My Pilgrimage to Provo!

I have been TERRIBLE at blogging the past few months; so much has happened since Belgium, but I've been too busy/unmotivated to blog about it! I thought my trip to Utah though was far too big to miss. It was simply amazing. I don't think there was a single thing that I would have changed about it. Except of course for me staying longer! We packed so much into three days and Kaley was such a wonderful host making sure I saw everything and kept asking me if there was anything else I wanted to do or see because she would take me there. It was so nice to meet all of her friends and her awesome ward - everyone was so welcoming and I instantly felt at home there (which didn't make it any easier to leave!). I was so happy to see that Kaley has a wonderful situation there and is having such a great time; she deserves it.

I had no idea that I was like this, but BYU showed me that I am such an easy crier! I would hit Kaley and point out every little thing around me - from the Y on the mountain, to the BYU flags all over campus, to a particularly nice stretch of sidewalk - and burst into tears. I don't think I've ever cried that much in my life! Kaley was a good sport about it and would humor me and say "Oh wow yeah that's great!" but literally I was pointing out each pebble or tree in sight. Everything was so wonderful and must have struck a certain chord in me that brought on the water works. I was just touched by the great Spirit that the school holds and everything seemed so special to me. I loved it. (even if my face was drying out from crying so much)

Well, there is just too much to write down every little thing, but here is a little summary of my awesome trip!



Friday night:
Kaley and I took a quick trip to Temple Square right when I arrived to see it all lit up. It was FREEZING but so much fun! It was so beautiful and I felt the warmth of the Spirit just looking inside the Conference Center and taking one step on the temple grounds.
Side story: When I arrived at the Salt Lake City airport, I think I half expected angels to greet me playing trumpets and everyone wearing white robes. Turns out Utah is a normal state just like any other! Although I was disappointed, I was sitting next to a man reading his scriptures in the airport so I knew I was in the right place :)



Saturday:
-Started off with a delicious Belgian waffle from The Awful Waffle with Cougar blue whipped cream for homecoming week! Enjoyed it while watching the Homecoming Parade with tons of floats and free candy
-Hit up the bookstore (where I bought WAY too much BYU apparel) and toured campus
-Saw a boy setting up a proposal for his girlfriend (usual)
-Went to Clayton's baptism which was just wonderful. It reminded me of my own baptism and just how lucky I am to have the church in my life. During the service, I suddenly had a great feeling of peace and had no doubt in my mind that being there, as a member of the church, was exactly where I was supposed to be.
-After the baptism we went to Pizza Pie Cafe! It was so much fun and of course an endless pizza, dessert, and salad buffet helped :)
-To end the night we went to (drum roll please)...the BYU football game vs San Jose State!! It was so awesome seeing thousands of members there cheering on the Cougars. It took a little bit, but now I'm a pro at all of the cheers. Another Cougar....FIRST DOWN!




Sunday:
Although it is hard to choose, I would have to say that Sunday was my favorite day. I think I literally cried the whole day. From the start, it was a wonderful day. While we were walking to church, I looked around me and saw at least a hundred (and that was only in my immediate sight!) other college students in their Sunday best walking to church to feel of the Spirit and worship together. The meetings that followed were so special and I felt the Spirit so strongly; the testimonies were so sincere and it was wonderful to hear the steadfast testimonies of the truthfulness of the Church that all of these people had.
Afterward, we had a wonderful dinner at Dustin and Moriah's (their house is so cute and homey and they're only college students!), and then Kaley I went to Temple Square! I wasn't sure if we'd be able to tour the Conference Center on a Sunday, but Kaley asked one of the volunteers and they said, "of course!" I was ecstatic. The tour blew me away. Although I have seen the Conference Center on TV numerous times, it is completely different to see it in-person. I walked into the auditorium and was instantly struck by its massive size. I hit Kaley on the arm as we walked in and the tears started pouring. I just envisioned 21,000 saints gathering in this room to learn from a prophet and apostles, and thought that this number wasn't even a fraction of the viewers around the world. It was just so powerful and truly incredible to see. The rest of the tour was very neat with the original paintings from the Book of Mormon and other church portraits and artwork, and the view from the multi-ACRE roof was incredible. We then finished off by visiting the Vistor's Center at the temple and looking around the Tabernacle and temple grounds. It was really nice.
Later that night, I was able to catch up with some friends from high school and it was so fun! I love that we can go months without seeing each other and then chat like it was just yesterday. I love those girls. We were cut a bit short by ward prayer, but it was so worth it. I hadn't really heard of ward prayer before, but essentially the ward gathers together outside on Sunday night, socializes a little bit, sings a hymn, someones shares a spiritual thought, and then we close with a prayer. It was incredible for me to see a group of college students on a weekend night singing a hymn loud and proud for all to hear. The Spirit was so strong and it just seems like such a good way to fellowship and grow together. I was really really touched.


