Movin' On Up!

This week was the first week of school! Woop! But not only that, we also moved on Thursday! You could say it was an eventful/stressful week. *Side note,  I do not suggest moving within the first week of school. Ever...* But we made it happen, thanks to wonderful ward members and great friends!

This semester is an exciting one for both me & Silas!

I started the Special Ed. program at BYU and finally have a graduation date! Mark December 2017 on your calendars! *Fist pump*

But on an more exciting note, Silas was admitted to the BYU Accounting School and started on Monday!!! For those of you who don't know, it's a pretty big deal. Ranked top 5 in the nation! I'm so proud of him! He had to wear a suit on the first day.

The first week was good, but definitely tiring. Not only did we have school and homework to acclimate to, but we made our big trek north (moving two blocks closer to campus) in the middle of the week.

It's been stressful and a LOT of work, but I think it will be worth it! We are now the proud owners of a washer and dryer and we also have a dishwasher and a disposal! Yippee!! Also, we are 10 min closer to BYU, so that's pretty cool too.

We have had some hiccups since we moved in, but ultimately it's been a fun adventure. It helps that I have the coolest adventure buddy around. :)

When the Light Fades

What causes the light to fade?
What causes the soul to just blacken
like the night of a new moon?
The darkness becomes
so evident
and so clear in the eyes
and you can tell
that something is missing,
even in pictures.
That the light has gone.
Gone away
into some unexplained
abyss.

But is it unexplained?
What happened to you?
I can feel your bitterness,
it seeps through your eyes.
It permeates your relationships
even your cyber ones.
Where did the little girl I played with go?
The girl who loved life
and God?
The girl who knew who she was?

What do we do when the light fades
in someone we once knew
and loved
And played with
and laughed with?
Do you still know
who you are?
What you are destined to
become?

Do not forget
God is real,
God is all knowing,
God is all powerful,
God is all loving.
His work,
His Glory,
is to bring happiness
to His children.

You may not remember,
So I will remember for you
You are so loved.
You are so loved.
You are so loved.

No matter what.
No matter your bitterness,
No matter your anger.
No matter if you have turned your back on God
God will never turn his back on you.
Even if you may think
He has already done so.

The light has faded,
the darkness has simmered into your heart.
Slowly,
and with passion.
But the light,
will never leave completely.
Even if
it's a glimmer
of a small star
in a sea of blackened sky.
The light is never
truly distinguished.
This
we must remember.

Women and the Priesthood

I know... it's a strange title for a blog post. But, I wanted to share with you something I wrote for my religion class at BYU. I didn't realize it was something I was so passionate about until now, but I believe that women are so special, and by disputing that "they should be ordained to the preisthood", I believe it diminishes how awesome we already are. I do not mean to offend or cause contention. It is simply how I feel. 

            I am a woman of God. I stand with my Savior Jesus Christ in these last days and I am prepared to fight for what I believe in. I am strong, I am powerful, and I am a servant of the Lord. I know that God loves me and has given me the chance to prove myself worthy to be a soldier in these last days and fight the adversary. However, I believe that God entrusted me with a sacred responsibility: to raise the next generation of soldiers to fight for our God.

            While I am not a mother yet, I believe that it is my destiny to become one. And I take that responsibility very seriously. I plan to teach my children to pray to their Heavenly Father in times of need, as well as in times of calm. I plan to read the scriptures with my children and help them learn from those stories that have made me who I am. I plan to drive my kids to activity days, scouts, young men and young women’s activities, girls camp, seminary, and anything else that will help them become more like Jesus Christ. I plan to teach them righteous principles and about correct ordinances. I plant to teach them about the temple and the power that comes from being worthy to go inside. I plan to do all that I can to make sure that my kids know where I stand in the fight against the adversary. And I’m going to do it all while using Priesthood Power.

            Yes, I plan to use priesthood power to raise my family in righteousness. And I don’t have to be “ordained” to do it. You see, there are 4 different “parts” (for lack of a better word) to the priesthood. They are priesthood keys, priesthood offices, priesthood authority, and priesthood power. Groups such as Ordain Women would have you believe that we, as righteous women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are powerless and oppressed because we are not “ordained” to the priesthood. That simply is not true. While women of the church do not hold priesthood keys or priesthood offices, if we are righteous and worthy, we have a right to priesthood authority and priesthood power.

