I Stand All Amazed!

Oh my goodness!! I just came back from one of the most amazing firesides OF MY LIFE!! But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start...

Ok. Today was one of the best days in general. We were up kinda late and able to sleep in kinda late because church starts at 1:00. So Me, Keari, and Callie get up at 11:30 to go to brunch. It was very good! Tots, french toast, and ham! I was so happy. Our cafeteria is notorious for its less than satisfactory foods, but not this morning! Then we get ready and go to church. Our Relief Society lesson was on the Second Coming. Awesome subject! And it definitely helped me to feel more comfortable about the topic, which always happens when I have lessons about it. Then Sunday School was completely combined, which was lots of fun. Plus my friend was teaching the lesson and we were sitting right up front and he's such a funny guy so... it was great. Sacrament Meeting I got to lead the music. Nuff said! And of course they were some of my favorite hymns. Master the Tempest is Raging! Awesome! And the talks were really good as well. About agency and choice and accountability. It was good.

After church we were asked to help set up chairs for the fireside. I got to push the dolly with chairs back and forth!! It was totally awesome! I was singing and skipping the whole time cause it was so fun and everyone looked at me like I was crazy but, hey what else is new? 10 minutes later a group of us went to the nursing home and sang hymns to the residents! And we sounded so good!!! It was one of the best things I've ever done. SO satisfying! Then our group hurried home and ate dinner together. Corndogs!!! I mean, come on! Can it get better?! I was soooo happy! AND it was a perfect chilly temperature outside and it was sprinkling! Awesome.

Around 6:30 we went to get good seats at the fireside. Front row baby! And the guys sitting next to me were so awesome and one of them turned to Me and said "Do you realize we are going to hear from an Apostle of the Lord?", which I knew but didn't fully comprehend until he said it. I don't even know what to say about the fireside, it was so amazing. First the Tucson Mission President's wife spoke to us, and she was SO SWEET!! I just wanted to give her a huge hug! And soooo spiritual, of course. Then the President spoke. He bore an amazing witness of the Prophet Thomas S. Monson and the teachings that we recieve from the Prophets. Then Sister Christensen (the member of the 1st quorum of the Seventy's wife) spoke to us. She was so sweet as well and had a smile on her face the whole time! She was just so happy, and she spoke about how important the scriptures are to us and it was very good. And then the moment we'd all been waiting for :) Elder Craig C. Christensen, of the First Quorum of the Seventy, spoke to us. First of all, he LOOKED like a general authority. You could just tell he has so much knowledge! And we can have it too! Anyway, the entire chapel sat there in awe, practically, as he spoke of the Holy Ghost and how much we need Him. Also he assured us that this stage we're at right now IS just a stage, and that we need to prepare for tomorrow today. He said he could see the future in us, and that we need to prepare. Tomorrow is today. I was getting SO tired, because it was just like watching Conference and you know how you get all tired because it's SOOO much spirituality to take in at once? That's how it was. All four of them were just the most amazing people and everything they said was so good and so necessary and I could specifically tell that Sister Christensen was prompted by the Spirit to say something about being who Heavenly Father wants us to be. It hit hard, and of course I was crying through the whole thing! :) It was so amazing! Like I said, I don't know if I've ever been to a more amazing fireside. It was like an AMPM: too much good stuff.

Uhkay! :) So anyway, today was probably the best day I've had since I got to EA. I sat there the whole time at church and was amazed at how much I need the gospel in my life! Every single Sunday I am in awe because of how wonderful it is to go to church and how wonderful I feel because of it! Oh! I love it! So much. Today was just exactly what I needed. I haven't stopped smiling all day. I got to meet new people and SING and hear an apostle of the Lord speak to me, almost specifically. It was such a wonderful day! I couldn't keep it in any longer :)