Resurrection Day

Easter has become less and less about a person in a creepy bunny suit and more and more about my Savior as I have gotten older. This weekend has been rather hectic, but I was so grateful for the chance I had to sing with the Institute Singers (a choir group I am in at the LDS Institute) at our family concert Friday night. All of the music had some sort of tie to Easter and what the Savior has done for us. I have never felt the Spirit as strongly in a choir concert as I did that night. I am not one to cry very often, but I had goosebumps and chills up and down my spine the entire night.

The two songs we sang arrangements of that have been on my mind ever since that night are How Firm a Foundation and Come Unto Jesus. 

How Firm a Foundation has always been one of my favorite hymns, but lately as I have been trying to be strong and face the world with different eyes, the lyrics have really stood out to me:

1. How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
Who unto the Savior, who unto the Savior,
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?
2. In ev’ry condition—in sickness, in health,
In poverty’s vale or abounding in wealth,
At home or abroad, on the land or the sea—
As thy days may demand, as thy days may demand,
As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.
3. Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.
4. When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o’erflow,
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee, and sanctify to thee,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
5. When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, thy dross to consume,
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
6. E’en down to old age, all my people shall prove
My sov’reign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And then, when gray hair shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs shall they still, like lambs shall they still,
Like lambs shall they still in my bosom be borne.
7. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, I’ll never, no never,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!

I know that is really long, and you probably just scrolled down and didn't read them all, but I hate that we never sing all of the verses in church. They are so powerful, especially the last line of the last verse: "I'll never, no never, no never forsake!" 

Come Unto Jesus has been playing through my head all day today as I have reflected on Easter and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. What more can we do to show our appreciation for His sacrifice then to come unto Him and give Him our whole hearts?

1. Come unto Jesus, ye heavy laden,
Careworn and fainting, by sin oppressed.
He’ll safely guide you unto that haven
Where all who trust him may rest.
2. Come unto Jesus; He’ll ever heed you,
Though in the darkness you’ve gone astray.
His love will find you and gently lead you
From darkest night into day.
3. Come unto Jesus; He’ll surely hear you,
If you in meekness plead for his love.
Oh, know you not that angels are near you
From brightest mansions above?
4. Come unto Jesus from ev’ry nation,
From ev’ry land and isle of the sea.
Unto the high and lowly in station,
Ever he calls, “Come to me.”

As we celebrate his life, Atonement, death and Resurrection this Easter, I want to add my testimony to others that have been shared:

I know that He lives and that He died for me and for you. I know that he is calling to us to come to Him and take part in the gift of the Atonement. It is free for us to choose to use or not to use. I know He will come again and that if we prepare and try our hardest to become the best that we can be, we will be able to live with Him again. I am so thankful for His sacrifice for me, I don't know where I would be without the knowledge that I have of Him and His plan for me. There is so much to be thankful for and so much hope to hold onto. When you are feeling alone, lost or afraid, have the strength and the courage to call upon him and he will carry your burdens and make you whole. It may take time, and sometimes the road may seem long, but He knows the way and He will guide you through with His timing in mind. I know the Savior loves me and that because of Him, I will be able to be with my family forever and continue to live in peace and joy. 

Happy Easter!

xoxo
CRM

My Favorite Kind of Weekend

As we were running out the door to make it to the afternoon session of the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at the Conference Center, the voice and words of Henry B. Eyring were floating through the house. What an amazing talk that I will watch/read again and again.

Coming home for conference is always a great opportunity to focus on what the spirit can teach me, eat good food and spend time laughing and joking with my family. Some of the highlights:

• Celebrating getting into the Graphic Design program at the UofU by going to lunch at Texas Roadhouse (I can't tell you how excited I am to finally know what the next few years of my life will hold!)
• Coconut Creme filled Doves: AMAZING
• Late night movies (Charlie St. Cloud and Johnny English: Reborn)
• Seeing my little brother and his date off to Preference (made me miss high school dances big time)
• The Muppets Movie (This song is so great)

• Seeing all the amazing spring flowers on Temple Square
• Getting to be in the spirit filled Conference Center for the afternoon session and getting an upgrade on our seats 
• Going to City Creek with the girls while the men were at Priesthood session
• Best sign asking for money I have ever seen: "Brother kidnapped by squirrels-need money for nuts and booby traps"
• Buying a blazer that makes me look super skinny
• Watching the musical numbers from Priesthood session so I could point out all my guy friends who were in the choir (they sounded amazing btw)
• Getting to sleep in my huge queen sized bed 
• Snuggling with my kitty

There really is no place like home!

xoxo

CRM

Joy in the Journey and Faith in the Destination

Imagine a rocket ship about to be launched into space.

