A Window to His Love

One of the best things that has come from moving to Washington D.C. it the amazing missionary experiences I have had since I have been here. In June I had a friend who was meeting with the missionaries and asked me to come to the discussions with him. I had never actually been a part of the missionaries teaching an investigator. I was pretty nervous but really excited. If you want to read about it click HERE.
Meeting with the missionaries and being a part of the discussion was really a great experience for me. It was nice to return to the simplest doctrine of our religion. We talked about the concept of God and how he is our loving heavenly father. This simple truth I have known all my life and have never doubted and it was a brand new concept for him. As we talked more about principles and the gospel the spirit testified to me the things I know are true and I know more than I realized. I have grown up in the church and I went to primary and Young Womens every Sunday and was taught at home but I have never been a great scriptorian. I would love to have scriptures memorized and remember the exact references to things. But I'm not there yet. It was a sweet comfort to me to be know I do know things about the gospel and I not only believe the doctrines of the gospel but I know them to be true. I know, I have prayed and received an answer. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church restored wholely and perfectly. Knowing this even in its simplicity makes life beautiful.
Being outside of Utah where even if you are not a member of the church you probably still know plenty about the church, there are plenty of people to share the gospel with. Here, there are opportunities to plant seeds and share the gospel everywhere! From people at work to people you meet on the metro to anywhere! I love sharing the gospel and am so grateful for the opportunities that are so ample they almost fall into your lap. My goal is to begin studying Preach My Gospel so I can be better prepared to be a missionary and share the gospel. I hope we all are a window to the Lord's love and utilize the opportunities to share the gospel that are presented to us.

Date Night in the PICU

Friday night is usually date night for most, or at least the night to take a break from work and socialize a little bit. Last Friday I had plans with with one of my coworkers. Right about the end of the day one of our patients was in the PICU. Things took a turn for the worse and both of us ended up staying with the family. The ICU is never the place you want to be and after a long night of ups and downs the patient finally passed away.

This was a new experience for me and one that I am sure will happen again. This was my first patient who I had spent time with and talked with who passed away. I have prepared myself for this and knew it was part of the job. Though sometimes it is hard not being able to talk about what's going on a work. This is where the Lord blessed my life with a little thing that meant so much to me.

After leaving work, my coworker and I went home and just sat on the couch and ate a little dinner. It was not what we had planned on doing that night or what we had expected to eat for dinner but it was just what I needed and what he needed too. It was nice to have someone around who understood what we were going through. He has had more experience with patients and how to deal with losing one. We talked about death and we talked about life and how grateful we are to have every precious breath we breathe. I am so grateful I had him that night to talk to and find comfort in. I know the Lord is aware of us and our need and He sends people to be in our lives at the moments we need it most.

I was lucky my date was with my coworker and there was no need to break plans with someone. Though, I do hope that is my last date in the PICU.

No More 'Some Day's

I have always tried to live my life in an attempt to never regret a moment. I try not to put off things for tomorrow, because tomorrow might not come. I guess when I work this close to death it always reminds you how quickly life can end. I am not afraid of death. The Lord has a plan for each of us and sometimes we don't realize the plan is shorter for some than others. Sometimes we think one is harder than the other but Heavenly Father really knows what is best for each one of His children and He has shaped our plans accordingly. I have complete faith in our Heavenly Father's plan and I am so grateful for the time I get to spend with the special spirits that do not require an extended stay on this earth. The spirit of a baby who is so freshly sent from heaven is unlike any other. To be with a wonderful spirit who will quickly return to Heavenly Father after only a short time here on this earth inspires me to be better, to be prepared to meet my maker for what ever day that might be. It might be tomorrow, it might be next year, it might be 50 years from now. But today is the day I am preparing to stand worthy before God and tell him I tried my very best to serve Him and to be a window to His love for those who know me.
I try to always let people know how I feel about them. Let them know when they inspire me with the little things they do each day. So many times I think about how grateful I am for the people in my life and think I'll tell them 'some day' when the time is right. The time is right now, tell people you love them and how much they mean to you. You never know when the things you say will be just what someone has been searching for. You never know if there will be a tomorrow. You never know if you will have just one more day.

