Moving Home

Spring Semester has come to an end.

Which also means so did my lease.

Honestly, I am more excited to move home than I was to move out. I miss my family! Snapchatting and texting just isn't the same as seeing them in person. 
I have grown while I was away and I can't wait to be this new person around my family. I want them to see who I have become. I want them to be proud of me and the changes I have made.

Mormon Monday

Charity has been the emphasis in my life this past week.
We talked about it during institute and church.
Charity is defined in the Bible Dictionary as: "The highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love of Christ. It is never used to denote alms or deeds of benevolence, although it may be a prompting motive."
I have loved learning about charity because I saw how I could incorporate it into my life more. I want charity to be second nature.
In this video, I saw how simple it was for this little boy to give away his coat even though it was cold. He loved his coat but by loving his Savior he was able to bless someone's life. I see charity as acting the way the Savior would, with love and no regrets.


SURPRISE!

My dad is 50!

And we threw him a surprise party.

Did he see it coming?
Honestly, a little bit. He started to put some pieces together on the day of the party. We kept the secret for so long I am surprised he didn't figure it out sooner.

Dad: Greg

We had 82 people come. Most of those were there for the actual surprise. Because of bad weather is event was held mainly inside. It was crazy! But so much fun to have family and friends there to celebrate my father!

Happy Birthday Dad!!



The Journey Finding My Voice

Nine months ago I signed up for a non audition choir. That is where I felt I belonged because I didn't feel like my musical abilities were at a college level. On the first day of class I got the syllabus and I had noticed that I had already achieved the course objectives. That is when I knew I needed to get out. I talked to my professor and she told me I could try out for Women's Choir. I was waiting in the hallway with three other girls, trying to remain calm. I didn't have the chance to warm up which rattled my confidence. I walked into the room and luckily Professor Worthen understood my emotional imbalance. We talked a little bit about high school and previous music experience. Then I sang. I did well until the fourth sight reading. Accidentals (sharps and flats) up the wazoo. I tried the line three times and no success. We laughed and moved on. She told me an email would go out that night for callbacks. I got an email and my name was on the list so I attended class the next day. Audition part two. I was placed as an alto. What a shock this was. Singing alto requires chest voice. I used to not even know how to access my chest voice. It was a foreign action. I knew what it was but that was just about it. Being placed as an alto shook all confidence I had.How was I supposed to sing a voice part that I couldn't even access in my voice?

 
Before I go on I am going to tell you of an experience I had in All State choir my senior year of high school. There was an instructor named Kelly Dehann. He gave us a speech that went along the lines of finding your voice. Connecting with the soul and really singing. When I first heard this story I thought I had found my voice. Little did I know what was ahead of me. 

Back to UVU Women's Choir. I attended class and learned the songs. I learned quickly that I didn't belong there. As much I loved choir and singing, that choir just wasn't for me. I wasn't a music major. Personally I don't care about the frequency of vibrato or music theory. Those things just don't interest me. I just wanted to sing and I just wanted to love it. The first semester was rough. I had limited friends. As in two. I had two friends in a class of sixty. That made the concerts rough because I didn't have many people to talk to.  

Spring semester rolled around and the choir got mixed up a little bit. Many people transferred in and out of the choir. I lost one of my friends. I was down to one friend in a choir of sixty. What was worse, this particular friend had a habit of not coming to class. At Choir Retreat I was an invisible girl. Everyone talked as if I wasn't there. It was hard and I even escaped to have a breather moment. That is when my Professor asked "Heidi, how are you doing today?" I was surprised she knew my name. With everything she has to deal with, knowing my name seemed like the last thing. But she did know my name, and she did care. That is when I decided I needed to try and make choir a good experience because Professor Worthen believed in my enough to let me in the choir.

Days passed by, classes continued. I started talking to girls around me. Nothing pass small talk but eventually they started to know my name. We would smile at each other in the hall. It was starting to turn around. I enjoyed choir. Well, as far as someone who isn't a music major could enjoy a major course.

 

Back to finding my voice as Kelly Dehann had suggested. Spring semester I tried to explore my voice. I didn't find my voice until I memorized the song Untraveled Worlds. It was the last song we learned during Spring Semester. When I sang this song I sang it with my soul. This song was about the journey of life. Honestly, I was exhausted by the time I was through singing it because I gave it all, physical and mental. A whole year and half later from the time Kelly Dehann told me to find my voice, I actually found it. It is still a work in progress but I know why choir was supposed to be in my college class schedule.

 

Now choir has come to a close. This week I walked from my last choir class andI turned in my music folder. I started to choke up because this class that seemed never ending had come to an end and I wasn't ready. I had many ups and downs in choir, but I will be a cherished memory for me when I think about my college experience at UVU.

 

My Life as of Late

What have I been up to?

Honestly, homework and job searching is where a lot of my free time goes. Well that and reading books.

