Amelia Hope Theobald

Pretty much I'm missing this girl:

 today like absolute crazy.

I'm just sitting here thinking to myself:

"Oh my gosh so much new and crazy stuff is going on in my life right now and I'm stuck between being super excited and freaked out of my mind and I really just want someone to talk to about it all who I know would totally listen to me gab on for hours and understand and know exactly what to say and what not to say and would be okay with me crying or laughing like a crazy person or being frustrated with myself and still love me and want to be with me and go and be awesome with me at the end of it all!"

And then I realize that what I really mean when I'm thinking all of this is:

"What I really want right now is Amelia."

And then it really isn't fun because she's halfway around the world right now which is totally awesome because she's where she needs to be serving a mission for the Lord but that means I can't just pick-up the phone and talk to her about all the craziness and that instead I have to write her a letter that takes 7 days to get to her. And goodness, I didn't realize how super much I really felt all of this until I started typing it up just now while I'm sitting at work and started fighting against the tears because I miss my best friend so bad. So. Yeah.

In other words, what I really mean to be saying right now is that I'm so thankful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with people incredible enough in my life (AMELIA) that I could miss them (HER) so incredibly much when they're (SHE'S) gone. I mean, I just spent nearly half-an-hour looking through all her facebook photos because I just missed looking at her face so darn much. I never look though people's facebook photos!

But really. Amelia Hope Theobald is one of the best people I have ever known and associated with. More than almost anyone in the whole world, she has loved and listened to and understood me better than anyone else. We definitely had our hard times, but all the profoundly good times that we had more than far outweigh the bad.

Amelia was someone that I could be my complete self with. I had to worry not a single wit when I was with her because I knew that she loved and accepted me no matter what. We could do crazy stuff together--like stay up till 2am making cupcakes or act like little kids or talk about boys or try to go workout at 6am in the morning or build awesome forts, and at the end of it all, she still thought I was a semi-sane person. I loved having that freedom of self.

Amelia was an amazing example to me of service--of making baked goods and always giving them away to people or of cleaning the apartment when she noticed I was stressed because she knew that would make it better or of taking time to talk to someone who needed a friend or of working so hard to make sure that everyone else was taken care of and having a good time before worrying about herself.

Amelia also stuck with me through the bad. She dealt with me when I was cranky and she would listen to me and love me when I needed to talk and cry or she would help me be happy when I was stressed and when I was Relief Society president she always asked if there was more that she could do to help me.

Amelia always follows the Lord and wants to do what is right. I know that my association with her drew me closer to Christ because she was always striving to follow and love Him. The decision to go on a mission was tough for her to make, but ultimately she chose to do it because her love for the Lord and His children is just that incredibly great. She always has the Spirit with her. She is always striving to be good. She is always an example of Christ.

I've managed to get the rant out of my system and hold back (mostly) the tears that were threatening to come. I just hope that halfway across the world right now in the Spain MTC, there's a sister missionary there who knows that she is loved and that she has a best friend back at home who's missing her like crazy. She has made an incredible impact and difference in my life, and I know that that's exactly what she's going to do for the people over there. They don't know how lucky they are.

Tough Love

"I remember vividly the dreadful circumstance into which a young lady had managed to fall several years ago. She was not a BYU student but was a Latter-day Saint, and yet her very life seemed to be disintegrating before our eyes. As a result of trying to play with the net down, trying to live without rules and without restraint, she was experiencing the moral and spiritual stupefaction of a broken marriage, illicit moral behavior, dark drug abuse, and finally physical violence. She was descending into a personal hell from which no one seemed to be able to retrieve her and from which she personally did not have the wish or the will to turn away.

Her mother and others who had great concern for her had been in contact with me. Her Church leaders had tried to help. All seemed to no avail. The weeks became months, and human life unraveled before our eyes.

Then something happened. A lifelong friend of this young woman contacted her and tried, with love, to open her eyes and touch her heart. When neither her eyes nor her heart seemed to be yielding, this friend, this sister in the family of God who understood Paul's reminder that when one member suffers all suffer with it, grabbed the lapels of her friend's heavy winter coat and shook it with all her might. She shook her with all the strength her 105 pounds could muster, and, sobbing, she said through her tears, "Look at yourself. Don't you see what you are becoming? Look at yourself! I can't stand it anymore. I love you, and you're breaking my heart." At that she let go of the lapels of the big heavy coat and with tears streaming from her eyes turned and ran away.

