Elder Holland

Elder Holland came to our Stake Conference last Sunday. It was amazing. He has a good sense of humor, but the serious points he makes are very strong. The whole week before he came, I was very depressed and didn't know why. The same thing happened before I met President Monson (even though I didn't know I was going to meet him ahead of time.) Satan was really working on me trying to control my emotions. But it just makes me feel the Spirit so much more when I meet them and strengthens my testimony. Satan fails haha. So I have met and talked David Archuleta, President Monson, and Elder Holland in less than a year. How lucky is that? Nauvoo is the place to be!

They are always so full of the Spirit. How awesome would it be to have your testimony show in every conversation? Or just in your presence? (Without being self-righteous.)

I got to shake his hand. He said I looked like a Dr. Seuss character! I just think that's so funny. Instead of just a hello, he was actually trying to find unique about each person who came up to him. I definitely won't forget what the prophet or this apostle said to me personally. My testimony was definitely strengthened by meeting them. Whenever I feel like I can't take anymore discouragement in my life, Heavenly Father sends me something amazing to keep me cheerful. How can you not feel cheerful when the prophet or an aspotle speaks? And knowing the talk was especially for our stake made it so much better than a general conference talk.

Elder Holland's talks are very sharp and makes you proud (a good proud) to be a member of the church. The gospel is so amazing!

Eva Ibboston

I just finished reading this book A Countess Below Stairs. It was very lovely. I read another book by Eva Ibboston back in September too (The Reluctant Heiress). They were both romance novels set in Europe in the 20's. They are very well written and completely pull you in because you need to focus to keep everything straight. There are a lot of characters and it always keeps you on your toes. Look into them! They're clean and this lady know what she's writing about because she was born in Vienna and went to college in England.

We're watching Bleak House by Charles Dickens as a family right now. It is very good so far.

Solo and Ensemble 2010

Saturday was Solo and Ensemble contest. We had to leave very very early. Me, Tash, Eli, and Quentin coordinated our clothes to be black and white for our group. We sang the EFY medley and got a 2 - from the really really mean judge.
I did very good on my solo - the best I've ever done. And I nailed my scaled and triads too. Only Tash, Elle, Eli, and Quentin watched my solo because I went way earlier than scheduled. But it made it so I was way less nervous. And I got a 1! My senior year! I was so happy.

It felt so good to get the best rating for something I had been working hard for everyday. Lately I feel like I push myself and work hard and get crappy results. So this felt really good. Music makes me feel good. And winning feels good too.

The medical field is not for me

My anatomy class went on a field trip to the University of Iowa to look at some of their medical stuff on Tuesday. We handled plasticized organs - they were a lot smaller than I thought! We looked how they find out somebody's blood type. We looked at the CSI side of it too (looking at blood cells through a microscope). It turns out there's all these behind the scenes people in the medical field. And all of them kept reminding us how they would never lose their jobs no matter how bad the economy gets (but who knows with this health care bill...) There are robots that do surgery now! (I guess I'm behind) We also looked at how busy the blood testing center was. They had millions of dollars of equipment to test the blood in one room. Some people there mistook us for third year medical students haha.

The bus ride was long, but we got Arby's so it's all worth it, right?

Well I was thinking about it. I am definitely not going into the medical field. It fascinates me, but I couldn't handle it professionally. I do love my anatomy class, though.

And I've tried and I've tried, but I guess Heavenly Father doesn't want me to be an athletic person. I love exercising and being healthy, but...

I'm also thinking theater isn't for me either. Which limits my options for college. I feel very caught lately, or stuck between being treated like an immature teenager and treated like a single adult with a ton of responsibility.

And I have been up to my ears in scholarships. Gah