Memories: Long lost friends

It is amazing how something simple can trigger powerful memories. It can be something you see, smell, hear, taste, or touch and it produces memories. I have been gathering shirts and fabric for a t-shirt quilt for quite a while now. I was going through the t-shirts and was surprised by some of the things that I started to think about. One shirt, for instance, was my best friend's football shirt. It is completely worn out and fading, one of the many memories conjoured by that shirt was how he smelled. For a long time I didn't want to wash it because it smelled like him and that was a smell I loved.
Another thing I found was a pair of pants. I wore these pants everytime we did service while I was on my mission. I did a lot of painting in those pants and needless to say there is a lot of paint on them. Every paint color has a different story.
The thing I found that brought back the most memories was a shirt from my first year of college. My friend Christian was running for student body president and I was his campaign manager. I remember painting his signs and going to every dorm and apartment on campus handing out fliers. We were also out at midnight hanging up his signs and were up at six rehanging them because it had snowed and they were all falling down. It was so much fun, yet super crazy.

A Time of Thanksgiving

It is almost Thanksgiving and I love this time of the year. I have so much to be thankful for. I have a job I love, family and friends that I couldn't make it without, I am going to school majoring in a field that I am thrilled about, and I have all of you, My Ourstory Family. Each of you have touched my life through your stories and through the sharing of your life with me.
I am grateful that I have the opportunity to have all of you in my life.
I am grateful each day that I wake up, because that is one more day for me to see the beauty a loving Father in Heaven has given me.
I am grateful that my two best friends are my mom and my sister.
I am grateful for the knowledge I have about my Heavenly Father's love for me.
I am grateful for the roof over my head, the clothes on my back, and the food that I eat.
I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving

Gone, but NEVER forgotten

Today is a day of tender memories. Six years ago our nation fell victim to a heinous crime. I was at Snow College, my mom called me at about 8:50 am and asked if I was watching the news. I told her no and she told me to go turn it on. I went to the lounge and turned on the tv just in time to see the second building fall. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. How could this happen to a nation as great as ours. As the news spread the lounge filled up with people. People who lived in the dorm and people who didn't, who just wanted to be around friendly faces and loved ones.Classes were cancelled and everywhere we went it seemed there were teeming masses around a tv. Some friends and I decided that we were going to go into the neighboring town to the hospital and give blood. When we got there we were told that the only people who could take blood right then was the Red Cross. So trying to escape from the world around us we went to a small soda shop owned by our bishop. There we spent the day laughing and enjoying each other. In the back of my mind I kept wondering how life could go on and what would happen in they had to re-instate the draft. Would all of the young men I knew and loved be called into action?I wish that I could have stayed locked up in that place of peace and love. Coming home that evening I was greeted with another crisis. One of the girls in my dorm met me in tears. She told me that one of the other girls took a wholw bunch of pills and then took off and she needed help finding her. We gathered up as many as were willing to help and set off in search for her. We had alerted the authorities and were on the move. As we were crossing the campus we saw her walking and as we approached her she just crumpled. She received the help that she needed and we later found out the reason she did it. She had an uncle in the pentagon who was unaccounted for.

Rafting

This last weekend was a total blast. My ward went rafting just outside of Jackson Hole this weekend. We met at the church at 9:00 Thursday morning. After getting everyone and everything situated we set out. We stopped after two hours for lunch and then it was back on the road again. After another two hours we were finally there.
Thursday night brought food and a lot of fun. After an awesome dinner we played random games. Thursday night I sat and watched a fabulous meteor shower. I love the great outdoors. I was in a hotel room with my dear friend Ashlee, but outside was so great. Friday morning brought about excitement and a desire to get to the river. The first trip down the river was quite an adventure. When we hit the rapids "Big Kahuna" I, along with three others, was thrown out of the raft. After a brief lunch we went for round two. The second time down the river was far more fun than the first time down. The second time the group I was with was totally nuts. At one point three of the members of our boat pirated another boat. It was the funniest thing to watch. There were people flying all over the place. At another point, we became an animal orchastra. Hey, no one said we were sane.
Friday night we had our devotional and testimony meeting. I can't tell you how much I love the people in this ward. They are all amazing in their own right. After devotional, there was another round of games and some great blackmail moments. After I went to bed apparently there was quite a bit of action involving a few kids on four-wheelers, but that isn't my story and I don't know all of the details. Saturday morning came all to soon. I didn't want to leave these people that I had grown to love even more than I already did. Another four hours later we were home and now all I have left are some great memories.