The young lady whose life was in such jeopardy later recalled for me her response to that encounter. She said, "I don't know exactly what happened in that moment. Perhaps I am not likely ever to know. I had been talked to by many people, and little of it had meant anything to me. But if I live to be a hundred, I will never forget what I saw with my eyes and heard with my ears as this my childhood friend looked at me with utter anguish and screamed into my soul, "I love you, and you are breaking my heart."

Today that girl is the beautiful, happy, safe, and productive young woman which she once had been and which surely God meant her to be. She has been remarkably successful in a graduate program at a very good university. She is fully active in the Church, and she is devoted to a life of responsibility and respectability—all because someone in her own way said at the right time and with the right intent that whatever disappointments there had been, these two were forever sisters and disciples of Christ. That stunning declaration not only changed a life, but it quite literally saved this one. We need such brothers and sisters nearby us."  -Jeffry R. Holland, The Demands of Discipleship

I have been thinking a lot lately about the different ways that we try to help those around us who are struggling. I have come to the conclusion that there are two main ways to approach help people: coddling and tough love. Often, because we don't want to hurt people, because we want them to like us and to not think we are attacking them, or because we're afraid of losing their friendship, we coddle. In many cases, however, I have noticed that while coddling is great at first, what lots of people need is a wake-up call. They don't need someone who will sit and dwell over all their problems with them all day long, they need someone who will tell them to knock it off and help them to fix their problems. Of course, it should be done with love. Of course we should try to understand and sympathize. But I believe that sometimes the best way to show that we love is to expect the best of our friends and to let them know when they're falling. Then, once they come to themselves, we can do everything within our power to lift them back up. Yes--I'm a firm believer in tough love.

My First Crush

When I was in third grade, I sat across from none other than the one and only Jared Vestal. He was super silly, sporty, and fun to be with. Halfway through the year, I also discovered that he was Mormon. From that point on, I officially had a crush on him. Naturally. We were pretty much destined for each other (how on earth could we not be?!!)

He was the reason that I got pulled out of class twice that year and had a talk with the teacher for being disruptive (the only two times a teacher has ever pulled me out to reprimand me!) He always invited me to play kickball with him and he always picked me for his team. I'm sure he even let me sit next to him at the lunch table, though I don't really remember. Obviously, we were a really serious item. 

Sadly, at the end of that year, his family decided to move. Our obvisoulymeanttobe relationship was being cut-off. Obliterated. Ended. The last time I saw him was at his house two days after school got out and he had a huge goodbye/birthday party. All I remember is a huge water fight and lots of boys. I felt pretty proud of the fact that I was one of only three girls that got invited. 

I was able to put Jared behind me. I was able to move on. But today, when I was looking-up random journal prompts to find something to write about, it made me think of Jared again and the very special and touching i'llpickyouformykickballteam relationship we had. Out of curiosity, I tried finding him on facebook (I know--creeper, right? But don't judge--you know you've done the same!) Lo and behold--I found him! It was the weirdest facebook creeper/stocker moment of my facebook creeper/stocker career (which I promise you, isn't that flourished of a career). He's on a mission right now in Guatemala, and he happens to be coming home from the MTC tomorrow--May 30th! Maybe I should be waiting in the airport for him with a big sign and a bouquet of flowers? 

Let's not even go into how big of an ohheavenspleaseno/i'mshudderingatthethought/ewe!!! idea that was, plus the few, minor (blaring) details that would make the whole thing extremely complicated. No, I think that dear Jared Vestal is cemented far back into the drawer of my 3rd grade memories, and that that is where he will be staying. 

My Life the Past Several Weeks in Pictures

Ems and I have been having dinner together twice a week. This was a DELICIOUS dish she made--pasta, sauce, tomatoes, spinach....pretty much amazing!

Eric, Jared and I drove down to Pocatello, Idaho the weekend of May 18th&19th for Ellen Lewis' farewell talk. She's headed off to North Carolina! We drove through a crazy storm on our way up, but even that was fun! Besides hanging out with Eric and Jared I got to spend the night at Aunt Christy's place! Ethan, Clancy and I watched "The Gods Must Be Crazy." It was so good to see them. I'm so grateful that Eric and Jared were kind enough to let me join them in this wonderful adventure.

