Adventures of late

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind! Lots of good times, and lots of times I was sure how I was going to get everything done. I guess I'll just let these pictures tell some of the story.


I loved Nauvoo! The temple was intricately and incredibly beautiful... every inch of it!
There was a senior missionary who shared his testimony of Jonathan Browning that really touched me. I'm grateful for my pioneer ancestors. As I walked down the Mississippi river and thought of what those pioneers felt looking back at the temple they were leaving behind, I knew the changes I was making in my life were nothing in comparison to their sacrifice.


However, I also felt a small connection between those pioneers and my drive across the country: we were both trusting that God was leading us to where we are supposed to be and that things would work out, just as they did for those who made their way to Utah more than 150 years ago.


This is my mom and I at... a cemetary. She's trying her best to instill her love in genealogy in me and insisted we stop to visit an ancestor's grave. Her name was Nancy. Maybe I'll find it interesting in 30 years from now.



I also found the Winter Quarters Temple beautiful. I liked the dirt road up to the temple that I found when I was lost almost as much.



Well a few days after arriving at DC I decided to take a trip with some friends in the ward to the beach!! See the little strip of islands to the east of north carolina that extends down the whole coast. Yep that's where I was and it was a picturesque beach.



The sunburn, the pan fire, the flooding pipe, etc weren't quite as ideal, but still it was a fun weekend.

My last night in Provo

I spent yesterday afternoon with a friend at temple square. It looked, smelt, and felt like the spring. So beautiful! We took pictures. We enjoyed the art exhibit and roof at the conference center. And then we went home.
Later that night we learned by hard experience that when the lady on the bike says the trail is flooded to believe her. River water is cold! In fact it can make your legs turn bright red for hours at a time. Never knew my legs could be cold and so hot at the same time.
This morning after my fabulous roommates helped me load up my car, I drove the long way home. Provo Canyon is starting to be green enough for a nice drive. Morgan Valley is beautiful as well, but what I think I like most about it is how familiar it feels. Funny, the next few weeks I'm certain nothing will feel at all familiar, but hopefully I will still enjoy myself.

real life

I loved Elder Bednar's talk so much I'm writing about it on my blog... wait isn't that what he said not to do? ...something about the fact that while I feel that somehow posting my feelings to the internet will connect me emotionally with someone else it's all just a false, fake sense of connection that will probably cause me to miss out on real, rich relationships. It's true though. His was a very timely message that hopefully will cause me to think twice about how many times I sit down at the computer everyday. However, considering the quality time already spent with people I care about today, hopefully I still be somewhat connected to reality and balanced enough see clearly.

Just one more random thought and then I promise to go interact with real people.
I have learned this week that 1)doing the right thing really does make you happy and give you hope and confidence about yourself, your future, and your relationships with others. 2)making the right decision is hard, but we can decide to go forward with faith and gratitude for the lessons learned along the way.