Hey Everyone, 

Thank you so much for all of your emails! I'm glad to hear you guys all had such a wonderful week! From Cherry Hill to Sand Volley Ball, Pineview,  Temple Square and seeing Caleb, how fun! :) That's way awesome about the car, who would've thought that you could fix it with a blow dryer, that's awesome! Dad is so resourceful, from fixing broken windows with sleds and bungee cords, to fixing cars with blow dryers, haha. :) I love Andrew's line of the week, that just made my whole day! Also I just want to thank you for the package, I absolutely loved it! I was sharing those delicious cookies with my roommates, Josh is pretty skilled when it comes to making no bake cookies, I'm glad you guys will be well taken care of when it comes to cookies while I'm gone haha. :) Also thank you for your kind letters, the package of pictures, and the caramel apple was so delicious! (the medicine you sent was fantastic- a life saver! The food is delicious here, but as everyone says it does give you some tummy trouble.)

So, I sure got two wonderful companions, not many people get two companions. It's been really fun I sure love them both, it's pretty funny, the elder's in our district call us the tri-force. So that first night when I wrote you that letter I actually wrote my companion's name incorrectly it's actually Sister Richardson and Sister Gifford. Sister Richardson is from Las Vegas, Nevada, and like I said earlier she played for BYU's Rugby team (pretty awesome right?) and she is so sweet, she's 23, and I love her to death! Then there's Sister Gifford, she's from Lubbock, Texas and she wants to be an accounting major, and she's a a sweet girl. It was hard at first to call everyone Sister at first. Then it really touched me to think about it and realize that we are all brothers and sisters. We are all children of God. On another note, Sister Richardson, Sister Gifford and I are the only three Sisters in our district. I have come to love my district so much, they are your family in the MTC, we spend almost every hour together. Some fun facts about my district- Elder Cenatiempo (we call him Elder Dinner Time haha) plays baseball for BYU, and I have known one of the elders since 7th grade- Elder Hollingsworth.

Anyway, you know how everyone says that Disney Land is the Happiest place on Earth? Well, they haven't been to the MTC, everyone here is so kind, and you can feel the spirit incredibly strong here. I think what really brings the spirit so strong is that we pray before everything we do. I've learned here, that the spirit really is our teacher, and if we pray to have the spirit to be with us, we will be guided in everything we do. It's neat we've been able to teach investigators, (we don't have the knowledge of whether they are a member, or someone truly investigating the church) we teach a two women, and we come up with what we will teach them on our own. As me and my companions pray, the spirit has really guided us in knowing what to teach. We teach a lesson that we feel will help them draw closer to Christ in their lives. I truly have felt love for these women we have taught, and it's neat to think how it must feel to learn that you are a child of God for the first time, it's neat to see the light that comes to their eyes as we teach them this. 

In almost every one of our lessons we talk about how when we grow in our relationship with God, we flourish in our other relationships. This is why the gospel blesses families so much. We also talked about how Christ is central to every single lesson in Preach My Gospel, and that the Atonement is the key to everything! I absolutely love the scripture 2 Nephi 31: 16-18.  It talks about how Baptism is the gate to becoming closer to God, and once we enter baptism this is the way we start on our path to feeling God's love and getting back to him. This is why we ask investigators about baptism so early on, so that they can enter onto that path of feeling joy and that they can get on the path back to their loving Heavenly Father. 

My favorite day by far this week was Sunday. We listened to a devotional that was given by David A. Bednar about two years ago on Christmas day at the MTC. It seriously changed my whole perspective. It's interesting that you can hear the same simple truth over and over, and still not fully grasp it. He talked in the devotional about overcoming the natural man by turning outward. He said that in life there will be times when we feel sorry for ourselves and get caught up in our own problems and we feel sorrow. He talked about Christ's amazing example of turning outward, he told of the man who had his ear cut off when Christ's friends had betrayed him, and how Christ could have had the attitude of feeling sorry for himself, but instead he healed the man's ear. He asked how we would feel if our friends had betrayed us, would we be thinking of others? Then he told of how while Christ was suffering on the cross he was doing mission work talking to the other two men who were going to be crucified. Then he told this story of a woman who was a relief society president, and she lost her daughter to a car crash. During the day of her daughter's funeral a woman from her ward who was sick called and chewed her out for not sending a meal to her home. On the way to her own daughter's funeral, she brought the woman a bowl of soup. I was so touched to hear of her incredible example. I think I tend to get caught up in my own problems, this really made me want to be better. I decided the mantra for my mission will be - "Turn Outward". I was praying that I could find a way to forget myself, and focus on my mission. This talk was definitely my answer to my prayers. 

It was so fun, on Sunday I saw Kylee Mahlstede, Dallin Wright, Bradley Gregory, and so many of my friends from college and high school! It's been so fun to see so many familiar faces. :) Well, I sure love you guys, and I'm so glad to hear you're all doing so well. I look forward to hearing from you again next week! 

Have a wonderful week, and Happy Pioneer Day! 

Love, 

           Sarah 

P.S. Sorry I was going to send pictures, but there is no slot for an S.D. card... so hopefully in the mission field they'll have a slot for an S.D. card. (don't worry Mom, I've been taking lots of pictures just for you. ;) haha) Anyway, hugs and kisses ~ Sarah

Flashback to March 30th-Festival of Colors I just found this fun video on my room-mate Audrey's blog, and I just wanted to save it. This sure brings back memories. If you haven't been to the festival of colors, I highly recommend it! Put it on your calendar for next year. :) This video just brings back wonderful memories.

Congrats To My Cousin Justin and his wife Lauran!!

Thankfully I made it to Phoenix just in time!
So, my Spring break started on Friday March 8, that night I rushed through finishing a midterm project for school, I finished it at midnight! Four hours later I woke up at 4 a.m so I could leave for the airport at 5:30a.m. (Had to finish some last minute packing as well, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten up so early) It was funny my Aunt Nanette and Dad, were also flying to Phoenix, Arizona, but we all ended up catching different planes, because that was the best we could get.

The Wedding
We made it just in time for my cousin Justin and his fiance Lauran's wedding. They were married in the Mesa Arizona temple, what a cute couple they are! They had a beautiful candle lit reception. What a fun night! I was sure glad I was able to go.










I just love this picture, I think the look on Justin's face says it all! I really think they are going to be so happy together. 

                                                                                                                                 

They were married in the charming Mesa Arizona temple. I thought the architecture was so unique, it really grew on me while I was there... Thankfully the weather held out, it was a beautiful day!

So excited to have a new cousin-in-law. She seems like such a fun girl! Looking forward to seeing more of this girl. 

I was so happy to see my cousin Jennica! I definitely consider her one of my best friends! We've been friends since we were little. We have made so many wonderful memories over the years, from sleepovers, going on a cruise to mexico together, etc... I just love her! She is going to Snow College right now, we are going to college on opposite sides of the state so we don't see each other very often. It's crazy to see how quickly things are changing with time. How exciting to see our first cousin on the Clark side of the family get married. 

Silver Linings- March 4, 2013

• Today in Logan it was so nice! The sun was shining, the temperature was in the 40's, It was wonderful! Most of this year I've felt like I live in the North Pole, so today was so wonderful!
• I was able to finish my homework during the day, so I had time to relax tonight and watch "What's Up Doc" with my roommates.
•  (Great movie! If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it)
• I ran into several friends today who I haven't seen for awhile. 
• Today I got to take a wonderful nap, oh.. what a great day! :) 

Great Times With My Roommates





The Best Roomy Ever~ Kendra Curtis

This year I've had so much fun rooming with this girl! Kendra, she is such a sweetheart. This picture was taken at the USU vs. U of U football, and of course USU won! This game was quite the adventure, after we made a touchdown, we were at 27 points. My guy friends picked me up, and basket tossed me into the  air 27 times, I got a bucket list item checked off that night. Oh, great times! My favorite Kendra memories include, Country Swing on Wednesdays, Late study nights at the library, Random Walmart runs, etc... It's been a way fun year so far!

