Fireside - Elder Holland

     This weekend I had the delightful opportunity to hear Elder Jeffery R. Holland speak! Yes, he came in person to our small town, and I was so excited by it. They held a YSA (young single adult) fireside with him as the key speaker. I went to Jordon's after work, and hadn't realized the fireside was Saturday. Because I didn't have any appropriate clothes with me Jordon assumed I would just go home when the time came. But I wanted to stay and go to the fireside! So we went to Walmart and I quickly picked out an entire fireside-appropriate outfit. The only modest skirt I could see, a plain pink top, a slip (because the skirt was a bit thin) and the only decent looking/not-too-expensive shoes I could find.

     It was definitely worth it. I felt the spirit SO strongly. I don't imagine that anyone there didn't. We (Jordon, his cousin Dallon and I) got there an hour early and picked a bench three rows away from the pulpit. Each of us thought that he looked directly into our eyes at some point. Personally I am sure he did more than once. Everyone felt like he was talking to them. I felt like crying multiple times, but managed to keep it in. At the end of the meeting we talked about it, and it's clear that everyone was greatly edified and thoroughly uplifted.

     There is no way I can tell everything that he said, and what I will say will not leave near the impression that hearing it from him would. He was humorous in a way you don't see in conference, and also VERY powerful and almost harsh at times. He even slammed his fist down once. But I will say a few things. [And very unfortunately I did not have a notebook! When I got home I wrote down what I could remember. Luckily almost everything he said was so striking that it sunk in pretty well]. So here it goes. Not really in the order he said it, but in consistence with my own line of thought.

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      He quoted Virgil, and said it more than once, wanting us all to memorize the line."Endure, and save yourself for days of happiness ahead." He spoke a great deal about trials and pain, and about how why in spite of this we should be happy. He very forcefully told us that we are not ever allowed to think, when going through trials, that God does not love us. Coming from him that way I don't think I will ever dare to now! ALL of the prophets have suffered. Many of them suffered huge pain and trials that we will never come near to. The Savior himself suffered more greatly than any of us can come the tiniest bit close to imagining. Suffering is part of the law of sacrifice. We don't offer up lambs anymore obviously. Instead we have been commanded to offer a "broken heart and contrite spirit".

     All of our pain and our sorrow is part of the redemption process. And when we feel that we are broken, that our hearts are broken, we need to offer them up to the Lord. We need to go to the Lord and put our trust completely in Him (Proverbs 3:5-6. He said President Monson mentions this scripture very often). And when we offer our broken hearts to the Lord He will give them back to us whole and perfect. Just as the Savior in His resurrection. Elder Holland told us that the Savior literally died of a broken heart. I think I already knew this, but it never really stuck. As he told us about this it was one of the moments where I could barely keep tears from slipping out. It is so beautifully sad and painful to me, to know that my Savior died of a broken heart, after bearing the burden of my pain and sins, and the pain and sins of all those I love.

     He stressed that we should never despair if we feel broken and imperfect. God loves broken things. No matter how broken you think you are. Can anyone who understands the atonement (as much as humans can understand) really despair? Is Christ's perfect sacrifice not enough to save us all? The Lord already knows what we are. Every imperfection and lingering pain or regret. He has felt it. And still He has told us that through Him we will be saved if we endure, and remain faithful. And He has promised us that, even though there are times when it doesn't seem possible to us, if we are faithful He will shape us to carry whatever load we are given. And we will be happy. Why do we ever doubt ourselves? We are God's children! He has told us that He will qualify us, and that should be enough for us. We don't have any reason to be afraid.
     Elder Holland talked about when Jesus calmed the sea. He was sleeping through a storm that was so bad even expert fishermen were afraid for their lives. He must have been so tired. And after he rebuked the sea, he also rebuked the disciples. How could they think they would drown with the Savior there to protect them? He would never have let them perish and they should have known it. They should have been able to lie down and sleep next to him, and know that all would be well.

     He has the power to control wind and waves. He certainly can take care of us. 

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Those are the main things I took away from it. He also told us in no uncertain terms that we need to be adults. And that if any of us are on the fence about something that we know we need to do, to just suck it up, quit being afraid, and do it. Missions, marriage, children, or whatever the choice is at our stage of life.

     I wish I could completely share the entire experience with all of you, and have you feel what I felt. I want everyone to know what I know from it. I am sorry I fail to communicate effectively. I feel so blessed to have heard from an apostle of the Lord, and I want everyone to feel that blessing. But I can't give away experiences. All I can say is, make sure you are prepared to feel the Spirit at this upcoming conference, and NEVER pass up an opportunity to hear from a living prophet seer and revelator. 

<3 Tiffany Alaine



PS I was also lucky enough to hear from him again today at a Stake Conference. Perhaps later I will share some thoughts from that. I could listen to that man speak all day long.

