Don't Come Down

We went to FHE last night and we had an excellent lesson given by one of the members of our bishopric. It's a story from the Book of Mormon about a man named Amalickiah (you can read the full account here). I've heard this story several times before, but really enjoyed hearing it again and wanted to record two specific thoughts.
To give you a VERY high level background of the story in case you are not familiar, Amalickiah is in charge of an army who is out to get the Lamanites who have fled to a mountain. This group appoints Lehonti to be their leader. Amalickiah and company have come to the bottom of the mountain and he sends a small number of men  up to Lehonti's camp and tells him to come down. Lehonti firmly says no. The embassy goes down and tells Amalickiah that he's not coming down. This pattern happens three times and all three times, Lehonti firmly states that he will not come down. The fourth time, Amalickiah comes up, almost to the camp and Lehonti gives in and comes down.
Amalickiah hatches a plan with Lehonti that Lehonti will bring his army down in the night and surround Amalickiah's men and ultimately make Amalickiah second in command as they will make an agreement that they don't want to fight. This plan works as Amalickiah planned, making Lehonti feel that he is still in charge. The next thing you know, Amalickiah has begun poisoning Lehonti - the account says "by degree" (please read the full account - I certainly haven't done it justice, but this will give you enough background to understand what I want to say...hopefully).
The two thoughts that I wanted to make specifically are as follows.
1 - Amalickiah made multiple attempts to bring Lehonti down from his camp...from his safe place, his place of high standards. Likewise, Satan will not stop attempting to ensnare us in his traps because we simply say no. He will continue to send us invitations to come down from safety. He may even come to us, almost to our camps of safety, and make us believe that we can come down, even just a little bit and everything will be fine, that we will be in charge, but that is not the case. We cannot come down.
2 - Amalickiah poisoned Lehonti by degrees. It wasn't a one time, sudden thing. It happened slowly. Lehonti thought he was in control and that things were going according to his plan without realizing that it was too late for him, that he was trapped in Amalickiah's plan. Again, Satan will poison us by degrees. He will do anything he can to draw us away. He will poison us using things we love. He will slip little lies, little temptations into things that we may view, and very well believe, to poison our Spirits.
As I reflected on these points, I began evaluating my life as it is right now. I live a pretty good life. There really aren't too many things out of sorts and I try to be obedient to those things that I know are right, not because I'm "supposed" to, but because I want to. I know who I want to be and what it takes to get there. Starting today, I'm committing to myself to be more aware of the influences I allow in my life, to realize that Satan's influence is real and that he is fighting with all of his might to mislead me...I will not come down. I'm up for the challenge...are you?

Sunday Drive

Sunday afternoon in Provo was BEAUTIFUL!! Sunny and warm (50's is warm here) and no snow on the ground. It was son nice that Lori, Shelly, and I decided to go for a drive up Provo Canyon to Vivian Park. We actually drove all the way to the end of Vivian Park. On the way we saw turkeys (most of them were in the road and we had to wait for them to move. By the time I remembered I brought my camera, most had hidden in the bushes on the other side of the road. But, you can see a few of them.

 (Why did the turkey cross the road??)

There is still quite a bit of snow in some areas up the canyon. On the drive up, I was telling Shelly of our family's tradition to run barefoot in the snow on New Year's Eve. I joking suggested that we should do it this day, having NO intention of actually doing it. While I was out taking pictures of the turkeys, Lori and Shelly got out of the car behind me and I hear Shelly and Lori say "well, here's a good a place as any". I turn around and they are standing next to a snow bank. I tried to back out, I used the excuse that I needed to be the photographer, anything that would keep my toes nice and dry (I can't say warm because we thought since it was so nice in the valley that we would be fine wearing flip flops). They weren't having any of it and the next thing I hear is "one, two, three...jump!" 

Since they made me jump in, I made them stand still for a photo.

 The evidence of our temporary insanity.

We had to stop a few more times for some beautiful shots. I love being in these mountains, even in the winter.

And, one last picture. As we're driving back down the mountains, Shelly calls out from the back seat "DEER". How she even spotted it I'll never know. Keep in mind this was taken at full zoom.

