Sunday

So, today was my third Sunday in my new ward. That is the 236th ward of the BYU 15th stake. One of the speakers in Sacrament meeting inspired this new post. She was talking about how technology can be a way of spreading the gospel and encouraged us to post a blog with your testimony, or something to that effect. So here are just a few thoughts about our church.

I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet who restored the same church that existed in Jesus' time.

I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it is "the most correct of any book on earth."

I know that Jesus Christ died for the sins of EVERYONE and because of it we can repent and become perfected in him.

I love the temple and the ordinances that are performed there (even though I don't know everything right now.)

I can't wait for the day that I can be sealed to my eternal companion.

I love Brigham Young University, the Lord's University, and the wonderful feeling that I have when I go to school.

I love student wards that are so strong and help us feel the spirit.

I love being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Meet me in St. Louis

This past Friday we drove 3 hours to St. Louis to visit our cousin, SiSi. We stood in line for quite a while to visit the museum beneath the Arch. It was my first time going to the Arch and it was beautiful; such an interesting piece of architecture.


We then made our way to Ted Drewes for some of their famous frozen custard. It was delicious.

Shh...Don't Tell Ie Mei...

It's almost 10:30 at night...but who can refuse a photo shoot with a cute little Mylee monster?!

I bore people to sleep

Today is Monday and Brad left for a high adventure trip with the Young Men. Ie Mei had to help drive people there and it was 2.5 hours away. What this meant was that she was gone for 5 hours starting at 6. She took Lance and Ailee with her so I was only in charge of Mylee and Jackson. Jackson is an early riser. He was up at 5:30 and was so kind to let me sleep in until 7:00. He mentioned he was bored and had nothing to do. I asked him if he had done all his work already. He replied by saying, "Yes. I've also done my piano and read three times." And I thought that adults were supposed to be the responsible ones. He wasn't allowed to have media time today so I started saying, "You can draw, you can read Harry Potter, you can jump on the trampoline..." all to which he replied NO.

A little bit later I convinced him to make some origami with me, which he thought was somewhat entertaining. Finally around 10:30 he said that he was tired and really bored; so bored that he got a blanket and decided to take a nap on the floor. This is a 9-year old boy who barely ever sleeps except for bed time. It's even rare for him to fall asleep on long road trips! I know I'm not the most exciting person in the world but I didn't know I was capable of boring someone to sleep.

two thousand, one hundred sixty point four

That's how many miles I drove with Ie Mei, Brad, and the rest of the tay-team! We went through San Bernardino.

We camped in Flagstaff, Arizona. That was cold.

We stayed a night in Amarillo, Texas.

We continued on through Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, and finally arrived in Indiana.



I am having a fabulous time. It is just a bit humid, but it does feel quite cleansing. I don't think I've ever appreciated a cold shower as much as I do now.

We took a walk along the Ohio River Sunday afternoon and it was beautiful.


p.s. ie li, you just need to photoshop yourself in right between me and ie mei =)

monthly update

hello ielingslife blog followers, Ie Li, Ie Mei, Michiko, Vanessa, and Tisha. Here is an update from the last month. Most recently, Austin Keith entered the MTC on March 11,2009.

Note: awkward picture...no physical contact at all, i promise.

To cheer me up, my roommate Jordan gave me these:


the flowers are beautiful. they're still red as ever sitting on my desk in my dorm. the ice cream is delicious but most things are from ben & jerry's. i have to try really hard not to eat all of it at once.

Today was a wonderful day. I was able to do baptisms for the dead at the Salt Lake Temple. Now, I know that it doesn't matter where you do them, the same thing is accomplished, but boy was that baptistry beautiful. I've never seen one so lovely and intricate. There were only 5 girls who went so we each got to do 20 names. It was a wonderful experience. =) We took a picture in front of the conference center waterfall before we left:



Note (left to right): lauren from texas, cassie from california, ME, erin from california, katy from colorado(relief society pres)

there was a nice older gentleman in the temple today and he told me that his daughter-in-law was from monrovia. and then i was like hmm...i know ie li's friend, eliza, is from monrovia...i wonder if it's her but then i couldn't find him afterwards to ask. turns out, i'm right. you know...it's a small world, but it's even smaller when you're LDS.

Sunday in P-town

Well, today was pretty much like every other Sunday except it was Fast and Testimony meeting. There were lots of great testimonies shared. It was great to not have so many thankimonies =). Some of you might know that I was called as a teacher in the Relief Society but I was recently released and called as ward chorister. I love it. Not that teaching wasn't great, but I always got real nervous to teach a lesson. But I'm very excited to lead the music during Sacrament meeting. I love singing hymns. They're so awesome. Church always makes Sundays great. =)

So this is a bit random but I have this really cute video from hawaii of Devin and Marina and I thought I'd share it with you all. This reminds me of why I love all my siblings, especially Jonathan. Jonathan and I are the same distance apart as Dev and Marina so it's just cute to see them interact. Just for a side note, ignore my voice. I hate hearing my voice on audio or video clips, but here it is: