Best Way To End The Day

The Taylor Swift alarm goes off.
I hit snooze. 
No motivation for my long day. 
I looked like poo yesterday, thats the only thing that got me up today.
I brushed my ponytail, now I just kinda look like poo.
In a half-hearted effort to make it to stats on time, I didn't. 
Freeze. Freeze. Freeze.
And honestly, why did I even go?

I'm going through the motions.

Sprint to the bus. 
Freeze. Freeze. Freeze.
Over-cooked quesadillas for lunch. 
Bus.
Freeze. Freeze. Freeze.

Physics. Finished Homework yay!
Marriage and Family, actually trying to learn this time, BLAH.
It felt good to listen.
Freeze. Freeze. Freeze. Freeze. Freeze. Freeze. 


Discover running with Kylee is easier.
Packed on the bus.
Chicken nuggets.
Essays.


OSRT Meeting. 
Phone calling to Washington applicants to USU.
"Come to the Out-Of-State Weekend"
www.usu.edu/admissions/weekend

AH, do you feel as stressed as I do yet?
In the back of my mind all I can think about is this.
Two essays to write.
A quiz to study for.
A form to get.
A movie reflection to write.
Oh, after the 1:30 min. movie.
Roommate meeting.
Test make-up points.
Test to study for.
Homework, homework, homework.
No money.
No sleep.
No social life today.
Guys thinking you don't care to see them, 
when really you have NO time in the world.


AHHHHHHHHH!!!

STOP STOP STOP.
SLOW DOWN.
GO AWAY TUESDAY.
..............


And then....... 7:00 PM rolls around and what happens?
Institute.* (Scroll down if you need an explanation of what that is)


*Take a longgggggggg breath*

 I can finally feel peace. Love fills my soul. Taking an institute class this semester was the best choice I made. I wasn't going to, but then I decided I really needed to make that a priority because studying on my own was not as fulfilling. My patriarchal blessing** really is my guide, and I'd say it knows what it's talking about because institute saves me every week.


My teacher is amazing. You can feel the spirt just by the way he welcome the class. He's so gentle and loving, but not too serious that we just zonk out. 


I just felt like I could breathe. We were talking about in the scriptures why they talk about war so much. Why is it so important that they mention all these wars? Because we are in a spiritual war every single day. Man vs. the world and just our spirit vs. the natural man. (And by man I mean women and men). 


We were talking about the stories of war in the Book of Mormon, specifically chapters in Alma, but they can be compared to anything written in the Bible too. Really, the point of all scriptures are so we can read what happened in the past, learn the history and mostly use personal application to gain strength from what we learn.


"A story without personal application is just a story."


The wars are not there to tell us how to fight physical wars. But to fight spiritual ones. We need to be prepared, live every day with courage and motivation to win. It's a constant fight to do what's right. The scriptures aren't there to say the challenges were harder in the past, they are just different. 

My teacher said that while these people may've had challenges that ended in death, faced with swords and weapons... that OUR lives and temptations can be even harder challenges just faced with a computer screen. The greatest kind of courage you can have is to have courage when no one else is watching.

Integrity is so important.
Have Courage. Be Brave. Be Strong.
Do what you really know and feel is right.
Who cares what ANY ONE else does?
Live for you, live for Him.


It's hard. That's why we have to continue to learn and grow spiritually everyday. But we can't lose this battle.

Institute is so inspiring. 

We left with a list we scribbled down in the last couple minutes of class of what we are going to do to be better. Help me to be better by knowing this is what I'm working on:

-NEVER be ashamed to stand up for my beliefs 
(whether it be about the church, a friend, anything...)

-Chose to not be offended easily

-Wear religion and standards on a sleeve
(I want people to look at me and know who I'm trying to be.)

-Don't ever think that I'm not weak, that I have nothing to work on. (Be more humble Laur)

"To many people are just sliding by
Plugged into the world missing the meaning of life
But I was born to be a warrior of light
With faith to move mountains and the power of god filling my life

I wanna life my life with honor and faith
I wanna return to his arms unashamed
It’s not enough for me to live it halfway
I’ll follow him fearlessly all of my days
I will live with valiant faith"


-Jenny Phillips, Valiant Faith


....................

*Institute: This is a class that is not for any university credit, but through the church. Just as an extra boost to dig deeper into the gospel and scriptures and be around people who share those beliefs with you. HIGHLY recommend it to anyone. There's one everywhere you live.

**Patriarchal Blessing: This is a blessing that we get through a man appointed as the Patriarch in our church. Each area has one and they are men called of God and through the power of God give you a special blessing that's just for you and your life, it's recorded and often reflected upon. I got mine when I was 14 years old and each time I read it something new stands out to me.