My Heart Hurts

(Christi is 4th from the left on the last row, Sister Bentley is 3rd from the left on the front row.)

Last night we found out that two sister missionaries in Christi's mission were involved in a serious car accident. One of the sisters passed away. I can't stop thinking about it. My heart hurts so much for everyone. I hurt for the parents, the sister who is still living, the mission president and his wife, and the other missionaries. What a hard, hard thing. I can't even comprehend the pain. I wish I could talk to Christi right now and see how she's holding up. It must be hard for her. I know it'd be very hard for me. Losing a fellow sister missionary would be difficult. (And not to mention, Christi's had to deal with an earthquake, hurricane, moving, and now this in the past week or so.)

I guess the sister had another mission to fulfill on the other side. Dying on the mission is the best way to go. I'm sure the Lord is taking good care of her.

Please keep these people in your prayers. They've got a long road ahead of them.

Here's more info: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700175258/Sister-missionary-dies-in-NY-car-accident.html

How I Ended Up With Two Internships

Well, how do I even begin to explain how I got to this point? Let's see. I sent my resume to Deseret Book back in June. In the mean time I received another internship offer and took it. I was excited to intern there, and had kind of put Deseret Book on the back burner, thinking I wouldn't hear from them. But, three weeks ago Deseret Book asked me to come in for an interview. I was kind of shocked I was invited for an interview (I know... Oh ye of little faith, right?) I went, and the interview went well. Oh, let me back up. I had to sign in when I got to the office. I signed in under Wendy Nelson (wife of Russell M. Nelson), who was there to see Sheri Dew. No big deal at all. I about died right there. lol.

So, I waited in the main part of the office until the person interviewing me came and got me. (You basically have to be an employee to use the elevator). I had my interview in a nice conference room overlooking the temple.

I left and I was told that I'd hear back "very soon" regarding the position. Well, it took three weeks. I was going crazy. I needed to figure out my life. These past three weeks have been really, really hard. I was really quite depressed to be honest. I've been praying and going to the temple. Patience is not an easy thing!

And then, I finally got word on Friday. I start September 6th. I'm excited and scared out of my mind (I'm sure I'll be nervous too when it gets closer). I hope I really am qualified for this internship. I guess that's my biggest fear- that I won't be able to do what they expect me to do. But, I know the Lord is in control. He'll help me. I'm sure I will learn and grow tremendously from this.

I just sent my rejection e-mail to the other internship. That was SO very, very hard. For a few reasons: it seems like a great non-profit organization, the coordinator lady told me they were "tickled to have [me] on board for fall," and tomorrow is the first day of the semester at BYU, so it may be a little bit harder for them to find another intern (as people already have their semester plans). Great. I feel like a horrible person. But, as I thought about it and talked to my Mom, I realized I really do need to do what is best for my future. And that means only having one internship which is at Deseret Book, having my side editing job, and taking my online class. Hopefully I'll get a calling in my ward too. That should be plenty to keep me busy.

Deseret Book... here I come! I'm still sort of in shock that I got this internship. I'm curious to know how many other people I competed against (who I'm sure were completely qualified for it). Somehow, by the grace of God, my resume made it past the first stage, got me an interview and ultimately got me an internship there. Really, I feel like Heavenly Father had so much to do with this. No, he basically had EVERYTHING to do with this! I am so, so, grateful for this amazing opportunity!

This is my life.

Summer break has been a curse and a blessing. I've seriously been thinking, "How do teachers do this for 3 months?" I like to be a busy body. I'm trying really hard to not be bored/lazy/unproductive. I'm looking forward to life picking up the pace again. (But, at the same time, I am enjoying the relaxation.)

I've been wearing out my flip-flops. And it feels good. It feels good to wear shorts and flip-flops and not feel guilty. (It's not allowed at BYU-Idaho). I am planning on going to BYU pretty soon here (to visit the MOA) and I cannot wait to wear my shorts and flip-flops on campus.