Several weeks ago, Jon got to go to his boss' place and killed a chicken! On Sunday night, after I got back from Pocatello, we grilled it on the BBQ. It was tough meat, but super duper yummy! Scott and Stephen joined us too.

This past Tuesday, May 21st, my friend Steve and I went hiking. After driving around for a while, finding a place, we settled on hiking Stewart Falls. We got there at twilight and made it back to the car just as the darkness was settling in. It was beautiful!

Today, Jon and I woke-up super early to go hiking. We got on the trail around 7:30am and made it back to the truck around 3:30 (that's eight hours!!!) It was a pretty intense hike--steep trails and lots of snow (sometimes deeper than our knees)--but it was SO beautiful. Now, we're both extremely tired, though. We'll definitely have no problem falling asleep tonight.

When we got home, Jon and I quickly pulled out some hamburgers and hot dogs and hosted a Memorial Day BBQ! It was wonderful to spend time with ward members and friends and to eat yummy food.

In a nutshell: my life is crazily blessed right now. I have no doubt that Heavenly Father is looking out for and taking care of my every need. Just when things seemed to be getting pretty bleak, He sent amazing, supportive, loving, good people into my life, and they have made all the difference. To them, and to Him, I am forever grateful.

God's Love

"And I said unto him: I know that He loveth His children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things."  -1 Nephi 11:17

"Responding to true love is part of our very being. We innately desire to reconnect here with the love we felt there. Only as we feel God’s love and fill our hearts with His love can we be truly happy."  -Elder John H. Groberg

This is one of my most favorite scriptures. There are so many hard and confusing things in life and so many things in the gospel that we may not fully understand yet. However, these things do not have to stop us from growing and thriving in the gospel. We don't need to know all things. All we need to know is that God knows and loves us. That love will motivate and change us more effectively, quickly and with greater lasting effect than anything else in the world. When we truly begin to understand how dearly God loves us, change becomes natural and instinctive--we want to change for Him. His love will get us through anything. It is enough to sustain us. It is enough to get us through. It will never change, never falter, never fail. We should seek to not just remember, but to feel it every single day. It is real. I know it is.

The color green (especially when it's outside!)
The smell of a campfire
The sound of the rain
Ice cream
Laughing
How to Train Your Dragon Soundtrack
Drinking ice cold water out of a glass cup after a hard and hot run
Endorphin rush after a hard workout
Doing hard things
Walking home late at night after a very long and productive day on campus
Looking up at the night sky
Sunsets
Reading the Book of Mormon
Long, deep, meaningful talks
Calling home
Happy secrets
Eating healthy
Going to the temple
Going hiking
Getting sucked into a book
Waking-up early
Finally getting enough down on the paper
Doing what I thought was impossible
Getting enough sleep
Writing something awesome
Getting a letter in the mail
Being crazy and silly
An exchange of subtle, dry humor
Italian food
Counting my blessings
Realizing my prayer was answered
Christ
Feeling peace after making a hard decision
Sunshine
Water from Washington
Reading a good General Conference talk
Teaching
Getting to know how awesome everyone around me is (which is, yes, everyone)
A kind thought voiced
Fantastically worded quotes
Being barefoot
Pondering
Watching family home videos or looking through old picture albums
Being with people I love
Checking something off my to-do list
Making delicious food
Making Cards
Yard work
Shopping at Winco or Costco
Writing with colored ink
Taking it all in
Going to church
Being still
Being AWESOME
Recognizing the hand of God in my life
Being the Lord's hands
A good story
Inspiration
Bike riding
People, people, people
Flip-flops
Being understood
Thoughts that make me smile to myself
Integrity
Watermelon
Period films
Getting excited with someone else
Organizing things
Doing the dishes
Really feeling
A clean room
Feeling the Spirit
Memories
A fresh snowfall at night
When the mountains change colors
Power naps
Little kids
Ambition
Back and neck rubs
Feelin' like I look good
Sharing and caring
Feeling lighter after a good cry
Praying
Alma 36:6-7

Letters

Dear FHE Family, Though I was tired and it might have appeared otherwise, I really did have fun with you guys last night. It's so good to be a part of an FHE group who participates and has fun when they're together, rather than one where it's a struggle to get people to even show-up. I look forward to the Mondays ahead!

