Roses from the thorns

I’m trying to get used to going out all the time. From my mission and then being so wrapped up in studying for French, I haven’t had so much free time in what feels like forever. Mesa is definitely a great place to meet new people every day. For not having a car I think I’ve done really well at going out every night. From FHE to Institute to Stake choir for Elder Holland to dances almost every other night, bonfires, motorcycles, learning to drive stick, it’s sure great being young and single. As much as of course I want to get married and be a mommy, (I mean this is the girl who went to a party with singles tonight and hung out with the 10 year old girl the whole time and was best friends with her before the night was over) I realize this time of my life is such a privilege. We will be married for eternity and only be single for a tiny fraction of our existence. There are so many experiences to be had as a single young adult that you may never have in any other position in life. At church today our stake president gave us all the talk about dating and getting married, but there are definitely many blessings to being single. God will give us all the very best and if you aren’t married yet, don’t worry, keep being valiant because God only gives the very best. Our obedience is our assurance of happiness. One of my friends has talked about going to Sweden, and why not when she can? Maybe I’ll end up back in France for a little bit. Whatever happens, when we follow the Lord we can know we are exactly where we need to be.

I love my students. They just finished studying The Crucible. I had a student at the beginning of the year that wasn’t a huge fan of the class, but now she is one of the strongest students and her attitude encourages others. When I passed back their test scores for The Crucible, she was so happy and said that she had never done that well on a test and it was because she actually enjoyed what she was reading. It’s students like her that encourage me to keep teaching.

My final observation was a little anticlimactic. The BYUI people came during my prep and so only looked at my portfolio, but she super loved it and I guess is just trusting I am an awesome teacher. I have been working on getting my application done for Mesa School District and the other day Dobson asked if I had finished because they want to set up an interview with me. I was worried because I found out I wouldn’t be getting my French scores until the end of December, so I thought I couldn’t get certified. When when we had our review with all the guys from BYUI I asked the department chair and he said that if Dobson wants to hire me then they will let me get my certification early, without worrying about French!!!! What a blessing! I still really want to get certified in French and I’m glad I worked my butt off to get that test done, but it’s so comforting to know that I can get certified at least in English. So, now I just have to do well in my interview!!

This is the first year I’m like so not excited for my birthday, but I’m just glad to have the great life that I do have and for all the wonderful people I’ve met and experiences I’ve had in the last 23 years. When I look back on my life, I see so many good memories and hard times that were so vital to helping me become closer to the girl I have always wanted to be. I remember there were days when I didn’t know how I could go on or why God couldn’t just make things better, and I realize that His goal always has been to make things better than I could ever know. It gives me the faith to trust in Him now and forever, that whatever hard things I may think I go through, they truly are blessings in disguise. As I trust Him, He brings roses from amongst thorns.

I’ll end this with a quote I heard at Institute from Elder Neal A. Maxwell. I super loved it.

“God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, he will increase our capability.”

You and I are designed to be perfect. There is no exception. Every single person has a plan from Heavenly Father to be just like Him. It’s our privilege to seek out that plan from Him, believe in it, and live it. How grateful we ought to be to Them who make eternal life a reality.