Also, I ate a PB sandwhich the other day for the first time in over a month. That's pretty amazing. I used to have PB almost everyday while I was in classes.

I've been going on bike rides around here. The scenery is pretty amazing. The bugs... not so much. I went on a ride today and a bug flew into my eye. My eye? Really?

I've been going to most of the singles' ward activities. I particularly look forward to Institute each week. Side note- I went to a stake activity last week (I'm in a YSA stake) and what do you know... I ran into some people from BYU-I. That was such a tender mercy to me.

I've been cleaning, shopping, and cooking dinner. It's nice to have time to cook a real meal. Tonight we had fajitas. Mmmm. :)

And, of course, I've been sleeping. Boy, is it nice to get some sleep again!

Gosh, my life is actually pretty amazing right now! But, like I said, I look forward to getting back into the "swing of things," which will be a new routine, but it should be good.

P.S. Christi comes home from her mission 4 months from today. How is that even possible? My younger sister is going to be an R.M. Now THAT makes me feel old! ;)

Summer Movies

Along with reading, I've seen some good movies lately. This week I saw Soul Surfer and The Help.

Soul Surfer is about a teenage girl who loves to surf. She gets attacked by a shark and loses one of her arms. Less than a month later, however, she goes back out to surf. It had a great message of never giving up. Too bad right after I saw the movie I came across an article on CNN about a guy dying on his honeymoon from being attacked by a shark. Talk about poor timing!

The Help is about African-American women who work on plantations as maids. A white writer secretly writes a book about their stories. It was kind of sad, I'm not going to lie. It made me sad to think that children of God were treated so horribly. They didn't deserve it. This movie was so powerful though. I highly recommend it to everyone.

Well, nothing like two movies like these to make ya feel grateful for your own life, that's for sure!

Here are the trailers:

Summer Reading

I actually have time to read something other than textbooks these days! Imagine that! It's great. Right now I'm reading "The List" (an LDS novel) by Melanie Jacobson and "Anne of Green Gables" by L.M. Montgomery.

Other randomness- why in the world is the word "colonel" pronounced "ker-nl?" Oh, my nerdiness. :)

Change

I've been thinking about change. My life has undergone some changes recently and more are to come. Heavenly Father has provided me with new opportunities to stretch myself and grow.

I came across a talk by Elder Marvin J. Ashton called, "Progress through Change."

Elder Ashton shared the following by C.S. Lewis.:

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace.”

I absolutely love that! Change is necessary. We need it in our lives so we can progress and become what Heavenly Father wants us to become.

Temple Square

I spent a lot of time on Temple Square last week. It was good to be there and feel the Spirit of it again.

One day while I was there I ran into one of my former BYU-Idaho classmates who is serving there. She was excited to see me and I was excited to see her. It is awesome to see a familiar face while serving a mission.

While on Temple Square, my friend Alyssa and I took a tour of the Beehive house. I had never seen it before. It was awesome! It's just so crazy to think that Brigham Young had been where we were many, many years ago. There was a non-member lady on the tour with us who was really in to everything. Oh, and I just loved the sister missionaries! One of them was from Finland, but looked American and spoke great English. The other sister was from Japan.

Alyssa and I also ate lunch at the Lion House Pantry. So yummy!

We also visited the Christus statue. Beautiful.

We also had fun taking pictures of the beautiful flowers. (Alyssa loves photography too.)

Visiting Temple Square reminded me of everything that is important to me- Temples, Christ, Missionary Work, the Gospel in general. Seeing the sister missionaries teach and explain the Gospel to visitors made me so happy. I love the Gospel so much. It reminded me of my mission.

I've been thinking of my mission the past few days. Some of our best referrals on the mission came from the Temple Square sisters. I've also been thinking of my sister on her mission. It's crazy to think that she only has a few months left.