Dear Emily, The dinner on Sunday night was quite wonderful. As are you. I'm so glad that we've figured out a schedule where we can cook and eat together twice a week. Time with you is always time well-spent.

Dear Eric and Jared, I had so very much fun going up to Idaho with you two this past weekend! It was so fun talking with you guy on the ride up and so refreshing knowing that I was with people who were comfortable with silence on the way home. I hope to be seeing you guys again soon (and we WILL manage to fit in a hike sometime!!!)

Dear Ellen, You enter the MTC tomorrow! I'm so glad that I went up to Pocatello with Eric and Jared so that we could attend your farewell and see you off. The talk you gave on happiness was sincerely one of the best sacrament talks I have heard in a very long time. Thank you so much for preparing--both for the talk and for the upcoming months you have as a missionary in North Carolina. You are going to be a wonderful missionary!

Dear Ethan, Clancy and Christy, I'm so very glad that I got to see you three during my short time in Idaho. Even though it wasn't very long, it was just a joy to get to see you. Thank you for being family that I know I can always rely on and whom I know would do anything for me. I love you!!!

Dear Ryan, Thank you for letting the ward join you in your efforts to create a healing garden at the hospital. I haven't played around in the dirt for such a long time, and it was (surprisingly) super refreshing! I just might head over with you again sometime to play around in the dirt some more!

Dear Jon, The run on Saturday morning, though slightly more uphill than we were expecting, was absolutely beautiful! I'm so glad that you served your mission in Washington so that you can understand my love for the green and the rain--both of which made our run so enjoyable. Thanks also for the fun last Friday night. I had a very good time!

Dear Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun--please shine down on me!!! And please stay! I love it when you're around!

Dear Custodian, Thank you for coming and cleaning out our recycling today. It was super appreciated.

Dear Kate, I'm so glad that we got to talk on the phone last night. Hearing about all the awesome art you're working on, you're crazy school day and everything else going on in your life is always a pleasure. Can we pretty super please keep in touch?!!

Dear Abby, I like it when you steal Mom's phone and text me. Thanks for keeping me company on my car ride home from Idaho. Thanks also for talking to me on the phone on my walk home from the temple last week. You are so easy to talk to!

Dear Jessica, You so got all this crazy girlscamp/school/band/sleep/eating/seminary/homework/doinghairforweddings/busyallthetime/alwaysbeingawesome stuff. I'm so grateful that you took the time in the middle of it all to sit and chat to me about all my crazy/exciting/lifeness stuff last Saturday. I hope you know that I'm always just as open and free to talk to you, even when my life is crazy/busy/stressful/alwaysbeingbusy. Family is definitely always a priority.

Dear Rachel, Betsy and Lyndy, I'm so glad that we could have our girls night last Thursday and watch "What a Girl Wants." It was super nice to be able to just sit and chill with friends and a good (and cheesy) chick flick. Good luck with all your school work and tests this week! You can do it!!!

Dear Institute-Going Friends, I'm so grateful that I have you guys to motivate me to get to institute every week. Last week it was exactly what I needed and gave me some of the direction I've been seeking in my life. Let's keep this up!

Dear Softball Buddies, It was fun to watch your game last Tuesday (nice win!) and I'm looking forward to watching your game tonight! Go team!

The Book of Mormon

One of my goals for this year is to read the standard works in their entirety. It's now May, I'm half-way through month five, and 600 pages of the way through (a month behind, but I'm still not giving up!) For the past four-and-a-half months, I've been in the Old Testament. It's been wonderful...ish. Actually, let's be a tad bit more honest here: I just finished Chronicles, and it was hard to get through. In fact, the past several months have been a tad bit hard to get through. Over the past several weeks I've been feeling like I should maybe pair my study of the Old Testament with a study of the Book of Mormon, even though that's not what's on my schedule (BOM isn't until September!) But last night I decided to finally give-in and start reading the Book of Mormon.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I just didn't want to stop! It kept me up until 1:30am and was full of goodness and I could feel the Spirit when I read it and it made me want to be a better person! It made me feel! 

