Broken Things To Mend

So last night I was hanging out with some friends and I went to my room to grab my phone. I happened to drop my phone (which isn't an unusual occurrence) and when I picked it up I looked at the screen and I thought, "Oops! I did it again!" I was so mad! Another phone broken!!! I think in the past year I've been through 4 or 5 different phones. My wonderful friends tried to console me and I put up my best front as I mourned the loss of yet another beloved cell phone. We had a good laugh as we spoke of my other cell phones, like the flip phone that was held together only by a wire, and another phone that had a screen that turned black. Then a friend mentioned my camera with the broken screen and I thought about how so many things in my life have broken. So what do I do when things in my life break? Well, when my cell phones break I either buy a new one or inherit an old one from a friend. When my camera broke I learned to keep using it despite the broken screen. I just can't see the display of the pictures I am taking. So, whenever I use my camera, I am reminded of its brokenness. Whenever my car broke down I took it into a mechanic to get it fixed and then when it could not longer benefit from fixing, I got rid of it.

When I went to bed last night, I kept thinking of these broken things. Then I thought about broken hearts and hopes and dreams. Where do we go to "fix" those broken things? My thoughts turned to a talk given be Elder Jeffrey R. Holland called, "Broken Things To Mend." I pulled it up online and read it, searching for an answer. When we suffer from a broken heart where do we go to get it fixed? Do we take it in to be fixed and pick it up a few days later? Do we buy a new one? Or do we just let it stay broken and have a constant reminder of the pain that caused it? The answer, of course, is quite simple. Who mends our broken hearts? The answer is:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

When we have a broken heart that needs fixing, we take it to the Savior and He can fix it and heal the pain. He is the only One that knows how to heal us and make us whole again. Elder Holland said that during His mortal ministry the Savior was saying to us, “Trust me, learn of me, do what I do. Then, when you walk where I am going,” He says, “we can talk about where you are going, and the problems you face and the troubles you have. If you will follow me, I will lead you out of darkness,” He promises. “I will give you answers to your prayers. I will give you rest to your souls.”

We do not have to pay money for the healing and we do not have to live with the pain. All we have to do is come unto Christ. He has felt ALL of our broken hearts. Can you imagine? What a painful and horrifying experience, but He did it for a purpose. He suffered so that we don't have to. What an amazing blessing to know that when we are broken, we can be mended! All we need to do is take our broken hearts to Christ and He will mend them and make them whole once again.

In Nazareth, the narrow road,
That tires the feet and steals the breath,
Passes the place where once abode
The Carpenter of Nazareth.

And up and down the dusty way
The village folk would often wend;
And on the bench, beside Him, lay
Their broken things for Him to mend.

The maiden with the doll she broke,
The woman with the broken chair,
The man with broken plough, or yoke,
Said, “Can you mend it, Carpenter?”

And each received the thing he sought,
In yoke, or plough, or chair, or doll;
The broken thing which each had brought
Returned again a perfect whole.

So, up the hill the long years through,
With heavy step and wistful eye,
The burdened souls their way pursue,
Uttering each the plaintive cry:

“O Carpenter of Nazareth,
This heart, that’s broken past repair,
This life, that’s shattered nigh to death,
Oh, can You mend them, Carpenter?”

And by His kind and ready hand,
His own sweet life is woven through
Our broken lives, until they stand
A New Creation—“all things new.”

“The shattered [substance] of [the] heart,
Desire, ambition, hope, and faith,
Mould Thou into the perfect part,
O, Carpenter of Nazareth!”

-George Blair

I am grateful for my broken phones and broken cameras and broken cars. They remind me that I am truly blessed. I am grateful for the broken hearts and hopes and dreams. They remind me that I have a Savior who heals me and makes me whole.

My Bucket List

So I am a person that likes to make lists. I don't always do everything on the list, but I like to write things down and then cross them off when I've accomplished them. Over the years I've made a number of "Things I Want To Do In My Lifetime" lists and so I decided to put them all together and create a Bucket List of 100 Things I Want To Do Before I Die. I wrote them all down and then printed them in a small book that I keep on my bookshelf. Its fun to write down all of these things and I hope to accomplish them throughout my lifetime. Here's the list. ENJOY!

