{I Can't Think of a Creative Title}

The hardest part about blogging is thinking of something funny/creative/inspirational to title my post. Blogger probs. Anyway. It's been a good week! I say that every week. Maybe it's cuz overall life is just good. Woohoo.

Sadies was on Friday and wowie wow it was so fun. And the pictures turned out so cute!

I love this one so much. Bromance? Haha :)

Obviously we had to do some awkward dance photos. They didn't turn out as bad as I thought :) 

The date was so much fun! Daniel is just so much fun. We first went to Jackie's and her mom took our pictures outside. The theme was western, which I wasn't too excited about at first but it turned out really cute! Then we ate dinner- taco soup, potato soup, fruit, salad, breadsticks. It was so good- I ate a lot of food. I kinda felt sick at the dance cuz I was so full. Kenzie probs :) Anyway, after eating we played a game called Smurf. Basically "smurf" is a replacement word for an action. One person leaves the room and the rest of the group decides what "smurfing" is. Then the person that left comes back and asks questions to try to figure out what the action is. For example- one time we did the action of picking a wedgie. The person guessing asked Dallin "Do you smurf in public?" "Well, sometimes you just have to!" Oh my. There were so many funny moments- I was laughing so hard. We are so immature- we did clogging the toilet, shaving your armpits, cleaning out your ears, getting mono (haha Jackie!). How old are we? Yeah, like 5. But really, it was so much fun. Then we went to the dance. The DJ was super lame and was playing music that no one had ever even heard of! But it was actually fun and we all just went crazy. I seriously am dancing challenged but that's ok because everyone else in my group was too :) We left the dance at like 10:30 and went to Halea's for dessert. We had cookies with ice cream and hot fudge on top- they were soooooooo good! Then we went home. It was such a fun night. It was great because Daniel and I are such good friends that I felt comfortable just being myself and being crazy and talking about whatever and he is just funny and such a gentleman. Our whole group was just so much fun. Being there with Meagan and Buttscratch was like free entertainment. Those two are a match made in heaven. It was just so fun. And I'm sad it's over! 

 I found this lovely note in the seminary bathroom the other day (obviously I use the seminary bathroom because it's WAY cleaner than the schools. And they have paper towels. Score.). But anyway, I thought it was cute and it made my day :) 

 Face Swap. It never gets old. 

 I got a letter from Jordan this week and it made me so happy :) He's so funny and it was so good to hear from him. Letters from missionaries are just the best thing in the world. 

 I left my phone at the lunch table when Jackie and I went to buy our Sadies tickets and I came back to like 20 pictures like these on my phone. Classic. 

Medical anatomy is the boringest class ever but we love when we have a sub and get to play with bones :) 

Also- I toured BYU on Wednesday. It's a really nice school and I like it there but I just don't think it's the right fit for me. I never had a really excited or super happy feeling about going there. Which is weird because I've always thought I'd end up at BYU but I guess not :) I just really love Utah State. We'll see what happens :)

Again I'm really thankful for the gospel. Today was stake conference and I'm reminded that I have so very much to work on but it's ok. I'm getting better each day. Or at least trying to :) This week I'm going to try to be better at being patient with others and about making my prayers more meaningful.  

"If, for example, your prayers offered to Heavenly Father in the name of Christ have become a little casual, would you recommit yourself to meaningful prayer, offered in unrushed solitude and with a repentant heart? Tonight would be a wonderful time to begin." -Sheri Dew 

I'm thankful for this church. I know it is true. Not a day goes by that something doesn't remind me of how true it really is. Someone said in conference today that "It's true and it's worth it." Sometimes living the gospel is hard, strengthening your testimony is hard, not giving up is hard. But it's so worth it.

"Choose to put everything—literally everything—on the altar before Him. Believing that you are His child, decide that your life belongs to Him and that you will use your agency to do His will. You may do this multiple times in your life, but never, never give up." -Elder Hales

God has given us everything, it's the least all of us can do to try to conform our will with His. After all, all he wants is for us to be successful and happy, wouldn't we want that for ourselves?

I was reminded this week about how much God really does care for us. I was unusually stressed and grumpy on Wednesday night because I just hate applying for college and scholarships and it's scary to think about the future and I was just stressed. So I went downstairs and read scriptures and watched Mormon Messages and I felt so much better afterward. The gospel fixes EVERYTHING. The new Mormon Message "Wrong Roads"  by Elder Holland is so amazing. It makes me happy. I may have watched it twice that night :) Please go watch it :) "I have absolute certain knowledge, perfect knowledge, that God loves us. He is good. He is our Father and He expects us to pray and trust and be believing and not give up and not panic and not retreat and not jump ship when something doesn't seem to be going just right. We stay in. We keep working. We keep believing, keep trusting, following that same path and we will live to fall in His arms and feel His embrace and hear Him say 'I told you it'd be ok, I told you it'd be alright'." 

