Talk

(This is a talk I gave in church this summer.)

I want to talk about how the Book of Mormon has changed my life.

More specifically, how the Book of Mormon has changed my life in the last 3 months.

I first read the Book of Mormon as a 9th grader. It was the Book of Mormon year in seminary and I was very diligent with my scripture reading. When I finished, I prayed to know if it was true or not. And I got this feeling that said, “You know it’s true Mindy. Why do you even have to ask?” I knew it was true. I’m so glad I got that confirmation at such a young age. It has helped guide and influence my life. It’s changed my life.

I’ve read the Book of Mormon a few more times. A couple before my mission, and then quite a few times on my mission. It was so simple to study the scriptures as a missionary. It was easy to apply it to my life and to my investigators. I fell in love with the stories and made goals to keep reading and studying when I got home. I would NOT be one of those missionaries who got “too busy” to study.

But then I got too busy to study. School, work, dating, friends, sleep. It all got in the way. I tried off and on to study my scriptures and set a time to do so. But I couldn’t wake up early; I was already getting up so early for school and work! And I couldn’t do it at night because I was so exhausted. I even tried to do it during my lunch break for a while, until my co-workers were so fun to talk to. Excuses and justifications made it okay. My scripture reading was sporatic for days, weeks, months, and then years.

And that’s where I was at 3 months ago. I sat there listening to General Conference and felt guilty for not reading my scriptures or making a plan to change.

Then I saw something online outlining a Book of Mormon reading schedules that would start April 7th to June 30th. I said, “Why not?” and started reading that day.

I made a few goals to go along with this challenge. #1 would be that I would stay on schedule. I knew that I would miss a few days here and there because I knew myself. But I told myself I would catch up so that by the end of the week I would always be right on target. And my #2 goal was to apply the scriptures to my life.

Like I said, it was simple to apply them to my life while I was a missionary. So I wanted to really try to apply it to my life now, as a single, working adult with really lame problems. At least I think they’re lame. But luckily, God loves me and he really helps me.

With that, I want to share a few experiences and scriptures that have greatly helped me these last 3 months.

First relates to the temple.

Mosiah 2:6 And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple,that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them;

I love this visual. The symbolism is so vivid how these people pitched their tents with their doors towards the temple. A temple centered people.

Temple attendance was one of my new year’s goals that I made this year. I want to go at least once a month this year. Of course, three months ago, when I started this reading and read this chapter, my recommend has expired because I had become too busy to make the appointments to renew it.

I made an appointment with my bishop for the sunday after our stake conference meeting. I mention stake conference because my roommate was working and it would have been really tempting to not go that day. But I’m so glad that I did.

The talks at stake conference were about family history work and temple work. It wasn’t hard to see just what the Lord needed me to learn that week. What really hit me though, was when the temple president for the JRTemple got up to speak and told us to ask our bishops about becoming a temple worker if we could.

I had NO IDEA you could ASK to do that! Before I even knew it, I asked the bishop at my interview if that could be something I could do. We filled out the paper work, and a few weeks later I was called. I get to start as a temple worker at the SLC temple in August. I’m so grateful and SO excited for this new calling in my life.

The next experience I want to share is about temporal things.

I first want to share this scripture.

"Mormon 5: 23  Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power, and at his great command the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll?"

It helps remind me that I am in the hands of god. I’ve always been so happy about that, because I feel like, if left on my own, I would make a lot of crazy choices and mistakes.

One more temporal thing I had on my mind was whether or not to move. It was one of the questions I had pondered about when listening to general conference. But I felt like I never got a really great answer. I continued to pray about it.

One day I talked about it with my roommate. Our contract would be up soon and I wanted to know what she thought. If we should extend the contract, try to find somewhere else to live, or become homeless. We talked it over and at the end of the conversation we had just deicded to stay put where we were. I felt okay about it.  

I thought of this scripture:

"Mosiah 2:41  And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

I knew that God always helps me know when I’ve made a wrong decision. And apparently I did make the wrong decision. Because that same night, not but 2 hours after our conversation, my friend Lynsie texted me and asked, “Are you by chance looking for a place to live?”

