I gave a talk yesterday in Sacrament meeting on the topic "Faith in Every Footstep". I focused on faith and the second speaker focused on the pioneers.
A member of the Stake Presidency was on the stand because he announced stake conference next month and to notify us that the presidency will be changed. Nothing too shocking, they've been there for almost 9 years.
I gave my talk about faith, how my parents are converts and I was a lazy investigator and didn't really gain a testimony until I went to college, how my sister had similar experiences and chose differently than I did, etc etc.
Let me just say I had a captive audience.
I am one of those listeners that if I'm not captivated I've got my head down, reading something or drawing or something else to hold my attention until the next speaker. I hate it when people get up there and just read. So I make it a point to just have bullet points and just talk.
So I talked. I welled up and shed a tear about my sister. I refrained somewhat from talking with my hands [I'm a TOTAL hand talker], and over all did fairly well in my mind.
Sacrament meeting is over and the Stake President tells the other girl [who just read her talk] how great she did and didn't say anything to me. I got hand shakes from the bishopric and was about to leave when the Stake Pres calls me over to him.
Get this...
He wants me to give my talk [shortened to a merciful 4-5 minutes] in Stake Conference next month. And since they're reorganizing the presidency I'll be speaking in the same meeting as Russell M. Nelson. Talk about pressure. Holy cow!
Evidently Elder Nelson sent the presidency out asking them to visit all wards and find a talk that will fit a certain criteria that he gave. I fit the bill.
How crazy is that?! I've met several members of the 12 and even some prophets thanks to my dad's work, but this will be the second time I've met a member of the Twelve on my own terms and not being introduced as someone's daughter. I'm so excited!!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Call me Yente
When I first started going to the YSA ward I met a lot of great girls. Erin was my first friend, then I met Connie, Kathy, Stephanie, Emily, Truly, Chrissy, Nicole, Melanie, Lis. I LOVE these girls. There are beyond fabulous and so much fun. Honestly you will never ever be bored with them around.
I met a few guys, like Lynn, Alan, Shadd, Matt, Matt, and Jake. When I first met Alan I thought to myself, "oh he would just be perfect for Emily". I suggested it to the girls who told me they have all thought it for years. Stephanie even suggested it but nothing ever happened.
I decided I was going to make that happen.
Alan is my birthday friend. He has the same birthday as me, just two years younger. When I found out he was born in 1983 I about died. I was not tactful at all. I think the conversation went like this:
M: when's your birthday?
A: February 10th
M: No kidding. Mine's the 10th. What year?
A: Um, 1983.
M: SHUT UP! You're younger than me?! You have GOT to be kidding me.
hmmm yeah not tactful. And I'm not even exaggerating. But I mean, look at him!
Bless his little nerdy heart. He could go on for HOURS about Star Trek, Star Wars, cereal, cartoons, gamma rays, etc. Sorry the picture quality is terrible, I had to save it from my Facebook picture [you can see it better there]. It's from my 80s party - so fabulous.
And you all know Emily from the Disneyland trip.
Anyway, so I started going to lunch with Alan on our birthday. He works at the Airforce Base and I worked in Clearfield. I told him how I thought he'd be perfect for Emily. He said he wanted to ask her out but thought she'd say no.
I, being the good girl friend that I am, immediately run and tell Emily that Alan wanted to ask her out but thought she'd say no. She tells me to tell him that she wouldn't say no.
I tell Alan that I told her that she wouldn't say no and he said, um ok. So he asked her out. 4 MONTHS LATER! Talk about a slow mover. He's got an open net, just has to send the puck down the ice.
Fast forward to July. He calls me to see if we'd do a double date with them for the first date. We see the Last Airbender and go to dinner. They do something the next day. Then the next. Then the next. Finally she says no because she needs to do laundry and have a day to herself. He doesn't ask her out again.
Thinking my matchmaking meddling has gone to waste, my spirits rise when Alan said he needs to meet for lunch to discuss some questions.
He wants to know what Emily has said. I know from her roommate that she's enjoying dating him, wants to continue, and wants him to hold her hand. How cute is that. I got all squealy.
I squealed in IHOP when he told me that.
Of course I told her roommate [as I'm driving away from Alan] who will then tell her she'll have to hold something next date. OOOOOOH I'm so happy and so excited.
Look what I made. I made a relationship!
I met a few guys, like Lynn, Alan, Shadd, Matt, Matt, and Jake. When I first met Alan I thought to myself, "oh he would just be perfect for Emily". I suggested it to the girls who told me they have all thought it for years. Stephanie even suggested it but nothing ever happened.
I decided I was going to make that happen.
Alan is my birthday friend. He has the same birthday as me, just two years younger. When I found out he was born in 1983 I about died. I was not tactful at all. I think the conversation went like this:
M: when's your birthday?
A: February 10th
M: No kidding. Mine's the 10th. What year?
A: Um, 1983.
M: SHUT UP! You're younger than me?! You have GOT to be kidding me.
hmmm yeah not tactful. And I'm not even exaggerating. But I mean, look at him!
Bless his little nerdy heart. He could go on for HOURS about Star Trek, Star Wars, cereal, cartoons, gamma rays, etc. Sorry the picture quality is terrible, I had to save it from my Facebook picture [you can see it better there]. It's from my 80s party - so fabulous.
And you all know Emily from the Disneyland trip.
Anyway, so I started going to lunch with Alan on our birthday. He works at the Airforce Base and I worked in Clearfield. I told him how I thought he'd be perfect for Emily. He said he wanted to ask her out but thought she'd say no.
I, being the good girl friend that I am, immediately run and tell Emily that Alan wanted to ask her out but thought she'd say no. She tells me to tell him that she wouldn't say no.
