Uchtdorf, especially rocked it, in my opinion.
He is probably my personal favorite to listen to in the first place and then he spoke on something I really needed to hear.
He spoke on being grateful in any circumstance.
As the final weeks of my freshman year of college tick away, I have been feeling really stressed and anxious. Mostly I am feeling these emotions because school is kicking my butt. I have assignments due EVERY NIGH. I feel like all I do it type away on my laptop and spend all the days trapped in the math lab and library. BOO! Do you think that's how I want to spend my final weeks of freshman year instead of spending this precious time with the people I have come to love so so much??
That brings me to my second point of why I have been feeling so stressed and anxious. I swear, it feels like everyone around me has so much free time on their hands, allowing them to be as carefree as they like! It just doesn't feel fair... and I know I am not being fair by saying that... they have tests and papers and assignments too... but I feel like I am always that n00b that has to lock myself in my room or spend all day on campus instead of being social and having fun.
Uchtdorf made me want to make a goal to be grateful for everything that happens to me... in these final weeks of school and for the rest of my life. So far, I haven't been doing a very good job at it. Since Sunday, I have already had like two mental breakdowns... erps. But I am trying harder this week to be grateful for what I am learning, people who are helping me get through it (shout out to my mom), and optimistic people who give me the strength to push through it and still have some fun along the way (mahalla at my girls).
Today I had lunch with a girl who is also studying abroad in Milan this fall. I am grateful for her... and I hardly even know her at this point! Above all, I am grateful I will have a fellow Utahan in Italy with me. Today I learned she is a member of the church, and I am even more grateful for that. I am grateful there will be somebody else who doesn't party every weekend, who doesn't drink wine with every meal, who understands my standards, who understands my type of fun.
She also reminded me of all the blessings I have today as we talked. She is also a journalism major. She is in the same, near impossible, journalism class as me. Along with getting through "The Crucible", she is taking 18 credits total, and works full time. She is paying for her education and will be paying for study abroad, almost completely on her own.
Although I share her struggle of "The Crucible", I don't have to worry about some of the same things she does.
While my classes are very time consuming, I still have time to live my freshman year with a smile on my face. I do have my face in front of my laptop a majority of the time, but I can still find time to support Kenzie at her soccer games, play with Dan and Dev's new puppy, have dance parties, laugh until I cry, go nuts in my dorm with my roommates, and all the things you should do during your freshman year.
In addition, I come from a family who is not stressed over finances. My parents are able to pay for my education and can send me to Italy for a semester. They are willing to drive up to Logan at any time of the day if I need it. I know they are there for me and they support me in all my decisions. How grateful I am to have them for eternity!
As I listened to Utchdorf's talk, I could hardly keep up with all the incredible truths he was bearing testimony of.
Here are some of my favorite one liners:
"Gratitude is a catalyst to all christlike attributes."
"I’m suggesting that instead of being grateful for things we focus on being thankful in our circumstances—whatever they may be."
“We can choose to be grateful, no matter what."
“When we are grateful to God in our circumstances, we can experience gentle peace in the midst of tribulation.”
“How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God there is rain?”
“Being grateful in time of distress does not mean that we are pleased with our circumstances. It does mean that through the eyes of faith we look beyond our present-day challenges.”
And my two all time favorites....
"Endings are merely interruptions, a temporary pause in our eternal progression, which will one day seem small in the eternal joy waiting for us."
“How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that in His plan there are no true ending, only everlasting beginnings.”
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