An Antidote for Sorrow

Thanksgiving Break was simple and absolutely glorious.

I slept in, went on nice, long runs by myself, ate delicious food, caught up on some reading assignments, did homework, watched movies (including The Glass Menagerie and Newsies, both fantastic films), relaxed, talked with old friends and new ones, talked with family, and did some good ol' writing. It always feels good to write.

I got to spend Thanksgiving dinner at my bishop's cozy home in Lexington, VA just 15 minutes away from Buena Vista. The food was fantastic and it was nice to be in a cozy home. They gave me leftovers that lasted me three meals! I was grateful for that.

One night, Friday night, I made the mistake (or is it?) of writing just before bed, which of course got the crazy wheels turning in my head and I accidentally stayed up until 4 in the morning writing. Here is one of the poems that resulted from that joyous writing spree:

If I could only thank the Lord

for everything in sight,

I’d thank him endlessly

through the day and through the night.

Each breath is a blessing,

each smile a gift

but still I am asking

the question of "if."

If  I could thank the Lord

for these blessings galore…

but wait! I can!

I can, and there’s more!

For by living His standards,

obeying His truths,

I show Him I’m thankful

for this is the proof.

For out of gratitude we love

and out of love we obey,

so in word and in deed,

thank the Lord every day.

Granted it still has some rough patches. But it's a good start for a 3 AM poem, I suppose. 

I hope you enjoyed :) Thanks for stopping by.

Quote for thought:

"When you make the decision to be grateful, you make the decision to be happy."

   When I was a little girl, I remember learning about the ten lepers who Jesus healed and how only one of those lepers came back to say thank you. As a little girl, this struck me hard. I can remember the very classroom I was in when I learned this. It made me so sad that only one of them had thanked the Lord. I am so grateful that at that young age I was able to recognize the importance of being thankful and expressing thanks. Of course I didn't realize this on any brilliance on my behalf, but was taught it by my mother and father. I think part of the reason I've been happy throughout most of my life is because of my decision to be grateful. Gratitude drives out sorrow and hate, jealousy and bitterness, pride and feelings of inadequacy. I was reflecting upon this just a few weeks ago, and that is when I realized the power of gratitude, and that gratitude is an antidote for sorrow. When you make the decision to be grateful, you truly do make the decision to be happy.

Candy Corn, Pumpkins, Costumes and Screams...HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

      Halloween has always been one of my very favorite holidays. I just love dressing up, going through haunted houses, and eating candy! I think it is so fun. I love to see the creativity of others as they all get dressed up. This year, being a poor college student, I just used whatever I could throw together from my closet! End result? Here it is:

Hopefully you can tell who I am...Pippy Longstockings!
(No wig needed :))

     I wore my costume to all my classes, which was a lot of fun. I think there was only one person who didn't know who I was, so that's a good sign ;). After classes, I went to cross country practice. In celebration of Halloween, we ran to the sunken graveyard in Buena Vista. It is this really old, unofficial graveyard in the middle of a forest. There are a few worn tombstones that are slightly askew, and all the graves are sunken into the ground so that you can see the rectangular shape of the coffins. It is really neat and really spooky. The ground is scattered in orange and yellow leaves and the dense forest allows only small slits of sunlight to stream through. Standing there among the tombstones and sunken graves, tall trees and scattered leaves, it's a unique and intriguing feeling. I think it's just a really interesting place. And of course, quite ideal for a Halloween run.