Some Things That I Like

     Hey everyone! I just want to post a few random things. First of all as you probably saw on my Facebook (if you are my friend) I gave myself winged cat eye liner today. I have always liked winged eyeliner, but for some reason I haven't ever done it on myself. Well yesterday when I was at Jordon's house and was wearing heavier eyeliner than usual he told me that sometime for fun I should wear "egyptian" eyeliner. So today I tried it. I will of course have to do it sometime when I am actually going to see Jordon, so he can see it properly. But anyways I wore it with gold eyeshadow and some red lip gloss and I really liked it. :)

Cat Eyes

     Also here is my nerdy little robot necklace that I have been wearing the last few days. Yes I admit that I am a little bit of a nerd. I love my little robot.

Little Robot

      I also like nerds. Which explains this next picture. I love him too. Even more than the robot. :D I just really like this picture for some reason. And just in case he reads this: Jordon, hi! Yep I stole your picture and posted it on my blog. What a girl thing to do right? So what!

Jordon at Yosemite

      Just wait until I have a camera. I will be posting tons of pictures!

     Oh and I have to speak on Sunday, and wasn't given a topic. I am having a hard time knowing where to start to start. And I almost just put wear instead of where. ???

     Have a happy week people!

My Tips for Scripture Study

On Sunday one of the speakers in Sacrament meeting gave a talk about scripture study. To be honest I was trying to pay attention, but it didn't all really sink in. But yesterday I was inspired by a great friend to become a little bit more passionate about the gospel than I have lately been. After all, there aren't too many people in the world who are blessed with such amazing truth as I have. As I read mu scriptures this morning I actually started to think of my own scripture study "tips". I wrote them down. So here are some of my observations that can hopefully help some of you in your own effort to become closer to the gospel. (no they are not in any specific order, I just wrote them down as they came to me).

• Study and Ponder - I do think that just reading the Book of Mormon or the Bible all the way through is good in it's way. It helps you gain a big picture and get the consistent "story" of it all. But always at least have some kind of highlighter, or even better a notebook and pen, with you so that you are ready to highlight things that jump out at you and be ready to write down impressions of the Spirit. Sometimes he will only tell you once, and he won't be willing to give you more unless you are ready to receive it.

So take time to STOP AND PONDER what you are reading.

• Pray First - First of all, pray for understanding. Because yeah, the scriptures can be hard to understand sometimes. And this idea is one that I remember from Sunday- Think of a question, and ask it in your prayer. Then as you read you can look for answers to that question. For example, what is my purpose? What goals should I be working toward at this time in my life? What does repentance mean? Or something specific to your own problems and/or circumstances.
• Have a pen and paper with you, and MARK THINGS - I already said a little about this, but I'll say it again. The Spirit will be more willing to give you knowledge if he knows you are open and ready to receive it, and WRITE IT DOWN. And yes, mark things! Write in the margins of your scriptures! It is more than a book, it is a study guide to life, so use it that way. You will get more out of it. Oh yeah, and put the date on it each time you write. It can become a kind of journal. Two birds with one stone, yeah!
• Don't count time - This is something that I have discovered helps me. Don't sit down and think, "ok, I think I'll study for 10 minutes". There is no need to watch the clock. There is no specific amount of time you need to read for. The important thing is that you get something out of it. So sit down with your pen and paper, and see what wonderful things you can find! If you are thinking about time, you won't be focused on what you should be focusing on.
• Use study guides - If you are doing fine without them then sure that's great. But I personally feel that they really help, especially if you are having a hard time focusing, or knowing where to start. I have started to use 'Preach my Gospel' at least sometimes when I study. But make sure you actually actively read it, do the exercises, and look up the scriptures(even if part of it is quoted in the text). And mark things in the guide as well as the scriptures. You can also use a gospel principles book, or a seminary study guide (even if you aren't in seminary. My mom likes to use them sometimes), or whatever else you can find.
• Read out loud - It can be hard to focus sometimes. I know that there are many times when I am just reading, and then suddenly realize that I am getting nothing out of it, and don't even really know what I am reading about. It helps me to read aloud. That way my brain is processing it through using my mouth to say the words, as well as my ears to hear the words, plus my mind thinking the words as I read.
• Make yourself do it - We shouldn't have to do this of course, but for everyone there are times when you just do not want to do it. And I find that the longer I go without reading my scriptures the less and less I actually want to do it. So just MAKE YOURSELF sit down for at least a few minutes and read them. If you have to treat it like a chore then so be it. Just do it enough that it turns into a habit. Set an alarm into your phone, post notes all around reminding you to do it, or whatever you have to do. But just do it! And after a while you won't have to make yourself.
• Carry them with you - Of course you don't have to, but if you are on the go a lot, or find it hard to make time for reading (and who doesn't?) then any spare moment is better than nothing. I carry a mini one with me in my purse(you can get a mini b.o.m for $4 at the distribution center). So if you are stuck somewhere waiting for someone, on the bus, out and about and stopped for lunch . . take it out and read a little.
• Save your notes and read them - You know that cute little notebook that you bought for your scripture study notes? Well don't just leave it laying in your scripture bag for next time you read. If you have a problem and you are praying for an answer, get your notes and read through them, and maybe you will be struck by something written there. Maybe you can add to what you already have and gain a little more understanding of what you were studying earlier (remember "line upon line, precept upon precept"), take the notebook with you to conferences, to church, to firesides, on vacation, or wherever you may go. Always be ready to write in it, or at least have it with you in case you need it to receive a little spiritual enlightenment.
• Pray pray pray!- This time I don't just mean before you read your scriptures. I mean at the beginning of the day when you tumble out of bed, or in the middle of the day, or at the end of the day. Or all three! Pray for meekness, and understanding to aid you in seeking and finding knowledge as you read. And also for the Spirit to be with you to call the knowledge from your mind at times when you need it throughout your day. And definitely, pray that your love of the scriptures and willingness to study them will increase, especially if you are struggling with it. Pray for an increase in testimony. "Seek and ye shall find", I know to be absolutely true.

