I have the best life!!

I feel so overwhelmed with emotion right now. Emotion of gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the amazing life He has given me! Yes, some people might think my life is just average when they look at me and it probably is, but I feel so truly blessed that I can't help but think that my life is EXTRAORDINARY!! A HUGE part of my feeling is the incredible husband I have. He amazes me each and every day when he looks me in the eyes and I can see the love he has for me. I honestly feel like I'm living my "Happily Ever After" right now. I feel like my life has completely changed since I met and married D. He truly inspires me to be the best I can be. I know that he'd do anything for me. My life is blessed in so many other ways too, but I don't have time to write about them right now. I am so glad that my Heavenly Father loves me enough to send me this amazing man that I get to spend this journey of life with, and that I am privileged to be sealed to him in the temple so that we can live together for eternity! I love you, D!

Grab a box of Kleenex's!

130 and counting...

D & I had the opportunity to attend the 7th session of the Oquirrh Mountain, UT temple dedication yesterday. The dedication of this temple brings the number of temples in the world to 130, with at least 16 more announced and under construction. We now have 13 temples in Utah alone, which is truly a blessing. For more information on Temples click here.

I love the temple. I love the feeling of peace I get when I go to the temple. The dedication yesterday morning was absolutely wonderful. I'm so glad we were able to attend and be a part of this historical event. And to not only participate in the dedication of 1 Utah temple this summer, but 2! The Lord's work surely moves forward, and he continues to bless the Saints in significant ways.

Marriage and Divorce

Powerful words from Elder Dallin H. Oaks on marriage and divorce. How much our world needs to hear and follow these words today!! We are truly blessed to have the Lord's Apostles on the Earth!

Learning to listen!

In my first post on Inspiration Point, I noted that it is my belief that life is a time to learn. One of the areas of learning in this life takes place in the form of learning to listen to the Spirit. It's something I feel I'm not very good at, and I have been praying about so that I can become better at it. Mostly I feel like I don't recognize when it's the Spirit prompting me.

Today was one of those days where I am kicking myself (hard) because I didn't recognize the promptings I was receiving as coming from the Holy Ghost, and saw the consequences of not listening in the aftermath of the circumstances.

The Story:
As D was getting ready to leave for work at 6:15 this morning, I felt like I should drive him to his car pool spot. Not seeing a reason as to why I would need our car today, I let that feeling slide, and he took the car to work, leaving me stranded at home without a vehicle (which is usually perfectly fine).

Around 8:30am I received a phone call from my mom (she's was on her way down to St. George on a shuttle van because it was cheaper than it would be for her to drive her own van down, and she doesn't feel comfortable driving that far alone anyway). However, yesterday my mom, my sister, and my nephew got in a car accident, and my mom was feeling pretty uncomfortable in the shuttle due to her achy muscles and joints, but they just happened to be stopping close by my house to refuel the shuttle van and she wanted me to bring her a pillow. Unfortunately, I did not have the car, so I couldn't bring her a pillow to make her ride a little more comfortable (although I did offer to run or ride my bike, but I wouldn't get there in enough time).

I laid in bed for probably 15 minutes after we hung up, because there really wasn't a way for me to help her out (especially because they didn't stop at my exit, but the one just north of where I live), and then I finally decided to get up and shower. As I went into the bathroom, I felt like I should bring my cell phone in with me, but again, I couldn't see a reason as to why I would need to. After showering and getting ready for the day, I checked my phone and saw that I had missed 2 calls and had a voice mail from my mom. As I listened to the message, she sounded distressed, but I couldn't tell exactly what was wrong because the message was choppy and kept cutting out. I called her back immediately, and luckily someone else had been available to come to the aid of my stranded mother. Yes, I said stranded. The driver of the shuttle van had left my poor, hurting, stressed out mom at the gas station!!!! (Hence the 2 phone calls and voice mail I missed from her while I was in the shower.) Luckily, Heavenly Father watches out for us and He will always find someone else to meet our needs when the first person is not available. A nice family from Idaho Falls was on their way down to St. George too, so they picked up my mom and brought her down to Nephi, where should would again be able to meet up with the shuttle van driver.

It's now after 1:00, and my mom made it safely to St. George where she will hopefully be able to spend a few relaxing days hanging out with my brother and two of my nieces.

I still feel awful though that I failed to listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost not once, but twice today!! Although I feel like I failed this test of listening, hopefully this experience is more of a lesson learned rather than a lesson that will need to be repeated over and over again until I finally get the message.

Whom the Lord calls...