Livin' the Dream

I can really say at this very moment I am living the dream. I live in a beautiful city, my job is everything I could possibly ever dream of; and it’s summer! I love Washington D.C.. I am living in Virginia and it has a cute little Main Street with little shops and boutiques. I go running and love to see the little places to eat and fun stores. The only problem is I have to run later in the evening because of the humidity makes it way to hot during the day so I can never go in. But they are beautiful to see. I have wonderful friends who are happy and love to do things. I have a family, though they are 2000+ miles away, who loves me and supports me in my adventures. I do not think I could possibly be happier!

The sister visit

My wonderful little sister got to come out and make a visit in May. It was fun to have someone out here to do the tourist thing with. We went to the National Mall, some Smithsonian museums, Mount Vernon, and the beach! It was so much fun! I love having her around and I think she had a good time too!


Of course we had to stop at all the monuments and take a picture and all the cliche' ones as well!

We thought it would be fun to tickle the elephant at the Smithsonian.

She thought it would be funny to pick his nose.

We tried to fit in with some of the exhibits.
This picture has a story. I thought it would be a clever picture to have one of the first light bulbs above my head like in the cartoons when they have a bright idea because, naturally, I full of bright ideas! So I made my sister take this picture until we got just the right one. I was so pleased with the picture and what a great idea it was. She put this one along with all the others up on Facebook and our brother commented on it, noticing the light bulb was not on, hence as in the cartoons, no good idea. I think this picture may be more factual to me than any of us thought it would be. I asked my sister if she notice the irony of the picture and the light not being on but she said she didn't want to say anything because I thought it was such a great idea for a picture..

One of our favorite places to visit was the National Archives. It is the home of the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and other really cool documents. We went and watch a little video on the Declaration of Independence and we were the only ones in the whole theater. It was really fun! I highly recommend visiting!

We also made a stop at Mt. Vernon which is George Washington's estate. It was also a lot of fun and it was in a beautiful stop looking over the Patomic River. The house was beautiful and fun to see the colorful walls that was one way they would show their wealth.

It was a beautiful estate.

Pretty arches, pretty river, pretty girls.
Over Memorial Day weekend we headed down to Duck Beach in Outer Banks, North Carolina. I never had any desire to live or even visit North Carolina. All that changed, I would love to live on the beach in North Carolina, even during hurricane season just to be there the rest of the year! This was our amazing beach house! Some day I'll live next to a beach.
These were our awesome roommates! That weekend I made some wonderful friends.
But the best sister in the world made the weekend great! I am four years older than her but everyone thought she was the older one. That's okay I guess that means when we're both older wishing we looked young I'll at least look younger than her! :)

Best Summer Day Gift

This summer I have fallen in love. They say love is one of those things that kind of becomes an addiction. I have to get my fix. I guess this is an addiction but an addiction that I am in love with. I LOVE 7 Eleven slurpees!!! Especially on days when the heat index is 110+ these things are a necessity. If you want to win my heart all you have to do is offer to take me to get one of these and I will be with you in a second! Luckily, on the date 7/11, their birthday, they give you free slurpees and I had to take advantage of it. I was busy all day so it was late but since they close late I made it and had a FREE slupree! Happy birthday 7 Eleven thanks for the best summer day gift!

Tabernacle Choir Concert

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is "America's choir". They are on tour of the east coast and we got tickets to go. My first thoughts were, I hear the tabernacle choir sing at least twice a year it really can't be that exciting. I was wrong, I joined some of my coworkers and friends and we made our way out to Wolftrap. We had tickets in the back on the grass which I loved! It was so fun sitting on the grass and enjoying the night.

The choir was AMAZING! They sang a bunch of fun songs ranging from African tribal songs to patriotic songs. Also included were their signature Come, Come Ye Saints and Battle Hymn of the Republic. It was awesome! Even better there were members of the church and non members alike there to enjoy great music! It was a great nice and it was fun to see the choir off of their normal stage and to be a little more casual. One thing that was really fun was when they sang an African Tribal song they swayed, clapped, and snapped all in perfect sync. To have 360 people all in perfect sync was pretty impressive!