Because of My Faith...

I have been greatly blessed and am so very thankful for all that my life has been enriched with, the times of trial and of triumph. Anna was talking about this in Relief Society today and in Bishop Edgely's talk "Faith- the Choice is Yours" he makes a series of statements "Because of my Faith..." and she asked us what we would say. I almost burst into tears on the spot. I get so emotional when I start to contemplate my life and how good it is. I realize how very much things matter to me, especially family. Because of my faith I know that my family can be together forever and that is the greatest blessing I could ever ask for. They mean so much to me. To think of life without them, or without a knowledge of that promise, is just heartbreaking. It breaks my heart to think about Aaron and Jacob struggling with the gospel in their lives because I so want our family to get to the Celestial Kingdom together, even missing one of them is devastating. Aaron gives me the most heartache because he is so far away right now and I just hope that he's not lost in the spacious building forever. I'll even miss Michael who just came into my room and talked about the most nonsensical stuff, mostly calling me white. I am so grateful for him.
Because of my faith I have been able to have a place where I always find peace. Because of my faith I know that my Savior lives and that through Him eternal life is possible if I continue in that faith. Because of my faith I have overcome trials and tribulations that I thought would crush me because I felt weak, but through faith that the Lord will never give me more than I am able to handle, I was able to get through. Because of my faith I have never lost sight of my faith when surrounded by friends who are not of the same moral view. Because of my faith I have found that I feel the most peace and prosperity when I am living the way the Lord asks me to. And I enjoy that. "I'm all about prospering."

Institute

Tonight was the first night of Institute classes, and it was so nice to have class again! This semester we are studying the Doctrine and Covenants sections 71-the end! I must admit, I have never fully read the D&C and feel guilty about it. I've only ever read the Book of Mormon through once that I can remember and that was in Seminary. How do I ever get installed in such positions as I am in without having done these basic things?! I am hereby making a new resolution to add to those of my previous post: I am going to read the entire Doctrine and Covenants prior to the end of the semester and will keep an accounting of my readings in my spiritual thought journal.
Well, I need to get some reading done prior to going to sleep tonight, so this is a short post!

Resolutions

It is a new year and I am going to start doing some new things. I am excited about these "Resolutions" that I have made with myself; I have not told them to others because then I start feeling accountable to them, when, in reality, I am only accountable to myself for the promises I make myself. So what are they? Only a few, but very important.
*I will not eat fast food unless it is bought for me or I'm on a trip (like a Temple trip)
*I will go to the gym regularly and stick with it
*I will move out of my parents house

The last one is really more of a goal for this year. I think that I'm going to be able to do it, there are a couple of places with low rent (under $300) that I need to look into and see if I can do it. I just don't want to live at home anymore, it puts unneeded strain on my relationship with my family and my emotions.

I cannot believe I haven't written since before Thanksgiving, what is up with that?! Slacking - hugely. I want to do better this year.
I'm optimistic about my new counselors in Relief Society and hoping that we can get the ball rolling on getting the sisters participating more so than in previous years. Our theme for this year is the Relief Society theme, which is so wonderful. We are going to dissect it and learn more about how we can come to exemplify the women that the theme talks about.

Tonight in the CES Broadcast, Elder D. Todd Christofferson talked about taking life day by day because that is how we get to the future. He said that we should both ask the Lord for our daily bread and gather it in for ourselves when we are able. It was really helpful to think about all the things I want to do in life on a daily basis... I can do this today. I am grateful for the apostles of the Lord.