Dear Elder.

I'm kind of freaking out today. My little brother Steven recently got his mission call to Tempe, Arizona speaking Spanish! He's reporting to the MTC on July 5th - just two short days away. I'm feeling pretty sad that I don't get to see this guy for two whole years. 

Steven, you and I have had some great memories together over the years - sharing a room when we were little, playing Settlers of Catan, driving to high school together in the Weasel every day, picking you up from hospital when you broke your foot, jam sessions in the car, going to the temple with you, and many more.  Recently, one of my favorite memories is staying up half the night while you patiently taught me how to play Minecraft. I will also never forget how you were there for me when I had a really rough year.

Steven, I want you to know how much I love you! Things will be a lot different without you around, but I'm so proud of you and the decision you've made. You're going to be a totally awesome missionary! Those great people in Tempe, Arizona don't know how lucky they are.

Love you, Steve-O! We're gonna miss ya!

Your "Little Big Sister",

Mandy

...

Happy Easter!

 Last night, we had tons of fun coloring Easter eggs with these guys! It was my first time ever mixing up the dyes myself, and I was probably way too excited about it. John made an awesome egg that kind of looks like his face (pictured above). To get the letters, we used my Cricut to make vinyl stickers and put them on the eggs before we dyed them. My favorite egg I made was an ombre blue one. Can you spy a picture of it?

Church today was also absolutely wonderful. It reminded me of the true meaning of Easter. One of the speakers in Sacrament Meeting shared this story that I had never heard before. It really touched me today, so I thought I'd share it on the blog if you'd like to read.

Wait Three Days

On Easter Monday morning, I paused for a moment on top of the steps leading to the avenue, now crowded with people rushing to their jobs. 
Sitting in her usual place inside a small archway was the old flower lady. 
At her feet, corsages and boutonnieres were parading on top of a spread-open newspaper. 
The flower lady was smiling, her wrinkled old face alive with some inner joy.
I started down the stairs--then on an impulse, turned and picked out a flower.
As I put it in my lapel, I said, "You look happy." 
"Why not?" she answered. "Everything is good." 
She was dressed so shabbily and seemed so very old that her reply startled me.
"You've been sitting here for many years now, haven't you? And always smiling. You wear your troubles well." 
"You can't reach my age and not have troubles," she replied. "Only it's like Jesus and Good Friday..." She paused for a moment. 
"Yes?" I prompted. 
"Well, when Jesus was crucified on Good Friday; that was the worst day for the whole world. When I go through troubles, I remember that and then I think of what happened only three days later - Easter, and our Lord rose from the dead. So when things go wrong, I've learned to wait three days and somehow everything gets much better." 
She smiled good-bye, but her words still follow me whenever I think I have troubles...Give God a chance to help...wait three days.


--Author Unknown


In our primary lesson today, it mentioned that the news of Christ's resurrection was the best news the world has ever received. I'm so grateful for that news, and what it means for each of us. Hope you are all having a fabulous Easter!

a month of mini miracles!

This is so crazy, I just have to blog about it.

D and I have been having a lot of car problems lately. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. Since my last car issues post, there have been some serious (and expensive) brake issues on D's car, and some new tires plus an alignment issue on my car. So when D called me the other day to let me know his power steering had mysteriously gone out...it about sent me over the edge. We took it to a shop to get it diagnosed and they told us how much it would cost to fix it. It was...um...too much. So we drove the car home (sans power steering) to do some thinking.

This is where the miracle comes in.

I was, of course, complaining to my brother and my mom the other day about how many car issues we have had this year, and gave them the latest installment about D's poor car. My brother Tommy (who is about to win the brother-of-the-year award because of this story) reminded me that he is taking an auto shop class at Highland, and he offered to take the car there and see if they could fix it for free. We'd only have to pay for the part! I was excited. I told Tommy what was wrong so he could do some research, but what he found turned out to be even better than I imagined. While he was searching for information, he found out that there had been an unpublicized recall on several of Saturn Ion models that had the EXACT same issue that D's car had! Tommy compared the specs of D's car to those listed on the recall, called the dealership, and figured out all the details for us. The best news? Our car ended up qualifying for the recall, so they fixed the entire issue completely for free.

