I'M ACCEPTED!!!

Oh my goodness! This last Tuesday I received a letter from the ASU School of Music and....I DID IT!!!! I am so incredibly thrilled that I made the ASU music program!! I can't even put into words how happy I was when I got that letter!!! There were happy tears shed, I will say that! I have truly been blessed!

Sustaining

Yesterday I got a phone call just as I was going out to lunch with some girls in my jazz choir. It was a guy from my ward, Sam. He is the ward mission leader. I have gotten to know Sam a little bit and he just a really super neat guy. Very happy all the time, and he is very intelligent so it's fun to talk to him about things. Anyway, he called me and asked me if I was the visiting teaching supervisor for a girl in our ward who just got baptized. I was and so he asked me if I could help find a couple girls who might be able to go to a new member discussion that evening at the church, since she can't be alone with the missionaries. I told him I would so I got home from school with about 20 minutes to spare before I had to head to work. I started calling all the girls in my visiting teaching group and none could go, so I was trying to think of anyone and everyone I knew in my ward who could possibly go. I left lots of messages and told them to call me and let me know if they were available. I had to get back to Sam soon if things weren't working out, but I was determined to figure it out. I got a call from one girl saying she could go, and then a text from another girl. I was so happy that things were coming together for the discussion that night. I called Sam and left a message on his voicemail telling him not to worry and that I had it all worked out. He almost instantly called me back. I answered the phone and he just said, "Brittney you are my hero!" I just kind of laughed because I was just doing my calling and trying to help him out but he appreciated it so much. He just kept thanking me and then I told him that I would be more than willing to help him out anytime he needed something. For some reason that impressed him. But the thing that I got from this experience was the importance of sustaining others in their callings. We all need each other, that is for sure, but I haven't ever really recognized me helping others out as "sustaining" them. It was just kind of a cool realization for me. This is an incredible work that I am apart of and I am just happy to do anything it requires of me, because in all reality I'm getting more from it than I am ever really giving.

Change is good....at least that's what I'm supposed to say...

I have this amazing friend. His name is Ryan. I met him my first semester at CGCC and he has truly been a wonderful friend to me! One of the best I've ever had! When I first came to Chandler-Gilbert Community College he was one of the first people that actually talked to me and wanted to get to know me. I had him in a few classes and I could tell he was just one of those top of the line kind of guys. He came to me at a really tough time in my life. I had just found out my grandpa had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and it was very difficult for me to deal with. I was very close to my grandpa and at the time I didn't feel like there was really anyone I could talk to about it or just hang out with to get my mind off things. Ryan was a real blessing! He and I were in A Capella and Jazz Choir together and we always had a lot of fun in those classes! I don't think it was until spring semester though when I finally was able to get to know Ryan really well. He is an incredible person! He has been there through lots of rough spots and he has been my go-to when I just need to talk or let go. We have made some great memories together, some of which I will never forget the rest of my life. He understands alot without much being said and I appreciate that. Well, Ryan is leaving on Saturday to move to Flagstaff for school. I am so happy for him! He is going to do amazing! He is majoring in music education and he has so much talent that he is just going to have some incredible experiences! He gets to be apart of the top Jazz group at NAU called "High Altitude" and he also made the top choir. I am so pumped for him! He really has worked hard! But I am going to miss him so much. He has touched my life in so many ways and there really isn't any way that I could possibly convey my gratefulness to him. But he has changed my life for the better and I will be eternally grateful to him. Yeah, we'll get to see each other every now and again, but as in all things, there must be change and now is the time.

Some of the greatest memories and things that I appreciate about Ryan are:
*His sense of humor
*Ability to Listen
*Crazy arranging talents
*Lunchtime in the car
*Listening to random songs
*Going to his cabin for General Conference
*Being there for a friend no matter where or when
*Living his testimony
*Chivalry :)
*Takes t he initiative
*Is patient enough to teach me things
*Winks
*"I'll Be Home For Christmas"
*Duke Ellington Concert
*My official introduction to jazz composers
*Barnes and Noble
*Jaramillo Sodas
*Beef Tongue
*Good long talks about life
*Song of the South ("A Dolla A Minute" Ha Ha!)
*No qualms about totally ruining a chick flick or any "moment" in a movie
*Wall-E
*Snow Ball Fight
*Flan (and the exploding pan!)
*3-day affair with facebook
*Mr. Bean
*Teen Girl Squad
*The funniest joke in the world
*Jazz Concerts
*Making dinners
*His birthday
*Conducting
*Secret Garden
*Recitals (especially our last Broadway one)
*Ultimate Frisbee
*Volleyball
*Climbing on the jungle gym
*Teasing

Oh and there is soooo much more I can think of, but these have seriously become some of the funnest times I have ever had! I am so grateful for Ryan, for the wonderful person he is and for what I have learned from him. He is going to do amazing things in his life and I can't wait to see what awaits him!