I love my Savior. I can't believe that someday I'll actually get to meet Him. I'm so excited to hug him and thank Him and see the light in His eyes. I'm thankful for my Father. He loves me. I know that. I've seen it in my life countless times. It really will be alright because He's got it all under control.

I promise you that the Church is true. God is real. Christ is real. Their love is real and it's powerful. Please believe me.

Thanks for reading, 

Kenz 

{A Quality Week}

It's just been a pretty good week. Full of ups and downs but overall this week makes me smile.

 I love my sisters more than anything in the world. Every week I love them more and more. Which sounds kinda weird and creepy but it's really true. I really just love them so much. They make me so happy. I don't really want them to ever grow up. But that doesn't ever happen :)

I went to Sego Lily with some of my cross country friends on Monday to teach them about respect. It was awkward cause they didn't really give us any instructions so we just kind of made stuff up about being nice to people and not shoving people down in a race and quality advice like that. It was so fun to see my cutie sisters though, they were excited to see me and they showed me their awesome dance moves and it was a good time. And we got to miss school for it- score. Quote of the day from Jackie as we were walking over the overpass to get to the school: "This is the most exercise I've had in two weeks!" Mono probs. 

Sometimes lunch is really long so we just take ugly pictures. Obviously. Oh, and I cut my hair. If you didn't notice.

Friday was one of the greatest nights in a long time… We went to Cabelas to adventure and it was hilarious. Everyone was just in a good mood and everyone was funny and it was just really great and it made me really happy. Highlights of the day were…

The assortment of hilarious hats.

A reenactment of the dead animals. (If you couldn't tell, Daniel is the polar bear and Connor is the arctic fox.) Also- the fact that you can see part of the cart that held a dog that barked at Daniel and Connor makes me laugh so hard. 

 Some intense rock climbing. (These 2 make quite the combo if you couldn't tell by now.)

And, of course, feeding the fish. 

Then we went to Kaden's and played Imaginiff. Seriously so funny. "Imaginiff Daniel emitted an antisocial noise at a dinner party… what would he do?" Definitely blame the person next to him. Definitely. Seriously the greatest night. Also a quote from Connor as him and Daniel were making dinosaur noises on the way home… "And that… was a pterodactyl fart." Obviously.

 On Saturday me, Lesh, Austin, Kaden, Daniel, Connor, and Gibs went to State Volleyball to cheer on our team. We made up almost the entire student section (how sad) but it was fun. We lost but we got froyo afterward and visited a really sketchy thrift shop. Good memories. 

Connor was saying that we can never get a good picture because one of us is always crazy. Yep. There's proof. I love that Connor kid. 

This week I'm really grateful for the scriptures. They truly can help us with the exact things we're facing in our life and they can provide so much peace and strength. I love that every single day I have 20 minutes where I can just focus on the gospel. I know I have a lot to work on with scripture study but I really do try hard and I've learned a lot lately.  “When you feel weak, discouraged, depressed, or afraid, open the Book of Mormon and read. Do not let too much time pass before reading a verse, a thought, or a chapter.” -President Packer

I'm thankful very much for prayer and good friends. There are so many decisions that seem to be coming up in my life and I get really stressed out. I don't know where to go to school or what to study or who to live with or if I should run or how to apply to scholarships. There's just a lot to do that I don't feel like doing. And I'm just scared. I'm thankful that Heavenly Father answers prayers. They may not come as a big sign or a glowing "Utah State" on my ceiling or anything like that. But they will come- they already have I just need to recognize them and pay closer attention. I'm thankful for my friends. Jackie came over last night and we just talked for a long time. I love that girl, she helped me a lot and it was so nice to just talk everything out. I love my mommy. I talk to her about everything. She knows more about me than almost anyone in the world. We went and saw a chick flick, Austenland, yesterday and I really enjoyed it. I'm just lucky to have lots of amazing people in my life. They rock. 

And here's a part of a talk from Sheri Dew that I just love: 

"The gospel of Jesus Christ is all about people. It’s about leaving the ninety and nine and going into the wilderness after those who are lost. It’s about bearing one another’s burdens, with the ultimate burden anyone can bear being walking through this life without light.

We need to understand not just who we are but who we have always been. For we are women of God, and the work of women of God has always been to help build the kingdom of God.

The time has come for us each to stand tall and to stand together. Imagine what would happen in this Church if every morning 4.5 million of us got on our knees and asked our Father who He needed us to reach out to that day. And then imagine if we did it! None of us have to reach everyone. But what if we all reached someone?" 

Just one person. Sometimes it's hard. Sometimes it's frustrating. And sometimes it's discouraging. But as long as we're doing our best, the Lord will help us out and His plan will always always come true. I love this gospel, I love my family, I love my friends, I love life.

The end for now,

-Kenz