Betsy-Tacy

Which Betsy-Tacy character are you? Your Result: Tacy Kelly   Tacy, though bashful with people she doesn't know well, can be just as merry as Betsy and the others in the Crowd. Remember the Irish Colleen and the brogue accent? Tacy is a true friend who both sympathizes with and understands Betsy whether she is sad, happy, obsessed with a certain boy, etc. Although Tacy doesn't lose her heart easily, when she does it's for keeps (Harry Kerr!)
Julia Ray
Betsy Ray
Emily Webster
Irma Biscay
Tib Muller
Carney Sibley
Winona Root
Which Betsy-Tacy character are you? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Ways to Find Contentment

A friend shared this list with me, which I think is pretty wonderful.

Be still.
Know God.
Make your bed every day.
Pray. Pray always. This is the mastery of thoughts.
Be kind to everyone. Especially yourself.
Study and ponder the scriptures first thing in the morning.
Find ways to talk about and live what you study each day.
Respond quickly to promptings.
Say I love you as often as possible and really mean it.
Look people in the eyes when they're talking to you.
Treat the one you are with as if they are the most important person in the world. In that moment, they are!
Take a good long look in the mirror every day. Be sure to make eye contact with yourself. AND don't pass judgment.
Look for hints of greatness in yourself and others. Vocalize it.
Eat healthy.
Exercise daily.
Feel the sun shine on your face for at least 10 minutes a day.
Never give up chocolate. Ever!
Try to listen more than you talk.
Remember that someone always has it worse than you. Get over yourself.
Laugh every single day. The harder the better.
Read a conference talk or Ensign article every day.
Never hold back a positive comment, compliment or thought. BUILD! BUILD! BUILD!
Trust that life is divinely guided and is happening exactly as it should be.
Say thank you.

Any other ideas to add?

Back to School

"Don't you just love...fall? It makes me want to shop for back to school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address."

Well, it may still be summer in California, but school is up and running here in Provo. I am taking German 102, Doctrine and Covenants Part II, Art History 202 (Part II of the Western art overview), Art History 300 (the Theory and Historiography of Art History), and Clogging. It is fun! I have great teachers and very interesting subject matter, but lots of reading! That's good though; I will be nice and busy!

I am living with my summer 2008 roommate, Rachel, and our friend from that term, Cristina. They are great girls. I love them so much! They make me laugh, put up with my messes, drive me to the grocery store, and just love me. I am blessed to have them in my life.

I've had some disappointment this past week. Last Friday I auditioned for Women's Chorus, and didn't make it in (they said I didn't have enough experience). Wednesday night I auditioned for the Folk Dance Teams, got a callback, but didn't make it, also because of a lack of experience. I'll be honest; it's been tough. With two rejections so close to each other, I felt for a while like these events were reflective of my self worth. I used to think that I was pretty good at singing and dancing, but after this I felt like I wasn't really good at anything. I really wanted to go home.

Fortunately, I have good and parents roommates who took good care of me, and even better I have a Heavenly Father who takes really good care of me. That night I ran into Doctrine and Covenants, Section 24 verses 8-9

Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days.
And in temporal labors thou shalt not have strength, for this is not thy calling. Attend to thy calling and thou shalt have wherewith to magnify thine office...

I don't think the Lord created me to be exceptionally good in "temporal things." Some people here have extraordinary gifts in music, dance, languages, academics, and all kinds of other things, but I don't. But the Lord has given me another calling...and that's ok with me. :]

Arsenic and Old Lace

No one is in town so we had nothing to do last night...so my temporary roommate Katherine and i watched "Arsenic and Old Lace." Such a funny movie!

The two old ladies, the Brewster Sisters, are the sweetest people ever, and part of their charitable work includes poisoning lonely old men and burying them in their cellar, so the men can finally have peace. Sounds bizarre, but somehow they make it an act of love. Throw a newlywed theater critic, a wanna-be Teddy Roosevelt, a psycho murder and his Asian accomplice, a frustrated bride, and 3 clueless policemen in the mix, and it's a hilarious time!

I promise they all end up happily ever after. Except for the psycho murderer. But everyone else is happy.

I heart Provo

I have heard so many people say that they can't stand Utah and they just can't wait to get out of there...but I don't get it.

