when life hands you "lemans"..

"Who is your favorite Book of Mormon Prophet?"

Primary answer 90% of the time:

"Nephi!!"

We have been taught from an early age to follow Nephi's example.

He has been a role model to us ever since we can remember.

Who did we NOT want to be like?

"Laman and Lemuel!"

I remember my primary teachers would say

"Dont be a Leman!"

(Lemuel+Laman)

[Lemon]

Today in institute we talked about 1 Nephi 2-4. We discussed how obiedient and faithful Nephi was and how even after an angel appeared to Laman and Lemuel to chasten them, they still murmured.

A girl exclaimed to my class,

"I just freaking hate Laman and Lemuel! They are so dumb!

How could they be so foolish?

After an angel visited them!!"

I thought about this, because it bothered me a lot.

How could they murmur after an angel of The Lord appeared to them?

Would I murmur?

NO WAY!

But how many times have a murmured about something the Prophet of The Lord has asked me to give up..?

How could iiii be so foolish?!

Laman and Lemuel had "goodly parents".

So we know they were taught the truthfulness of the gospel.

We know they repented now and then, they had some faith at certain times.

Nephi's faith was his character and the way that he lived.

It was not an occasion for him.

Is our faith the way we live?

Or is our faith our safety net we pull out in times of despair?

Laman and Lemuel murmered... A LOT.

But they still left all of their possessions behind the same as the rest of their family.

Though they voiced their opinion about not wanting to go, they still went to get the plates from Laban.

They were not COMPLETELY disobedient.

Nephi. We know he did not only just go and do.

He went with a faith and a trust in God.

Do we follow every commandment with full faith? Do we put our whole heart into the things we are asked to do?

Or do we just sometimes go through the motions?

How many times do we worry in just one day? How many times do we stress over things? Even things we have prayed and prayed about?

Is our faith and trust perfect in God?

Though we have been taught since birth to be like Nephi,

I am pretty sure I have been going in the opposite direction!!

I am finding I am a "Leman"!

I was really disappointed in myself when I found all of these similarities I had with the people my primary teachers told me never to be like.

How was Nephi so much better than Laman and Lemuel?!

How was he blessed with such an unshaken faith and testimony?!

These three men were all in the same family, they had all been taught the same things!

I was so upset...

I was blessed with the faith of a "Leman".

I will never be like Nephi.

1 Nephi 2:19 "Blessed art thou Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart."

There was my answer.

Nephi certainly had something Laman and Lemuel did not have.

Nephi was humble.

He was more concerned with the Lord's will and the lives of others that his spirit was strong and his faith was strong.

I have never been the one to be an example of service, but today I have been taught an

important

important

lesson.

We are all a little like Laman and Lemuel. We could all be a little more like Nephi.

If you are just worried about YOUR salvation,

chances are you may slowly fall away like Laman and Lemuel.

But if you lose yourself in the service of others, through God, you will find faith as new way of living.

Soon after, similarities with Nephi will be a lot more obvious.

Life has given us Lemans..

the only way to make them into our own

lemonade

is to help others make theirs first.

When we finally come back to ours, at the end of this life,

we will find the Lord had made our lemonade a lot sweeter than we had ever imagined.

In moments of grief. He will save us.

The heartbreaking news of losing Taylor Fails has had me on knees a lot. Wondering and trying to see the Lord's perfect plan that He has for all of us. We may never know all the details for what our Heavenly Father has in mind but He will always assure us that He loves us perfectly and unending. This video was shared to me and I am going to continue to pass it on. It is a comfort to know we are never alone, through our hardest trials the Lord surrounds us with His love, His angels, and His healing atonement. I am grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ, who suffered and died so that we would not have to. I am so so grateful for the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, knowing we have never really lost anyone and we will see our family and our Heavenly Father and Savior again someday.  

D&C 122:9 

"Therefore, hold on thy way.. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less: therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever."

The Lord knows and planned every moment of our lives. He knows exactly what is going to happen, which sometimes doesn't make sense to us, how He let's things play out. He comforts us by saying "thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a 

small moment"

This life, here on earth is but a small moment. So through heartache, pain, sufferings, and trials the Lord asks us to 

hold on. 

He understands, He has numbered every single one of our days. He knows us and He will never leave us. 

In moments of grief, turn to Our Lord and Savior. He is waiting with open arms. 

We love you Taylor Fails.

Graduation 2013

Gunnison Valley High School Seniors Class of 2013. 

I always wanted somebody to use this for their graduation speech.. but no one did. So I am using it for "mine".

"When we were five, they asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. Our answers were things like astronaut, president, or in my case… princess.

When we were ten, they asked again and we answered - rock star, cowboy, or in my case, gold medalist. But now that we've grown up, they want a serious answer. 

