Praise To The Man

Sorry, it's been awhile since I last posted on here, but I just didn't have anything I felt was "post worthy" news, until tonight. Tonight was the start of a new quarter for institute, and this quarter we are studying the Latter-Day Prophets. We're going in order, so you should be able to guess who we studied tonight- Joseph Smith.

In 6th grade, I decided to start reading the series by Gerald Lund, The Work and the Glory. For those of you who don't know, it's a 9 volume series that covers the history of the church from about 1828 until the saints arrive in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. Since 6th grade, I have read that series 4 times through. I know, I know, who has that much time and why on earth would you want to read the same thing 4 times through? Hey, why do they counsel us to always read and re-read the scriptures?? Ok, not quite the same thing, but still, I learned new things everytime I read. And, although there isn't necessarily any doctrine in those books that Elder Lund wrote, it gives a powerful account of the Prophets life, testimony, persecutions, struggles, triumphs, etc. I began gaining a very real testimony of that dear Prophet of old as I read through those books.

Then, in 7th and 8th grade, we had the opportunity to travel back to St Louis, MO to watch Jennifer play in the National Soccer Tournament for Dixie State College. While we were there we were able to travel to Nauvoo and Carthage and see all the sites there. As I walked down those streets in Nauvoo and as I sat on the bed in the jailers bedroom and listened to the account of Willard Richards, John Taylor, Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, I had a strong, powerful witness that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God and that he truly did restore the church through Jesus Christ to this earth for us.

I then had the opportunity in my freshman year of high school to study the Doctrine and Covenants in Seminary. It was then and there that I started falling in love with Church History and our heritage. I soaked it up. I think it might even be safe to say that had there been a time machine or some way to transport me to another time, I would have immediately entered in a date from between 1830-1844 so I could meet the Prophet Joseph and live in that time. :) And, as I was falling in love with this time period I was also strengthening my testimony of that great man.

Now, here I sit, 20 (almost 21! :)) my testimony becoming stronger with every passing day of this great man. His life is one to truly be remembered, celebrated and revered. I will forever be grateful for the faith he had at 14 years old to walk into that grove of trees and ask our dear Father in Heaven to direct him which way he should go. I will also always be grateful to him that he never denied that testimony and in the end, sealed it with his blood. He bore such powerful testimony of the life of the Savior and of His divinity and never wavered in his faith. "Praise to the man who communed with Jehova, Jesus annointed that Prophet and seer. . . Praise to his memory, he died as a martyr; honored and blest be his ever great name."

So, that's how I ended my night tonight; adding to my testimony of that wonderful man who ". . . lived great and died great in the sight of God and his people. . ." Praise to the man.

If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn't Be Hard

At my job lately, we have started taking a lot of Panoramic x-rays just to put in peoples charts so that they're current and on file. If they haven't had one in three years, then insurance will cover the cost of it, so we try and take them every 3 years. It seems an over-whelming amount of people do not have any current pano's on file, so we have been taking a lot lately. Well, panoramic x-rays take a long time to develop, about 6 or 7 minutes apiece, and I tend to be the lucky gal that sits in the dark room (about a 5x5 foot room, completely pitch black) developing these wonders. The past few days I have been averaging about 6 or 7 a day, so we can figure about 45 minutes to an hour of my 8 hour work day is time to just sit and think while these x-rays feed SLOWLY into the developer. Sorry about the long intro, but I felt it necessary to go into this next bit.

So, as I have had this prolonged time to think lately, I started reminiscing about high school and how it was so worry-free. I didn't have a job, no school staring me in the face with a future career attatched to it, dating wasn't a big deal because it wasn't leading toward marriage, etc. And then I thought of middle school and how even more care free those days were! I just kept having flash backs to when things seemed simple and easy and I found myself missing those days and cursing my life at the present moment. Then, I stopped and realized that when I was that age, I wasn't thinking that life was easy or care free, and I didn't enjoy my time as much as I could have. That got me thinking, then, of at what point did I stop just enjoying life and start worrying so much? I think I have it pegged to about 2nd grade. :)

So, onto my next revelation- it suddenly hit that I need to enjoy my life right now and be content with the place I am at right now. One day I am going to look back and think how much fun this stage of my life was and if I make the most of it, I won't have any regrets. And so many times I find myself thinking, "why can't life just be easier for a second???" Then those famous words from Sheri Dew pop into my head, "If life were easy, it wouldn't be hard." That's when I remember that at the end of the day, if I have struggled and had to work at something, I usually gain the most from that experience and I appreciate the end result much more than if I was rewarded something needlessly. So then, once again, I get a little perspective put back in my life and I try to make the most of each day so that I really CAN look back and think, "that was such a fun time in my life. . . I'm glad it's over." Because, let's face it, as much as I really did love High School and Middle School, I am so thankful to be done with that stage of my life.

And that, my fellow bloggers, is how I spend my time in the 5x5 dark room, developing pano's, at Angus Square Dental.

The Great Outdoors

Well, I have entered into the world of blogging. I've actually been here for about 2 years, I just chose to make this my "online journal" of sorts. Anyhow, I'm public now! So, this weekend we had a little camping fiasco at Camp Zarahemla.



Needless to say, it was beautiful while we were there, thank goodness, since the week previous when Tara and David were there, it was raining and about 40 or 50 degrees. We were able to enjoy sunshine, 32 1/2 degree water, canoing, and food cooked over an open fire. We also were privileged enough to be entertained by none other than our comic master, Luke.


We also were lucky enough to see the artistic stylings of Chadworth. His charades are far more complex than mine can ever hope to be.

Then we were serenaded by none other than Rach with "Kiss the Girl" from Little Mermaid. A stirring rendition if I do say so myself.


As you can see, it was an eventful trip, even though I was only able to be there for one night due to a temple trip Friday evening. But let me share some other noteworthy pictures from the trip.

Emma's Grape Soda Stache


Hannah Our Official BYU Rep

The Kiddo's Relaxing by the Fire