I was really sad to leave home, but returning to BYU campus made it all better. I love the fresh green grass and beautiful flowers, I love the security of being nestled beside the mountains. I love the peace and solitude of campus when no one is around.I love the library and the overwhelming access to knowledge it contains. I love seeing all my old friends at Jamba Juice. I love being surrounded by so much talent. I love hearing teenagers walking across campus singing hymns. I love having memories around every corner along with anticipation of what is to come.

I love my life.

Clogging

So the coolest thing just happened! I have felt this really strong desire to audition for the Nauvoo Performing Mission for next summer. A couple weeks ago, I felt prompted to register for a clogging class for this next fall because they need cloggers and that would help my audition. I checked online then, but there were no openings. I checked back a couple more times, but still no openings. About ten minutes ago, I felt prompted to check online again, and lo and behold there were 2 openings! Even more remarkable, it was right at the same time as the dance class I had already signed up for, so I just dropped my first dance class and am now in clogging! What a tender mercy. I have no doubt that the Lord wants me to be in this class!


I am going to be a clogger - and hopefully a Nauvoo performing missionary.

Create

What will you create?

I survived being a First Years' Tent Mom

Yes, last week I went to Girls' Camp as a tent mom for the first years. It was a wonderful experience and I hope to do it again!

Going to camp as a tent mom is so much different than going as a YCL (youth camp leader). When I was a YCL, I wanted to serve the girls, but of course I was also there for myself. But as a tent mom, my entire focus was on them. I may have already told you this, but I decided before camp that the most important thing I could teach them and do for them was to love them the way the Savior does, because who knows where else in their lives they can feel that. Of my 13 first years (12 year olds), most of them came from broken homes and divorced families. There were only 4 that I knew of that had solid families with parents actively serving in the church and teaching the gospel at home. One little black girl is the only "member" in her family and goes to church with the neighbors, yet she has read the Book of Mormon 3 times and shared her testimony that she knows the Church is true. I am amazed by the valiance and strength of these young girls.

Brother Mitchell called our campground "The Taj Mahal of camping," and I have to agree. Our cabin had a gorgeous arched window, 2 bathrooms inside, a big living room with couches, and 4 bedrooms. It was kind of ridiculous! And every day the girls could swim in the pool, do crafts, and learn rock climbing and archery. They had a blast. Also, for the first time we didn't have to cook our own meals! They had a kitchen staff that cooked for us, so that was kinda cool.

The first night we were there, they came to the leaders' room at 4 in the morning screaming that they had woken up to bugs crawling all over them. So in the middle of the night they moved all their stuff out into the living room and no one else slept in that room for the rest of camp. Some of them didn't go back to bed after that, so they were dead tired the next day.

On Wednesday, the second day, we had the opportunity to go on a three mile hike. Along the way, we stopped and read Moses chapter 2 about the Creation and discussed it. It was a really neat experience to read about the creation in the beautiful mountains. With the soft breeze and the blue sky, I felt the peace and confirmation of the Spirit, and I hope the girls did too.

It was a little weird at first to be called Sister Hinton, because that sounds like my mom, but after 5 days I got used to it. Some people said it would be preparing for when I serve a mission and have my own black nametag. I look forward to that day!

One of my favorite experiences at girls' camp was when I wrote little notes to each of the girls about their good qualities and why I appreciated them. It was only a couple sentences, but it had a huge impact on them. (I saw one of the girls had taped it into her journal...so cute!) But three of the girls were thoughtful enough to write notes back to me! I never expected that. I'll quote what they wrote word for word so you can get the full effect.

"To Tasha, I think you are so nice. When I talk you always listen you don't just fake like the other people. It was so fun when we went on the hike together even thought I was sweaty and hot. I really like you because you are respectful and you are nicer to everyone even if they're not nice to you. You are a really good friend. Thanks for being a friend, Helena."

"Dear Tasha, I just want to thank you for being so nice and respectful also very understanding to all of us girls and also teaching me stuff I never would have wanted to learn. Thank you! Sincerely, Shay PS - I think you are sweet, helpful, understanding and outgoing also very smart. Thanks again I will always remember you and you're my hero!"

"Dear Sister Tasha, Thank you soooo much for all your help! You are my favorite camp leader. And thanks for the wonderful notes on our doors, like I said you are the best camp leader ever! Love, Kali PS - Go Utes" (Her Uncle is the U of U head football coach)

That made me indescribably happy because it means I'm doing my job - helping them feel the Savior's love for them and helping camp to be a good experience.