D & I got a new bishopric this past Sunday, and it was such an amazing, spiritual experience. We've only been in this Ward for 5 months, and the bishopric was really starting to grow on us (especially Brother Sackett), but we figured we'd be getting a new 2nd counselor soon because our 2nd counselor has been dealing with some pretty severe cancer over the past couple months.

When we saw our entire Stake Presidency sitting on the stand, we figured there were going to be some changes. But, WOW!! What an incredible experience!! When our bishopric was released, and each new name was called, you could feel the Spirit so powerfully!! What's amazing to me is that D and I hardly know these men (some, we don't know at all!), yet the Holy Ghost has the awesome ability to witness to you when something is right (or wrong). There was such an amazing feeling in the chapel that I couldn't help but cry. D kept asking me if I was okay, and of course I was, but I LOVE knowing that "whom the Lord calls he qualifies."

Our new bishop, Bishop Erikson, was called fresh out of the nursery :), and had even sold his home (the home he's been trying to sell for 2 years) the week before he was called as our new bishop, but he and his sweet wife made arrangements to stay in our ward so he could be our new bishop. What an incredible man!

The 1st counselor has been on the high council in our stake, so we've seen him around quite a bit, and he and his wife come to our Sunday school class. We knew he'd be great in the bishopric when we heard his name.

The 2nd counselor is who hit me the hardest though, and I think D as well. He is the sweetest man, and has given me such great support in the calling I have that I find so difficult. He always participates in class and always has wonderful stories and comments to share. Almost every Sunday we teach, he finds his way up to tell me that I did a great job. I really need that kind of support and feedback. It was great to see him sitting on the stand, clean-shaven and all :)

I LOVE that we can always trust our Heavenly Father to put the right people in the right calling at the right time. He knows what He is doing, and I am so glad I can trust Him with anything! Even with knowing that this new bishopric is what our Ward needs at this time. I am so grateful that we were able to attend Church and to come home having a renewed testimony of the confirming power of the Holy Ghost. As we sat and listened to the testimonies of all the men and their wives, we knew this is what Heavenly Father had planned for our Ward. You could see His hand in all of the changes that took place on Sunday. We can't wait to get to know this new bishopric!!

Am I a bridge-burner?

This first block of summer semester I'm taking a Race and Minority Relations class. I've really enjoyed it so far, even though I've only been to class for a week (I had a little issue with not being able to sit or move for the first week class had actually started, so I'm a little bit behind, but that's another story).

One thing we're talking about this semester is different strategies we can use to overcome prejudice or that will help us in building relationships with people who are different than we are. Throughout the duration of the semester, my professor will be giving us about 15 different items to add to that list of strategies (and I'll post it on here when it's complete). We talked about one today though that really hit me, and I think it applies to any relationship, especially the relationships we have with those who are closest to us.

I admit that I tend to be a little judgmental. But, aren't we all, in our own different ways? It's something I've been working on because I know I will be judged according to how I judge others. We never know what a person has really gone through and what their life experiences are, so we really have no place, what-so-ever, to judge them. So the question my professor asked us today (and one of the items for our list) was: So what? What am I going to do? Then he added to that: Am I a bridge-burner or a bridge-builder? He wanted us to ask ourselves why we care about the differences we have with others. And if there is a difference between ourselves and someone else, why do we care? Why is it a big deal to us? And, what are we going to do about it? We can be either a bridge-builder or a bridge-builder.

I want to be a bridge-builder. If God loves all of His children, why shouldn't I love them too?

Just something for us to think about. This is something I'm really going to be pondering and working to improve on.

This is the place.

Life is good to me.

Wait.

No.

Life is great to me!

Yes, I have my challenges and disappointments, just like everyone else. I think the difference with me sometimes is that I really try to view life as an adventure. Life is to place to learn and grow. A place to experience challenges and disappointments. A place to experience joy and happiness. A place to come to know who we are.

So, here I am to write about the challenges and disappointments, the joy and happiness, the knowledge. It's my Inspiration Point.

I think inspiration comes to us in a variety of ways. It seems like at this time in my life, most of my thoughts revolve around my family, my church, and my education. Those are the places my inspiration comes from. Good or bad.

I needed a place to record my thoughts. A place to reflect back upon the little things that happen in my life that I don't want to forget. This is that place.

The place to capture those experiences that I never want to forget, to leave a little bit of my heart on the page. If it is mostly the little things that make up our lives, then it is the little things I want to hold onto and keep close to my heart. I hope you enjoy taking a journey (whether it's exciting to you or not) through my thoughts. We might learn a little from one another.