One Week More!

Just one more week before the summer 2010 term comes to a close. I have two finals, one in Accounting and the other in Chemistry 105. I had my last regular test on Thursday and I got an 80% on the Multiple Choice part and felt good about the written part. A highlight this week was the training meeting we had on Tuesday afternoon. We spoke about the Christlike Attributes from Preach My Gospel as well as how they related to Personal Revelation. At the meeting I met a few of the Portuguese teachers that will probably be teaching there when Hillary enters. So, that was pretty exciting. I was able to speak with one of those teachers about Hope. There were a lot of insights that I received concerning this eternal principle. First of all, it was brought to my attention that this attribute is the one that is attacked the most by Satan. He would have us believe that hope is simply wishful thinking, but that is simply not true. Brynn, the other teacher I spoke with, brought up the idea that Hope is the other side of faith. We have faith and belief that we should do something. We have faith and belief that Christ atoned for us and that He is powerful enough to save us from all things. Hope comes in when we recognize that we will be blessed by Heavenly Father. He will grant us eternal life if we "do all that we can" (2 Nephi 25:23). Too often, for me at least, I find myself trying to do that best that I can and yet I do not fully believe that that will be good enough. I find myself doubting or not truly believing that the Lord will fulfill His promises. But that is where Hope comes in to play. He will fulfill all He has promised to do. That must be our belief. He will fulfill His promises. We really can obtain the Celestial Kingdom, if we do our best; if we do all we can do. Anyways, I think that is enough for this week. I love you all. Life is so wonderful. I hope that you all remember that!

Happy August!!!

Tomorrow Hillary will turn 21. Isn't that crazy? That is the right age for her to be going on a mission, thought. Well, this week has definitely been full of ups and downs. I guess that is how life is a lot of times. The trick is to remember the ups and let them carry you through the downs. So I took two tests this week, one in Accounting and the other in Chemistry. Needless to say, they did not go well. I guess I will need to hit the books a little harder in preparation for the next tests. We did have a super awesome training this week at work. It was all about the new Mormon.org website and I would encourage everyone to go and visit this site. It really is amazing! http://mormon.org/ There is the address, so you can just cut and paste. There are so many people on there. The face of the church is changing. No longer will the missionaries be the only people remembered by everyone. Instead they will be able to see friends, neighbors, "regular everyday average joes" if you will, who are living their religion and seeking to be good people. It really is amazing what the Gospel of Jesus Christ does for people. It makes them better. Well, I should change that and say that it helps people to have the desire to be better. What a great blessing that is. I bore testimony today in church about how happy I am. I know that there are hard times in life. Life is not easy, in fact it is downright hard at times, but I am happy. I have friends. I have a great family. I am healthy and I have the opportunity to study at a first class university. In the words of Louis Armstrong, "And I think to myself, What a wonderful world." It truly is. I am grateful to be alive and I am grateful to have a knowledge of my Heavenly Father. I love you all. My invitation for you tonight would be to remember all the ways that Heavenly Father has blessed you. Can't think of any, try a little harder and think of the little things, because every day truly is a gift from Him.