Hello World

For some reason this week has been a really hard week. I really don't know why. I started off the week by going to The beach and then Santa Cruz beach boardwalk and had some bonding time with Tony. It was a great day. After that I had a lot of down time and time to myself to clean my room and just to think. Maybe it was all the down time with nothing to do that has made me so cranky i don't know. What I do know is I'm in one of those moods that littles thing makes me upset and I'm very snappy. I don't know what's causing it. Most of the time I have something behind the reason why I'm so upset but today I just don't...

On a happier not I have four more value experiences and need to finish reading the book of mormon and then I am done with my Personal Progress! I'm hoping to get those two experiences done in the next couple of weeks and then hopefully have the book of Mormon finished by then as well. I don't know we'll see! I'm sooooooo close! The end is sight. I have learned so much from personal progress it is amazing!

First off these past couple of weeks with actually reading the book of Mormon I have found the simple pleasures in reading the scriptures. I have never ever been diligent with reading my scriptures until the last couple of weeks. I am reading the book of Mormon with a tape that reads it to me and I follow along and mark scriptures that pop out at me and write things down that pop into my head. It really has been amazing. Somedays I just get so caught up in it that hi realize I've read ten chapters without even noticing. Scripture reading has never been this simple for me. I used to think of it as a chore, but now I look forward to the time that I get to be myself and read more about Christ and the people in the Americas. I have to admit that i am still in Jacob which isn't that far because I haven't been super diligent about doing it everyday but Jacob is the farthest I've ever been in the book of mormon. I just can't get over the fact that I used to hate reading the scriptures and now I absolutely love them! It seriously is amazing!

2.) I've learned diligence. It takes a lot of patience and diligence to complete some of The things in the Personal Progress book. But it has helped me learn how rewarded it is to stick to one thing and finish it before moving on to something else. I have enjoyed everyone of my projects even though some of them felt like they would never get done. It really is an amazing program. And yes it's taken me longer than some to complete it but all my hard work has paid off and I set a goal when I was 12 that I would finish it and I'm going to stick to that goal and get it done. I am so proud of myself for getting through it.

3.) I've learned why all the values are important to me.
The first value is faith. For my faith project i played a song on the piano called "I have not seen yet I believe". This song is amazing! The entire song is dedicated to the fact that christ did all these amazing things and though I was not there to see him nailed to the cross, I was not there to see him heal all the people He healded, I did not see Him feed the five thousand, and most importantly I did not see Him rise from the dead yet I still know in my heart that He did all of these things for me and for you. That is what faith is to me. It is simply believing without seeing. For the longest time I didn't understand that but as of right now i do. I know that christ suffered for my sins and that i can be forgiven of all the mistakes I make, big or small. I know that He will always be there for me. I know that He has gone through every single thing I have and will go through. I know that He will come again and it is coming sooner than some of you may think. I know that he was resurrected and that because of this I will be resurrected. I know that he lives and that even though I can't imagine how it's possible I know that i am going to live forever because of what he did for me. I have not seen all the amazing things he has done and yet I believe. Wow until this moment I didn't realize all the amazing things he has done.
Divine Nature. I have learned that I am divine and that I am a beautiful daughter of my heavenly father. I have divine nature as a woman. I am supposed to be a mother and a homemaker. For my project I made a Jean quilt for my sister. It was a good skill to learn and it something I can use in my future home.
Individual Worth. "Remember the worthnof souls is great in the sight of God." That pretty much sums it up. I have learned that I individually have worth and that I am a princess with Heavnely Father as my King and father. I am a child of God. I know I am and no one can take that from me. For my individual worth project I participated in my dad's readers theater about my ancestors. I learn more about where I came from.
Knowledge. I learned how to be a good mother and that even though I am now out of high school I don't get to just stop learning. I will have the opportunity to learn and gain more and more knowledge each and everyday. For my project I helped my mom with foster care. By doing this I learned how to take care of kids and a home.
Choice and Accoutablilty. I learned that how to use my free agency wisely. I have to admit that I didn't learn much from this part because I was already doing the things in it. One thing i did learn was that I wasn't being forced to do the things I did. I wasn't being forced to dress modestly, or not drink caffeine, or not swear. I learned that these were all guidelines of how to live and it was ultimately my decision to choose the way i wanted to live. This put a whole different perspective on agency for me. My project for choice and accountability was redoing my room. I made comforters, pillows, and painted my room. Sadly I dint think I ever got pictures of my completed room but it was fantasic. Along with this I reorganized my room.
Good Works. "Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Need I say more? For my project I babysit for enrichment for a year. This gave me the opportunity to do service to others in our ward and have a fun time with the kids.
Integrity. I learned to be honest with my fellow men. To not cheat, not to gossip, and not lie. I learned that honesty is the key. For my project I participated in Starz on Stage. This is a dance group. I committed myself to being there at every rehearsal and every performance. I fulfilled this and was grateful for it. I was never behind in a dance and didn't disappoint my teacher.
Virtue. "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." ummm ya that's about it. I haven't finished this project yet but I am reading the book of Mormon.

I learned a lot more from personal progress but since this already such an insane post I'm going to end here.

The amazing young womans and personal progress programs GMH

"Stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord comes" -D&C 87:8

Side note: its amazing how this post started super negative and ended positive and how much better I feel now that I did that. :D

Now off to some BOM reading! ;)