I tell Alan that I told her that she wouldn't say no and he said, um ok. So he asked her out. 4 MONTHS LATER! Talk about a slow mover. He's got an open net, just has to send the puck down the ice.
Fast forward to July. He calls me to see if we'd do a double date with them for the first date. We see the Last Airbender and go to dinner. They do something the next day. Then the next. Then the next. Finally she says no because she needs to do laundry and have a day to herself. He doesn't ask her out again.
Thinking my matchmaking meddling has gone to waste, my spirits rise when Alan said he needs to meet for lunch to discuss some questions.
He wants to know what Emily has said. I know from her roommate that she's enjoying dating him, wants to continue, and wants him to hold her hand. How cute is that. I got all squealy.
I squealed in IHOP when he told me that.
Of course I told her roommate [as I'm driving away from Alan] who will then tell her she'll have to hold something next date. OOOOOOH I'm so happy and so excited.
Look what I made. I made a relationship!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Hogle Zoo
When Alex and I first started dating we talked about all the fun things we'd do this summer if it lasted that long. Nice huh. We were just trying to keep it real. Hogle Zoo, Real Salt Lake soccer games, Bees baseball games, museums, plays, concerts, it was a long list.
We been to two Bee's games and decided on July 5th to cross another off our summer o'fun list. Hogle Zoo. Considering it was a day after a holiday when everyone has the day off it wasn't too crowded. We had to park about 1/4 of a mile away but we're young so we hoofed it on over. We enjoy meandering around and looking at all the crazy beasts of the world. Cavy, lemur, camels, girafee, and other such strangeness. Like man eating drinking fountains!
The mama elephant had a baby elephant not too long ago. The marketing department for the zoo invited us to visit the new addition, baby Zuri with all sorts of flags around town, flyers, radio ads, and tv ads. Wait, isn't Zuri the name of Brangelina's baby? They named the elephant after a celeb's kid? I guess that's better than Courtney Cox & her crazy husband naming their kid Cocoa after the gorilla.
Ladies and gentelmen... I give you ZURI. Not sure if it's a girl or boy. Alex swore he saw dangly bits.
Here's Mama Elephant who received no notice at all for her fertility, gestational time, or delivery work. At least recognize that she pushed a freakin elephant out. Holy hannah!
An ostrich. Seriously, their middle toe is scary. If that thing flipped you off you'd apologize for being alive.
This is the girafee chapter. I don't know why but I took a ton of them. I think I was regretting not taking many other pictures so I went all out.
This cracked me up. This huge girafee is in the splits almost to the breaking point. It's little legs were trembling trying to get down far enough to eat that bush. No thought to kneel down. It was like watching siblings pulling apart the wishbone on Thanksgiving. I was seriously waiting to hear a snap.
I'm regretting not taking a picture of the girafee just behind him. It was making out with the wall like it hadn't been laid in a year. It was embarassing. Huge LONG tongue going up and down the wall. Up and down. I felt like I needed to look away to give him a moment.
Alex claims someone gave him the nickname Meerkat. Evidently they called his name and he poked his head out the window... like a meerkat.
I call him Muskrat on purpose to get a rise out of him. That's the kind of fabulous relationship we have.
We decided to take a rest and I took some more pictures... of the animals.
The underbiter
The long-tongued lamure
The stud-muff
The good-little roo
The sleepy-eyed blinker
The smoocher
The wiger (woman-tiger)
We been to two Bee's games and decided on July 5th to cross another off our summer o'fun list. Hogle Zoo. Considering it was a day after a holiday when everyone has the day off it wasn't too crowded. We had to park about 1/4 of a mile away but we're young so we hoofed it on over. We enjoy meandering around and looking at all the crazy beasts of the world. Cavy, lemur, camels, girafee, and other such strangeness. Like man eating drinking fountains!
The mama elephant had a baby elephant not too long ago. The marketing department for the zoo invited us to visit the new addition, baby Zuri with all sorts of flags around town, flyers, radio ads, and tv ads. Wait, isn't Zuri the name of Brangelina's baby? They named the elephant after a celeb's kid? I guess that's better than Courtney Cox & her crazy husband naming their kid Cocoa after the gorilla.
Ladies and gentelmen... I give you ZURI. Not sure if it's a girl or boy. Alex swore he saw dangly bits.
Here's Mama Elephant who received no notice at all for her fertility, gestational time, or delivery work. At least recognize that she pushed a freakin elephant out. Holy hannah!
An ostrich. Seriously, their middle toe is scary. If that thing flipped you off you'd apologize for being alive.
This is the girafee chapter. I don't know why but I took a ton of them. I think I was regretting not taking many other pictures so I went all out.
This cracked me up. This huge girafee is in the splits almost to the breaking point. It's little legs were trembling trying to get down far enough to eat that bush. No thought to kneel down. It was like watching siblings pulling apart the wishbone on Thanksgiving. I was seriously waiting to hear a snap.
I'm regretting not taking a picture of the girafee just behind him. It was making out with the wall like it hadn't been laid in a year. It was embarassing. Huge LONG tongue going up and down the wall. Up and down. I felt like I needed to look away to give him a moment.Alex claims someone gave him the nickname Meerkat. Evidently they called his name and he poked his head out the window... like a meerkat.
I call him Muskrat on purpose to get a rise out of him. That's the kind of fabulous relationship we have.
We decided to take a rest and I took some more pictures... of the animals.
The underbiter
The long-tongued lamure
The stud-muff
The good-little roo
The sleepy-eyed blinkerThat isn't an engagement ring, it's a ring I got from my great-grandma, who bought it from the gypsies about 70 years ago. I love that ring.
The smoocher
The wiger (woman-tiger)The last place we went was the monkey house. This orangutan had the right idea. He had his head under a sheet, camped out in front of the AC unit.
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