1 Attend an Olympic Games
2 Attend World Championship Punkin' Chunkin' in Delaware
3 Bake the Perfect Cheesecake
4 Be a Foster Parent
5 Become a Mother
6 Be a Spectator at the Copper's Hill Cheese Roll in Gloucester, UK
7 Be an Answer to Someone Else's Prayers
8 Be an Extra in a Movie/T.V. Show
9 Be Content with Myself
10 Be in the Hill Cumorah Pageant
11 Buy a House and Turn it into my Dream House (must have wrap around porch)
12 Climb Mt Fuji in Japan
13 Climb one of the World's Seven Summits
14 Compete in a Triathlon
15 Finish Everything I Start (The Key To Inner Peace)
16 Drive from Coast to Coast in the United States
17 Enjoy HaLong Bay in Vietnam
18 Experience Weightlessness
19 Explore Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound in New Zealand
20 Explore the Beautiful Cities of Italy
21 Explore the Land of Anne of Green Gable: Prince Edward Island
22 Explore the Ruins in Tikal, Guatemala
23 Fall Deeply, Helplessly, and Unconditionally in Love
24 Find a Job I Love
25 Find My Voice and Speak Up For What I Know Is Right
26 Get a Graduate Degree
27 Get Married in the Temple to the Right Person
28 Get Out of Debt and Become Financially Literate and Stable
29 Give a Talk/Speech at the Podium of the Conference Center
30 Go Bungee Jumping
31 Go on a Safari in Africa
32 Go Skinny Dipping
33 Graduate From College
34 Have My Portrait Painted
35 Go For One Year Without Watching Television
36 Help Build a Habitat For Humanity House
37 Hike Into and Camp at Havasupai in Arizona
38 Hike Lone Peak in Utah
39 Hike on the Appalachian Trail
40 Hike the Narrows in Zion's Park
41 Hike the Tallest Peak in Utah: King's Peak
42 Make Someone Else’s Dream Come True
43 Learn to Play a Musical Instrument Well
44 Live in a Foreign Country for at Least One Year
45 Live to see my Grandchildren be Born
46 Make a Beautiful Quilt
47 Take Art Lessons
48 Climb to the base camp of Mt. Everest
49 Learn to Juggle with 3 Balls
50 Pay For Someone Else to Attend College
51 Perform Humanitarian Aid in a Foreign Country
52 Plant and Care for a Garden
53 Publish a Poem
54 Read Biography of Every LDS Prophet
55 Read Biography of Every US President
56 Read the Entire Standard Works
57 Ride in a Hot Air Balloon
58 Ride on a Helicopter
59 Ride the Costa Rica Zip Lines Canopy Tours
60 Do The Temple Work For My Ancestors That Have Passed Away
61 Ride the Tallest Roller Coaster in the World
62 Run a Marathon
63 Save Someone's Life
64 See a Broadway Show in London
65 See the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)
66 See the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt
67 Send My Parents On a Vacation and Pay For It All
68 Serve a Mission
69 Shake Hands with the Prophet
70 Sleep in a Castle
71 Speak Fluently in a Different Language
72 Stand at Stonehenge and Admire Its Beauty and Mystery
73 Stand at the foot of Angel Falls in Venezuela
74 Stand on the Very Top of the Golden Gate Bridge
75 Step Foot on Every Continent
76 Swim in Plitvice Lakes in Croatia
77 Swim in the Largest Swimming Pool in the World (Chile)
78 Swim with a Dolphin
79 Take Dancing Lessons
80 Take Part in La Tomatina in Spain
81 Take Photography Classes
82 Teach Seminary/Institute
83 Teach Someone Illiterate to Read
84 Throw a Huge Party and Invite ALL of my Friends
85 Travel to Santorini, Greece
86 Visit Every LDS Temple in the World
87 Visit Every State in the United States
88 Visit my Ancestors' Homes in Sweden
89 Visit Nauvoo
90 Visit Siem Riep and Angkor Wat in Cambodia
91 Visit the Berlin Wall
92 Visit the Kremlin in Russia
93 Visit the seven Wonders of the World
94 Walk Where Jesus Walked-Visit The Holy Land
95 Walk on the Giant's Causeway in Ireland
96 Visit a Concentration Camp and Swear Never to Forget
97 Walk/Run 100 Miles in one Week
98 Watch the Eifel Tower in Paris During the Sunset
99 Write a Book That People Will Read
100 Write Down my Personal Statement and Hang It Up To See Each Day

A Spring In My Step

This morning as I walked to work, the sky was clear, the sun was shining, and it was actually WARM outside! It was quite amazing, because just the day before I had worn my puffy coat to school to keep warm, and now, it was so warm I was ready to take my jacket off. It felt so great to be outside and I had only one thing on my mind: SPRING IS ALMOST HERE! In celebration of the coming of Spring, I wanted to write down what I love most about this splendid time of year:

1) The snow is beginning to melt and that means Hiking, HiKiNg, and more HIKING for me! I'm sorry to all of you skiers and snowboarders, but I'm just not a fan of the snow and I love to see it melt away!!!