It was WAY too coincidental to ever think it was actually a coincidence. I know that God was answering my prayers. That week we talked about it, looked at the house, felt really good about it, and by friday were packing our house to move in just under 3 weeks. It all came together so fast. I’m so grateful the Lord blesses us. And I know he blessed us because I was reading my scriptures.

I think more than anything, reading my scriptures has helped me be more sensitive to the spirit.

3 Nephi 22:"13  And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children."

I find so much peace from the teachings of the Lord. The week I was reading in Nephi 9 about the plan of salvation was the week of Easter. And it really helped me have one of the best Easters of my life.

2Nephi 9:13- "O how great the plan of our God!"

This is what I wrote in my journal about Easter this year-

This last week, It was Easter. Each day this week in addition to reading the Book of Mormon, I tried to read a conference talk that would go along with each event in the Holy Week. Palm Sunday, the sacrament, the great atonement, the crucifixion, and resurrection.

Saturday night I was cancelled for work. It was an Easter Miracle. I was able to sleep that night and wake up at 7am and go on a walk. I listened to a talk by our Prophet, called "He is Risen." It was amazing. I sat and looked out over a park and just had this overwhelming feeling of love and peace and purpose. I am so grateful for the Atonement and for my Savior, Jesus Christ, who suffered for my sins so that I can return to live with my Heavenly Father. He loves me. He loves the world. He gave his life for me. And he broke the bands of death that bound everyone, to make it possible for us to live again. It truly is a miracle and something so amazing. I can hardly put in to words how I feel.

My heart was so full that Easter Sunday. I went to church and sang in the choir, songs of Christ and grattiude and praise. It was lovely to sing my testimony. I always love to. But it was extra special that day. I listened to the great words and pondered the love Christ has for everyone. I teared up in church. Doesn't happen often, but I did.

My heart was truly full. And I know it's because I have been reading my scriptures regularly. I know it.

It's such a blessing to have better understanding of the gospel.

I love this feeling. And I can't wait until I have read for 3 and 4 and 5 weeks and 6 months and a year and my life. That's what I want.

Because I became more sensitive to the spirit, I had a few experiences where I got to be a tool in God’s hand to help his children. I was in the right places at the right times.

"Mosiah 5:13  For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?"

Ether 4:11 But he that believeth these things which I have spoken, him will I visit with the manifestations of my Spirit, and he shall know and bear record. For because of my Spirit he shall know that these things are true; for it persuadeth men to do good.

1 Nephi 4:6- I was led by the spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.

This first experience is a little strange. But the more I’ve pondered it, the more I just KNOW that it was God’s will.

It’s a strange experience because it started out with me just being bored and home alone one Wednesday afternoon. I didn’t know what to do with myself because all my roomies were gone. I thought about my options and decided to go to seven peaks. That, in itself, is not strange. I love swimming and love water parks, mostly because I was a lifeguard all through high school and college and I like to be a creeper and watch the lifeguards and critique them. The weird thing was going by myself. It’s super weird to go to a water park by yourself. But I packed up, drove over, and before I knew it I was walking around all alone, just soaking in the sun.

I swam in a few of the pools and decided just to walk around a bit and scope out the kiddie areas so I knew where to bring my nephews when they came with me. I decided to take my awkwardness to a new level and actually get into the kiddie pool and just sit for a while. I felt weird. But it was fun. As I was exiting the pool, for some strange reason I really can’t explain, I turned to look back at one particular area of the swimming pool and there, with her eyes wide and head under water, was a little girl, clearly drowning.

Before I even knew it, I jumped over a wall, swam to her, and scooped her up in my arms. She coughed and cried and I found her dad, handed her over, and then walked out of the pool.

It was just too coincidental. I thought about that experience over and over again the next few days and it’s become a very special thing to me. I couldn’t stop thinking About how I was the one person that was at the right place at the right time with the right knowledge to save her. I don't know what would have happened had I not been there. I honestly don't know if another adult would have walked by. I don't know if the lifeguard would have seen her soon enough because she was at the other end of the pool in the water. But something told me to look back and I saw her.

