Girls Night!

To celebrate the end of the semester, and to send McKenzie off with a bang, we decided to have a girls night on Saturday. We convinced one of our FHE sisters to take pictures for us, and we had a lot of fun doing crazy poses. The picture I posted here is the one that makes us feel like we're a band. :) After pictures we went to Spaghetti Factory because we had a coupon for six Italian sodas. It was such a yummy dinner, yeah for real food! When we came back, we dragged a couch in from the lobby (Shh! Don't tell the RA) and propped our couch up on the kitchen chairs so we could have theater seating for the movie. We ate candy and laughed for the rest of the night.

It seems like time really has flown this semester. I am so lucky to have had such wonderful roommates over this semester. We're definitely going to miss McKenzie, but we all wish her luck in Arizona with her band. Saturday night was a wonderful relief from studying, and it was great to just be with everyone for a few hours.

Love Always,
Mallory

Home Sweet Home

This weekend was such a fun one! It was great to see friends and just be home in Rexburg with my family. Thanksgiving was super yummy, and I think everything tasted better because I was eating at home. :) We got a lot of Christmas shopping done too, which was nice.

I got to go to the Cocoa Bean with the little girls today, and we had a lot of fun. Those cupcakes are super yummy, but huge. We split them and then wandered around Porter's until we found a craft for all of us to work on together. We settled on buttons and then went and got headbands. When we got home we glued the buttons on the headbands and we all have a cute accessory now.

It was a great week, and it was nice to just be able to relax and have fun. Now it's time to get back to school and work, work, work until finals!

Love Always,
Mallory

Living With an Attitude of Gratitude

In May of 1992, President Thomas S. Monson gave a talk titled "An Attitude of Gratitude." My Book of Mormon professor challenged us to live with an "attitude of gratitude," especially this Thanksgiving week. I thought that since Thanksgiving is tomorrow I would post and share with you some of the things I am grateful for.

The first thing that I am grateful for is my family. I know that is probably the most common answer, but it is so true. The longer I'm away from home the more I realize how special my family is to me. They have always been there for me, through friend drama, student body officer campaigns, rough patches in school, and all the good times too. I love all of them so, so much and I would be lost without them.

I am grateful for the opportunity to live in the United States. My international relations class has opened my eyes to the world, and I have found more and more reasons why we are blessed to live here. I am grateful for the men and women in the Armed Forces who fight and sacrifice their lives so that we can be free. I have friends that are overseas and others that will be in the next few years, and I am so thankful for their sacrifice.

I am also grateful for the opportunity I have to attend BYU. It is definitely hard, but I am learning a lot about myself and I am developing habits and gaining knowledge that will serve me well for the rest of my life. It really is a blessing to attend a university where my teachers are members of the church and where we relate the gospel to biology, or literature, or international relations, or anything. My testimony has grown by being in Provo, and I love it. I am also so glad that I had the chance to take a class from my Grandpa this semester. :)

I have been blessed with wonderful friends as well. Friends really do make or break you, and I have been lucky enough to find friends who lift me up. Elder Robert D. Hales has said "A friend is someone who makes it easier to live the gospel of Jesus Christ." I am so blessed to be able to say that about my friends. I hope that I have been as good of a friend to my friends as they have been to me.

Last but not least, I am also grateful for the gospel. I always think of the scripture in Helaman 5:12 that was the Seminary theme for last year. The scripture says, "And now, my sons, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." This scripture is so true! When we build our foundation upon the gospel we can't go wrong. The Lord didn't prevent the storm from coming during Noah's time, but he did prepare a way for Noah and his family to prevail against it. The same holds true for us. The Lord won't prevent us from experiencing the storms of life, but he will help us get through them. The Church is so true! I love going to church each Sunday because it is a refuge from the rest of the world. I know that Heavenly Father knows and loves me, as He does each and every one of us.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love Always,
Mallory