Think of all of the preparations, persuasions and perseverance that had to take place to get that rocket ship on the platform about to take off.

It's quite a bit, right?

I can't even comprehend all the science and math that must go on behind the scenes to make everything work smoothly and keep the passengers on board safe while they journey. I'm just glad there are other people who get to take care of those things and not me.

Alright, so you have all the science, you've packed your astronaut food, and your suit has been shined until it sparkles. You board the rocket, the signal is given and with a roar, you slowly begin your flight up into the unknown. The smoke fades, the crowd disperses and you are left alone in the sky. You look down and see the earth that you have come to know so well disappear behind you. You face forward, determined to get to your destination successfully so you can bring back new knowledge to your colleges. You look down at the coordinates that should be blinking on the screen in front of you to tell you which way to turn to begin your adventures in space.

You gasp.

There are no blinking dots.

The screen in blank and you start to panic. Here you are in the middle of nowhere, the middle of nowhere in SPACE, and you have no idea what direction you are suppose to go or even how to get back home. You were expecting there to be a map of some sort with step by step directions to hlep you get to your destination. Suddenly you realize that you don't even know what that destination is. You were never told. Shouldn't this have been part of the debriefing? Shouldn't there be some sort of manual or chart or something to show you what to do in times of peril and panic? This is your future you hold in your hands. This is life or death! One wrong turn of the controls or flip of a toggle switch and you could be flung off the path that you should be on to get to that ever elusive destination.

You look out the windshield to try and get your bearings, but nothing looks familiar. Do you really expect anything to look familiar? This IS your first trip to space.

You take a few deep breaths and try to decide what to do. You know you won't be able to find your way back home, you don't even know how much fuel you have left in the tank. So what do you do now? Continue to panic? Curl up in a ball and wait to die from lack of oxygen?

Or...

You can just enjoy the journey.



The future is scary. I have so many decisions to make in the next two months that sometimes I feel like the character in the rocket ship being flung into the unknown without a map or direction.


Directions my rocket ship COULD turn:

-I apply again for the Graphic Design Program at the U at the end of the month (the thought that I have to choose 12 pieces to go into my portfolio out of the hundred or so I have in a pile at home makes me start to sweat). Do I get in? Or not?
-If I don't get into the program (at this point I have no idea the outcome), what new major do I choose? Or, heaven forbid, do I transfer to a different school?
-Do I stay in my apartment with my lovely roomies in SLC for the summer or do I move home?
-Will I ever get a conformation/rejection letter from the Especially For Youth (EFY) people which will help me decide where to go for the summer? (I mean, it's been two months people. I think that's enough time to decide whether or not I am peppy enough to be an EFY councilor. Every time an email comes up on my phone, my mind does a little dance, hoping it's from them.)
-Or do I box up all of the aforementioned ideas for two years and spend my time getting my papers together to go on a mission when I turn 21 in September? (I have always wanted to serve a mission, but the thought of leaving my family, my friends and my ward that I have become so comfortable with for so long is frightening.)


With all of these thoughts running rampant in my mind, throwing over tables, spilling drinks and breaking the fine china, I am in great need for direction. Where can I turn?

Well, unlike the poor soul in the rocket ship, we DO have a map: the scriptures.

And we DO have a team of experts upstairs who know exactly where our ship is headed.

And we DO know our final destination if we are faithful to the end and we keep an eternal perspective.

Does this make all the panic subside and the doubt drift away? Not always. To be honest, I have had panic attack moments that leave me wondering if I will ever make it through. But as President Uchtdorf said in his talk The Infinite Power of Hope: 


"We learn to cultivate hope the same way we learn to walk, one step at a time. There may be times when we must make a courageous decision to hope even when everything around us contradicts this hope. Like Father Abraham, we will 'against hope [believe] in hope.' Or, as one writer expressed, 'in the depth of winter, [we find] within [us] an invincible summer.'"

May we all find the invincible summer within us, find joy in the journey and have faith in our destinations. Our rocket ship is NOT going to run out of fuel, crash or start leaking oxygen unless we let it.

xoxo
CRM

p.s. This is one of the songs that keeps me going. So beautiful.