From my journal:

I feel like I was an instrument in God's hands that day. From deciding to randomly go to a water park by myself for just an hour or two. From deciding to be weird and walk through the kiddie area by myself. To me looking back at the pool for some reason. It's all just so coincidental. I know and feel that it's not a coincidence.

I am so happy with my life lately. I feel closer to the spirit than I have been in a long time. I'm praying, I'm going to church, I'm going to the temple, I'm reading and loving reading my scriptures. I'm finding personal insights. If all this means that God knew that he could use me to save a life of one of his daughters, then I am honored. I'm so grateful that he trusted me enough to give me such an important task that day. Because the more I ponder on this experience, the more I realize that it couldn't be just a chance happening. It was meant to be.

Another experience of being at the right place at the right time happened just this week.

I thought a lot about our lesson we had in relief society about family history work that we had last sunday and decided on Tuesday morning to go to the temple. I planned to do initiatories. I took out my family names and tried to pick out which ones to do.

I’m not sure if any of you feel this immense pressure when picking which names to do when you go through the temple, but I always do. It’s like I’m picking and choosing who to save that day. Always makes me stressed out. So I decided to pick a few names that were sisters. I found a group of 4 sisters to do and got excited, but realized that all but one had been baptised. One sister was not yet a member! So I let that stress help me decide to do baptisms, confirmations, AND inititories that day.

I’m so glad I did. The spirit I felt was overwhelming. But while I was sitting at the font, ready to be baptized, the sister in front of me had a few names she was doing for someone in her ward, and they were in a weird symbolly language. I got really nosey and stood up to look at the cards, and sure enough, they were in Korean. And I speak Korean! So I helped them pronounce the names as they were doing the work for them. I felt like God was making sure that those Korean sisters were thought of and important. It was truly special.

Guys, the Book of Mormon changed my life these last 3 months. I was able to finish it this morning and just say a prayer of gratitude for just how applicable the teachings have been to my life now.

I truly know what Pres Hinkley said is true.

President Hinkley in 2005,

Without reservation I promise you that if each of you will [read the Book of Mormon], regardless of how many times you previously may have read the Book of Mormon, there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God.

I know that the Book of Mormon is truly for our day.

President Ezra Taft Benson declared in a general conference, “The Book of Mormon … was written for our day. The Nephites never had the book; neither did the Lamanites of ancient times. It was meant for us.”

President Hinckley said- “In its descriptions of the problems of today’s society, [the Book of Mormon] is as current as the morning newspaper, and much more definitive,”

Mormon 8:35 Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.

I don’t claim to be “cured” of all of my excuses to not read the scriptures. I am not perfect

at applying the lessons. But I’ve tried and I’ve seen amazing things.

It is my hope that we will all read the scriptures and try to find ways they can apply to our  lives today. Whether that life be in school, work, unemployment, sadness, happiness, singleness, darkness, or bright light. The Book of Mormon is for us.

October

The month of October has been one of the most busy and stressful months of my life in a long long time.
And it's still going strong with the stress.

Swarley. My new friend.

I bought a new computer. It's amazing and it has been a great purchase. It's helped me rediscover the amazingness of the internet. I've been able to blog again, look at pictures I've taken over the last year, and pay my bills on time. So, pretty much a priceless purchase.

I got in a car accident on October 5th. i was with my friend Ashley Baugh from when I worked at the pool. We decided to finally hang out since it had been like 8 months. And we went to a haunted house. That was actually quite fun, more fun than I thought I would have there.
Afterwards, I was driving in Salt Lake trying to figure out how to get on the freeway, when I was turning left and realized, too late, that I didn't have a green arrow or the right of way and there were 3 lanes of traffic headed straight towards me.
I heard honking, and the next thing I knew, someone had it the passenger side of my car. The first thing I thought was "Not my pretty new car!" 
The next thing I knew, I was staring out of my windshield, the windshield wipers were all on, and Ashley was sitting there, not saying anything, with the airbags inflated around her.
I asked over and over if she was okay. She didn't answer at first, probably shock. We got out of the car and figured out that we were okay. The other car was okay too. No injuries. 
The rest of the night is a blur. It was awkward not knowing what to do or who to talk to or what to do with my car. I hated standing there, knowing it was my fault, and trying to figure it all out. Ashley called her family, and they all came to help. The nicest people on the planet. Seriously.
I finally called my mom back after telling her it happened and hanging up a minute later. She handed the phone to my dad and he talked me through what I'll need to do with my car. 

