11.01.2011

PRESIDENT MONSON COMES TO BYU


i love byu. have i mentioned that before? i absolutely love going to school where i get to associate with people that have the same standards and beliefs I do. it is truly an amazing place. i wish everybody had the great opportunity to be here!!

yesterday, we heard that president monson was coming to speak at the weekly devotional. we were so excited!! melina, haley, and i decided that we would go early and save seats for dana, ben, riley, and daniel. devotional starts at 11:00 am. we decided to leave at 9:00 am. plenty of time to get the good seats, right?

wrong. people actually camped out -- in TENTS! -- all night to get the best seats. so when we showed up at the marriott center (in the pouring rain, i might add, with one umbrella for the three of us), there was a gigantic line. they weren't opening the doors to the marriott center yet. great! well, we got in line, huddled under one umbrella, me in a skirt, freezing to death. we wore our backpacks on our fronts so that our computers inside wouldn't get wet. smart, right?

me, melina, haley wearing our frontpacks! :)

we finally got into the marriott center at about 9:40. when president monson finally came at 11:00, i was so excited i could barely stand it. i felt an overpowering feeling of love and gratitude for my heavenly father that i could be here, listening to the prophet, at a moment when i desperately needed it in my life. how grateful i am for the inspiration the prophet had to come speak to us here at byu. he said some truly inspired things, things i felt were meant just for me. here were a few of my favorite quotes:
  • what we do or don't do is of utmost importance
  • take advantage of the power of the atonement and our sins and shortcomings will be forgiven and forgotten
  • be thou an example of the believers!
  • faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other
  • set aside time every day to find out for yourselves if the book of mormon is true
  • when you choose to follow christ, you choose to be changed
  • our opportunities to shine are limitless!
  • "look inside yourself. you are more than what you have become. remember who you are. remember." --the lion king
when president monson challenged us to read the book of mormon, our friend riley sent a text down our row to all of us: "hey guys, today is november 1st. let's finish the book of mormon by the end of the month. 17 pages a day." i was totally and completely impressed by this, and felt another sense of immense gratitude for having the friends i do. friends that encourage you to do better? ... now that's a true friend.

thank you, heavenly father, for blessing me in such abundance. today has been another fantastic day. many more to come!!

1 comment:

Travis Wilcox said...

You are incredible at picking out great quotes from talks. I want to print all of these on cute paper for my mirror. Or your mirror. Wouldn't that be a nice mom? Love your cute blog.