"It's a good day, and they say it gets better."

Happy Sunday!

I won't start off by saying that I'm bad at writing on this blog because I ALWAYS say that and I always pledge to be better and then I always find myself in the same place! So, I will just pretend I have always written on here!

This weekend has been great! It's General Conference weekend, which also means it's time for mission reunions! Since none of my companions were going, and my mission president isn't back yet, I was not in attendance, but Hna. Warren (the sister I came home with) came over Friday night along with a now married sister who was in the mission (she's from Medford, and informed me that she and her new husband want to buy a piece of land in ELKTON, OR. I held back my first reaction of horror! I wanted to take her by the shoulders and shake some sense into her! Roseburg, she said, would be there big city. Poor girl. Should I warn her about Drain?) But it was great to talk to them. We talked for hours, telling stories, sharing memories. It made me sooooo trunky for the mission!

On Saturday it was the first day of conference, and my life was blessed when my professor sent out an email extending one my midterms until Wednesday. While I was going to have to miss conference to take it, I could now enjoy it! There is a God! Haha. The last time I watched conference I was at the end of the world among the most amazing people on earth. And I ate up every single word, finding inspiration for myself and for my investigators. I didn't want conference to end!! Now here I am six months later (has it really been six months??) and it was SO weird to watch it again! Ok, so it made me trunky AGAIN. In the mission I developed the tradition of thinking of three questions to which I wanted answers and then looking for those answers in conference. Yesterday my first question was basically, "How do I know what to do with my life? Or how do I focus my life?" because basically, I have no idea! Some things never change! The first talk was from Elder Scott, and he started off his talk by asking what we can do to be spiritually led in our decision making, in order to make our way through this life. My mouth gaped open. And my pen got to work! My mom referred to it as a neon sign. It just makes me happy to know I'm not the only one who needs guidance at this time in their life. And it helped remind me how I can get that guidance and what I need to do in order to keep myself more in tune. More meaningful prayer. More meaningful scripture study. Service. Love. I know that if I am consistent in the little things, that the guidance will come, even if it comes piece by piece (and then that's when I practice patience!)

After conference, I signed on to MSN Messenger (something I haven't done in months!) and that is when my weekend was really made! I finally got to talk to Maria Bobadilla (do you remember Jorge and Maria who got baptized my last weekend in Rio Grande?) She is doing sooooooo well! I wanted to cry when she told me that she is Relief Society President and Jorge is president of the Young Men. And they are going to get sealed in July in the Uruguay temple (Buenos Aires is closing in Nov. for repairs). They want me to go!!! So I'm starting a "Send the Sister Back" fund. Feel free to donate! I also got to talk with two more converts and just felt truly blessed at seeing how well they are doing and that they are still going to church. That amazing feeling of joy and gratitude and overwhelming happiness that I felt so strongly during the mission many times came rushing back to me. I realized that it's not a feeling so easily experienced being caught up in the details of crazy, daily living. It felt good. And then, I of course just missed the mission yet AGAIN! Haha.

School is going great. I'm studying way too much, but it's paying off with my midterms. So far I've taken two and they've gone really well. I took a two hour one on Friday, mostly in essay form, and basically just wrote ten pages about different societies as viewed by different early philosophers, including Plato, Hobbes, Locke, Kant, and Hegel. GOOD TIMES, let me tell ya! I've slacked in studying this weekend with conference, but I figure that it's healthy for me to get that spiritual strength back up. The nerd can wait until Monday!

Well, I hope this gives you all an update on my life! I will try to write more frequently (look! I'm saying it again!). Maybe I'll get on a mission schedule of writing once a week! Ok, here's my goal: Every Sunday I will try to update the blog! Ready? Set?...........

Peace out!

PS: I've decided to become a runner. I am thoroughly convinced that it takes a necessary gene, one that neither of my parents have passed on to me, but I am determined to defy biology. I am, after all, a sociologist. My culture can make me who I am! Does anyone want to do a half-marathon with me? Grandma??