Recommendation Submitted!

Guess who's going on a mission!!! As of yesterday I have submitted my papers to my bishop. Today I  had my interview with him. In the next couple weeks I'll meet with my stake president... and then I can WAIT FOR MY CALL! Yahoooooo! :)

It's crazy to realize that it's finally so close. That I've actually clicked submit. I am so excited. And a little scared as well. But despite my fears when I think about it too much, I'm honestly just so eager to go out and share the gospel with others. :)

But anyways... a few things I wanted to share.

First off, in Sacrament meeting today one of our lovely speakers shared Helaman 5:12. It says:
 "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

Isn't this just a beautiful scripture? I don't know what could give more inspiration and hope than this. Scriptures like this give me so much COURAGE to face trials in life... It just puts me at peace to know that really, all I need is a foundation upon Christ. If I have that foundation, nothing can bring me down. The devil might send his mighty winds and shafts of whirlwind. He may send hail and mighty storms to beat upon me... but when I am securely founded upon the foundation of Christ. When I center my life around him, and allow myself to depend on him for the strength I need--then I will be able to withstand the power of the devil. He will have no power over me if I am built upon that sure foundation... that is simply amazing to me :).

Also... this song came to my mind today. We didn't sing it in church today, and while it's been a good day I wasn't skipping around for joy like I normally am when songs like this come to my mind.
But still, this song came to mind....

There is sunshine in my soul today,
More glorious and bright
Than glows in any earthly sky,
For Jesus is my Light.

There is music in my soul today,
A carol to my King,
And Jesus, listening, can hear
The songs I cannot sing.

There is springtime in my soul today,

For, when the Lord is near,
The dove of peace sings in my heart,
The flowers of grace appear.

There is gladness in my soul today,
And hope and praise and love,
For blessings which He gives me now,
For joys “laid up” above.

O there’s sunshine, blessed sunshine,

When the peaceful, happy moments roll;
When Jesus shows His smiling face,
There is sunshine in the soul.

I was just thinking about the wonderful nature of the gospel, and of the blessings we have because of it. Because of the Atonement and because of our Heavenly Father's plan. Because of Him there is sunshine in my soul every single day. Not just the days when the sun is shining outside. Not just the days when I am with the people I love, or doing the things I love. Because Jesus is my light. There can be sunshine in my soul no matter the hard times I'm facing because of this light. As long as I keep the savior in my life I can always have a source of light. I can always have a source of sunshine in my life. 

I like the verse about springtime... "There is springtime in my soul today, for when the Lord is near, the dove of peace sings in my heart, the flowers of grace appear". In the reckoning of the world springtime only comes once a year... and only lasts a couple months once it does come. But in the reckoning of the Lord, we can have springtime all year long. Because the sunlight granted by our Savior lasts forever... it doesn't give way to rain or snow or wind. But shines brighter than them all... The Savior's presence in my life brings the dove of peace to sing in my heart--better than any songbird that we might here in regular springtime! The flowers of grace appear... bringing with them even greater beauty, delightful fragrances, and vibrant colors than those in the world! Christ's light makes everything better. And makes it last longer than the few hours the sun is up each day. 

The feeling of sunshine in my life doesn't have to sway according to the circumstances I face. It doesn't have to be affected by anything. The only predictor of the sunshine in my life is the presence of Christ in it.... 

So in that case, shouldn't we all strive to more fully incorporate Christ and his eternal light into our lives? I think we could all use a little more sunshine each day :)

One more thing.... I made banana bread. And oh is it tasty! There's something so magically about food after a fast Sunday... especially if it's already good to begin with :)

So I thought I'd share the recipe for that while I'm at it... that way I don't have to ask my mom for it again the next time I want to make it :) (although this semester is wrapping up so quickly I'm not sure if I'll get around to it again before I'm home again!) So anyways... recipe!

Banana Bread

3-4 ripe bananas (the riper the better... and the more the better too I think :)

1/3 c. melted butter

3/4 c. sugar (this is the reduced amount... I personally feel like it could be reduced even more if you wanted to....)

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

A pinch of salt

1 1/2 c. flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter and mash up the bananas, then mix them both together in a nice-sized mixing bowl. Now add the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla. Mix it up a bit more. Add the baking soda and salt, then mix it again. Finally, add the flour and mix it all one last time really well... get all those flour globs nice and mixed throughout :) Pour the batter into a buttered and floured pan. Cook the bread for 1 hour (although I did mine for about 50 minutes and it seems fine... it just depends on how impatient you are :) (or hungry from fasting all day....)

ENJOY!

It really is quite tasty. I'd recommend it. And it's SO SOr SOOOO nice that I can eat it all to myself. I'll miss that aspect of college life when I'm moved back home next month. This loaf wouldn't last 10 ten minutes at home. But here it might last me a week if I ration it! ;) (don't worry, I'm a nice roommate and would share if they wanted it... but Daina can't really eat, well anything, right now and Kenzie doesn't like bananas... sad sad. But alright I guess because I just get  more ;)