"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

The quote I chose for the title is so true...I challenge you live your life as if everything is a miracle.



This has been an interesting week...on Monday and Tuesday I was thinking wow I need to make myself pray more often I mean I always pray before I go to bed but never throughout the day unless I need something. Well I didn't do anything about it and on Wednesday a Daily YSA gym came as an email and it said "In the hectic, pressure-filled schedules you face, I . . . know how easy it is to let prayer slip. Some of you hit the snooze button on your alarm clocks, thinking you can eke out just another minute or two of sleep, then jerk awake realizing that you are going to be late for school or work. On such mornings, prayer gets pushed aside, perhaps with a feeble promise to yourself that you will do better tomorrow." I thought wow this is me so I have been focused on praying more and I am going to make this my goal this month to really get into the habit of praying more often and not just before bed and when I need things.



I am going to get back into the habit of reading my scriptures a lot because I have slipped on this too.



I have been giving a lot of thought to want I want to do as I grow up. I'm still not sure exactly what I want to be only what I want to go to school for. I have had this whole new realization that I want to get married and have kids in the nearer future than I ever thought I would especially since I didn't even want kids. I was always so afraid of raising kids and not knowing how but after joining the church I feel so much stronger and like I will be a great mother or at least the best I can be. I oftentimes watch movies and read books and think of how I want my life to be and it is really funny to me that I got this message on facebook today.

"Ashley got a message that on this day, God wants her to know...
...
that to find out who you are becoming find stories that move your heart.Just
like a seed has an image of the tree in it, so does your heart have an image of
who you are becoming. Look for stories in movies and books that resonate in your
heart, and you will find glimpses of your possible futures. What is your
favorite story?"

I am really bothered by the things people say that are mean to me about joining the church or that are discouraging. My family hurts me a lot with the things that they say. I don't think they realize that it hurts me like it does. I am really upset that my best friends have soo much resentment from me joining the church. My family and friends act as if I am turning against them by being LDS. I think it is because I do soo many church things but it is because I love the activities and being surrounded by the people. I just want them to be happy and feel the way I do and if they can't why can they not just be happy for me? :(....I don't want to argue with them I just want them to understand. Is it too much to ask to ask my friends to not watch antimovies and crazy FLDS things and let me or someone else who is actually from the church explain it to them or to ask my family to let me say a quick prayer at the dinner table? When I was little they didn't mind me praying at the dinner table but now that I am LDS it is a whole different story. I just don't understand why it is so different now that I am a member than it was when Nathan or Kayla were around. Ugh... I am so hurt and frustrated.



........But anyways.....



I am AMAZED at how much my life has changed since I have joined the church. I love the church soo much. My perspective on life has changed a lot. Like I mentioned before I am no longer scared to get married and have children. I am soo excited about being able to get married in the temple someday. I have become more of a nature lover because the HF has given us this beautiful earth and this life with free agency that we should be thankful for I am not so lost and confused because the gospel makes soo much more sense...it all fits together soo well. I now feel the spirit soo much stronger. I in general am a happier person. We should be thankful for every little thing that we have because a lot of times we don't know what we have until it is gone. Everyone needs to just live, laugh, love. Stop having negative thoughts and live your life with love and make it a point to not hurt other people.

On my mind

This week has been soooo busy...Working and school and Sarah's birthday or should I say birth week...haha. I have been blessed sooo much. I am soo glad that my dear friend Amber has started coming to church again and is even thinking about planning for a mission. I have had a great week and I am soo excited about going camping tonight. I love the sereneness at Blue Springs and I know that it is going to be a lot of fun. Although, I have been really busy and not had a lot of time I have thought about a lot of things. I am AMAZED at the way the HF blesses us and I am also amazed at the way things just fall into place. I'm just in awe at the way I came to know the church and be baptized. I was reading through some IM messages from Nathan from July of '08 that is when Nathan gave me the Book of Mormon for the first time and I wrote in a message that said that I felt like everything was weird and that he was pushing his belief on me. Wow! Things have changed soo much over the course of time. I am sooo glad that I have come to know the HF and joined the church. I also came across something funny where Nathan told me that when he leaves that I can't be sad for long. It made me laugh because we were bartering on how long I could be sad and we came to the conclusion that I could only be sad for a month after he left. Well, I have come to the conclusion that it has been three and a half months and I have done very well. I have had my ups and downs but ultimately the HF has helped me through it. ♥ Ashley P.S. Sorry for my ramble it was just some things that were on my mind P.S.S. I love how the Book of Mormon just makes everything in the Bible make soo much more sense no wonder I read the book of Revelation 3 times before I joined the church and couldn't make anything out of it. I needed the Joseph Smith translation and D&C

WOW!!