Follow these tips, or at least some of them, and find your own ways to get the most out of your studies. I know without a doubt that God is real, and that the scriptures are true. And I know that if you make your best effort to make them a part of you life that you will be blessed beyond what you even thought you could. Life is hard, no matter who you are, and without the Lord's guidance in our lives we can't make it. We CAN NOT make it on our own. And why would we want to? God is always there to help us, and he want to help. So why not let Him? Personally I am SO grateful to have an all powerful, loving, perfect Father in Heaven to help me out whenever I want to call on Him. That is such an amazing blessing! I just want to do everything I can to be closer to Him, and pay him back just a teeny tiny bit for all He has done and continues to do for me.

D.O.T.S!

I went to relief society for the first time today. It was a little weird. But the ladies are nice, even if they aren't anything close to my age, and it is nice to know that we always have the gospel in common, if nothing else. We were given a bookmark and a little baggie of Dots candies (which I love by the way), and reminded to Depend On The Savior. :) I thought that was really cute. And now I have another reason to love one of my favorite candies.

Just one more thing that I wanted to share. This is something I heard at Stake Conference a few week ago. I don't really know where it originally came from, but I like it:)

The Fellowship of the Unashamed

I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit's power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made -- I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless plans, chintzy living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my way is narrow, my way rough, my companion few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I can not be bought, compromised, detoured lured away, turned back, diluted or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifices, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work until He stops me. And, when He comes for His Own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear.

Romans 1:16

Oh yeah, and, my wonderful friend Nannie (yes, that's the gorgeous girl in the picture above) is GONE!!! :( I will miss her. But I am happy for her.

Seminary Graduation

Hey all! Yesterday was the last day of school for me and all of my senior friends. Yay! I signed a bunch of yearbooks, and then Preston and Kenzie and Jordon and I all stayed out late and watched a movie at Jordon's house. :)

With graduation comes also - Seminary Graduation! Yep! After four years of it I am finished! Seminary Graduation for the three combined stakes in my area is on May 16, (Sunday) 2010 at six pm. I will be speaking (for about three minutes, along with probably almost everyone else) and Jordon is playing a piano solo. Haha, hopefully he has it down by then because he didn't have much time to practice. So to all of my friends and family all of you please feel free to come! There will be refreshments after the program. :) If you are interested let me know.
<3 Tiff

stuff

I am doing a post in between conference sessions right now. So far I have really liked President Utchdorf's talk the best, but there are still more to hear! So I am not going to write a bout that yet.

I have a choir concert tomorrow at my school. We get out of our two last classes so that we can practice before the concert (which is at 6 pm I think). I will get to wear my pretty, sparkly, red and black choir dress for the first time! Yay! And I am excited to sing the songs that we have been practicing. I am wondering how well we will do. I don't know if the way practice goes can really help me determine how the actual performance will be. We are singing a bunch of awesome Latin songs, along with a bunch of other pretty stuff.

Spring Break is almost here. And I am excited for that. After it's over there will only be a little bit of school left until SUMMER! Whoo hoo! (well, a "little bit" compared with the rest of the school year). I like school, and in a way I think I will miss it when it's over. But also the long break will be SO nice. And of course I will have to go back next year anyways.

Also: I get a car! Yay! I am SO very excited! I don't know what kind of car yet. But I can't wait! It is true that I cannot yet legally drive it on my own. (I'll be eighteen in 10 months and I still don't have my license). But that problem can be solved! And I am not too worried about it. Although I am a little scared of the driving instructor at my school. He is also my choir teacher. I like him mostly, but he is a little intimidating to me. =P Oh well, it will be worth it when I am done. License + car = Freedom! Well ... sort of. Close enough, for now.

Well, that is all I can think to write about right now. Maybe after the last session of General Conference I will have more to say.

Just things....

Ok so it has been a long time since I have posted anything. I can't really sum everything up, but I will try.... =)
First of all, a very late Merry Christmas! It was pretty good for me. I got some nice new art supplies, a green purse, a hula hoop, candy, etc.....
And a late Happy New Year! For New Years Eve I went to visit my mom's family in Orem. It was cool. I got to see Aunt Kris and Uncle Miles, and Uncle Trenton and Aunt Melissa and their beautiful daughter Bailey! I did not go to our multi-stake dance, but I heard that it was not that great, so I am perfectly ok with it now. My New Years resolution is to read the Book of Mormon in Spanish. I have other goals too, but that is the official one.