This experience has testified to me of the power of the Book of Mormon. I love that book. From this day forward, no matter what set of scripture I choose to study, I want to study the Book of Mormon along side it. The goodness and peace and motivation to be awesome that I feel when I read it testify to me that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church of God. I want to draw closer to Him in all I do, and that includes in my scripture study. If you don't yet have a testimony of The Book of Mormon, all you have to do is to read it with pure intent and purpose. I promise you that if you do, you will know the truth of it and that it will surge a power into your life unlike anything else. I know this because that is what it has done for my life.

"Without reservation I promise you that if each of you will observe this simple program, regardless of how many times you previously may have read the Book of Mormon, there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God."  -President Gordon B. Hinckley, A Testimony Vibrant and True

Letters

Dear Eric, Thank you for coming over on Monday and helping me figure out half-marathon stuff. Knowing that I have a friend to back me up on it all helps a whole lot.

Dear N106, I had fun using my cricut with you guys last Monday at FHE. Our Mother's Day Cards turned out pretty spiffy. 

Dear Poci (aka: Jessica), You are so kind and thoughtful and amazing for bringing me flowers last week! Not that you weren't all those things before. It was just a good reminder. Thank you for being such an amazing example of selfless service and of always thinking of those around you. I love having you for a friend. 

Dear Steve, Sorry the weather was bad on Tuesday and that we weren't able to go hiking! I had fun baking cookies and watching 17 Again with you anyways. We'll have to go hiking sometime soon!

Dear Institute Friends, Wednesday night was fun. Let's do it again this week!

Dear Trevor, The Mexican food and games was SO much fun! Thank you for the wonderful date Friday evening, and I hope that I'll be able to join you guys in eating fish sometime soon!

Dear Five Mile Run With Many, Many Hills, I felt super after you on Saturday morning! What a wonderful way to start the day.

Sarah and I in our new shirts! We both wore them on Sunday to church.

Dear Sarah, I'm SO EXTREMELY VERY MUCH GLAD that you and I were FINALLY able to go cardigan/shirt shopping on Saturday at Cozy! After two months of wanting to go, we finally made it happen! And we look pretty snazzy in our new clothes, if I many say. Thanks for being a fantastic shopping buddy and an even more fantastic friend. You are wonderful.

Dear Jon, When I mentioned to my mom that Sarah and I got a boy to take us clothes shopping she asked if he waited outside or came in the store with us. When I affirmed that it was the later, she labeled "him" an angel/saint (because what boy would be willing to take two girls shopping for clothes?!) I quite agreed with her. Thanks for being "him."

Dear Sarah, Jon, Emily, Jacob, and Poci, I had so much fun going to the baseball game with ya'll on Saturday. Thanks for laughing with me when I asked what "2:55" meant on the scoreboard ("That's the time," Jon replied. "As in the time of day. 2:55pm." Oh.) and for helping me be more American (first baseball game ever!) Hope we can make the fun adventures continue (and that maybe I won't have to embarrass myself quite as much on the next one!)

Dear Brett, Jacob, Sam, and Ems, Washington groupies + Idaho Falls roommate get together on Saturday night was the best. It's nice to see familiar faces among the crowd of BYUites. And I hope you're all on time to work today.

Dear Peaceful, Beautiful Sunday Morning, I have not felt so much peace and calm in such a very long time. I love the beautiful weather. I love reading General Conference talks. I love visiting with friends. I love walking and sitting on the path south of campus. I love writing letters to Amelia. I love the gospel. I love the Lord. And I love having all these things come together in a beautiful span of three hours.

Dear Kyle and Emily Bashaw, Thanks for letting me steal your soy sauce and mustard. I ACTUALLY LIKED THE FISH I COOKED IT ON!!!!!!!!

Dear Everyone, You do not realize how big of a deal the above letter to Kyle and Emily is. I HATE fish. But yesterday, I actually liked it!

Dear Jarod, Nice to meet you. I'm looking forward to grabbing drinks with you later tonight!

Dear New Activities Committee, I'm super excited to join the club! I love being a part of a group with as much focus, energy, care, love, and motivation as you all have. We are going to work magic in the ward over the next few months and the thought gives me drive and purpose. And each of you inspire me to be better.

Dear Gentry and Scott, Noticed that you hacked my facebook account. Thanks for restraining yourselves from doing anything too horrific.

