President Monson is a Prophet

This goes hand in hand with Sunday's post. Another reason why I love BYU is because they have weekly devotionals on Tuesdays at 11:05 am. Today we had the awesome privilege of hearing from our beloved prophet, Thomas S. Monson. Not only do his talks help us feel the spirit, he is quite a comical man. Today he spoke about the 9 prophets he knew in his lifetime. He told a little bit about each one starting with Heber J. Grant. My roommate commented and said that it was so interesting because he was able to tell a personal story about each one of them. I wish I could recall everything to memory, but here are just some things he mentioned:

Heber J. Grant
Favorite Hymn: "Do what is Right"
Advice he might give: Persist in everything good and noble.

George Albert Smith
Favorite Hymn: "Let us oft Speak Kind Words"
Advice he might give: Have compassion

David O. McKay
Favorite Hymn: "Oh Say What is Truth"
Advice he might give: True Christianity is love in action.

Joseph Fielding Smith
Favorite Hymn: "Prayer is the Soul's Desire"
Advice he might give: Be Studious; Wickedness never was happiness.

Harold B. Lee
Favorite Hymn: "Praise to the Man"
Advice he might give: Stand ye in holy places and be not moved.

Spencer W. Kimball
Favorite Hymn: "I need Thee Every Hour"
Advice he might give: Be dedicated

Ezra Taft Benson
Favorite Hymn: "How Great Thou Art"
Advice he might give: What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.

Howard W. Hunter
Favorite Hymn: "Have I done any Good?"
Advice he might give: Be Modest; Proverbs 27:2

Gordon B. Hinckley
Favorite Hymn: "God of Our Fathers"
Advice he might give: Do your best.

He concluded by saying,"What can we learn from the presidents whom I have known and about whom I have visited with you today?" President Monson asked. "We can learn that they never wavered, never faltered, never failed; that they are men of God."

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.