Last week in YW we had a lesson on having a relationship with our Heavenly Father. It was nice. There are two quotes we read that I liked...

"I would charge you to say again and again to yourselves, ... 'I am a daughter of God' and by so doing begin today to live closer to those ideals which will make you life happier and more fruitful because of an awakened realization of ho you are." ~ Harold B. Lee

"The truth is ... man is a child of God---a god in embryo. ... That man is a child of God is the most important knowledge available to mortals." ~ Marion G. Romney

I especially like the last one. I have pondered myself the fact that knowing we are children of God is the most important thing we can know. If we know that we have no limits. Anything will be possible for us if we really know that, and if we seek the Lord's help in all things.

Last thing I must mention.... Christmas break has been great, but, *sigh*, now it is over. I have to get up early, and I have to ride the stupid, cold bus. It is nice to see my friends almost every day again though. And I am now in the acapella (mixed) choir yay! I'm really glad because I was in a terrible choir. The one for kids who don't care and just need credits to graduate. I don't even care about the credits! But my choir teacher asked me if I would be interested in switching into one of the others. What I said was, "Yes I would like to if I can." What I was thinking was, "YES!!!!" But it was only on the days that I am not there, so now I have to go to school for just one class on the other days. How insane is that! I am wondering if that was a good choice, but it is done now. And I also have an interior design class now. And I switched seminary periods to make it work. So now Megan, and Nathan and Jordon are all in my seminary class. That's cool because I have never had seminary with any of them before.

Now I am ready for summer vacation! Sigh, oh well. Only about five months left. And I can't think of anything else that I can talk about so yeah.... Oh! Except that my YW president put me in charge of New Beginnings so that I can count it towards my Personal Progress. I have to plan the entire thing! SO if any one has ideas to help me with that would be great!

Jon Schmidt!

Alright everyone, I know it has been SO long since I posted anything. Sorry. But now I have decided on a couple of things that I want to post about.

Ok, first of all, how many of you have heard of Jon Schmidt? If you haven't then now you have. He is AMAZING! Last night I went to a concert of his. And it was so much fun! My friend Jordon knew I would love it, so one day he called me and said- "guess what!? I Got some Jon Schmidt tickets!" (it would have been sad if I'd had something important to do that day. Luckily I did not). So I went!

Anyway, it was amazing. Well, it was in my opinion. That is just the sort of thing I LOVE. The fact that I play piano probably has something to do with it. Jordon also plays. He's pretty good. But Jon Schmidt is brilliant! He makes me feel very inspired and inferior at the same time. Although he told all of the young piano players in the audience that even if you think you only have half a talent you should never give up.

We sat in the third row, so we were close. In my tiny town of course it was not a huge concert, but for here there were a lot of people. And I liked it small. At one point Jordan (another guy from my school.That one is spelled with an 'A' instead of an 'O') yelled "I love you!!!" Jon Schmidt sat there for a minute and then answered "Well I love you too, but I hope you don't mind if I see other audiences." Everyone laughed. It was hilarious.

It was a long concert, but I was sad when it was over. Jordon (not the one who yelled.) went and talked to Jon Schmidt afterward (he was standing out near the doors at the end). He says he's met him many times and he still doesn't know his name. He is Jordon's idol. I understand why.

So, the above video is one that I liked. Although it is nice to watch the ones where he plays only one song. Especially 'Waterfall', 'All of Me' and 'Tribute'. He played all of those at the concert and it was amazing. I can't decide which is my favorite. (if you decide to look any up on Youtube make sure you watch the ones where he is playing, and not some other person.).

Also the other day I was thinking about how much the church has been increasing and it fascinates me. Here are some statistics that I found as of 2002. There are much more now, but I could not find them.

Total membership at year end 11,721,548

Number of Full-time Missionaries 61,638

Converts baptized during 2002 283,138

Temples in operation 114 (i don't remember exactly, but aren't there 126 now? and more being built, including one in Rome Italy!)

In 2001 there were 11,394,522 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Here's the breakdown: (now I think it's around 13,000,000)

United States-5,208,827

South America-2,548,979

Mexico-884,071

Asia-750,478

Central America-472,038

Europe-412,907

South Pacific-363,875

Canada-158,511

Africa-153,565

Caribbean-115,610

So there's my blog post!

We are all wonderful!

I know I have been posting a lot lately, but I am posting again. This Sunday (today) in Sacrament meeting they made some pretty big changes. The relief society presidency was released and a new one was called. I knew some changes would be made, but I didn't know what, thus, I was in shock when our Young Women's president was called as one of the new counselors in the relief society. I was seriously sitting there with my mouth open for a minute. Then as she bore her testimony I cried of course. I simply was not expecting such a huge change. Because, obviously, this means we will have an entirely new Young Women's presidency.
I accept that this is the Lord's will, and it will be a good thing. But, wow, I don't know how they are going to be able to replace these wonderful women.