Boy

Two years ago today I got a rather interesting phone call. I was eight months into my mission. I was serving in Morgantown, West Virginia and my companion was Ceptember Noall. It was a Friday and while we were in for lunch we got a call from our mission president, President Cowley. He told us that he was going to be in our area and told us he would like to come and see us. We told him okay and that we would wait until he got there. I got off the phone and jokingly asked my companion what she had done wrong. She asked me why and I told her that the mission president didn't make house calls unless something was wrong or we did something wrong. I told her after that I knew I didn't do anything wrong so it must have been her. We laughed and finished cleaning up the house so that it would look good when President and Sister Cowley got there.
About an hour and a half later President anad Sister Cowley got there and President Cowley told me he needed to talk to me. We went in the spare room and he shut the door. We both sat down and then with tears in his eyes he told me that I had another mission companion. I sat there a bit confused. He went on and told me that my mom had called and that my 14 year old nephew James had been in an accident and had passed away. I was in shock. President Cowley told me that if I wanted to go home we would find a way for me to do it. I told him that I wasn't going home because I knew that if I did I wouldn't be back out and I didn't come out to go home early. He then told me that on Sunday I could call home. For two days I worried about how I was going to tell my sister and mom that I wasn't coming home. I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help me tell them and to help them understand. On Sunday when I called, the first thing my sister said to me was "Don't you dare come home. You are more use to us there then you are here." I cried knowing that Heavenly Father had heard and answered my prayer.
James, who had been dubbed by his little brother as "Boy", had just turned 14. He was at a family reunion at Flaming Gorge and they had all decided to go cliff jumping, something that they had been doing all day. I don't really know all of the details of this story so I am depending on my family to help fill in the blanks. All I really know about what happened was that James went to jump and stumbled causing him to belly flop from 30 feet. He ended up with internal injuries. They life flighted him to Primary Childrens Medical Center. He passed away later that day. My sister and brother-in-law decided to have his organs donated. A blessing for many families. James was a kind, fun-loving, and hard-working boy. He was a talented artist and he loved his siblings. He had a smile ready for everyone. He was working to earn money for a motorcycle the summer before he passed away. Last year, right after I got home we went and did James' temple work. James lived great and I know that he is helping others on the other side preparing them to recieve the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

My Early Birthday

Tomorrow is my 24th birthday. I had an amazing early birthday last week however. On July 8th, my sister's birthday, my sister and I celebrated our birthdays together. My sister lives in Boise and I live in Ogden. We met in Twin Falls and went to dinner together. We opened presents together and the people in the restraunt thought that we were crazy. I loved it though. It was one of the best birthdays I have had. I spent the week following with my sister and for our birthdays we went and watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on opening night. Claudia, R.C., Briana, and I all dressed up and it was so much fun. Claudia and I were Gryffindor students, R.C. was a Slytherin, and Briana was the Fat Lady. It was great. For my birthday I got an MP3 player and a Tinkerbell steering wheel cover from mom. Claudia and R.C. got me my Harry Potter wand. The kids got me some other Tinkerbell stuff. It was a lot of fun. All in all I have had a great birthday and my birthday isn't even until tomorrow.

Total Wreck

I had quite a day yesterday. I got up and just like any normal day I got ready for work. I hopped into my car looking forward to the Stake swimming party after work. I headed out to make the drive to the temple. I was about 5 miles from work when it happened. I was in the left lane and two lanes over a car swerved into the lane next to me which in turn caused the car next to me to swerve into my lane. I swerved so that I didn't get hit. I lost control and spun before hitting the concrete divider. I was stunned and in tears. The first person that stopped was a nurse. He was amazing. He checked me over really quick and helped calm me down. Another young man stopped and the two of them finished moving my car off to the side of the road. Soon a Highway patrol man stopped. He took our statements and called a tow truck to take my car home.On the way home I realized how incredibly blessed I was. The accident could have been so much worse. Although the front of the my car was ripped off the only problems I had were a nasty welt on my neck and chest where the seatbelt caught me and bumps and bruises that I would discover later after the adreniline wore off. Heavenly Father was definately with me as I was driving. When I spun no other cars hit me, the concrete divider saved me from going into the other lanes, and my seatbelt saved me from going through the windshield. I know that I was being watched over because I really should have been more injured than I am. I know that I have a Father in Heaven who loves and watches over me. I know that He knows my every want and need. He blesses me daily and I know He is always there.