2) People begin to come outside! Today I noticed how many people there were outside walking around and it was pretty crazy. There were Moms out pushing strollers, people walking home from work, and kids playing out in the neighborhoods. Its like we've spent all winter trapped inside and finally Spring has come and opened up the door and we are free to run around to our heart's delight!

3) Visits to my parent's house for Sunday dinner will now involve taking the nieces and nephews out to the backyard and all of the adults relaxing on the grass. It doesn't get much better than that.

4) Spring Break! This blessed event could not come at a better time! After a long winter of being cooped up Spring Break allows for a chance to forget about school for a week and enjoy some time in the sun! California here I come!

5) All of the flowers and trees and plants come into bloom, adding extra beauty and newness to the earth.

6) My birthday! What could be better than being born in the Spring!

7) I always think its a pretty funny trick that Spring plays when you wake up in the morning and its cold and you have to wear a coat and defrost the car; then in the afternoon its so hot you have to turn on the air conditioning on your way home from work.

8) Going for a run outside and not freezing to death or breathing in ice cold air that burns your lungs!

9) Seeing all of the beautiful tulips on Temple Square during General Conference.

10) Feeling a newness of life as I shed off the winter coat and facing a world that is waking up from its winter sleep. A chance to renew, re-energize, and recommit to becoming my best self!

Why Get Out of Bed on a Monday Morning?

6:30a.m. Alarm clock goes off! I awake to my five year old nephew, Brayden, singing, "Nobody's Perfect! I've got to work it!" (I recorded it him singing it during their last visit to Utah and it is now my alarm clock tone on my phone). I quickly jump out of bed, grab my phone, hit snooze, and jump back into bed, with my phone, and drift back off to dream land.

6:40a.m. "Nobody's Perfect! I've got to work it! Nobody's Perfect! I've....." I hit the snooze button again and the thought enters my mind that I could just skip my first two classes and sleep in a bit longer and...

6:50a.m. "Nobody's Perfect! I've got to work it!" SNOOZE! I just want to stay in bed and sleep! But my favorite class, which is YOGA, is first and I don't want to miss it. I think about how much I love yoga and about how there's only a couple weeks left of that class, but I love to sleep and.....

7:00a.m. "Nobody's Perfect! I've got to work it!" I'm torn. Should I push snooze or turn the alarm off and get out of bed? Yoga or sleep? A good work out or more time in bed? I reach out to push snooze, but at the last second I turn off the alarm, get out of bed, and get ready for the busy day.

7:45a.m. I catch the bus to school and on the way I find myself singing "Nobody's Perfect! I've got to work it!" I think about Brayden and the song he learned from that teen sensation, Hannah Montana. Its so true, nobody is perfect. I decide that I really do "got to work it" and it begins by getting out of bed on Monday morning and facing the week ahead with energy and determination.

9:25a.m. Yoga class has just ended and I feel AMAZING! It was definitely worth getting out of bed!

Gratitude for the Journey

I was reading through an old journal today and I realized that I have a lot to learn from myself. I read quite a bit. When I went down to my parent's house for dinner this evening I pulled out all of my old journals and found myself remembering so many past experiences.

On November 15, 2006 I wrote:

"I love looking through my old journals and remembering experiences I've had and people that have been in my life. Its fun to read the silly things and sometimes I'm amazed at the thoughts, ideas, and testimonies I've written in the past. I realize how much I've grown up and changed. I also realize that I'm the same person I've always been. best of all, I am reminded of how blessed my life has been. I look back on my life and I see the Lord's hand and I know that He knows me and He loves me and He has always been there for me."

Wow! I am so blessed!!! Reading through my journals reminded me that life is good and such a great ride! Today I was reading the blog of a woman that I don't even know. She has four young children. She and her husband were in a plane crash in August and were burned all over. As I read this woman's blog she is so full of gratitude, optimism, and enthusiasm! (her blog is http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/) People are so amazing!!! Living a life full of gratitude is truly the way to go!!! I'm so grateful for the experiences I've been able to write down in my journals! My life is so full!!!!