but I'm thankful for the dates we've been on, whatever ends up happening in that category.  She's fun, and I love that we can enjoy diverse things like dinner in the belltower, tandem biking, an art museum visit, and a Sunday fireside.  Friends make life worth living.

English title: Final exams

宗教教友大会结束了

A little perspective goes a long way.

I feel like today's sessions of General Conference helped place my problems in focus and invigorated my faith.  I've kind of been on standby in many areas of my life for the past several months, doing the same things day in and day out and not planning for the future as well as I could have been doing.  However, the talks today prompted self-reflection and reevaluation, and I feel better for it.

My roommate McKay moved out today; I didn't think I would miss him, but I do a little bit right now.  It was very sudden; he basically packed up and moved out today while I was gone for conference.  I'd known about it for a few days before that, but I will miss him coming home late and talking for a bit, usually about his sixth graders and how teaching is going.  I know I can always Facebook or call him, but when you don't see people often, you tend to forget about them.

I'm grateful for the blessings of peace and certainty the gospel bring.  Jonathan, Beth and I just watched Treasure in Heaven and Only A Stonecutter back to back, and both were powerful reminders to me of the blessings that come from keeping covenants and living the law of consecration.  As we give everything to the Lord, he gives it right back, in abundance.

English title: General Conference is over

春天来了！

I have so many things to be grateful for today; I really don't know if I'll get to them all.

I'll start with yesterday, paradoxically.  Last night around 11:15, my roommate Robert got a call from our friend Rachel.  She's had back problems for a while, and she wasn't going to be able to make it to this morning's conference session in Salt Lake, so she was offering tickets.  Robert didn't need them, so I took her up on the offer and drove over to collect them.  There were three, so I called Hannah and invited her and Brent to come with me.

Fast forward to this morning.  As we drove up to conference, Hannah said that she had been waiting for a while for someone to offer her tickets.  I'm grateful that I could be an answer, in a small way, to her desire.  Also, as I reflected on the fortunate way I obtained tickets ten hours before the session started, I realized that this might be my last chance to attend conference in person for quite some time.  I'm thankful for Heavenly Father being mindful of my needs.

There were many things to be grateful for during conference, but most of all I am grateful for the Spirit reminding me of things I can do to be happier and fulfill my purpose in life.

I went to a garden center and bought a few tomato plants and some herbs and peppers today.  It was warm out and I succumbed to the temptation to hasten the spring along.  I love plants and growing things, and I will enjoy having a small container garden of sorts on my front porch.

English title: Spring has come!