Well, how 'bout this: who the hell knows?!

This isn't the time to make hard and fast decisions, its time to make mistakes. 

Take the wrong train and get stuck somewhere chill. 

Fall in love - a lot. 

Major in philosophy 'cause there's no way to make a career out of that. 

Change your mind. Then change it again, because nothing is permanent.

So make as many mistakes as you can. That way, someday, when they ask again what we want to be… we won't have to guess. 

We'll know." 

-Jessica (Twilight Saga: Eclipse)

To those who helped me get the diploma:

My Coach, My Teacher, My Biggest Fan, 

My Dad. 

My Rock, My Inspiration, My Role Model, 
My Mom 

My very best friends Kayli...

and Alora. 

Always pushing me to reach for the stars but making sure my feet are planted firmly on the ground. Sharing their testimonies in everyday conversation, and never wavering from their standards. I love you girls!

My Grandpa, Jimmie Hughes. Teaching me things in his best cowboy talk that I should never settle less than what my Heavenly Father wants me to become. I love you Papa.

My Wonderful Grandma, Angie Hughes. Her heart is so full of love for everyone around her. She is a perfect example of charity. She taught me to always serve and love but never be pushed around. I love you Grandma.

My beautiful sister and my other half, Josie. 
An athletic ability, an artistic eye, a sense of creativity, and a natural motherly attribute I could never have. I prayed and prayed for months that Josie and I would become closer. We would always fight and we have quite the differences. When we had to move to Gunnison, we had no other choice but to be friends. It has been hard on both of us to make other friends. I am grateful for the drama and the heartaches we both endured this year because we started fighting for each other. You are worth fighting for Josie, every second and every sacrifice I have given doing it, was worth becoming closer to you. 
I love you. 

My family.
Parker, Grandma, Dad, Genna, Me, Maya, Mom, Josie and Grandpa.

Kaden Whitney,
the only other senior on the track team this year. Such an easy and fun kid to talk to. We had a lot of time to get to know each other and become close friends this track season and I am thankful for that. Even though he tripped me in the hall way and I got carpet burns bad... He called me south paw everyday, even before we didn't really talk at all. He is going on a mission to Jackson, Mississippi and he is going to be GREAT! 

Braden Harris, 
the first friend I made in Gunnison.
Sooo many things that I could say about this kid. But in a nutshell, he is the boy version of me: stubborn, prideful, loud, rude, selfish...but he is unmoving when it comes to the gospel. Such an example he is to me as he will be serving a mission in Tonga then later fulfilling his dreams when he plays football at Utah State University. Thank you Braden!

BrieAnn Peterson 

played basketball and was in Sonos with me. Her and her family are a huge reason I am so glad I moved to Gunnison. I love the Petersons so much! 

I will miss her when she leaves but she will be an amazing missionary!

Kaylee Vern played volleyball and basketball with me. Such a beautiful and talented girl. We were the "intimidators" for our teams being the twin towers. A very very good friend, can't wait to be at Snow together!

Jarrett White
(Kocoum and Pocahontas)
is so funny and such a good friend. We went to "Sadie's" together this year.

Taylor Anderson, I wish I would have been better friends with him earlier this year. We just barely became friends and he is the funniest and nicest person alive!

I don't have pictures but I would like to thank Jared Walther for coming to my graduation too! He is such an awesome guy! We have been friends since the first time we stepped into a classroom. I remember when he got ran over in the 8th grade and I cried and cried and cried during testimony meeting the next sunday because I didn't want him to die. I love you Jared!

I would also like to give a BIG thanks to my extended family that came! The Leavitts.

Aunt Angela had just got back from Disneyland and still drove three hours with her family to come and see me! THANK YOU! 

Uncle Mikey is always so involved and it means a lot that he knows and wants to know what is going on in my life!

Leah was not able to make it but she is so beautiful and is becoming such an athlete, Keep it up!!

Lauren is so big now and soo pretty, thank you for coming!

Ethan has become so nice and mature is such a big kid (i might as well say that they are all growing up...)

Wyett is a stud and is such a cute little cowboy, still is so kind all of the time.

Julia is the sweetest thing I have ever seen and has become so big and is talking so much.

Thank you again Leavitts for coming! It was so wonderful to have that support! I love you! 

I would also like to thank EVERYONE that sent me Graduation gifts! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

There are sooooo many other thank you's and the list would never end so I am going to end with one more. Thank You to my Heavenly Father for putting my in situations (good or bad) to help me grow. Thank you for letting people into my life that have changed me for good. Thank you for the gospel and the Holy Ghost who has helped shaped who I am today. Thank you for the Atonement that has allowed me to become more like thee everyday. Thank you for letting me move to Gunnison, whether I find the reason now or later, thank you for having me be where I am today.