Just Look How Far You've Come.

Last night we had the opportunity to listen to a fantastic talk given by Sister Adair for our Relief Society birthday celebration. I was touched and will try to summarize what she said, although I probably will not do it justice. She began her talk by relating an experience that took place as she hiked Mount Ararat, one of the highest mountain peaks in Turkey.

Due to the ice-covered peaks, we were using ice axes to slowly make our way up the mountainside. About 45 minutes from the summit, the ice ax of the climber just ahead of me came loose from his pack and struck me in the forehead. As the guide calmly cleaned and bandaged my "flesh" wound, I told him I didn't think I could go any further. I was physically tired and the weight of my injury seemed to much for me to bear. Our guide looked me straight in the eye and said "But just look how far you've come." In my mind, I re-traveled along the path that had brought me to the point I was at now; from Utah to Istanbul, into Turkey to a remote village at the base of Mount Ararat, and then 4 days of strenuous climbing to reach just below the summit. Mustering the remaining strength and will I had left, I finished the climb, and it was worth every setback I had encountered.

Sister Adair then applied this experience to our own lives. We are all struggling up our own snow-capped mountains, trying to reach the summit. Because we live in a fallen world, we are guaranteed to encounter hardship, setbacks, and our own "flesh" wounds along our journey. But as we allow it to work in our lives, the power of the Atonement can heal any pain, loneliness, or sorrow we may ever experience and help us continue on when we feel we must give up.

So the next time you feel like life has dropped an ice ax on your forehead, remember to look how far you've come and then to face forward and continue in faith toward the summit.

Daffodils and Daisies.

Last week was one of those ridiculously busy weeks that has you running from dawn until dusk just to get everything done. On Saturday afternoon, I had finished my final test and was walking down the Testing Center stairs towards the tv screen that tells you your test score. At the base of the stairs there is a windowsill where people leave notes for friends, and I am definitely among the number that always takes a quick glance as they pass to see if they are lucky enough to have a note waiting for them. As I glanced over, I noticed a Gerber daisy sitting on the windowsill and I immediately thought of some cute boy leaving a flower for his girlfriend/wife. But when I got closer, "Turk" was written on the note and I realized that my sweet sister had left me a flower. I was grinning from ear to ear the entire way down south hill and when I opened our front door there was a vase of daffodils sitting on the table with tickets to Tangled and a note to "Princess Katherine" which said...

These daffodils are yellow,
I wish they were from some fellow,
Single, handsome, dark and tall

Riding a noble white steed,
His hair ruffled by the breeze,
Someone to catch you when you fall.

But since they are not,
And I can't conjure one up,
We'll settle for the next best thing.

Let's go watch Flynn Rider!
He's a lover, not a fighter,
And maybe tonight in our dreams,

We'll have hair that is long
And a man to sing us a song.
But for now it's just you and me.

Dreaming of our prince,
And a magical kiss,
While enjoying being single and free!

Love,
Princess Becca

In Becca's words, this poem was a culmination of 18 years of creativity built up. I think that poetry writing is just one of her many talents that is just waiting to blossom. She is so amazing and kind and I feel so blessed to be her sister.