During the surgery. Poor thing.

That's when I started to cry. I don't really know why. Adrenaline wearing off, gratitude that my dad was being so nice, thankful that it wasn't too bad, and annoyance at the police officers for being so unhelpful.
So that was that night. 
My poor car had been sick and in the hospital for almost 32 days. I guess it was close to being called a total loss, but by a miracle, everything was fixable and my car looks as good as new. It was amazing getting my car back. I missed her.
It really was terrible getting in a car accident. I don't recommend it. I feel stupid, most of all, for the momentary lapse of brain function that must have happened to have this happen in the first place. I am a save driver. I keep thinking that Dan would probably be kicking himself because he taught me better. Mr. Safe-driver. I hope he never finds out this happened.
But I'm so grateful that if I HAD to get in an accident, it happened like it did. No one was hurt. There was no screaming, yelling, or crying (until I cried). I got a ticket, but that's paid off. My car was repaired. And my insurance company has been really great with everything. 

Another thing. You know how I don't love my job. Well, I don't hate it. I'm just sick of it and need a change. Well, the count for job applications is up in the 30's and I finally got a call on a job and a job interview at Primary Children's Medical Center in the OR.
It was such a dream come true. They called on a Thursday, the interview was set up on Monday, and on Tuesday I was nervously waiting in the nurse's lounge for my interview.
I think it went well. I think back on it and replay it in my head and there's not much I would change. I think I did a good job selling myself and letting him know what I was really like and that I would be a good fit. But then I waited a week (that's what they said to do) and I called to bug them a few times, and I still haven't heard anything either way. I'm just going to call it a loss now, but mark my words: one day I will work in the OR at Primary Children's. Just the things he said about the job and the atmosphere of the place let me know that this could definitely be my dream job.
In the mean time, work really hasn't been bad at all. My new manager has made things a billion times better, I feel like I've learned a ton and keep learning, and most of my co-workers are awesome. 

In church news, I was finally able to go to church in October after not being there since the beginning of September. I got a calling on the activities committee of our ward. Kind of a new experience for me, but I'm sure it will be good. I also was asked to speak that Sunday (the one Sunday I got to go to church in October). I did a good job, I hope. I really enjoyed speaking and that people know who I am now.

The next Sunday I worked, and by some small miracle, I got off work 10 minutes earlier than normal. I wanted to get home to my parent's house because my family was there and I like to see them. But in my slightly excited state, I drove too fast and got pulled over. I can't catch a break. I got a speeding ticket. The first once in almost 10 years of driving. I had to pay even more money for it and take traffic school online. Now that I've been educated, you can bet I'm the safest driver in the world now. You know the kind; they completely stop at intersections even when no one is there, they never run yellow lights, they go a little bit below the speed limit. So yeah, I've now aged 50 years and have even MORE anxiety when I drive.

I got to tell you, all of these stressful things were hard to deal with, but what kept me going was knowing that I was going on a trip to NYC the first weekend of November. I was excited. I kept thinking about riding in a plane, seeing Broadway plays, and eating good food in Korea town! I told everyone I knew about this trip. I was so excited.
And then....
Sandy.
That b*#@!. She wrecked the whole East Coast. I feel so bad for everyone that was effected. I was following the damage closely on the news. And then, the morning before we were going to leave, we officially found out that our flight was cancelled. So that went out the window.
We ended up going to the Grand Canyon. That was interesting and exciting. I'll write about that later.

Dad and Kevin at the race.

