Monday, January 20, 2014

Everyday Miracles

This past week has been filled with miracle after miracle.
Direct prayers being answered.
Glimpses of the bigger picture.
Love in my heart.
The power of The Atonement working in every breathing moment of my life.
How on Earth did I get so blessed?
I'm not sure, but to be able to give thanks for all that I have been given I feel that I really need to write about it and share some of my testimony/experiences with others :)
 
 
Ahhhhh. Deep breathe. Here it goes.
Sunday sacrament meeting rolled around and not only did I want to repent, I wanted a deep change. I wanted The Lord to be in control of my words and my thoughts. I wanted to feel the spirit so strong so that He could work through me and make me a better person in the process. That was just the beginning.
As my week progressed I found myself in deep spiritual reflection; strengthening parts of my testimony I never knew existed. The Lord helped me on my midterms, for I am certain the without His help it would have been impossible for me to recall all of that information and do so well.
During my nightly scripture study and seminary preparation the scriptures came alive to me. The words spoken and lessons taught were for ME. Another thing I had prayed for answered.
I prayed extra hard for Joseph this week. But something new that I added to my prayers was that the people he needed to teach could be prepared to receive the gospel, they could be humbled, they could search and then receive. Joseph gained a new investigator this week, and 3 more potential investigators. Seeing the miracles of his mission has changed my life. He also has a baptism next months and a full appointment book. :) I'm pretty proud of him. I told y'all I wasn't lying when I said he was going to be the best missionary evaaaaa ;)
Lastly, I have a friend who is going through a really rough trial. I prayed for her, but while I was praying I has the impression to not pray for a certain outcome, but instead for great peace and a glimpse at her greater future. She went to the temple then told me about her experiences. She used almost the exact same words. It was beautiful. -A miracle that can only be explained by the divine nature of Christ and God's plan.
These experiences don't even scape the surface of this week. Every prayer was answered. Even the small things that only matter to me. His hand was in every aspect of my life, and maybe the only difference between this week and any other week was my enthusiasm to look for it. The Lord is always there preforming miracles bigger than us everyday.
We can open our minds to see them when we give thanks.
 
This is why I started a golden list :)
Every single day write 10 things you are grateful for.
Try to make the list different everyday.
Write it in the sky or in s notebook, just write it somewhere because when you write it down you think about it more and it causes you a substantial about of time to ponder your life and blessings :)
This list has worked flawlessly for me-maybe even changed my life :)
 
I know that The Lord loves us. I know He is the All-Saving Redeemer and The Atonement is real.
He lives.
When we ask, we receive.
-And maybe more of a blessing than the actual blessing is giving thanks.
It has brought SO much joy into my life.
I am what He gives, and it is so much more than I deserve.
 
All my love, Lauren.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Midterms and Music

I get onto the computer to do some research for my midterms this week
And an hour later....
Vedging out and reading some of my favorite blogs.
Funny how that always seems to happen. :)
 
 
 
What goes together better than studying and music?
Here's a few of the things I've been listening to lately
 
(Don't worry no one is getting Dear John-ed just a fanfreakingtastic song)
 
Have fun listening and wish my luck studying!
All my love, Lauren.
 
 
 
 
 


Wednesday, January 8, 2014

5 Truths

 
5 truths about life that I have come to know.
 
1. Just because 2 things are different doesn't mean 1 is good and 1 is bad. It just means that they're different.
 
2. If your happiness depends on people or things, you're going to spend a lot of time unhappy.
 
3.Smiling at strangers is good.
 
4.It's okay to let people help you.
 
5. If something is right there will be nothing you can do to keep it from happening, if it is wrong you won't be able to make it happen.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Change Is A Comin

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been reading my blog!
The growth just this past week has been AMAZING! I'm so grateful for the views and all of your reading :)
But with a little more popularity I think an upgrade is needed...haha... because this blog's look is pretty sad....and I'm as technologically handicap as it gets.
Seriously. I just found out what a button was yesterday! Haha!
How long have I been blogging?
 
Anyways, thank you and please be patient with my construction process!
Not sure how long this is going to take me, but I am determined to come up with something good! You guys are the greatest. :)
 
All my love, Lauren. 
Ps. I'm redecorating my room too! Maybe I'm just in the mood for change.

Friday, January 3, 2014

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
And only 3 days late :)
New Years was a ton of fun. My friends and I were all scrabbling trying to come up with plans of something to do. Our region has a big New Years dance, but we're all getting a little old for that now. Kind of awkward dancing with 14 year olds when you're about ready to graduate ;)
So my friends and I just decided to get together and go out to dinner then show up for the last hour of the dance for fireworks and balloon drop.
The night turned out way better than anticipated :)
Dinner was way fun and the dance wasn't so lame after all!
I'm so bummed I didn't get ANY pictures.
Well, except for this photo strip with my friend ,Justin.
 
 
The photo booth was the hit of the night :)
All of my friends took lots of pictures
(How in heck did I not get a strip!?!)
Oh well :) Anyways fun night. Here's a quote from Jake.
Jake: "Do you guys want to go get ice cream?"
Me: "Sure, I don't care. I just don't know where is going to be open on New Years 12:30 in the morning."
Jake: "Oh yea.. Rats.. Hey do you guys want to go to Smiths and just grab a tub of ice cream?"
Me: I don't care! Sure, whatever you want to do sounds good to me!"
Jake: "No lets not do that.. I don't want to go in.."
Me: "Well I bet McDonalds is open"
Jake: "I don't want McDonald's ice cream I want like real real ice cream."
Me: "Do you really want ice cream?"
Jake: " YES!!!!  IT SOUNDS SO GOOD RIGHT NOW."
Me: "Okay then lets get ice cream!!"
Jake: "Nevermind. I don't know what I want. I'm sleepy and I just want to go to bed."
 
 
This probably doesn't do it justice haha! Jake is the most laid back and chill person on the face of the planet. You could dye all of his clothes orange and he would say, "Oh shoot everything is orange. Bummer." and still wear it all. (Okay that was a weird example, but you get it)
I don't know, Jake just makes me laugh :)
 
I'm really glad that it turned out being a fun night because all I have been doing my entire winter break is sewing and cleaning. I needed a fun day :)
 
LETS TALK GOALS
Yada yada I know y'all could careless what my New Years Goals are, but this is mostly for me :)
If I tell you guys about them I am more likely to uphold them.
-Be more patient
-Maintain a clean room
-Continue reading scriptures/praying/journaling every night
-Pray on knees
-Never drop below 3.0 GPA
-Get YW Medallion
-Run 2x week minimum no exception
 
 
I think that's it :)
All my love, Lauren.