Also, in Young Women's, we had a lesson that I really enjoyed. Possibly the last one that our wonderful teacher will teach us =(. We talked about loving ourselves, and loving each other.
It was a great lesson for me, because I have sort of been pondering some of the things we talked about lately. I have been thinking about all of my friends. It is amazing how different, and yet still wonderful every one of them is. I am so grateful for them, and for the people they all are, and the choices they choose to make. They all have vastly different personalities, but each is gifted and fabulous in a way no one else can be. I sometimes think I am boring next to many of them. =) haha, but they seem to love me anyway.
And, I have noticed that the older I get, the more I value righteousness. It is so refreshing to meet someone who loves the Lord, and who holds high standards. Virtuousness is SO important, we cannot even comprehend it. I can see how true it is that when we choose to live the commandments we truly are lights to those around us. A young women or young man who respects themselves and God is to be admired beyond any.
We do not understand how great our worth is, how vast our potential is, and how much our Father in Heaven loves each of us. We should never put ourselves, or others, down. Instead, we need to remember who we are, and remember that every single person, no matter who and what their circumstances, are children of God. I believe that that knowledge is the most powerful that we can ever have. And yet every child can know it. If we truly understand that, our divine potential, nothing is impossible for us. Really, what are our limits? It's like when you stand and look in a mirror with another one behind you. You can see that it goes on endlessly, but there is one thing blocking your view. And that is yourself.

I just want to remind everyone of how wonderful you all are. And let everyone know how grateful I am for my friends and family. I don't know what I would do without them.

"How blessed I am from up above
With God and friends and joy and love.
No money can buy these gifts of mine
I'm a daughter of God, and I'm divine!"

General Conference October 2008

Conference is over, and of course it was wonderful. We had to watch it on our computer, and it kept freezing up. However we managed to catch most of it. But.... =( we missed Elder Holland's talk (cry). But I shall read the entire thing when it comes out in the Ensign, so I'm not tooo sad, although i was at the time as Elder Holland always gives one of my favorite talks.
So, on the the main point. I am just going to express some things that stuck out to me. The entire thing was wonderful, but these are the parts that most impressed me personally. Forgive me if I do not describe everything well, I can't look it up because it's not on the LDS website yet.

#1 - I loved Sister Elaine Dalton's (general Young Women's President) talk. The whole thing was wonderful. But what I loved most about it was how she talked about being virtuous. How we don't realize how much it affects us and those around us. Someone who is virtuous has a confident and good countenance that others notice. They are prepared to face this world, and yet stand strong for what they believe.

#2 - another thing that impressed me was, not a talk, but one of the prayers that was given. I do not remember what one, but I think it was the closing prayer of the second session (anyone feel free to correct me on that). What impressed me was how short it was, and yet powerful. I was preparing myself for another long one, but it was over before I was ready for it to start. The man who gave it said something like "thank you for this conference and the messages we have received. Please help us to do it". And that was it. Wow. If I was asked to give the prayer in General Conference, in front of the entire church, including the prophet and general authorities, I would have thought about it a ton, and organized in my mind what I was going to say. This prayer was an example to me of how I should be. The Lord tells us not to think on things before-hand, but simply to store up in our minds the things that He has taught us, and then when the time comes He will give us what we should say. We do not need to dazzle or impress people, we do not need to be eloquent, or even to think too much about what we should say. We simply need to speak the words that He wants us to speak, and that is enough.

#3 - Of course I loved President Uchtdorf's talk. He spoke of hope. Along with faith, and charity. Hope is what sustains us when we have nothing else to hold on to. When our faith is fading, it strengthens us and keeps us going. And when we have had our faith strengthened our faith gives us charity. Because we want to share the joy of it with others. The one thing that especially struck me was when he said something about how if we could get just one glimpse of the life ahead of us, meaning our Celestial life, we would have a perfect hope, and not any doubt left in our hearts. I think he shared a scripture with it. And he said that fear and faith can not exist in us at the same time. Which makes perfect sense, because they are exact opposites. Christ had perfect faith, and no fear.

#4 - It struck me that the entire conference seemed to have this one theme (along with others). Unity. More than ever we are being told that we need to be one (if we are not one we are not Christ's). Basically we need to build up Zion. ("and the Lord called His people Zion, because they were of one mind and one heart and dwelt in righteousness and there were no poor among them" is that in Moses? It's a scripture mastery so I should know...). An interesting message in these difficult times. We need to prepare. Maybe we have 150 or 70 years left, but maybe we just have 3 or 4. Really nobody knows but God.

#5 and the last thing I am going to mention - as always, I was struck by the power and authority of the Prophet of the Lord. Every conference, with President Hinckley before, and now President Monson, I receive a renewed knowledge that they truly are prophets of God. It is unmistakable to me. The prophet has a countenance that sparkles with personality, humor, knowledge, humility, sincerity. I love to here the prophet speak. When he speaks, everyone listens, and everyone is enlightened. I feel safe when I know that a living prophet of God is here to guide us. No matter how the world goes around us, his guidance is firm and safe. It is the word of the Lord. I know for sure that Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet in that Latter Days.