Dear Mom, Thanks so much for talking yesterday and for being more concerned about talking about my life when it was your day. You are an amazing mom and I'm so grateful to have you in my life.

Dear Life, After a soul-searching trip to the temple last Thursday, things have been looking really up. I'm so glad to be where I am, to get to learn from the mistakes I've made over the past few months, and to come out better because of the experience in the end.

Dear Heavenly Father, You know where I'm at better than I even do. Thank you for second chances, for giving me opportunities to learn, and for sending examples and friends and help in my life so that I can do it all.

If I Were to Give a Talk on Agency...

The subject of receiving personal revelation has been on my mind a lot lately. I think it's been on a lot of people's minds lately--especially all my lovely peers who are also having to make many life-altering decisions. In the "decade of decision," we sometimes wish someone would just make all the choices for us. Some of this comes from being indecisive and lazy, but I think that a bigger part of it comes from having a desire to do the right thing. We are good people who want good things and we desire to follow the Lord. We've learned that He has a plan for us--that there's a purpose to our life here on earth--and we want to make sure that we don't make a decision that would lead us off this path or that would make ourselves or those around us unhappy. And so, in an effort to follow the Lord, we seek to know His will--to know what we should do. We read scriptures, we pray, we fast, we go to the temple, we ponder, we discuss things with those who love us, we study our patriarchal blessings, and we search the words of today's living prophets and apostles.

Sleep vs. Action

This semester I moved to a new apartment and since then have been living with amazing new roommates! One of my roommates, Betsy, likes to wake-up at 5am, no matter how late she stayed up the night before. Her example has made me want to be getting up earlier too. I have noticed in my life that I usually feel better--physically, emotionally, spiritually--when I wake-up early, excited and with purpose, and get going with my day. 

So last night, when we were getting ready to go to bed, I mentioned to Betsy that I wanted to get up early. We started talking about the whole getting-up early thing, and I really like the way she put it. She said that her dad always told her there were two parts to the commandment we receive about getting sleep: to "retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary," and to "arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated." (D&C 88:124). Even when we don't follow the first part (going to bed at a decent hour), her dad told her, we can still follow the second part--to "arise early." Then, if you need to, just take a quick nap later in the day. 

I really like that. Sleep--as much as I want to sometimes barter limb and soul for it--is not my favorite thing in the world. I hate getting too much sleep. I don't like sleeping in because it makes me feel like I've wasted my day away. As President Hinckley said: "We have work to do, you and I, so very much of it. Let us roll up our sleeves and get at it, with a new commitment, putting out trust in the Lord." (We Have a Work to Do, April 1995). I don't want to waste away my time sleeping when I could be up and doing and alive an at 'em. I'd much rather follow the counsel found in D&C 58: 27-28:

"Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward."

My Role Models

Yesterday in the CES fireside Elder Walker talked about looking-up to the prophet as a role model. As I was listening to him, I wrote in my notebook: "Who are my role models? How can I keep them in my life so that I remember to look-up to them?" In thinking about this, and in thinking about how to just keep myself thinking about the things I should be thinking about in general, I realized that one of the best ways for me to stay focused on the things I should be focused on is by sharing my thoughts about those things with those around me. That comes through talking and writing about them. So today, I want to share with all of you some of the role models I have in my life in an attempt to help myself think about them more and to keep them in view. I hope that it will encourage you to think about who you look-up to in your life and how you can strive to be more like them.

Letters

Dear Drew, The dance party on Friday night was AWESOME! Super fun, and I hope you do it again in the future!

Dear Brett, It was so fun to see you at the dance party on Friday night! I think it's fantastic that we live in the same apartment complex and hope that last night was just the first of many fun nights to come!

Dear BYU Rugby Team, Way to pull through there at the end in overtime when we were tied! Thanks for a great game and a lot of fun.

Dear Emily, I had so much fun going to the rugby game yesterday with you! You and I make a pretty awesome cheering team.

Dear Eric and Jared, It was such an awesomely pleasant surprise to be sitting next to you at the game on Saturday! I'm so glad that we got to share in the amazing victory with you two. Plus, catching-up with old friends is always awesome. In fact, seeing you two was just as good as watching the game. Thanks for being awesome.

