The baptism really was wonderful!! A brother and sister were baptized. Their mother and all of their siblings are members. Only their dad is Catholic. He stood up to speak for a while and at the end he said he couldn't wait until his family would convert him. HAHA! It was so awesome.
I know the gospel must be true when I am standing with so many great people who support each other, watching my brother and sister come into the fold, and my heart wants to burst out of my chest because the Spirit is so strong. I can only imagine how it would be to be watching your own children make that big step and to see all the love and peace that they find in the church. How could you not want to be a part of that?
The Gospel is true and the Atonement is real.
I learned that today.

"I suppose that's how he wants you to feel. If I were You Know Who I'd want you to cut-off from everyone else, because if it's just you alone you're not as much of a threat."

-Luna Lovegood

"If you treat everyone you meet as if they are in the middle of a crisis, you are probably right. Listen, feel and empathize--you will know that we are all the same."

~Elena Diane Jin

A Story for Your Soul

Would you like to hear the pathetic story of the century? Ok, I'll tell you.

Two days ago Reed's nurse gave Reed a big pile of tiny bags of chips. I love chips. I love them. Reed is really a nice guy and so obviously he was willing to share his chips with me while we were eating our lunch. But later.. when read was asleep I wanted some more chips. I didn't want to wake him up to ask him for more and I knew he wouldn't mind so I just took some. I took the cheesy Doritos because there were still two packets left--so thoughtful.
Well, Reed really likes chips too. When he woke up the first thing he shouted (it wasn't actually a shout but he sounded angry) was "hey! did you eat my bag of chips??"
"NO!" I replied. "It must have been your mom. She didn't get dinner. Are you sure you had another bag? Maybe you're just imagining things..."
It was just like that Brian Regan moment where I could hear the words coming out and my brain was screaming for me to shut up and tell the truth but my mouth just kept moving and there was nothing I could do. Reed was still confused. He has a super brain and he can remember everything perfectly. He knew there was another bag of chips before. He also really likes to be right so he was bound and determined to figure out what happened to the bag of chips. Meanwhile, I was just shutting up in the corner and letting my guilty conscience swallow me up. It was horrible. So horrible that I haven't been able to sleep. I felt so ashamed when I would say my prayers and I had been lying to Reed about the Doritos--those delicious Doritos.
So, last night when I went down to help Reed, I promised myself I would tell him the truth about his precious chips. It was horrible. I was so embarrassed. He just laughed of course. He didn't care about the chips at all. I knew that. I just couldn't get it off my mind! How could someone trust me if I couldn't even be honest about a stupid bag of chips?! So, we're friends now--my conscience and I, I mean. Repentance is a wonderful gift.

Anyway, the main thing that was like "Ahah!" for me was that I finally figured out this quote. "It's easier to keep commandments 100% of the time than it is to keep them 98% of the time" by Elder Christensen. My ward has been really focusing on this lately and I was kind of confused about it. But now I get it. It would just be easier for me to tell Reed that I ate his chips and be honest than be honest about some things and lie about others. 


Curse my parents for teaching me not to lie. (by "curse" I mean "bless" but man, if only I didn't have to have that embarrassing moment)


Moral: Liars get their pants on fire. Amen.

I'm Full Mormon

i don't know how i forgot to blog about this, but i did! sorry. i had a REALLY great saturday last week. i woke up early to go down to the Head of the Charles Regatta! doesn't that sound lovely? it really was. i parked in harvard square which was buzzing with excitement and strange entertainers as displayed below.

that really wasn't the cool part of my day. i just thought it was funny.

the cool part was the regatta. it was the perfect day. it was chilly enough to make your nose and cheeks a little pink. the kind of weather that makes you feel cold and warm all at once-the air is crisp and makes you aware of how nice it actually is-you know. the bridges were crowded with spectators pushing and shoving to get from one side to the other to cheer their team on. it was like a giant game of pooh sticks. i, being inspired by the ambiance of the atmosphere, felt it appropriate to buy myself some clam chowdah in a bowl so, i did. i sat on the side of the river to eat my lunch and watch the crewing races. the races are really cool despite the fact that they aren't moving all that quickly and the boats come down the river one by one instead of all at once. the excitement factor isn't exactly there but, it's a pleasant sport any way you look at it. unless, of course, you're the one rowing, in which case it looks really hard.

let's get to the good part of the day.

so, there i am sitting by myself eating my chowder and this guy sits down sort of next to me. it was one of those situations where i felt like he could've found a spot that was much more open, but i guess he's a friendly person. he asks "excuse me, do you know when the next race starts?" i reply, "i have no clue but i think i saw some girls handing out programs over there". what does he say? i'll tell you, "that's ok, i didn't actually want to know".

okay...

so then, it's kind of uncomfortable. do i keep this conversation going or not? i don't even know how to respond to that. there was silence for a while. silence that, before would've been normal but now i feel should be filled with some sort of small talk.

"so, are you from around here?"

"yeah, but i've been on the road as a musician for a couple of years. how about you?"

"i'm from utah, but i'm working here for a couple of months."

"do you get into boston very often?"

"i come down most saturday's if there is something going on and i come to cambridge every sunday for church."

"i'm protestant. what church do you go to?"

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!" (i was really proud for getting it out correctly. it's only the second time someone has ever asked me that and i messed up the first time ha)

"that's neat"

"i'm a fan"

ok... there's more awkward silence. what do i fill it with? all i can think of is 'maybe i should ask if he wants to know about the church. no, i'll feel awkward'. to say the least, i talked myself out of it. the next half hour or so was filled with random spurts of conversations that i can't remember because they were unimportant. then, just as he was about to leave he spurts out, "good luck with your church" (is that weird? why would i need luck?) "i'd really like to learn more about it sometime"

"REALLY? because you're more than welcome to come to our church meetings anytime you want. we meet every sunday at three. the address is 65 binney street and it's three hours long but the first hour is the one i would recommend. every one there is really nice and we'd love to have you. no pressure."

yikes... did i mess that up? i should've been more subtle. he's gonna think we're all crazy.

"ok, that sounds great! so, are you part Mormon?"

i almost laughed out loud.

"i'm actually full Mormon haha just kidding. Mormon and LDS are the same thing."

well, to keep this story from getting any longer, i'll shorten it.. haha

we ended up staying two more hours talking about some gospel principles and i got to bear my testimony several times. he's a really sweet person and seems like he's been looking for some sort of direction. he said how things have been happening in his life that have made him turn to God and he's been hoping to find something that would give him the peace that he's been looking for. after he left i felt like the whole thing was planned. like i was supposed to be there to sit next to him and tell him what i know to be true. i don't know what will happen with him but i feel like i did my best and i was silently praying to have help to know what to say. i was really nervous that i might say the wrong things but i always seemed to find some sort of answer for his questions and i could feel the Spirit when i was bearing my testimony. hopefully the Spirit was able to touch him also and even if i never see what happens with him, it was a great experience for me. it was a challenge and a blessing to be able to talk to a stranger about how i feel about my Savior and the blessing of the atonement. i'm so grateful that i have a testimony to share and that i could feel it grow as i was bearing it.

after the regatta i met up with kellie and we carved pumpkins and made 67 cupcakes for our sunday school class which i feel is Mormony enough to be included in this post.

i'm full Mormon and i LOVE it!