Sunday, September 13, 2009

He Knows

Last year I lived in Old Farm. Bleh. I loved my roommates for sure, but absolutely HATED the ward. It was definitely one of the worst wards I have so far experienced. Too cliquey. Not friendly. Just a bunch of self righteous, stuck up, holier than thou, kind of people. I was ecstatic to leave!

I am now in the 55th ward, and it is a complete turn around! Pretty much everyone is older, not many freshman at all! And everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE!, is so gosh dang friendly! If they notice you, they talk to you, end of story! And you don't feel like they are talking to you because they have a calling, or have set a goal to see how many people they can talk to in a day. They are genuinely interested in getting to know you and being your friend. And the bishopric is... there are not words to describe how utterly amazing they are. They act like they are the best of buds, and know who you are and where you come from, and they don't ever forget. They care about you. They want to be there for you. And you just cant help but to trust them. I am so thankful for them! Words just are not adequate enough!!!

So anyway, last Sunday much to my surprise I find out that there are actually THREE Relief Society's in our ward. (And only one Priesthood Quorum.... of course!) Welcome to Utah! Guys apparently need to step it up! So as the three Relief Society Presidencies are getting called and sustained, a sick feeling just comes over me. My Relief Society president's name is Breanna. I adore her! I was only able to come to my ward a few times over the summer because life was so crazy hectic, but it was enough. Breanna knew me. I would walk into Relief Society and Breanna would rush to my side and bombard me with questions about school, roommates, the job search, my social life. Everything! Not only did she remember my name, which my last Relief Society president failed to do, she remembered my apartment number, my major, pretty much everything I had ever told. She honeslty made me feel so welcome! Last year I detested going to Relief Society. This year, I couldn't wait!

So then I find out that they are splitting the girls in the ward into three groups. And I find out that I was no longer in Breanna's Relief Society. Not gonna lie, it was a bitter moment for me. I was like "I finally get something good, and it's taken away from me?! Are you freaking kidding me??!!!!" I definitely had a pissed off attitude about the whole affair. So I walk into my new Relief Society today, bitter and ornery... of course, and the president (Natalie) walks right up to me and says "Your Kristi right? From Highlander D?" Wow. I sure didn't remember her. I guess I had sat next to her in Sunday School the last week. I was very impressed that she would remember. So the lesson starts. You know those lessons where everythig is directed at you? And the spirit is so strong you feel like you can almost reach out and touch it? And the whole time you're thinking to yourself, "I hope I don't cry. Please don't cry."? Well today was like that for me.

As I was sitting there, I recieved this overwhelming feeling that this is right. That THIS is where I belong. Words cannot express the peace that came to me today. So this is me telling you, whoever you are, that God knows YOU! He KNOWS what YOU need! He knows what I need! We may not agree at first, we may have put on our pissy pants at His council, but in the end, its right. He really does love us. He really does know each one of us individually. I don't know how I know, I just do.

Today was a good day. I was able to go to the three meetings in the regualar church block, to the CES Fireside with Sister Dalton, and to ward prayer. And in every single meeting, I felt the Spirit whispering to me "I'm here. This is for you. Pay attention. And I won't leave you." I know I have said it before, but I will say it again, and many times more I am sure, but the Church is True! It is 100% undeniably true. Without a doubt. TRUE.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Blunt with the Bishop

At the beginning of each year in a singles ward the bishopric usually sets time to meet with each apartment and get to know them a little bit better. Today was our turn. Just a little roommate background first, Emily is the only other LDS girl in my apartment. Su Su and Geri our non-members and Crystal is inactive. Crystal is also accompanied by her boyfriend Wes (he lives here with us). The last couple of weeks we have been having so much drama with Crystal and Wes. Let's face it, having a boy roommate is just awkward and uncomfortable. It's becoming a worse and worse problem as time goes on. Me and Emily have talked about it extensivly, but we just didn't really know what to do about it. It is very much illegal for him to be living with us, but we don't want to be back in elementary and play the tattle-tale game. So we decided that maybe this meeting with the bishopric today might be a good opportunity to tell them about what is going on and see what they think.
I was hoping that somehow it would just come out naturally in the conversation. No such luck of course! At the end of the meeting the bishop asks "Is there anything else you would like to tell us about yourselves?" Me and Emily look at each other, questioning with our eyes if we should or shouldn't, and which one of us is going to take the plunge. So I finally just turn to the bishop and say, very bluntly, "Well, Bishop. We have a boy roommate." Just like that. ha ha it was way funny. No preamble, just stated it baldly. What I should have said is something like this "Well, we wanted to talk to you about our situation and see what you guys think..." Oh man, their reactions were hilarious. I could tell they were trying to hold in laughter with all their might! The bishop just smiles and says "Well sisters, that IS a matter of concern for your bishopric!" Can I just say... I LOVE MY NEW BISHOPRIC! They asked us who our landlord was and said they would be giving him a call within the week so that we didn't have to. They also went on and on how totally unfair that is to us and how we shouldn't have to deal with that in our lives. They even thanked us for telling them so that they could correct the situation for us. WOW! What was the funniest part though was as we were about to leave one of the bishopric memebers asks "So girls, do you have ANY MORE secrets to share with us that we can fix for you??" ha ha ha ha Me and Emily walked out, turned the corner, and both busted a gut laughing so hard.
I may have not said things very well, but at least things are going to be taken care of! ha ha ha I can only imagine what the bishopric is thinking about me... but oh well.... at least they were super nice about it!

The Divine Calling of Motherhood

It's late. I need to be in bed right now, but the pull to write is stronger than the pull of my night time meds, so .... here I am. T...