My Sunday

This Sunday was a very unusual Sunday. Starting with Saturday night, I stayed up ridiculously late and got up early Sunday morning to get good seats at a regional conference for church (happens no more than once a year, I'm positive). My roommates woke me up and helped coax me out of bed, fortunately, because I was exhausted. The messages from President Boyd K. Packer, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, and Sister Julie B. Beck were amazing and inspiring. I felt a tangible difference at this meeting from others I've attended with General Authorities present, and I don't know if I've just gotten more mature, or if I was just more spiritually in-tune today, or what it was. I understood more and I felt a deeper love and tenderness towards these leaders who put aside their professional lives and successful careers because God asked them to. Now I get to hear from them and get help in how to live my life happily. I took notes on the meeting in my journal. Elder Steven A. Snow talked about the importance of remembering; Sister Julie Beck explained how we're doing better than we think we are, but not as well as we could be, and how we can be better; Elder Jeffrey Holland shared stories of pioneer challenges and how the leading principle in their lives and our lives should be faith, and how we need to act on our faith to nurture and "build up the waste places of Zion", wherever they are; President Boyd Packer talked about choosing between God and Satan, and how the Holy Ghost can help us identify what is of Christ and to cling to it. After the conference, I and my roommates had several friends over for a Sunday lunch party; it was a lot of fun sitting around the living room with our sandwiches, swapping recent stories (and creating some new ones) and enjoying each other's company. (I love college). Later in the afternoon I had to go to work, and thus I ended up missing the young adult fireside that evening; I plan on watching it online tonight. Around 10pm, I went to tunnel singing (a tradition from my freshman year) with some friends, mainly because our friend was visiting from California and he came with us. I really enjoy tunnel singing - I love the chance to sing loud and strong (and consequently, more in tune than when I sing timidly), appreciate the hymns, and remember friends I used to attend with who are no longer available to come - and it was a good night to go. While I was there, I started to overthink my life a little bit (ask my mother - I used to do it a lot and stress myself out), but one of my guy friends stayed with me to talk for a while afterwards as we walked home. All in all, a bit different from my average Sunday, and I need time to digest and apply some of the things I learned, but it was good.


For some reason, as I was in this pondersome mood, I came up with this status for Facebook: 

Blessings aren't invisible brownie points that you accumulate and redeem after a lifetime when you get to heaven; rather, they are small, significant, real ways that your life is more functional and enjoyable, that affect you yesterday, today and tomorrow. Like snowflakes, they are individually beautiful wonders that combine into a beautiful, whole life. I'm grateful for all the little things that make life so great.

Since yesterday, four people have "liked" it and two have posted comments. It made me happy that I said something that mattered to people (who doesn't like that feeling, of "doing something right"? I think we should recognize it more often when we the good that others do, in their words, talents, love, etc). I really felt and believe what I said though - it hadn't corresponded exactly with my thought process at the time I wrote it, so maybe it was inspiration that someone needed to hear. 


A bit of news from Sunday was a determination that I came to. From henceforth, my laptop is named "Mark". Mark is going to be subject to similar rules about curfew/visiting hours that our male friends are subject to in our apartment (the same as the girls are subject to in men's apartments, for the record): Mark will not be allowed in the kitchen/living room area after midnight except for Friday nights when he may stay out until 1:30. After that, he needs to come back in my bedroom for the night (a difference from the standards for real men, who aren't allowed in the bedrooms, night or day). This is because I have a greatly increased tendency to stay on my computer for longer when my laptop is sitting in the kitchen than when it's sitting on my bedroom desk (probably due to the fact that my desk is that much closer to my bed, and my roommate goes to sleep before me, which reminds me to go to bed earlier myself). I'm really hoping that enforcing this rule will help me to stop wasting time on the computer late at night (that said, I do get some productive things done during this time), because it's been making it horrendously difficult to get up for class in the mornings, and it really isn't healthy - I ought to be sleeping at 4am, not blogging, window shopping online, listening to music, or halfheartedly attempting to do homework. It's a matter of health and prioritizing. I actually got my first possible migraine today, which I'm hoping was induced primarily by not getting enough sleep. 


Another bit of news, from Friday night actually. I got a competition partner for ballroom dance! One of my friends asked if I would be his partner for the Novice Standard open competition, so we'll be doing that in November (Standard = waltz, quickstep, tango, foxtrot). I'm nervous and excited at the same time - I've never competed in open before (just class events), which are more expensive (bad) and more competitive (also bad... but good for improving), but it means that I get to wear a pretty costume (good), which also means I have to pay for said costume somehow (not so good)... From my late-night internet browsing, it looks like renting a costume or buying a cheap one costs about $250. I'll have to figure that out later; sometime when I'm not supposed to be asleep.


I think that about covers my Sunday... Haha, this was kind of the extended version of many things I wanted to include in a Facebook status. You saw what what I ended up posting though. Now onto the rest of this week for some more adventures!... I know I'll have them.