For all of you who missed it [conference], I encourage you to go to www.lds.org and watch it (it's right on the front page). Or wait for the Ensign and read it. I promise that if you hope to be inspired by it you will be.

Youth Fireside

Last Sunday we had a Stake Youth Fireside. (for my non-LDS friends that does not mean we lit a bon-fire, it is just a church meeting. I have no idea why they call it a fireside). It was really great. I enjoyed it a lot. I was the lucky person who got to lead/conduct the hymns. Because my Stake YW president knows I know how. But at least I didn't have to be a youth speaker like TJ and Kristina did! They both did an excellent job. Kristina spoke on how young women can support the Priesthood and encourage young men to go on a mission. And TJ spoke on how youth can strengthen each other. Then the second counselor in our Stake Presidency spoke. I remember two things distinctly out of all he said. And let me assure you that they express his personality perfectly.

First: He said that there are three kinds of people in this world.
1. the kind who make things happen
2. the kind that watch things happen
3. the kind who stand there afterward and wonder what happened.

Funny, but true. Haha, I love it.

The second thing is this:
So, according to President W. if a missionary has a girl who he likes when he leaves for a mission this is how he tells how much she likes him.

After half a year if she is still writing to him she thinks he's ok.

After a year if she is still writing to him she likes him.

After a year and a half is she is still writing to him she loves him.

And if she is waiting for him at the airport when he comes home after two years.....

nobody else wanted her!
Hahahahaha! I think that is funny. Not true exactly, but funny.

Ok, then our Stake President Spoke. He is always a great speaker. He talked about how they used to have a spinning wheel thing at Lagoon, and how it is like life. The kids who tried to get close to the edge always get thrown off and hit the wall (which, unlike the ride, in life hurts). And usually they grab someone to pull off with them. So we should stay in the middle where we are safe.

Oh yes, and some of the young men sang a nice medley of hymns. It is nice to hear young men sing, I likes it. Especially cause they don't do it often. And hymns just seem especially great to me when guys sing them.

Then we had ice cream in the cultural hall while we socialized. Yay! What fun! And since Cody is thirteen and in young men's now he got to come too! Lucky him!

Well, I hope ya'll enjoyed my slightly random post. =D

Antique show, white horse, and Oxford!

Alrighty everyone, here are some more pictures of my lovely vacation. We did some fun things his week but still have an entire week to go, so don't get tired of it yet! We went to an antique show in Newark (I think). It was quite fun, especially because I have never been to one. Although it didn't last as long as it was supposed to. =( I still had time to find some little trinkets for myself and my family. I don't know if you can see, but the glass bangles I am wearing are some of them. (sorry Cody, Kota, and Chey, but you don't get to know what anything else is until I get home!)

Then one day (can't remember which) we went to see the Vale of the White Horse. It's a big chalk horse on the side of a hill. Here are some sheep we saw up there.

Part of the horse, as well as mom and I. Don't we look cold? Well, I know I was. It was wet, and foggy, and windy. (so much for my hair that day). But it was still kind of cool walking on an English moor in true English weather. A true experience!

Pretty isn't it? And Aunt Kris is too of course. (she doesn't think so in this picture. =) )

Then on Monday while Kristy and Miles were both at work my mom and I wandered Oxford on our own. We had to ride a bus into the city with Aunt Kris, then we were stuck there until she was done working. Here is us!

One of the first things we did was walk to the Bridge of Sighs. I don't really know what it is, but it's cool.

I don't remember what this building is called, but we were impressed by it.

I don't like my smile in this pic.

This is Saint Mary the Virgin Church. Aunt Kristy told us to go and climb the tower there, and we were glad we did! We went early so it wasn't crowded.

We had to pay 3 pounds each (I think)[that's about six dollars each] to climb up this freaky old winding staircase. It was so cool! It was very steep and small, so I felt like I might fall backward at any moment.

And we made it to the top! Here we are on top of the church steeple!

The view was wonderful, and of course we took many pictures from each side. See all the spires? Aunt Kris says that Oxford is known as 'the City of Dreamy Spires'. So romantic!

Typical British weather. Quite lovely though....

Myself looking at a cool old statue of one of the saints.

Then we went inside the church. It was very beautiful. I really liked this stained glass window because of the especially rich bright colors.

But this big window is the one that took my breath away! the picture does not do it justice. But see the shapes?

Here is me taking pictures of the beautiful big window. (all of these pics are from the camera my mom was using. You'll get to see mine after I come home.)

We went to an antique shop. There was a little room full of old books. Some were worth so much that they were behind glass. I enjoyed browsing here for a while, even when my mom was done. I love old books!

This is the front of Saint Mary's church (the one with the tower we climbed). I loved the spiral pillars.

This is a cool door that I had to take a picture of. I used mom (aka Aunt Kristy's) camera so that I could blog it. You will see the rest of my wonderful collection later.

Aunt Kristy took us to Christ's Church during her lunch break. This church was huge, with big walls, and a little meadow and everything! It was also beautiful, but we did not go inside. We ate lunch on the grass. I loved all the ivy and these fabulous windows.