            Do you know what the priesthood is? The priesthood, as defined on LDS.org, is “the eternal power and authority of our Heavenly Father.”¹  If you continue in the same paragraph that I got that definition out of it says, “All of Heavenly Father’s children can… access the power and blessings of the priesthood.” ¹  You don’t have to be a male ordained to the priesthood to access it. I often think about when I was a missionary for the church and how that is an example of how I had priesthood authority. I had the authority to preach the gospel to the people of Long Beach, California. I was set apart and given that jurisdiction. Could I lay my hands on someone’s head and give them a blessing? No, but you better believe I offered some pretty powerful prayers. Do you think that just because I did not “have the priesthood” that God would not answer those powerful prayers that I uttered? I do not believe so. In fact, I believe that many of those prayers resulted in miracles, which by definition², happen only through the priesthood.

            There are some who worry so much about this topic because they believe we are not equal to men. With those who believe this, I would agree. We are not equal to men. We are different, and that is what makes us so special. God did not design us to do everything a man could do. He made us to do everything that a man could not do. God entrusted us with the most divine work yet, to bear his sons and daughters. I often think how Mary, the mother of Jesus, must have felt knowing that she was chosen to be the mother of the Savior of the world. I wonder how highly God must have esteemed her to trust her with such a task of raising His son. Mary was not ordained to the priesthood. She was a young girl who had little experience in life. Yet, God chose her.

            I believe that God knows our capabilities. I believe that God trusts us with a similar task as Mary, to bear and raise the rest of his children. We do not need to hold the priesthood to do the Lord’s will. We do not need to make ourselves higher, for God already holds us so high. We have a work to do on this earth. And I plan to do it, with God’s help. I may not, by definition, hold the priesthood, but I definitely know how to access the power of God.

Sources:

1.     https://www.lds.org/youth/learn/ap/priesthood-keys/what?lang=eng

2.     https://www.lds.org/topics/miracles?lang=eng

Current Events

I know it's been so long since I've actually provided any sort of information on our lives, and I know I say that just about every time I write a new blogpost, but whatever. Here we are again anyway.

Life for us has been busy, busy, busy!

Winter Semester is wrapping up quite nicely. Finals end this week, we get 3 days off, and then it's back to school for us with Spring classes starting next Tuesday. Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever escape the necessary evil that is school. (I say that now, knowing that as soon as I graduate, I'll be nostalgic and want to go back.)

Silas is in the process of applying for the Finance and Accounting programs and I just got accepted to the BYU Special Education Program. (Fist pump!) I finally have a graduation date, which is a big deal for me because I have never had one of those... and I was beginning to accept the reality that I would probably just be in school forever. I guess that happens when you can't decide on a major and end up taking about a year's worth of unnecessary classes. But, there is now a light at the end of the tunnel.

We're still in Provo and basically living the typical Provo married student life. Silas is currently working at a startup company called InsideSales in their accounting department, and I work on campus. (Three cheers for campus jobs that work around your schedule!)

Other than that, life is pretty normal for us. We're taking a trip to NY this summer that we are beyond excited for, and we just bought some camping pads! So things are really looking up for us! :)

But in all seriousness, 9 months of being married has been the bomb. Here's to the last 3 and hitting our 1 year anniversary.

Reflections

If there is one thing that i have learned in my 23 years on this earth, it's that things never seem to work out the way I want them to. God has always stepped in and immediately the road I am on takes a sharp turn. I was going to be a teacher, graduate from BYU-Idaho and I most definitely wasn't going on a mission.

If you would have asked me when I graduated High School what my life would be like in 6 years, I would have guessed nowhere near where I'm at right now.

But I thank God I am where I am.

I thank God for knowing that all those boys I had crushes on, were nowhere near as perfect for me as my husband is now. Even though I felt worthless when none of them payed any attention to me.

I thank God my dad had the crazy idea to apply for a job in Virginia and move my family across the country, so I could meet the most amazing sister missionaries who taught me that I actually did want to be a missionary.

I thank God I have a mom who found a random job on Craigslist for me at a Preschool for children with special needs, where I would fall in love with those kids.

I thank God that He knew exactly where i needed to be at this time in my life. And in all times of my life.

I'm thankful that I believe in a God who answers prayers, and who directs his children in all things if they ask.

If you would have asked me when I graduated high school if I thought I would be living in Provo as a BYU student, married to a boy I met on my mission, I probably would have raised an eyebrow and asked you where you came up with a crazy story like that.

I look at the little pieces that have made up who Jacqueline is, and there are quite a few. Sometimes they are pieces that come day by day. But I sure am thankful for every little piece, no matter how small or big it felt at the time.

When it feels like everything's falling apart and nothing seems to be going the way we want it to; remember that you can only see what's in front of you, but God can see the whole picture.

He know's what He's doing.

Trust Him.