I found this awesome quote about missions recently:
"Young men and women who serve missions are never the same. They return home with qualities and strengths that seem to come from no other experience. They know, as they never knew before, that this work is true and that it is the most important work on the face of the earth. They return home with a desire to continue to serve. They have established a foundation on which to grow in future responsibilities."
--President Gordon B. Hinckley, Dec. 1986

It's SO true. Months may go by, years may go by (in my case 2.5 years!), but I will NEVER be the same. My mission changed me. And, I do have a desire to serve. I don't have a calling in my new ward yet, but can't wait to get one. (I secretly hope I'll be called to be a ward missionary. But, I'll take what ever calling I am asked to serve in.)

Anyway, I guess I kind of went off on a tangent. But, Temple Square was awesome. The Church is true!

Sickie and Busy Bee

Last week was pretty crazy! It was awesome, but crazy. On Tuesday I drove to Salt Lake to attend the temple with my friend Morgan who went through for the first time. After the temple we (Morgan, her fiancee, and her sister) went to Taffy Town in Salt Lake. Morgan and her fiancee ordered taffy from them for their reception. We were looking forward to getting a tour of the place, but to our dismay they only do tours if you call ahead of time. They have awesome gourmet taffy though (like frosted cupcake, chocolate chip cookie, etc.) Fun fact: Taffy Town was featured on "Unwrapped" a few years ago.

On Thursday I went to Salt Lake again. I had an interview. I'm not going to give many details at this point, but I will tell you it was at a major corporation downtown with a VERY well-known company. I was shocked I even got an interview. I think that day was a defining day for me. I truly felt like an adult in the "real world" interviewing at a corporate office (I can't say I've ever pictured myself as a "career woman," [until recently] but it looks like my life is headed that direction. It's scary and exciting.) I am getting anxious as I wait to hear back from them.

After going to Salt Lake, I picked my Dad up from work in Provo (he works from home, but had to go in to the office that day. I dropped him off in the morning as well.) I came home for a bit before it was time to pick up my friend Alyssa in Provo. Alyssa came in to town for Morgan's wedding. I had so much fun with her while she was in town.

Friday afternoon I drove us to Erda, where Morgan's reception was. Saturday I drove to Salt Lake to attend the sealing.(More details on the reception and wedding to come)

I'm so sick of driving right now! The construction on I-15 is horrible! And to think... I am soon going to become a commuter (I might be taking the bus, though) to Salt Lake regularly for my internship. This will be interesting...

I am also sick right now. Literally. :( It's not fun at all. I started getting a sore throat Sunday night. I had a sore throat all of yesterday, and woke up this morning with a cold. I'm working hard to fight this thing... zinc, OJ, sleep, advil cold & sinus. Hopefully it doesn't last too long, because I've got some fun plans for the coming days.

Well, that's life right now. Hope everyone is doing well! :)

Graduation Festivities!

The day I've been working for and dreaming about for so long finally came! Here's a run down.

Mom and Dad came into town on Thursday night (July 21st). It just so happened that I had food I needed to use up before moving out, so I made us all dinner in the crock pot. After dinner, we went to the "cheap theater" in Rexburg and saw 17 miracles. We had already planned to go to Kiwi Loco (my absolute favorite frozen yogurt place. I'm gonna miss it!), but it was a little hard to after watching such a powerful movie that portrayed the pioneers starving.

Friday I got up early and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned! I finished up, checked out of my apartment and then got ready for commencement and convocation.

Before commencement, all of the graduates lined up in the basketball courts of the BYU-Idaho Center. We had to wait for about 45 minutes. It was good to chat with some of my classmates and friends I'll probably not see again.

We then "marched" into the auditorium of the I-Center. As we walked in, our professors were lined up clapping and cheering us on. That was pretty cool.

Elder Paul K. Sybrowsky gave the commencement address. Shortly following commencement we had convocation in the Hart auditorium. Convocation was short and sweet.

And there we have it. I've now graduated! Now, I'm looking forward to getting that diploma in the mail in a few months. :)