Band of Sisters

This book belongs on my list of favorites. It is a tale of 5 women who bond while their husbands are deployed in Afghanistan. They share in the tragedy of death, the loneliness of deployment, and the joy of life. I read this book and connected with each of the characters, even though I've never experienced anything of which these women faced. It was a good reminder that people are not always what they appear, that with the Lord's help we can get through anything, and that there is really nothing more powerful or unifying than a group of righteous women.

Spark

This weekend Lori, Shelly, and I went to this great little restaurant called Spark. It's this great, little nonalcoholic bar and lounge. When you walk inside, you feel like you should be in some big city like New York or Boston, or at least Salt Lake, instead of actually in Provo. This is our second time here. The first was for a bachelorette party a few months ago. Saturday was just girls night out...and we had a Groupon. **Side note: have you heard of Groupon?? You select the city you are in (or closest to you...or one you wish you were in) and then everyday they send you really great deals. The one that took us to Spark was $10 for $20 worth of food. How can you turn that down? Obviously I couldn't! Check them out! Back to the post.** We like going for the drinks...I go specifically for their habanero lime lemonade - AMAZING! We also tried their herb fries and I did something that I NEVER thought I would do...I tried something containing blue cheese. I made it so long in my life and I ruined my streak, but I think I'm okay with it...it was the dipping sauce for the fries and it was divine (and warm, which I think had to have helped it significantly).
So, if you're ever in downtown Provo and looking for a great little place to go, check out Spark. I'd tell you to tell them I sent you, but they don't know me...yet. :)

Snow Time

Friday morning I got a phone call at 6:30 AM. It was Lori telling me that I should get up right away since it had snowed the night before and it was going to take some time to clean off my car. I looked out my window and saw about an inch of snow...not too shabby. Since it was only an inch, I decided that wearing snow boots would be quite overrated, so I settled on wearing one of my regular pair of flats. I got outside and cleaned my car off (good thing I took the extra time...an inch of fluffy snow that brushed right off followed by a layer of solid ice I had to scrape off) with no problem. 

Driving to work took much longer than expected. One of the lanes on I-15 hadn't been plowed (how do you plow the other three but not the last one??) and the other lanes, though mostly clear, were a little slick. We maxed our speed for the journey at 20 miles an hour...hello 35 minute commute. The closer I got to my office, the more snow I realized they had. I spent the drive talking to my dad and as I was walking in to the building, I realized I had a problem. Where Provo (only 10 miles away) had 1 inch of snow, American Fork had received 6 inches...and I didn't wear my snow boots. It was a very cold, snowy and wet walk into the building, and dad had a good laugh at me. 

Here is a picture of our lovely Friday surprise. PS...it's March. Aren't we supposed to be done with this??

Wicked

I mentioned roller coasters in my last post and I HAD to include a video of one of my favorites. This is Wicked at Lagoon in Farmington, Utah. I would go to this theme park just to ride this ride. It is so thrilling...straight up, straight down, and lots of twists and turns. 

A Letter to Myself

Dear Self,

     You are ridiculous at times – just thought you’d like to know. Sometimes you frustrate me. You make decisions, and then you freak out. In this particular instance, you made a decision and it took you four months to reach that point, which is improvement, but please. It took one moment of doubt to make you want to change your mind. Luckily, you are not a quitter (and if you doubt that, say it again). You have made big decisions before and you will continue to do so. In all cases, things turn out just how they are supposed to.

     Yesterday you remembered a great talk entitled “Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence” by Jeffrey R. Holland. One quote in particular stands out and you must remember this: “Beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now. Don’t give up when the pressure mounts. Certainly don’t give in to that being who is bent on the destruction of your happiness. Face your doubts. Master your fears. “Cast not away therefore your confidence.” Stay the course and see the beauty of life unfold for you.”  Certainly, the decisions you make will not always be simple or easy; sometimes they’re downright scary and very complicated. You like to play the “what if” game, imagining every possible scenario (usually worst case scenario), forgetting that you are not in this alone. Self, remember - you did pray about it, you do trust and you do live for it…so go forward and see the beauty of life unfold.

     The next phase of your journey soon begins. Though there are certainly things that can cause you anxiety, everything will be fine. Life is like a roller coaster – hang on for the ride. Just like a roller coaster, this ride will be full of twists and turns and will fly by so quickly and before you know it, the ride will be over. Don’t take a moment for granted. Live in the present, savor each moment, and whatever you do, “cast not away therefore your confidence.”

Sincerely, and with great hope for the future,

Cristy