     After cross country practice, I went back to my room and got dressed up in my costume again. When I was done, I went with a group of friends to tour the "Haunted Halls of Main." I've posted pictures of SVU's Main Hall on this blog before, and you can see that it is a really majestic and really old building. It was built in 1890 as a hotel and later became a two year college for girls, and finally, a four year liberal arts university especially for Latter-day Saints and others who share their values: Southern Virginia University. The first two floors are currently administration buildings, with some boys dorms on the second floor, the third floor is boys dorms, and the fourth floor is currently empty. This year they decided to have some fun and create a haunted house on the fourth floor of Main. Haunted houses are already spooky enough, imagine having one in an over 100 year old building! It was really cool. We had to wait over two hours (during which time I did Spanish homework for a little while...and talked with friends too ;)) for the tour, but it was worth it in my opinion. The tour guide (my friend Garret wearing a suit and black and white face paint) took us through the basement first (which is where I work!) where the lights were off and there was "blood" on the floor. He led us to the elevator, which stopped on the first floor, and Garret said in a creepy, monotone voice "why is this happening. We're not supposed to be stopping here -" then the doors of the rickety old elevator opened and a man in a white mask came sprinting towards the elevator, screaming. The doors closed again just before he reached it and he banged on them until we continued up to the fourth floor. Once on the fourth floor, we continued through the tour. One cool part was when we went to one of the towers and our tour guide told us a story of a girl hanging herself...and then a body dropped in front of the window of the tower. Another neat part was in the other tower where the guide led us into a little tiny space where we were all crouched down when suddenly a door burst open with a person dressed as a ghost/zombie inside. She started coming after us and a bunch of people screamed and scrambled out of the tiny room, knocking down and practically trampling my friend Jacey. I helped her up and we crawled out of the room and walked briskly out of the tower. Anyway, those were just some of the highlights. It was so fun, and free! They did a really good job with costumes and everything as well.

    So goes my Halloween night! It was really quite enjoyable! I hope ya'll had a happy Halloween as well! :)

Waiting for the "Haunted Halls of Main" Tour!
Jacey, Tyson, [Me], Nicole, Leah, Elle, Kelli.

Halloween lights my roommate Delaney and I put up!

Happy Constitution Day!

    I am currently taking an Institute class called Church History: Part I. It is AMAZING. Seriously. I love it so much. In honor of Constitution Day (today), I'd like to quote a few lines from the student manual, Church History in the Fulness of Times.

"the Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard; it is founded in the wisdom of God."

"under the Constitution the Lord could restore the gospel and reestablish his church..."

"The discovery [of America] was one of the most important factors in bringing to pass the purpose of the Almighty in the restoration of his Gospel in its fulness for the salvation of men in the latter days."

"The restoration of the gospel and of the Lord's true Church could not have taken place amidst the religious intolerance in Europe and early America. It was only possible in the setting of religious liberty, reevalutaion of Christian thinking, and spiritual awakening that had developed in early nineteenth-century America. The Lord's hand was evident in directing that the Restoration take place exactly when it did."

    
    As I've been studying, I have been in awe at how remarkable the coming forth of the gospel actually has been. The Lord's hand is in literally everything as He works to bring forth the blessings of the gospel to his children and to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of men. We studied the Apostasy and the dark ages, the formation of America and the New England heritage Joseph Smith Jr. was raised in, and my mind is exposed more and more to the miraculous chain of events that lead to the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It truly is remarkable. I have a testimony of the miracles of the restoration and I know that God's hand is in my life just as much as it was in the restoration. I love the United States of America, and although there are certainly some scary things going on, I know that America needed to exist so that the gospel could come forth. Ether 2: 12 says "Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written." I am grateful for this beautiful country and feel so blessed to have been born here. I am grateful for the gospel as well and that it was able to come forth in this nation.

    Happy Constitution Day everyone, and may we all try our best to be our best and remember to not take living in this country and having so many rights for granted. God bless America.

Happy Labor Day!

    I'd like to wish a happy labor day to you all! What did I do to celebrate? Well, first I ran the annual Buena Vista Labor Day 5k with my cross country team, did laundry, ate food, and all that good stuff, then I ended the night by going to a drive-in movie for my first time! It was quite exciting :) especially since it started to rain during the movie. Haha. Oh, and p.s., the movie was The Avengers. So fantastic.

Our healthy snacks for the drive-in movie.