everyday ... in every way♥: it gets easier, promise

so here i sit, all curled up in one of his huuuuge jackets overjoyed with the fact that it’s ALREADY time to blog again. 7 months today (monthly picture below) which is so mind blowing because i swear i just wrote for month 6 like a day ago. let me tell you, IT GETS EASIER! i didn't believe anyone who told me this, but seriously. if you stay busy, time escapes itself. on sept. 24, we hit our 2 year mark since meeting each other. i honestly can’t believe it’s only been 2 years. it feels like ive known him my whole life. he has been such an incredible example to me and i know Heavenly Father allowed me to meet him at the right moment. at that specific time in my life i was dealing with some major issues. when joe came around, my life literally flipped. 180ed. i began to try harder and be better because i wanted to be better for him. then i realized joe made me want to be better for Christ. im so grateful for his Christ-like example to me. his determination. his love. i don’t know what i would do without it or him:)

i have been so busy with work and school which is why, thankfully, time has been going very quickly. i enjoy what i do and ive gotten used to dealing with hailey (the 2 year old i tend) for the most part. she’s a handful but she makes it fun. ive been bringing my 8 year old sister along with me every so often to help keep hay entertained. it’s actually been working wonderfully. she loves playing with little kids and learning from them.

over the month, i attended one of my neighbor’s weddings. it was absolutely beautiful but they were not sealed in the temple. the wedding took place in their backyard. it truly helped me realize how much i want to be sealed in the temple with my companion; to know that we are being sealed by the power of God rather than by legalization of man. i absolutely do not want to be married anywhere else. the temple is my goal and that will never change. it is my heaven on earth and i cannot wait to enter into it and be sealed for time and all eternity. how blessed are we to have that privilege. also within this month, i was able to do a bunch of random acts of kindness. one of them in particular – i was driving home from school on a back road when i looked up the street and saw a girl running. she obviously was not exercising because she was dressed for school and had a backpack on with books in hand. i was just about to pass her on the road when i felt prompted to pull over. (it also helped that as i passed, she stuck her arm out as if for me to stop). i pulled over and rolled down my window… turns out that she was headed to the train station about a mile up the road. when i looked towards the station, i could see the train coming that very moment. i needed no more explanation and invited her into my car. i drove her to where she needed to go so she wouldn't miss the train. i felt really good after doing this. it was so simple, but it saved her from having to wait an hour and half for another train to come. another wonderful opportunity this past month was going to the Relief Society Conference with my mom, grandmother and mom’s friend, tiffany. i absolutely love living so close to the actual conference center and being able to attend meetings that are broadcast everywhere. it fills my heart with joy knowing how lucky i am. it was so wonderful to feel the womanhood and spirit within the room and worldwide. (pictures below) and finally the last thing worth mentioning this month... we had SISTER MISSIONARIES come over for dinner. it was awesome. they were so stinkin' cute and i loved them! (pictures below)

last monday, i got a LETTER!!!!! and not just any letter. it was the first, actual letter, from my elder in 4 months. he had sent me something previously (but it wasn’t a letter) and our only communication has been through email. this letter was 4 pages long and it MELTED. MY. HEART. you know when your missionary is soooo focused and they don’t really express feelings or memories or anything like that? maybe it’s just my elder, but in this letter… he brought up feelings and memories and more. i needed that letter so much. i needed it to calm my troubled heart. even though i am confident he is the one for me, i can’t seem to shake the discouragement that comes from the adversary sometimes. i just have to remember that satan tries to put me down. not only does he know my weaknesses, he knows what i can become with my missionary. a family; everything satan works so hard to destroy. just by me and my missionary staying close and faithful to each other, we are furthering the cause of zion and potentially creating future generations. i know i can do this because God is on MY side. satan has nothing over my God.

can we just talk about conference for a moment now? INCREDIBLE!!! i had the wonderful opportunity of attending the morning session today and it was unbelievable. (after the morning session, i went over to temple square to take some pictures! (pictures below!)) the whole weekend of conference was indescribable. i felt like every single talk was applicable to me. i learned something new with every speaker. whether it was learning to be more meek, or how to be a better member missionary, or never looking back, or becoming a wife and mother, or coping with depression, missionary opportunities, happiness, conversion, challenges, the atonement, enduring, priesthood, looking up, or change...... i learned so much :') my heart and mind were fully invested and i truly felt the spirit testify to me over and over that everything that was being said was TRUE. The Lord directed and guided those men and woman to teach exactly what i needed to learn. it was so miraculous to me to see and hear my prayers being answered, and know that Heavenly Father DOES answer prayers. almost every single question i wrote down was answered in some way. after this conference, ive never been so excited to apply the teachings so quickly. ive never been so excited to become a wife and mother and do my very best to raise my children in righteousness. i am so grateful for conference!!! i love President Thomas S. Monson. he is God’s living prophet. i know it. the spirit is real and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live. how grateful i am to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.