Then we walked back to Aunt Kristy's work with her. We went the long way so that we could see the cool back roads.

Isn't this alleyway awesome?! There was an old tavern at the end of it that Kris wanted to show us.

Then my mom and I went to a museum that we found out was closed. We were really tired then (been walking all day) so we sat on some steps there while I fed potato chip (or crisps as they call them here) to a pigeon. It was surprisingly entertaining. He got pretty close a few times.

We saw this really cool old building. See how it leans over the street? BTW, this is one of the crowded tourist streets.

And then when Aunt Kris was done working we all went home tired and with achy feet, and I was SO hungry. But it was awesome wandering through Oxford and just exploring. And I caught sight of a lot of cute guys. But I shall never see any of them again, so it matters not.

It was also cool to hear all the different accents and languages. Oxford gets a lot of visitors from many countries (especially European). I'm sure I heard some Italian, German, and French. As well as Spanish, Chinese, and Korean! And English of course, both British and American. Wonderful!

Love you all!

Tiff

Chey's B-day/baptism

Ok, I know people have been waiting for me to do this post. And now I'm finally getting to it!
My sister Cheyenne turned 8 on the 20th of this month (July). And so, on the 26th she was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We had some family and friends come for it. Nothing too big or fancy. But it was fun, and of course Chey got extra special treatment. She had to be dunked twice, because the first time her foot came up. Haha! Mom gave the talk on baptism, and I did the one on the Holy Ghost. Here is a picture of Chey before her dunking! Those jumpsuits are not very fun to wear (in my opinion) but she looks good in it! Wait until you turn twelve Chey, then you get to wear one at least once or twice a year!

Chey with her (and my) daddy. Of course Dad baptized and confirmed her. Yay!

One of the only pictures of me, because I had the camera most of the time. Not the best pic. I was, of course, the pianist.

Here is the beautiful cake that Aunt Stacy made for the occasion! She even made the candy tiara on top!

So so cute!

Chey with Ketchup and Fishy (aka Kendra and Felicia).

Chey with our soo cute cousin Emily.

Daddy and Grandma Terry! I like this picture.

An all American meal! MMmmmm

Kids on the tramp. TO be exact, Justin, Brendan, Krystel, Chey, Kota, and Felicia.

Chey opening her gifts. Sorry, I didn't take pictures of them.

None of us need this little bike anymore, so we gave it to Spencer. Now he uses it for his motorcycle. Wonder where he learned that!

Food! Krystel, Fishy, Kendra, Chey, Kami, and Grandma Hale.

Cousin Trevor, and Spencer. Spencer loved seeing himself in the view-screen. He kept saying, "look! Look that's me!"

Around the fire. Grandpa, Justin, Em, Victor, and Uncle Jeff. We roasted marshmallows, talked, and (some of us;hint) got embarrassed by our grandpa who MUST try and insist that poor sixteen year old guys really should join the army. Not to mention names or anything. (Yes, I still love my grandpa.) Enough said.

And I won't even say how aunts can embarras you. (and yes I still love you too Aunt Stacy.)

Nathan wrestling Kota on the trampoline. Don't worry, if anyone got hurt it would probably had been Nathan. Not the best thing to teach Kota. Haha, oh well.

And those are all the pictures! Sorry there was a smudge on the camera lens and we didn't notice until they were uploaded onto the computer. So some people may be slightly smeared.

I see now that I didn't manage to get pictures of everyone. Oops. But I did better than my mom would have! And next time will be even better. But to let everyone know, these where the people who came:

baptism

From our last bishops family (they are our friends now, even though he's not bishop anymore)

Bishop H-aka Ryan

Nathan

Krystel

Kami

Spencer

Family and relatives

All of my family of course

Grandma and Grandpa C

Grandma H

Aunt Stacy and Uncle Jeff and their kids-Trevor Emily and Victor

Bishop H (the current Bishop. They have the same last initial!)

And his wife Ramona

BBQ after Baptism

All of the before mentioned-as well as:

Kendra and Felicia

The twins, Justin and Brendan

So, happy birthday and congratulations Chey! I am proud of you and the choice you made to be baptized. Remember to be careful of how you represent the Savior and His church, and always be a good and sweet example to everyone. As I know you are.

Love you sister Tiffany.

Happy Birthday/baptism Cheyenne!

I know I didn't describe things very well in this post. So feel free to ask questions if you are confused.

YW Camp-2008!

I'm back everyone! And camp was great, as usual. Although I still think last year was my best so far. There is so much that happens at camp, so I probably won't mention to much besides just explaining the pictures. keep in mind that I'm camping in all of these, so don't just me by these pics! And, they are supposed to give us a slide show sometime of all the pics that were taken at camp. When I gat that I'll put it on here. Those are the cute pictures. It was Brandi's sixteenth birthday on the second day. And her favorite colors are bright pink and bright green. So Nannie and Micha gave her a basket full of random things in those colors. We sang to her sixteen times that day, "happy Birthday to you!...."

Adorable Nannie! This is when we were waiting for the younger girls, 2st-3rd years, to show up

Face painting was one of our first activities to welcome the younger girls. I got a butterfly!

