NEW thoughts on dating??

I thought I'd take a moment to comment on the new aspect of my life that is my 18-year-old sister, Rachel, having a boyfriend. The first thought that came to mind (or ONE of the first--probably after "Wow, that was fast") was, "Finally, some nice young man [besides family members] sees just how cool our sister is."

Well, then followed the flurry of other thoughts, including:
- "I would never hold a girl's hand on a first date" (contrary to Cassandra's suppositions)
- "What does she like about him?" (explanation: there are tons of things to like about him, but I'm still curious what it is that she sees in him)
- "How would I feel if Rachel were to get married (anytime soon)?"
- "Is it really just time to let Rachel grow up, at least a little bit, or should we work to keep her from growing up too much?"
- "I wonder how/if I would've acted differently with any of the girls I dated if there had been a big brother around--or had I had that mentality?"

That's all that comes to mind at the moment, but there may be more to come . . .

Babies!

So, I have to thank Leila for inspiring me to talk about babies.

I've recently arrived at a point in my life where people I actually know and am actively friends with are not only married, but having kids, too. It's been a couple of months now, but I found out two dear friends from my mission, Emily and Kevin, are both having kids (and they're married, but not to each other, so that's twice as many babies!) in just a couple of months.

Then, I called another of my old companions a day or two ago, and it turns out he's got an 8-month-old girl AND is expecting another girl a little while from now. Of course, all this is ignoring the fact that Audrey, the oldest in my family, is having their fourth child soon (perpetuating a whole generation of "grandparents" for their cousins, whenever they finally come along).

Anyways, I can't say that I'm particularly disappointed not to have any children of my own at the moment, but it's just a new experience for me to really be involved with friends that are having kids . . . Hmmg.

The Light of the Restoration

So, today I had what was, for me, a very unique experience. I've found a place here in Provo that feels about as peaceful as the temple.

For my intro to Seminary teaching class, I needed to observe a seminary or institute class, and, mostly because I don't have a car, I checked with the ones that are here in Provo and ended up in the Special Needs Institute class just on the northeast side of campus (over behind the Taylor building).

At this point, I'm not really sure what to say about it. I think the thing that left the biggest impression on me was that I could perceive light in the people there, greater in quantity and quality than I have in a very long time. The teachers seemed to be directly following the Spirit, which they had also followed in carefully preparing; the students seemed to be in closer connection to Heavenly Father, with pride-free, pure, childlike hearts; and the volunteers seemed to open their hearts to that light more than they might in a normal day, being more caring and forgiving and kind (I definitely noticed something like that in my own feelings).

With the peace that I felt tonight, the ever-present question comes up: What am I going to do now? Will I continue to do things that bring that light to my heart (and, with that, to others')? Or will I find other things to do with my time?

Something incredible and wonderful that came to me, too, while I was there, was when, in the closing prayer, the young man praying said something about preparing to take the sacrament on Sunday. I realized that every single day I need to have that thought as something that I focus on, or I really will not be prepared to take the sacrament at the week's end. Hmm.