I Take A Trip

I won't be posting for awhile. There won't be much Internet access where I'm going to be going, therefore eliminates my chances of blogging. Needless to say, I won't be too bummed out about not being able to blog :)

I will be gone from June 1st until June 13th (the evening of), and then I begin my recuperation process to adjust back to this time zone (jet lag, ag!) Anyway, I won't be posting for a couple weeks.

British Isles, HERE I COME!!! :)

The Final Stretch

In NASCAR, the last lap is probably the most pivotal. The preparations, the pit stops, and the prestige driving throughout the whole race pay off for that one lucky driver. The driver and his team must be persistent in order to succeed, along with dealing with the problematic situations that arise throughout the race. In some ways, I relate a NASCAR race to my school year, or even to life itself.

No matter how good you are, you are bound to fail at some things. Whether it be a test, or just feeling inadequate, you aren't going to always come in first. If someone you know wrecks out, be careful not to make their problems effect you.

Keep persisting, and don't give up. Even when times get hard, we must continue to endure. Our endurance will eventually pay off.

If we endure to the end and keep persisting through adversity, will shall become victorious.

With the school year coming to a close, I know I must do all these things in order to be sucessful. I can't give up in the final lap, I can't let my victory slip away because I'm "too tired" or "not in the mood" to study for my finals and prepare.

The same goes for you, for whatever you need to achieve. If you give up, then you will not achieve what you desire. We mustn't give up, even if the odds are not in our favor. You have fans called family, a pit crew called the gospel, and a crew chief called Heavenly Father to help you be sucessful.

Temporal and Eternal

This past weekend was one full of recognition for myself, which usually I'm not all about being the center focal point of an audience, but this weekend was inevitable and a great honor.

On Sunday, I was inducted into my high school's first National Honor Society (NHS) group, and later that evening I received the Stake President's Award for seminary during this past school year.

I received two signed "official" certificates, along with two tokens. They may seem similar, but they are very different in my eyes. One is temporal, one is eternal.

The NHS award was signed by school officials, and the token was a pin with the NHS logo. To be in the NHS is an honor and a great academic achievement (so people say.) It looks good on college resumes and job applications. This NHS award, to me, is nothing more then a temporal "look at what I did" achievement--I feel there isn't anything special behind this. All I did was fill out an application, saying what service I've done in my community, and got good grades. And, not to mention the candle we were required to hold during the ceremony melted all over my hands...ouch.

My seminary award is very important to me. Along with the certificate, I was given a necklace that said "Messiah" in Hebrew. This achievement seemed much more difficult to achieve then my NHS one. The requirements (which I stole from my seminary teacher's blog) to get this achievement are:

• Read 200 days throughout the entire school year
• Read the entire New Testament
• Memorized 25 scripture master and say them twice
• Memorize the Books of the New Testament
• Memorize the 1st Presidency and Quorum of the 12 Apostles
• Attend 100% or completed the homework/makeup work for 100% attendance
• Fewer than 30 tardies for the year (mind you seminary starts at 5:55 AM)

This award won't get you into a super duper fantastic college, or get you the highest paying job in the world. However, this award WILL make your testimony grow--I promise you. This dedication these kids put forth is amazing, and I look up to those who have done this award before AND those kids who graduated this year from seminary.

Not to be stingy or anything, I AM grateful that I got inducted into the NHS...I'm just more grateful that my testimony has grown immensly since I started working towards the Stake President Award. I don't know about your oppinon, but, my testimony is way more important that some silly pin that says "NHS" on it.

And thank you for EVERYONE who has supported me! I'd be nowhere without you guys!