An Amazing Person

My friend Coryn just left for her mission to Paris, France today.  I have had the very fortunate pleasure to have known Coryn since Summer 2007.  We met on our study abroad in London, England.  We quickly became friends, and hung out in London, went to a Carnivalli in Paris, hiked up the Eiffel Tower, stayed in touch through the years by going to a concerts together such as Mika, going to the midnight premiere of High School Musical 3, photoshooting, etc.

I will miss this incredible inspiration very much, but I know she will do SO much good!  She give access to the Gospel to SO many people in France.  People will see her genuine smile, and naturally want to know more.  Coryn has never spoken a bad word about anyone, and I really admire her.  She is one of the most spiritually in-tune friends that I have.

...And I just typed this whole post up with mouth wash sitting in my mouth.  I should go spit that out.

Love,
Sean

5 Scriptures That Will Get You Through Almost Anything

I had the opportunity to listen to popular Mormon author and motivational speaker John Bytheway speak a few days ago.  The talk he gave was the same one he gave to the students of the Columbine High School shootings after the tragic incident.  He titled it, "5 Scriptures That Will Get You Through Almost Anything".

He started out by stating that we don't want any false scripts.  We want sure scripts...ScriptSURES.  I thought that was pretty clever haha.

Here are the 5 Scriptures:

1) 1st Nephi 11:16-17.  Bytheway said that the first thing to realize is that we do not know the meaning of all things, but the one thing that we MUST know is that God "loveth His children."

2) Moses 7:26-30.  In this selection of scriptures, it states that God weeps.  We learn from this that God IS affected by the events that happen here on Earth.  People may ask, "Why would God allow this tragedy/temptation/sickness/etc. happen?" ... We must all face affliction on Earth.  But, do not think for a moment that God does not care...He IS affected by what happens in our mortal life.

3) Alma 14:9-13.  In verse 13, Alma says, "...behold, our work is not finished".  Bytheway said that similarly, the horrible things that we go through here is not the end.  We must not let this tragedy/temptation/sickness/affliction define us.

4) Alma 7:12.  From this scripture we learn that our Savior did not just die for our sins, He also died for our pains, afflictions, temptations, sicknessnesses, weaknesses, etc.

5)  Doctrine And Covenants 101: 32-34, 36.  Our joy is not fulfilled through the world.  Our joy is fulfilled through the Lord.  Bytheway ended by stating that his talk is called, "5 Scriptures That Will Get You Through Almost Anything," but it is God and our Savior that WILL get us through EVERYTHING.

I really feel that Bytheway was right...These are 5 very important scriptures that we can all learn a lot from.  I wanted to make sure I shared this with all my readers, and I hope it could help you in the same way it helped me.  It's always a good for me to be reminded that I am always loved.

Love,
Sean

Wah Wah

So, let me tell you what JUST happened.  Right now I am 40,000 feet in the sky, and I purchased internet because I wanted to catch up on my shows via hulu.  Sadly, the bandwith or the connection or something is messed up, so my original plans are shot.  Wah Wah.  And because my flight was purchased last minute, I am sitting right in the middle so I can't spread out work to do.  Basically...I hope we land soon.  There is only SO much Facebooking I can do...

I wish I had some words of inspiration, but alas, I got nothin.

Wait a minute, maybe I do have something.  I was talking to the lady sitting next to me, and she's a pretty awesome person.  She works in Oslo, Norway for a ballet company.  She is most recently from Lincoln Square, New York City.  She is flying back to Norway from Hawaii and Los Angeles right now.  Anyway, she has so much ambition and clearly loves life.  It makes me happy when I meet people that take advantage of great opportunities.  Life is too short to stay in one place.

Speaking of traveling...I would love to go back here....

Love,

Sean

Who I Am

Hey readers!  I can not stop listening to this infectious song.  Fellow Mormon and extremely talented recording artist, David Archuleta, sings a song on his new album "The Other Side Of Down" called "Who I Am."

The lyrics read:
"The windshield looks like a movie screen
And the world outside is a big machine
And it moves so fast I can barely think
That's ok cause I know what I'm doing

Days like these
It's hard to breathe

I'm gonna take this moment that I'm in right now
Stop the craziness some how
Leave it all behind me
I know it's gonna find me
I've got nothing to win, I've got nothing to lose
Just trying to walk in my own two shoes
Gotta take some time now
It's time for me to find out who I am."

...This is totally how I feel much of the time.  The world moves so fast, and it's constantly throwing material things, work, media, and more debris from this never-ending storm.  It gets to me all the time, and for a moment I forget what's REALLY important.  But I feel so blessed to have family, good friends, and my church to bring me back to what matters most.  It is then that I am able to "Leave it all behind me..." and eventually come to "find out who I am."

You should take a listen to this song.


Oh...And last night I hung out with some friends.  We had our own special FHE and carved pumpkins.  Here is a picture of the pumpkin I made.  It turned out too scary for me...No me gusta.  But maybe you'll enjoy...?

 
Love,
Sean

FAT Meeting: Is It Sufficient Enough?

FAT stands for Fast And Testimony.  For those of you reading whom are not Mormon, Fast and Testimony Meeting is a meeting with the congregation that happens once a month in which church members can go up to the pulpit and share the things that they know to be true.

Today, the bishop in our ward bore his testimony, and numerous times he said, "Is your testimony sufficient enough?"  I thought this was such a good question for everyone to ask of themselves.  Is your testimony sufficient enough to withstand the adversary?  Is your testimony sufficient enough to choose good?  Is your testimony sufficient enough to keep you prayerful?  Is you testimony sufficient enough...

And I've decided to allow my readers to get to know me better, so on occasion, I may post a picture, or video, or just tell a tidbit or two.

I LOVE BYU FOOTBALL!  GO COUGARS!  This picture is of Kim, Tayler, Kelsie, Lisa, and myself from the 2009 BYU vs. UNLV game in Las Vegas.

Love,
Sean

I Look To You

I just watched this past week's new episode of Glee.  I am fairly certain that everyone knows or has at least heard of Glee.  It's a fantastic musical comedy TV show on FOX.  Um...Think High School Musical television series.

In any case, religion was the main theme of the most recent episode.  I got pretty emotional while watching Amber Riley's character, Mercedes, sing Whitney Houston's "I Look To You."  Mercedes sang this song to Chris Colfer's character Kurt, because his Dad was in the hospital.  Later in the episode, she told the non-religious Kurt that he doesn't have to believe in God, but he should believe in something you can not see, touch, hear, or smell, because life is too hard to go through not to believe in in anything.  I thought this was a great message.  And, that is one of the most beautiful things about our country; we have the freedom to believe in whatever religion we want...if we want to believe in a religion at all.

Another component of this past week's Glee was that as members of society, we should respect others' beliefs, and not force anything unwanted upon others.

Love,
Sean

A Text From My Bed

So...I texted my update last night and it didn't really work out, so I am updating it now.

Here is what my text reads...

I am too lazy to get out of bed and grab my computer so this update wil be posted via text message (which didn't work haha).

I just finished reading 3 Nephi Chapter 19.  I really liked verse 23 where Christ is praying to Heavenly Father saying:
"And now Father, I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou Father, art in me, that we may be one."

Isn't that cool?  We have the power to allow Christ to be in us, to be part of us.

Love,
Sean