The BYU Museum of Art

I know that I forgot to post something over the weekend, so I'm cheating a little and this counts for last week. Today my English class had the opportunity to go to the BYU Museum of Art to see a special exhibit called "The Master's Hand" that featured the work of Carl Bloch. When we went I was surprised at how much of his art I recognized. I was especially excited to see his piece titled "Christ Healing the Sick at Bethesda." It's a piece that is in lots of chapels in the church, and for some reason I thought it was a small painting. I was very wrong! The painting is wider than I am tall, and I was amazed at the detail. There is so much there that you just can't get by looking at it in a magazine, or even by looking at the replication I included with this post. The way it is painted makes you feel like you're on the steps watching this spiritual experience unfold. I can't claim to really understand art, but it was an amazing experience today, and I feel like my testimony grew by being there. It was so peaceful and the Spirit was there testifying of the divinity of Jesus Christ. He truly is our Savior and He heals us when we are hurting or make mistakes. We are so blessed to be members of His church and to have His Spirit in our lives. I highly encourage everyone to go if they can. Tickets are free, and can be reserved at http://moa.byu.edu/index.php?id=1809.

Love Always,
Mallory

Sister Brugger and Sister Ackerson enter the MTC

Wow! It's been a great week, but I must say that today was the best. Whitney and I went to the Provo Missionary Training Center to volunteer in the TRC (Teaching Resource Center). The TRC is where they bring in volunteers so that the missionaries can practice teaching the lessons to people in a living room setting. We signed in and filled out some paperwork in the Administration Building and then went to one of the other buildings to volunteer. We were told that the first round we would be with someone who had been volunteering for a while and so we could just sit back and observe what we were supposed to do. Well, the other girl was a little late so the senior missionary couple sent us to one of the rooms and told us, "If a girl walks in, you're member missionaries and can observe. If the elders knock, you're investigators." Well, we walked in and it really did kinda look like a living room. There were couches and chairs and little tables with lamps and plants. There was even a little TV in the corner, but I don't think it worked. :) The elders knocked, so we were investigators for the first "round." It was so powerful! The Spirit is so strong there, it feels kinda like the temple. I was a little bit nervous because I wasn't sure if I would be able to pretend to be an investigator, but it went well. The first companionship of missionaries taught us about the Restoration, and issued the challenge to us to pray to know that Heavenly Father loves us and is aware of us. I already know that, but I think I'm going to do it anyway. They also issued the challenge to us to read the Book of Mormon. The second companionship taught about the Plan of Salvation and asked us if we would be willing to go to church on Sunday. Being there in the MTC strengthened my testimony and made me so excited about missionary work. I am so proud of all my friends who are out serving, and it makes me excited for Steve and Mike to serve. The gospel is SO true! Sometimes I just want to go tell everyone I meet about the church, because I know how much it will bless their lives. Missionary work is so amazing! I saw a few of my friends while I was there, Elder Alex George and Elder Redge Ballard. That was a little strange, but really cool too. Being in the MTC makes me really, really want to serve a mission, but I know that whatever Heavenly Father knows is best for me will happen. :) I can't wait to go back next week!

 Love Always,
Mallory

Here Goes!

I never imagined myself as the blogging type, but since I'm at BYU now and am away from family and friends, it seemed like a good way to stay in touch with everyone.

I'm not exactly sure what to write, but I'll start with a quick recap of what I've been up to since coming to BYU. I moved in to 69 Harris Hall on the 25th of August and met all my wonderful roommates, went to New Student Orientation, and then classes started. Since then, my life has been a crazy whirlwind of school, church, and lots of homework! I've met some wonderful people here, and I have learned a lot about myself. I've also learned about the power of prayer, and I know that Heavenly Father knows who I am and loves me more than I can imagine. Sometimes college is lonely, but knowing Heavenly Father is just a prayer away has been very comforting. It also helps a lot that I have my amazing grandparents just a few minutes away, and I know that I can call home any time. :)

Well, my roommates and I are about to have dinner, so I'm going to close for now!

Love Always,

Mallory