To combat the stress? Annalie and I took up running again. I haven't seriously ran in over two years. And when I did for a little while, it only last a few weeks until my knees hurt. But this time, I got a knee brace, made a plan, and we've stuck to it for 4 weeks now. I can now run a mile. I'm really excited about it. It feels great.

We decided to start running again after we went and watched my dad's race, the Pony Express trail run 2012. My brother Kevin ran 50 miles. And it is just inspiring to see so many people run for hours and hours on end. I would love to be able to do that. I'm not saying that I will for sure run a 50 mile race anytime soon, but I would love to be able to head out my door and run where I wanted to go. Plus, free therapy and stress relief. 


Well, this was all around just a weird month. Bad and worse and a little bit of good too. I'm glad it's over and that I can move on. One day I'll be grateful for these experiences. I always wonder why things don't work out the way I planned them to. It's frustrating. Especially when I feel like my life has always been exactly opposite of what I have planned. But one day, I'm sure, it will all work out and I'll know the why behind everything.

memorial weekend

i'm a triathlete. it's a true story. the swimming was easy. the biking killed my butt. and the 5k was a 5k. i liked it. and it is possible that i'll want to do it again.

i bought a boat. not a boat, boat. but an inflatable raft. but it's not a raft raft. it's a boat. so yeah. it's awesome. i took it out on the lake with my little brother over the weekend. and we had lots of fun riding around. yesterday i took it to a pool and had lots of fun in the deep end rowing in circles. lily loved it. i did too. best purchase ever. i can't wait to take it all over the place.

i went to sarah's ward on sunday. her relief society was normal. i mean, normal. there was no "good news minute" or "miralce moment" or "point fingers at the less active members moment." and it didn't take them 40 minutes to get started. they started within the first ten minutes. i think my jaw was on the floor the whole time. it was a miracle. maybe i'll have to share that this week at my ward's "miracle moment."

sarah made me korean food on sunday. we ate kimchi chigae. and it was fantastic. so was our conversation. she's great. she helps me remember that not all of my friends are jerks. only one is.

i really love having family dinners. on memorial day my siblings all came over and we grilled up some steaks. kevin's steaks were fantastic. and making baby camden laugh was our favorite activity. we're just the coolest group of people. i think everyone should be jealous of my family.

the weather needs to be warmer. sometimes it's warm. but sometimes it's not. looking outside today it tells a windy, cold, sad kind of story. my skin deserves better. so i think i'll go to st. george again today.

oh. i am studying for the nclex. it's next week. i haven't gotten sick with nervousness yet. i probably should. but i'm studying. no worries.

summer?

i wish that my life was more interesting.

but summer started.
i guess it officially started after i got back from my graduation ceremony on saturday night. my family came in the house, said goodbye, and got on the road to head home 5 minutes later. my mom did slip me a 20 and told me to go out to dinner. 
okay....
brittni and i had my post graduation dinner at the thai place over by walmart. it was SO good. we got a 7 on the scale of 1-10 spicy-ness. and then decided next time we should ask for a 10. Maybe 11??
hmmm....
church is now at 11. it's nice. i had some weird dream sunday morning about me seeing a psychiatrist about my life depression problems and i couldn't remember ever meeting him. but he prescribed me a benzodiazapine and an SSRI, so i guess it was serious.

maybe the universe is telling me that i have problems. and need drugs.
relief society is so ridiculous lately. no offense to anyone who actually can feel the spirit after 20 minutes of "tell us why you should brag about your life" minute or "what stupid thing can you pretend was a miracle" moment. brittni and i took a walk before relief soceity to avoid the nonsense. but 20 minutes later, when we sat down, they were just starting the announcements.
this week our walk will be 30 minutes long.
i had plans of riding my bike a lot this week. but the weather thought otherwise. i took a walk in the snow on monday. got so cold that i had to sit in a blanket for a while afterwards. yesterday it was rain. today it's just cold.
i just want to camp every day of my life.
i don't know if i'm ready to be a grown up. i guess my college degree says i am. i wish i could just stay where i am for the summer. just 4 months. that's not a long time. i also wish that i won't run out of money.
so i guess i'm wishing for a miracle.

hmm.
gross.