A few of the other highlights of camp:
*becoming closer with Lizzy Mitchell. She's so comfortable in her own skin and not worldly, which is probably why I feel like I can really connect with her. She's so funny.
*one of the girls singing "once an ostrich went yodeling" instead of "once and Austrian went yodeling"
*one of my first years making an effort to learn sign language and be friends with an older girl at camp who is deaf
*one of the YCLs telling me that I should be a yodeler
*all the games we've played: signs, psychiatrist, telephone, telephone charades, telephone pictionary, kai
*the beautiful journal I made at craft time! The cover paper is from a Monet painting so I'm gonna use it for my art history notes next semester
*Megan's silliness which made all my first years fascinated with her. On her bio sheet under something no one knows about you she wrote "I have 4 belly buttons" and a few of the girls came up to be asking if that was true! haha

Friday during scripture study with the girls I had a really good experience too. We combined with the 2nd years (who my grandma was over so she came too) and read out of Alma 36 the story of Alma the Younger's repentance. I checked in periodically to make sure that they understood what was going on. The best was at the end of the discussion when I got to bear my testimony of the Savior and repentance. One of the girls said, "I've noticed in the Book of Mormon it says to keep the commandments or you'll be punished, but what if you mess up?" Then I explained how the Savior's Atonement allows for repentance and eternal progression even until we are perfect. It was absolutely beautiful and everyone was so focused on learning the gospel. I am so grateful that I got to be prepared, worthy, and present to teach in the right moment when that girl was ready to learn that truth. If I had supported the snipe hunt, who knows if I would have been able to have that experience.

Also, Jalissa (the girl who goes to church with the neighbors) came up to me and said she's read the BoM 3 times but doesn't understand a lot of it and has no one to talk to about it since her family doesn't go to church. My heart absolutely melted. I told her that when I study the scriptures I pray and ask Heavenly Father for understanding, and that always helps me. I also gave her my email address and told her that if she ever has a question I am more than happy to help her. I am amazed by her faith to continue reading even when she doesn't understand, and I hope she will find the answers she is looking for.

My testimony grew so much at camp from the Spirit and their good examples. I learned about who I am and the mission the Lord has for me in this life. I think it was my favorite year at camp ever, and I look forward to returning soon!

Isaiah 3:9 "The Shew of their Countenance Doth Witness Against Them."

"Every man and every person who lives in this world wields an influence, whether for good or for evil. It is not what he says alone, it is not alone what he does. It is what he is. Every man, every person radiates what he or she really is....It is what we are and what we radiate that affects the people around us.
"As individuals, we must think nobler thoughts. We must not encourage vile thoughts or low aspirations. We shall radiate them if we do. If we think noble aspirations, there will be that radiation when we meet people, especially when we associate with them."
- President David O. McKay

Well I suppose I should post an update...

1. I survived babysitting the Moores for a week...and I loved it! Logan and Gavin are such sweet kids and I miss them and their little mannerisms. I miss Logan telling me how he's trying to decide between a career as a garbage man or construction worker, and I miss Logan saying, "go go car waaash?" and yelling "strike!!!" when playing wii bowling (even though it usually wasn't a strike.) Such cute kids and a blessing of an opportunity.

2. My best friend Brian entered the MTC two weeks ago today. He says the MTC is intense but he loves it and his (yes two!) companions. I miss him a lot and it's hard to not be able to help him in person as I'm used to, but I can already see the blessings of this sacrifice. He has special gifts that the people of Ukraine need and I can see that he is growing as well. It is definitely worth it.

3. I am working at the San Diego County Fair! I work in the Home and Hobby Department, so before the fair I helped set up exhibits and take in entries, and during the fair I walk around the floor and answer people's questions. There are a lot of great people there and I am enjoying it. It has been a blessing to be able to earn money with this job and still have time left in my summer to relax and be with my family.

4. I am nineteen years old as of yesterday! To celebrate I went to Sea World with my friends Hillary, Kat, and Ashlee on Monday, and yesterday I went to see "Up" with my mom and siblings. The movie was SO GOOD! I think everyone should definitely see it. The message is that the greatest joys and adventures in life are just doing simple things with your friends and family. The Pixar short before the movie was sweet too. Bring lots of tissue, because we cried a lot! But definitely in a good way :]