"Hangin" out in the hammock

Buddies! Me, Ryan, and Jillene

My Missionary Brother

So this morning we just got an e-mail from my brother Josh who is on his mission in Switzerland. It was such a great e-mail! Well, usually all of his e-mails are wonderful but today was very heartfelt as he explained to us the happenings of this last week. He expressed a great love for his companion. His name is Elder Cadeau and about a week and a half ago he broke his foot while at a "piquenique" with some ward members and investigators. Well this last week they found out that because of his injury he will have to be sent home a transfer early. His last day on the mission is this coming Monday. Josh expressed the heart wrenching reality that hit his companion when he realized his mission was going to be cut short. They cried together as he expressed his great love for Josh and that Josh had become his mission miracle. Josh has had some deep spiritual understanding since he's been gone, but it seems like these last couple of months you can really tell how much his testimony and life has been changed by this experience.

As I was thinking about all those things this morning I was filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Josh is amazing! I've always known that, he is my dearest and best friend in the entire world, and it has been the most amazing opportunity to see him grow so much. He also wrote individual little notes to each of us in his e-mail. I was grateful for the wisdom he shared with me and the way that he taught me today. I love being able to have his "eternal perspective" hit me upside the head sometimes. Life gets crazy and I don't always think about the big picture but Josh brings me back down to earth and helps me grasp onto the things I know. I appreciate that!

There has been one experience he's had (from a whole slew!) that has really stood out to me and made me really think. It was about a month ago now that Josh wrote us and told us about a rendezvous he had with a woman and a couple of Jehovah Witnesses. The actual "getting there" to her apartment was a story in itself, but when he and his companion finally got there he had a wonderful experience. This woman had her bible ready and Josh's companion went right at it with the bible bashing. Josh said that as all of these people started pulling out their bibles he posed a question. "Is this all you do at your church, find ways to prove other people's doctrines wrong?" At that moment every one of them shut their bibles and as Josh explains it he began to testify "up the wazoo" that this gospel is true, that he knew it and that nothing could take that away from him. The spirit was strong and they left immediately after he testified. As I imagined Josh doing this I was just so proud of him! He has so much courage and faith and I think that this experience he had really brought home to me how converted he is. It was just neat to think that he is blessing people's lives just as much as he has blessed mine. I know how grateful I am to him for his love and friendship that we have always shared and I am so grateful that he is having these wonderful experiences!

Thinking...

There have been so many things that I have been thinking about in these last couple months! This time of life is full of so much decision making and it feels like eternal consequences. Who in their right mind would have a 21 year old decide an eternal destiny? I have no idea! But regardless, it's still happening and things seem crazy as ever! Remember high school when we thought all of our problems would be over once we got in to college? Everything was going to fall into place and we would get married, finish school, start a family, and life would be just peachy. Well...It's not so easy as that! Don't I wish! Holy cow! But the thing is, it's all good! I have learned so much! And I know that I am doing what I'm supposed to and I am where I need to be. That's all that can be expected from us. To follow the Lord and the promptings of the spirit.
Matters of the heart are so indcredibly tender and sensitive. I am learning that it is really really hard to deal with that at times! There are days when my heart just yearns for love and acceptance from someone. To be near them, to do things with them, to make memories, to laugh, to play, to learn from them, to feel with them, to experience life with them. But sometimes, it's just not meant to be. Sometimes, we are to learn from a person and that's it. They help us to become better, to give of ourself in different ways. And that's alright. It's perfectly wonderful to have those kinds of experiences, but the hard part is reminding yourself that things will work out for you. Maybe not now, but later. Later I can have that. But right now I need to focus on me. I need to do things for myself that will help me become a better person.
I know that I was supposed to come to Chandler Gilbert Community College. There is no doubt in my mind! The experiences I have had here and the people that have come into my life are absolutely incredible! I have learned so much from them! I have learned how to handle incredible stress, how to heal a broken hearted friend, how to listen, how to love unconditionally, how to understand the feelings of the spirit, how to look outside myself, how to laugh and be silly, how to have fun, how to be there. All of these things have become great blessings in my life and those that have taught me these things will forever have a special place in my heart. I have incredible friends! They are wonderful examples and have amazing characteristics and qualities that I want to emulate in my life. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here and learn from them.
Life is good! Sometimes confusing...ok a lot of times confusing, but so good! I am truly blessed with the things I have and the people that are in my life! I guess all we can really do is trust and things will be ok. I know they will! And everything will work out for the very best.