This was the van I rode in an the way up. "honk if you like Mormon girls. party wagon." Isn't that funny?!

We each signed the windows too. "Tiffany Alaine is Fabulous!"

Cute little Kendra, our neighbor girl and Chey's friend. It was her first year.

Chelsea and I

Three of our adorable second years! Ashia (pronounced Asia), Mackenzie, and Felicia

Myself, Nannie, Brandi, and Shalisha (she's in Brandi's ward). I'm wearing Brandi's hoody in this pic, and Nannie and Brandi are wearing each others! If you look close you can see the names.

Our camp directors! Tina, Denise (the main camp director, head honcho) and Marie. Amazing ladies who do a ton! They are dressed like leprechauns in case you want to know.

For our craft we made little bears. Some said they look like cats and others sat they look like owls. I don't know what they look like. Nannie and Brandi made one for two of our leaders. The only ones left were made out of this funny green material. Apparently it frays easily and the arm was starting to fray. So they just stuck the arm into the body and sewed it shut. They did the same thing to the other leaders too, only with a leg. It was quite funny. Tina said she is going to bring hers to camp every year now.

On Thursday parents come up to eat dinner and watch the skits. My daddy had to work, but i was glad to see my mom and my sis Cheyenne. (BTW, do you like my YCL shirt?)

Brandi and Nannie and I got to be crayons of our favorite colors for the skit. Everyone who knows us knows that we love these colors. I actually have heard it said that Nannie has an obsession with yellow. Yes I was going to be a green crayon. But I was glad that when I got there the orange was the one I got to be.

Nannie had a very hard time getting up each morning, and Brandi would try to pull her out of her sleeping bag. Well, the last night Brandi was the one who wouldn't get up, and Nannie tried to get her out of her sleeping bag. She told Nannie to "just go back to sleep", so Nannie gave up and got back in the sleeping bag with her. Denise didn't think they needed to sleep anymore. So, she tickled them, and when they tried to hide she went and got a can of silly string. It was cold and stinky, and she emptied the entire thing on them. Then they got her back with one. Just when they thought she was defeated she came back and chased them around the lodger until another can was empty. It was a mess, but so funny!

You know the games where you have to sit or stand and sing a little song or chant while you do hand motion type of things? Usually I don't care for those games. This one is the only one I've found that I actually like. It's called 'concentration'. it has to do with remembering your number and everybody else's and not saying the number of people who are already our, and not messing up the rhythm. With about 30 girls it gets hard, but I'm pretty good at it. I took this picture after I finally got out and there were only a few left.

This is April. You can't really tell in this picture, but she has gorgeous hair. This was her last year at camp, and that sarcastic look in her eyes is one she uses often. She has a thing of glaring at people (only people she knows) until they look away or keep staring at her until she can't stare anymore. It's kinda funny.

On the last day, before we left, I got permission to take a walk by myself. I took these and a few other pictures. When i got as far as I knew I should go I stopped to say a little prayer and just ponder things for a while. It was very nice. Especially because you almost never get a private moment at camp.

I'll end by mentioning that my favorite activities are always the spiritual ones. I didn't get pictures of them, because I wasn't smart enough to go and get my camera before they started. The Faith walk and singing in the trees where combined this year. It was dark, and we had luminaries that said 'He lives' lit up by a picture of the Savior leaning against trees with a sheet that had a red light shining behind it. A man sang 'His Hands' and then we all sang 'I feel my saviors love" together. I don't know how many started crying, but I was one of them. We also passed a manger seen, and on of our leaders, Nicole, sang 'in this very room', changed into 'in this Grove of trees.' I think we all felt that He really was in that grove of trees.

Then of course, there is the testimony meeting. I have never been to a camp testimony meeting that I did not cry through. This one was no different. The same luminaries, along with some that said, 'testimony' and 'pray' were set up by the flag pole, and a huge fire was lit. We passed out a candle to each girl. Some were red, to symbolize Christ's blood. And some were white to symbolize that He still lives today. I sat with Brandi, and Nannie and Micha, all of us alone on one bench. With a blanket wrapped around us we sat there together and cried, and laughed, and cried some more. It is always so easy to feel the spirit at those meetings. Hearing your friends testimonies, bearing your own. I know the Lord heard them all, and they were each written by the angels in the Book of Life.

Each year at camp I have grown, at least a little. Each time in a different way. Some were a little hard. I was dealing with some emotions that were not easy to settle. Others I had more of a 'spiritual high' that made me feel like nothing could stop me. Last year was my best year, because it was the spiritual high. It was the year that I felt the Lord strongly with me almost at every moment. This year was a little more of the unsettled emotion that makes me feel emotionally delicate. I had been having that kind of feeling for a while, and camp just seemed to bring it forward. I still have a little of it, but I released a lot at camp, and I am working towards gaining that unbeatable "I can do it, because He is with me" attitude back. I am so grateful for my friends. They are the ones who made camp the growing experience that it was. And I don't know what it would have been without them.

There was much more that happened at camp, but I can't posibly tell it all. So you'll have to be content with that!