I have been preparing for moving back home. I have been taking things back slowly. I am still trying to figure how I will fit everything back into my room.

I said goodbye to my first roommate. She moved back to California a couple weeks ago. She is going to move to Hawaii with Melissa for the summer.

Heidi & Brittani

Camille got her mission call. She is going to the Tempe, Arizona mission: Spanish Speaking. That brought some excitement to our apartment. She leaves for the Mexico MTC on August 13.

 

My summer plans? I will be working and spending time with my family. Some big things are happening: marriages and travels. Pretty exciting.

Mormon Monday

#BecauseofHim

Because of Him.

In honor or Easter being yesterday I am going to talk about  my Savior.

This past week was hard. I have been dreading this week since the semester started. I had a research project, two oral presentations, five papers, and two tests. That was a little more than my mind was wanting to handle. It tested me on many levels. I didn't want to stress about the end of the semester, but I did anyways. I saw this video floating around Facebook, everyone had "hashtagged" the video Because of Him. Then they wrote what they can do because of the Savior. This helped me refocus during the week. During my breaks from homework I was thinking about everything my Savior has done for me. I came up with a mighty long list but I'll only list a few:
Because of Him-
~I got through this past week. He gave me motivation when I had none.
~I get to be with my family forever. While living away from home I have come to appreciate my family because I see how they influence you even when they aren't around.
~I get to be forgiven for all my wrong doings.
~Everything will be alright in the end.
~I get to go to the temple. Which is a blessing in itself living near so many temples.
~I get to be happy when times are sad because I always get a second chance.

I love Easter because we really focus on the resurrection of Christ. Why do I love that?
Because He Lives.  And that statement feels me with joy.

Mental Break Downs

Mental break downs. We all have them. I just happened to have mine at school. I had just printed my paper for my English class. I was casually sitting on the bench in the WB Building. All of the sudden I had tears in my eyes. Luckily I kept them at bay. I just sat there thinking of every single little thing that has to get done. From my papers, presentations, tests, and lets not forget moving out. After about five minutes of complete despair, I felt better.

It had been awhile since I have had a mental moment.

Andy Grammer

Andy Grammer had a new song come out recently and I am in love with it! I can't wait for his entire album which is coming out this summer.

Mormon Monday

General Conference-April 2013

 

It is all over the internet.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints had their 184th Annual Conference.
Personally, I could go through and talk about my favorite talks and quotes, but I am not going to do that. Instead, I am going to talk about my experience that not many people had.
Every conference there are protesters. We see them on the news. Basically they are telling you that the things you believe in are all lies. About five years ago the Prophet and Apostles of the Church decided that the protesters were taking away the Spirit as people were walking to and from conference. The solution they came up with was having people line the side walk and sing hymns.
My roommate Brittani volunteered our apartment to participate.
We lined the side walks and sang hymns. Starting at the beginning of the book and just working our way through. At first it was a little silly.  We were singing to nobody. Eventually people started walking through. Some would smile at us, and others would sing along. Occasionally people would join us by standing at the end of the line. The Spirit was amazing. The weather wasn't the best condition. It was cold. And raining. Yet, as long as I was singing with my heart I didn't feel cold. I had goose bumps but not from the chill. They were goose bumps of the Spirit.
Because of the singing I missed the Sunday Morning Session. At first that made me sad that I wasn't going to be able to listen live. But when I started singing, I didn't care. I knew that I would be able to listen to it later. I was doing service that was a rare opportunity. It was an unforgettable experience.
 As an added bonus I was able to attend the Afternoon Session. That was a cool experience in itself. Being in the Conference Center there was no distractions of the outside world.

I guess what I am trying to say is Conference is the greatest highlight to my year. I look forward to each session every six months. To review this conference and past conferences visit LDS.ORG.

Singers & Protesters

 

Vent Session

I was getting ready to vent. Let it all out.

Except my bucket list says I am trying to be more like the Savior.

Honestly, this is the hardest thing I have tried in my life.

 

This is why:

I try not to gossip. It isn't really my thing to share everyone's business. Yet, I still listen to gossip. I haven't exactly eliminated it from my conversations. Even though I am not passing on the information I still like to hear it.

Venting. That is my weakness. That is the thing that gets me every time. With venting comes the problem of talking bad about someone. Even though venting makes me feel better, it is making me feel better at the expense of someone else.

 

Yesterday on my YSA Ward Facebook page, a member of the bishopric wrote this quote:

 

"There are some who feel that venting their personal anger or deeply held opinions is more important than conducting themselves as Jesus Christ lived and taught. How we disagree is a real measure of who we are and whether we truly follow the Savior." -Elder Quentin L. Cook

 

It was kind of like a slap to the face. The fact that I was feeling these harsh feelings in the first place really shows what kind of person I am deep down. That person deep down is the person that I need to change. This is me admitting  I have a problem. That is the first step to change.