Thoughts From The Old Testament.

Hey everyone!

It has been a long time since I have posted on my blog-but I decided that I enjoy writing my thoughts and feelings down so I decided to pick it up again! Today I want to share a cool insight I had while studying my scriptures this afternoon (How can you not enjoy studying the scriptures while looking outside at Heavenly Father's beautiful ocean and earth?!) Anyway, I have decided to study the Old Testament and surprisingly am loving it. I am finally starting to catch on to all the lineage and all the individuals who have paved the path for us in the Gospel and I am loving that. I currently reading about Jacob, Or Israel, and how He gave the main birthright and greater blessings to Ephraim-who became one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. It was so interesting to me that this was bestowed upon Him, and not his brother Manasseh, who is the elder brother. That being said, I realized that many of us are from the tribe of Ephraim and that we have a great responsibility...except that I didn't quite know what that responsibility was! So, I did some digging. I learned that individuals who are of the tribe of Ephraim are to: bear the Priesthood, raise an ensign to the scattered nations to bring them together again, and to share the Gospel with all the world. Those seem like pretty big responsibilities to me-and I was perplexed at how I could do this better in my life! While thinking of this I also started thinking about my Patriarchial Blessing, and how I have always wondered why it seemed rather short compared to some of my family members. (For those who don't know what this is-it is a blessing given to an individual by an ordained Patriarch of our Church, who is the spokesperson for our Heavenly Father while giving the blessing. It gives us our lineage and advice and counsel)1221 I stumbled across an address given by President James E. Faust that talks about Patriarchial Blessings, and in it he said (and this is not an exact quote): Length does not matter-mine is only about three quarters of a page (that is the length of mine!!) and it is adequate for my needs. I loved that! For some reason I really needed to be humbled and comforted to know that my blessing IS adequate for my needs, and that I can be happy about that. I was so grateful for that guided tender mercy Heavenly Father gave to me. Now, after thinking about that, the words from this Primary Song came into my mind: "I know who I am, I know God's plan, I'll follow Him in faith. I believe in the Savior Jesus Christ, I'll honor His name. I'll do what is right, I'll follow His light, HIs truth I will proclaim"! There. That was it. That was how I could better live up to my responsibilities as a member of the Tribe of Ephraim, and how I can be more content with my Patriarchial Blessing. I DO know who I am-I am a Daughter of God who loves me, and I have divine worth and potential and a purpose here on earth! I DO know that I love the Gospel and my Savior and that I DO believe in Him and that He IS there for us. I DO know we ALL have a plan, and I want to follow Him. (Even though sometimes I am very bad at it). I can be a missionary by loving those around me and serving with a smile. That will be my goal for this week while we are in Hawaii! Anyway, I just wanted to share my testimony with all of you and hope that it touches someone's life-if not now then maybe in the future. I love this Gospel and I love my life. So thankful for my family and friends and the chance to be a member of the LDS Church. And to be here in beautiful Hawaii! God is good and He is real. Love you all. Happy Saturday!

Christmas Break

2015. The year I had my first Christmas away from home. I will admit, I was really nervous about how I was going to react not being with my parents. Surprinsgly though, I only cried twice-neither of which were on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, so I would call that a success! 😂 Even though I missed my parents, I had an absolute BLAST with my Rowan Family. It was so fun! I was so thankful to spend a relaxing week with them and to create some new holiday traditions. One of my favorite things about the week was playing games galore! We played Banagrams, Spot It, Cap Game, Spoons, Heads Up, (I proudly beat Dad Rowan in that game) and more! It was so fun being able to play and laugh with each other every night. I also loved the trip we took to Mariposa and the lovely meal we had up there! And who could forget the Rowan Christmas cookie decorating party, or the Family Feud Holiday Style on Christmas Eve? It was GREAT. So many new fun memories. One of the things that touched me most though was what Mom Rowan did for me for our Christmas Sunday Supper. She contacted my parents before we came to California, and asked what my favorite holiday dish was. (Green Bean Casserole, obviously!) then she made it for part of our dinner to make me feel more at home. That meant the world to me, and I was so grateful for that and ALL the love I felt from my immediate Rowan family and from my extended Rowan family as well. 

After Christmas we flew to Arizona to spend a few days to be with my parents, which was also a blast! My grandma, Aunt, Uncle and three cousins were all in town so we got to spend time with them which was so nice. We celebrated my Aunt Christine's birthday by grilling pizzas and having cake and ice cream, we went to lunch with friends, played Top Golf (which was SO fun) and got to see the new house we will be coming home to this year! 

All in all it was quite the memorable winter break. I am so thankful for all the family Scott and I have who love us so much and who do so much for us. I am especially thankful that I have my best friend by my side to share and create all these fun memories with. Happy New Year! 

Coloring With Emily! 

Sunday Dinner

Love these two.

Christmas Cookie Party! 

Christmas Eve. 

Christmas Bingo! 

Family Selfie 

I love my Cat! 

Top Golf! 

New house!