Monday:
Monday was another great day! We...
-started off by going to a class about Joseph Smith from a famous BYU professor, Sister Black, and it was amazing; she has a photographic memory and knew so much information! Great way to start the morning.
-Hiked the Y! I made a special request to do it at the beginning of my visit and Kaley was nice and took me even though it's a straight uphill hike! The views were well worth it though and we had a lot of fun
-Ate a delicious lunch at J-Dawgs and we even put the special sauce on our hot dogs; bold I know
-Toured the spots on campus we missed and ran into JIMMER FREDETTE!! We were walking through the fieldhouse and Kaley looks to her left and goes, "Oh, there's Jimmer," in casual conversation. I almost fell over I tried to look so fast! See, BYU students see Jimmer all the time so it's not that big of a deal, but I was so excited! He was working out so I didn't want to interrupt to get a picture (I was a bit devastated but I was a good sport), but it was exciting :)
-Went to Cafe Rio with Dustin, Moriah and Christine! nom nom nom
-Had Family Home Evening which was so fun for me because I never get to have it. Basically a small group from your ward is put together to make an FHE group and you have a mini lesson, socialize, do some sort of activity, and of course have dessert. We made Halloween cards for a nursing home and told some scary stories; it was great. Again, it really touched me how a group of college students was getting together to do a service activity instead of the millions of other things they could be doing. Just so cool
-Played night games! This is unique to Kaley's ward and it is so fun! A group of people get together, wear all black, and play a game throughout campus where you have to touch certain "bases" without the person who is "it" seeing you. We would run past students coming from the library and just duck and dive behind trees and buildings like it was just a normal thing to do! For one round, we made a random guy walking through campus a base so we all had to sprint up to him and tag him and he had no idea what was going on. It was great.
-Went to the Creamery on Ninth! Yes, more food, but I was told I had to hit up all those famous places, so I did! It was delicious.

Overall, I loved everything about BYU. It is the most amazing institution in the world. There is a special spirit there that I have never felt before-30,000 faithful college students striving to live life as best they can and be active disciples of Christ, has the power to create such a sweet spirit. The majestic mountains that jut into the sky all around the university are a perfect metaphor for what the school is - a holy place protected from the world and a light on a hill for all to see and strive for. It is truly the Lord's school! I hope to one day (grad school please!) be lucky enough to go to such an amazing place. I could not have asked for a better trip.


(The mountains are so beautiful!)

Why I Believe

I've wanted to do this post for a long time because my faith and church are so close to me, and a blog about me just wouldn't be complete unless I talked about them. There are a lot of people who aren't familiar with my church or want to know why the heck I would choose to follow such a path, so hopefully this will clear some things up about the church as well as why I am a believer. Here we go.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, aka the Mormons. If you have continued to read after that statement and not turned away grumbling about those crazy people from Utah, I thank you for your open-mindedness and willingness to give me a shot. Whenever the topic of religion comes up a lot of people feel uncomfortable and shy away from the conversation, which I can totally understand. BUT the beauty of a blog is you can read this in the privacy of your own brain and ponder what I have to say in peace.

So what exactly do we believe? We believe in God, our Heavenly Father, and in His son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. We believe that they are three distinct individuals that make up the godhead and that God and Jesus Christ have bodies just like we do! They are not just spirits.

We believe that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know each of us - our talents, our hopes, our fears, our shortcomings, our hardships, our great worth - and loves us more than we can imagine. They want what is best for us and for us all to return to them in the next life. We can do this by living as they would want us to and doing our best to follow their teachings each and every day.

As humans, God knew we could not be perfect and would make mistakes and go against His will at times. That is why He sent Christ to the earth 2,000 years ago to live a perfect life, take upon Himself and experience all of our sins and hardships, die for us, and then be resurrected. Through this Atonement and Resurrection, we are all given a life after our time here on earth, something I am so grateful for.

We believe that after Christ and his twelve apostles (chief witnesses) died, their Priesthood authority (power and authority given from God to act in His name) died with them. As a result, although people created many churches of their own accord, the true church of Christ left the earth for many years.

We believe that in 1820, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to a boy named Joseph Smith in response to his heart-felt and sincere prayer asking to know which church he should join. God and Jesus Christ told Joseph he should join none of the churches because they were "incomplete" and made according to man's wishes and not God's. Then, through Joseph Smith, God and Jesus Christ restored the full Gospel that was established during Christ's time. That true gospel is our church today.

We believe after His resurrection and death, Christ appeared to the people in the Americas, and their histories and witnesses of Christ are contained in the Book of Mormon. We believe in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, both acting as testimonies of Jesus Christ and his divine mission on the earth.

For some reason, a lot of people hold misconceptions about the church, and it is usually those who don't know any Mormons or are afraid to ask questions. I used to be one of those people. I joined the church just six months ago after about two years of studying and investigating, and I tried my hardest to not believe. But once I started asking questions to legitimately learn and actually started to read the Book of Mormon, everything didn't seem so strange and I started to see why members of the church are so dedicated.

Since I've become a member of the church it's like I'm looking at life through a windowpane of positivity. What used to be a setback or hardship, is now just a trial of my faith that will refine me a little bit and leave me better than I started. What used to be unanswered questions of where I came from, why I'm here, and where I'm going, are now answered in the most beautiful ways. What used to be passiveness is now faith!

I love being a member of the church! I love knowing that Someone is always there watching over me (no matter where I am or what I am doing) and that I can reach Him anytime through prayer. I love having a living prophet (an inspired man just like Moses, Noah, Peter, or Paul, who is the mouthpiece for God on the earth) who leads the church and helps guide us through life. I love knowing of my great worth as a daughter of God and strive everyday to live up to that title and have respect for my body. And most importantly I love being happy because I know these things are true!

Just because I am a member of the church does not mean I think I am any different or better than you. I am by no means perfect and don't think I am even close! I am still a normal person who goes through good and bad times and makes countless mistakes. Thankfully though, my church gives me hope, faith, and comfort in life, and helps me find peace and happiness where I couldn't on my own. That is why I believe.

If you have made it this far, thank you! I love sharing about my church and hope this cleared up any major questions that you had and got rid of some false rumors you may have picked up. I'd love to answer any questions or talk about the church at any time, and the church also has an awesome website (which you can access here) that will explain everything in better detail. Hopefully you enjoyed this post and, at the very least, learned what Mormons like me believe.