Oh, yeah! We like to Match on Purpose! :) 

So, a few weeks ago, I came out dressed in my polka dot dress all ready for church. My roommate Britney had a polka dot dress on as well, we laughed that we matched. We were running late to church, our roommate Audrey came down stairs and exclaimed, "I want to match too!" So she ran upstairs and changed to match us. We giggled, we got all kinds of compliments at church, it was great! :) I love my roommates!

Britney Got her Mission Call!!!

On January 24, 2013, my roommate Britney opened her mission call to Tuscan, Arizona. I am so excited for her, she is going to be such a phenomenal missionary!  The announcement about the missionary age change in general conference on October 6, 2012, has been such a blessing! Almost all of my roommates are planning on serving missions. It will be exciting to see where everyone gets called! :)

Celebrating Britney's Birthday

On February 14th, we celebrated Britney's Birthday at Olive Garden. We had so much fun! We ended up with a totally awesome waiter, he even offered to be mine and Audrey's Valentine. It was such a fun night reminiscing, and talking.

Daily Silver Linings

• Today my English class got cancelled, so I got a wonderful break! 
• I was actually in a cleaning mood today, and cleaned my room and the whole main level, it felt so wonderful!
• The LDS Missionaries came to visit my roommate, and I really could feel the spirit. 
• For background, I'm planning on serving an LDS mission, and I hope to turn my papers in in March! :) I'm so excited! Today I bought a Mini Preach my Gospel, and it's just so cute! Since it's small, it seems a much less intimidating read. 
• Tonight I broke down and bought some Oreo's and oh, that was a wonderful treat!
• There is only 8 days left until Spring break! 

Daily Silver Linings

The Storm Cloud~
The English Paper Fiasco.. 

So today, was a rough day. I had a huge English paper that was due, I had finished writing the paper, and had planned in about 15 minutes to go print it at the library. (My classes are scheduled really close together, otherwise I would've scheduled in more time) Anyway, I go to the library and I had forgotten my I.D. card! So I had to bus home to my apartment to try to use my roommates printer. It was slower than molasses.. So after waiting for my roommates printer for 10 minutes I quickly grabbed my I.D. card. I ran to the Student Center to print my paper, then I had to catch another bus to get to my English class. I finally got there 40 minutes late. I was almost in tears with how stressed I was. I did not feel like going to class..  I got into class, and there weren't any groups left. 

The Silver Lining~ My Merciful Teacher  

My teacher was so nice about everything! He even offered to do the peer edit on my paper. To my surprise, he decided to give everyone who showed up today extra credit! He was so kind and I felt lucky to have him edit my paper. So now I know exactly what he wants, so things turned out. 

Storm Cloud~ Getting Chewed Out for a Can of Pepsi 

Tonight I really wanted a Pepsi, so it turns out that our neighbor sells Pepsi and could get me a can for 50 cents! I was thrilled! I have a slight caffeine addiction... Anyway, My roommate went to go get me a can. Suddenly I got a phone call, and my friend Craig teasingly told me that I was going to get Osteoporosis one day if I didn't stop drinking caffeine. He called me out on it all. 

The Silver Lining~ Being Motivated to Kick a Bad Habit 

I told him I'm a pretty low energy person, and that I wouldn't mind a little Pepsi, he told me he'd get me an apple. I giggled and told him he didn't have to do that :) He invited me over and he said if I stop drinking caffeine that he'd take me on a date! So there you go! Silver lining, I really do need to kick that habit. 

More Silver Linings of the Day

• Going to Zumba with my wonderful friend Kylie Johnson! 
• Getting to wear a cute new shirt! I really feel like when you wear your favorite color you have a better day.
• Listening to oldies while doing my homework
• Getting a Good Hard Laugh~ Today my friend Conner was in a wheelchair, I felt terrible thinking something bad had happened to him! I asked him what was wrong?! He replied that he's always just wondered what it'd be like to ride in a wheel chair, so he'd borrowed it from a friend! He even had the bus driver pull out the wheel chair ramp! Oh, that kid made me laugh today... that stinker aha.