The way I see it, there are two morals to this story.

1. My little brother Tommy is the best person ever.

2. Miracles are real, but you can only experience them during the times when you actually need a miracle.

Lately, I've been thinking about how all of our trials are really just blessings in disguise. For example, if we hadn't had this car problem, we wouldn't have experienced a "mini miracle" that strengthened our testimonies and our faith. The things we go through, big or small, shape us into better people. We become more thankful, more prayerful, and more humble than we were before.

Other "mini miracles" from this month include:

Getting sick (twice!), and somehow not having to miss a single day of work or school. I'm also now thankful every single day that I can eat things without feeling sick, and that I can breathe out of my nose! I didn't appreciate those things enough before.

Having more homework than hours in the day, but somehow getting it finished on time. And even getting good scores! That's a miracle if I've ever seen one, but I wouldn't have experienced it if I hadn't had a ridiculous amount homework.

Buying 200ft of brown kraft paper (to wrap Christmas gifts this year) the very day before our candle incident. We needed that brown paper so badly to help us clean up the wax! I have no idea what we would have done without it. Coincidence? Nope. Mini miracle.

Waking up late on the day of an extremely important exam because my alarm didn't go off, but somehow making it to school in record time. If you live in Holladay, you know it's unheard of to leave your house at 7:17, and be parked at the U by 7:28. It hasn't happened to me again before or since.

So this month, we are grateful for mini miracles. Now that they've been on my mind lately, I keep seeing them everywhere. So look for mini miracles in your life! I'm sure you'll find more than you think :)

Spiritual Directory Assistance

I don't do a whole lot of spiritual posts on my blog, but when I saw this on a friend's blog, I thought it was worth posting. Just in case someone might need it. Sometimes life is really hard. We all need a little bit of "directory assistance" sometimes.

Whatever you're going through, just know that you can do it.

You aren't alone, even if it seems like it sometimes.

He is always there.

All we need to do is ask.

Sunday Blessings.

Just a few blessings I'm feeling grateful for this Sunday.

1. Our apartment.
I know what you're thinking, and you're right. There have definitely been a few moments where I have not been so grateful for our apartment. But after teaching the sunbeams "I am thankful for my home" today at church, I'm feeling happy that I have a clean, safe place to call my home. Living where we do has been a huge blessing in my life.

2. Education.
Education is so important to me, and I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to go to college to become a teacher. I'm grateful that I'll get to teach my own students once I graduate.

3. Sunday Dinners with Family.
Best. Thing. Ever. We get to have fun and spend time with our families, and eat fantastic home-cooked meals. (No matter how hard I try, I still can't cook as well as my mom or my mother-in-law).

4. Lean Cuisines.
An odd thing to be grateful for, but they really are a fantastic invention. They're pretty much my go-to meal to pack for lunch at school. Try the roasted turkey and apples - you won't regret it!

5. Daniel.
Seriously, what would I do without him? He's my greatest support. The past few weeks have been super stressful, and just when I think I can't take it anymore, Daniel steps in and tells me it's all going to be okay. And you know what? It will be. Especially when he cooks super-yummy homemade dinners for me (which are better than Lean Cuisines).

Oh, and one last thing:
Today, Daniel and I ended up sitting in the back of the chapel because we were running late. Little did we know, President Monson also prefers the back of the chapel. Daniel nudged me a few minutes into the meeting and I watched as the prophet himself took a seat right behind us. I could have reached out and touched him! It may sound silly, but I had never officially met the prophet before and I really, really wanted to shake his hand. When we got up to leave, I got my wish! The man sitting next to us introduced us to President Monson. I got to shake his hand!! He even told me that he liked my bag! Apparently yellow is his favorite color :). I'm still a little starstruck about the whole thing - can you tell? Other prophet posts here and here.