So today was a very spiritual Sabbath for me. I very much enjoyed it. I went to church this morning and because of General Conference it was fast and testimony meeting. Today was the first day I have ever fasted and it felt soo good. The Heavenly Father definately answered my prayers today. A new friend of mine who is a less active member attended today and even told someone that it was because of me. I am just truly thankful for the Heavenly Father and his promptings. After church I came home for a little while and then took the Sister Missionaries to Viera for an Easter Service. The service was so spiritual I was definately almost moved to tears. When we got there the Elders from that ward said that they had an investigator that hadn't attended institute and she just seemed to have some questions that the Elder's couldn't answer for her. Well, I talked to her and bore my testimony to her and gave her a little advice about reading the Book of Mormon and she said that she would be at Institute on Thursday night. I really hope she comes. The Sisters say that I am truly "golden". I wouldn't say so myself but I would say that I have had great examples in the church. Nathan and Sister Price and the Sister missionaries of course. I also know that I like to go on exchanges because it is helping the Sister's preach the gospel that they may not be able to do without me. I would say that another reason is thinking that Elder Price is out there needing people to go one exchanges with him and Elder McDaniel and I just hope that they are finding people like me to go. Oh and on the way home a member called upset that she had no one to take her children to school tomorrow and that she has no transportation and she is not in healthy enough to walk them. I quickly said a little prayer and I was racking my brain of who could go. When we felt like we had gotten to a dead end and run out of options I felt so strongly of a name and I could not decide if I should say something. I finally decided to follow my prompting and told Sister Richardson and she called the person and the person was able to take the children to school tomorrow. Well, I am truly happy to be a member of the church and I am 100% sure that this is the one true church and that I have done the right thing.

Counting Down from 10

10 THINGS YOU WISH YOU COULD SAY TO 10 DIFF. PEOPLE RIGHT NOW
10: I am so very proud of you. I miss you sooo much but I really am proud and absolutely amazed with the maturity of your decisions. I thank you so much for helping lead me to the gospel even if I wasn't paying attention most of the time and remember about 5% of what you told me. :) It still got me to where I am today.

09: your 22 years old and you need to grow up and stop being immature. You need to stop thinking that the world revolves around you.

08: You are one of my best friends and I really wish that you would listen to me on what I say about religion and pray about it because I think that you would realize that the LDS church is true.

07: I am thankful to have you as a friend and someone to ask for help when I need it. I love it when you come over to watch movies with me :).

06: Thank you for being such a great friend. I never would have imagined that we would hangout sooo much LOL. You are a great person and I am very thankful for having you in my life.

05: I really wish that you would listen to me about the HF and not argue with me and make absurd comments. I love you and I hope one day that you will see that I am making wise decisions.

04: I am very thankful for you helping lead me to the gospel. I thank you soooo very much for being so kind and sharing your knowledge and love with me. I could not even begin to extend my gratitude. 

03:  I miss the old you. I really wish that you could overcome your problems and realize that I am not blaming you or judging you. I just want you to be happy and that is why I share my beliefs with you. 

02: I am really impressed by the way you give 2 years of your life to the HF. It really amazes me. You are all really faithful people and you will receive many blessings. I am highly thankful for all of you. Especially the ones of you that have affected my life.

01: I love you to death and we will be best friends and sisters for the rest of our lives. I am sorry that I have not had much time to hangout but when we get older and out of school hopefully this will get better.

9 THINGS PEOPLE MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU
09:  I sometimes think of people as better than me and it makes me think that they would never want to be friends with       me  (which leads to the next)
08:  I am a really quiet person unless I know you or feel comfortable enough with you to open up 
07:  I absolutely love the church and am 100% grateful that I made the decisions and took the steps that I did to join the church.

06:  I have no clue what I want to major in and that is a very scary thought since I graduate in May.
05: If I have anything mean to say about someone I usually say it and then feel bad or I say it and then say something nice about the person. 

04: In the last few months I have become the worst procrastinator and I absolutely hate this quality

03: I am absolutely horrible at sports..it is totally embarrasing... i really do wish that i could be better at it and i will try to take any advice you give me
02: If I get over tired I talk and I talk and I talk until you start ignoring me :) 
01: When someone asks me a question in a room full of people unless I have it rehearsed my mind totally blanks and I couldn't answer it for anything. As soon as I leave and I have time to think I immediately think of an answer and become mad at myself for not remembering it when the person asked.

8 WAYS TO WIN YOUR HEART
08: Be kind
07: Live your life in the way the HF would want you to 
06: Get along with my family and friends
05: Be honest and communicate with me
04: Talk to me even if I don't say hi first because I am just quiet but I do notice when people are nice and include me
03:  Don't ever accuse me of lying to you or be in any way controlling
02:  Don't try to make decisions for me. Let me make my own.
01:  Pick on me sometimes nicely. I may act like I hate it but in reality it makes me feel included.

7 AWESOME MOVIES
07: Pay it Forward
06: Just Like Heaven
05: Emma Smith: My Story
04: True Confessions of a Shopaholic
03: Madea Goes to Jail
02: The Notebook
01: Singles Ward 1 and 2 (The were really funny)


6 THINGS YOU DO BEFORE YOU FALL ASLEEP
06: Pray

05: Feed my fish
04: take of my glasses
03: put a pillow over my face
02: snuggle with my stuffed elephant :)
01: look at the clock

5 PEOPLE WHO MEAN A LOT, NO ORDER:
05: nathan
04: my family
03: my friends
02: the HF
01: Jesus 

4 THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE
04: mushrooms and olives
03: being bored
02:mean people
01: being a procrastinator

3 THINGS YOU LIKE
03: Church
02: Sleep
01: Reading

(Three things is not nearly enough) :)

2 THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE
02: Get married in the temple and have children
01: Go on a mission with my husband when we are retired

1 CONFESSION
I am a very open person. I share a lot about my life in these surveys but its because I feel I have nothing to hide. I absolutely hate it when people tell me to hide my ideas and beliefs.