Dear Mr. BYU Library Old Spice Commercial Guy, It was...interesting (?) sitting next to you at the rugby game. You had quite a few interesting comments to throw out at the other team.

Dear Scott, Thanks for chatting for a few yesterday. You're a pretty awesome guy.

Dear Ryan, As always, thanks for listening.

Dear Rylin, "Hiking the Y to watch the sunset" date planning? Success. Hope you had as much fun as I did.

Dear Jon, I had so super very extremely much fun last night hiking the Y and chatting with you last night. I appreciate the spirit I can feel when I'm with you. I appreciate the open-mindedness and conviction you have when we discuss things. Thank you for inspiring me to be a better person and for helping me have a fun time last night.

Dear Gentry, Making faces at me through your window when I'm finishing up a date? Really?! You did make me laugh really hard, though, I'll give you that.

Letters

Dear Nate and Preston, Thanks for taking a break from your studies last night to play Uno with me! It was great to get to know you guys more, though we might have to play again sometime soon so that I can win a round.

Dear Jon Wilcock, Any time with you is always time well-spent. I'm glad we were FINALLY able to go get pie last night to celebrate being done with the semester (we definitely both deserve it, after booth being in the library so late on so many occasions!) Thanks for being an outstanding guy and an even more outstanding friend!

Dear Rylin, You are the best friend ever. Thank you so much for spending an hour and a half of your time yesterday evening looking at cars on KSL and Craigslist with me. I'd have no idea where to even begin without your help. I admire you for your willingness to always help a friend. You say "yes" when someone asks for help without hesitation. You put aside your own to-do lists and worries to help ease those of the people around you. You're awesome.

Dear Amelia, Yesterday was your first day in the Spain MTC. I'm sure you're rockin' it, though I sure do miss you here. Letters will be forthcoming very soon.

Dear Emily, The salad yesterday was divine! Hope you're ready for chicken pesto wraps tonight!

Dear Emily, Rachel Maxwell and Sarah, I enjoyed getting dinner with ya'll on  Tuesday evening at Zupas. I feel so much more relieved about life now that we've picked out my three husbands. Now, I just gotta figure out how to marry them all. We will have to talk about this and iron out the complications sometime in the near future.

Dear To-Do Lists, I love, love, love, love, love crossing things off on you. It gives me a slight adrenaline rush.

Dear New Ward, I'm excited to get to know all of you and to have super fun this spring and summer! Hope ya'll are ready to be havin' some super awesome fun!

Dear Kate, I like when you steal mom's phone and text me. It's awesome being able to keep in contact with you even when you're so far away. Good luck with all your crazy tests these next few weeks!

Dear Future Half-Marathon, Sometimes (as in an average of twenty-four out of twenty-four hours of the day) you freak me out. It's okay, though. I got this.

Dear Rachel Smith, Betsy, Elora and Lyndy, I really really really really really really really like living with you beautiful ladies! You are all so kind and open and happy and giving and considerate and loving and wonderful. Thanks for being who you are and for welcoming me into your home with such open arms.

Dear Jordan and Gentry, You two are such goobers. Thanks for goofing-off with me on Tuesday night at the ward opening ice cream social.

Dear Brett, I'm so excited that you're living in CP! We're going to have to do something fun really soon!

Giving Him Joy

"Jesus' life and sacrifice bring joy to us, and our coming to Him can and will bring similar joy to Him. I find profound purpose in knowing that in that one small, personal way He 'needs' me. 'Men are, that they might have joy' (2 Nephi 2:25), but men are also that they might give joy to Him."  --Brad Wilcox, The Continuous Atonement, pg 40

I often find that I am much more motivated when I am working for others rather than myself. How awesome it is to think, then, that every good thing I do gives joy to the Lord. Every effort to progress, every effort to choose the right, every effort to resist temptation, every effort to lift another, every effort to try a little harder to be a little better--all of these efforts, and the achievement that results, give joy to the Savior. Elder Maxwell has rightly said that just about the only thing we can ever really give the Savior is our will. I would add to that that the only thing besides our will that we can give to the Savior is the joy that comes to Him when we do so. There are many reasons for the Savior of the world to feel down. I hope that I can make the choices that let me be one of the things that counteracts, in a small way, all that weight and makes Him feel happy.