It has been a really long time

So it has been over a month since I last posted. I have done soooo many things in this past month that I am sooo excited about but never figured I would do. I joined the LDS church. I was baptized on February 15, 2009 and confirmed on February 22, 2009. This is the best decision I have made in my life. I am absolutely amazed at the happiness that is now in my life. I myself can see many changes in the way I have lived my life. I 100% know that Heavenly Father is very happy with some of the decisions and choices I have made. 

Second, I flew for the first time in my life. I flew from Orlando, Fl to Detroit, MI with a layover in Charlotte, NC. The flight to Detroit was absolutely amazing. It was beautiful to be able to look out the window of the plane as we ascended into the sky on our way out of Orlando. It was still dark out so it was amazing to see the lights and everything. When we started to descend in Detroit and I could once again see more than the clouds and the blue sky I could see frozen lakes and snow in the fields. This was just an amazing spectacle to me. I asked my gma if it was lakes and water below us and the guy behind me rudely told me "It's not water its ice". Well, I am sorry mister :) I have never seen it before so it was actually to me very new. I saw some snow from the previous week that had been shoveled into piles and just little snow flurries. It was amazing to me to watch the snow fall out of the sky although it was very very cold. I was also introduced to the name "POP" for me everyone I have been around calls carbonated beverages "soda". I don't think that I have ever been asked if I would like a Pop but now I have. I also was told that I have an accent when of course I thought it was them that had an accent :P. I learned that they do not say GIT-R-DONE when I asked them if they said this they asked me if I was serious. Well with all this new information about another state in the United States I was definitely in culture shock. I now want to visit everywhere so I can learn the different ideas and sayings of the many different people of the world.

I am so glad to be home. The flight home with all the delays and being sick was a nightmare not to mention that my grandmother and I  (who I traveled with) are still not talking. I don't really feel like going into detail but if everybody can just pray for me and my family that would be wonderful. I am also still getting over my sickness. Bronchitis and sinusitis are some tough things to beat. 

Another thing that I am very excited about is the experiences that I have had going on exchanges and tracking with the missionaries. This is an amazing experience that I just love doing and I just can't say no because I feel so much better when I get home. 

Oh! and one more thing I can not wait until one day when I get to go to the temple with my future mate. I contemplated this 3 months ago and wrote about it in my journal. I told myself that I would never be able to get married in the temple. After three short months and many spiritual experiences I have decided that I absolutely cannot wait. I am going to get married in the temple one day and I know that, this is what the Heavenly Father would want for me. :)

America Today

Valentines Day is Saturday. It just is not as fun as it use to be. In elementary school we took nice little valentines to school to pass out with friends and just show how much we loved them. Once you get older if you aren't talking to, dating, or married to someone Valentines Day is just another day. So this year it will be just another day. Oh well I suppose last years Valentines Eve surprise was sweet enough to make up for this year.

On another note...

This weekend was a big eye opening experience for me. The way that the movies are portraying to the american population that it is okay to cheat on your spouse. I watched two movies this weekend. In both of these movies the people were cheating on their spouses. In the first one I watched He's just not that into you. The husband is cheating on his wife and in the end they get divorced but the movie portrays that it is okay and everything works out. In the second movie the husband is once again cheating on the wife but he apologizes and they make up, at the end one of the women admits that she cheated on her husband and he forgave her and they are still married. I don't know about everyone else but I think it is horrible the way that the movies are portraying marriages. A marriage is a  sacred covenant. There should be no cheating or divorce. Well I just felt that I had to rant and rave a little about this because it truly bothered me.

Life's Lessons

Today I am thankful for some of life's lessons.

 

Last night while preparing for my speech for class I realized that I like to live, laugh, love. With this I chose to bring my Bible for LIVE my life in Christ, my camera to capture the LAUGHing moments, and pictures of my friends and family to show that I LOVE with all my heart and more. I also shared a verse that I like a lot with my classmates it is Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." This verse is very important to me and in my life. Which brings me to my next point it seems like Nathan is in my brain at times. He always tells me what I need to hear no matter what, even if I have not said anything to him about it. 

In my latest letter from Nathan he told me to read the poem "Footprints in the Sand" and to remember I am not alone. This was very meaningful with everything that is going on with my friends and family. 

While listening to the speeches in class today I was touched one of the students when she was born her parents were told that she would not live but obviously she did and she is very thankful because of this. There was another girl who contracted meningitis and almost died at 12, she did lose a leg but she is still alive. Another girl who spoke today told of her cousin who she was very close with who passed away at the age of 23. With this being said I think that we should be thankful for the opportunity we have to live our life.