Great Grades and Graduation

This past week was the best week I've had all year! It was truly wonderful, and I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family!

I took my last final on Monday, for my religion class! I did very well, and then I felt so free as I walked home because I was officially done with the semester! And I received straight A's in all of my classes! In fact, my psychology professor offered me a job to be a teacher assistant for her in the Fall!

On Tuesday, I biked to campus to meet up with someone and buy a textbook for physical science. I got it for a great deal! (Those are the proudest accomplishments of poor college students). I then biked to the Taylor building to add a research class to my schedule in the Fall. That afternoon, my parents flew in! I also made cupcakes to go along with dinner that I was making for all of us. I also invited Kjetil to dinner so he could meet my parents, and my aunt Symantha wanted to come as well! I made tacos, tostadas, and Spanish rice. It was a great meal, but then we were all so stuffed, so we took a walk outside before eating dessert. We went to the duck pond, and my mom, sister, and aunt all ganged up on me, pressuring me to do a cart wheel. The only problem is that I can't do one! So that was embarrassing... Then we went back home and ate cupcakes and played some card games. It was a lively and super fun evening!

On Wednesday, my aunt and parents came over early in the morning, and we walked up to campus and gave Symantha a small tour. We went the Eyring Science Center, Museum of Art, and the BYU bookstore. That was super fun! That afternoon, we went down to the creamery to get ice cream (I just ordered French fries). It was funny because I had been texting Kjetil about my day and told him we were super close at the creamery, and he saw us through his window and took a stalker picture of us sitting outside and sent it to me as a joke. So I invited him to come down and join us, and he sat next to me and helped me finish eat my French fries. Then we went back to our apartment and played tons of board games all evening.

Thursday was Valerie's graduation day! We went to Commencement in the morning, and the speeches were actually very good! I was so proud of Valerie and all those who put in so much hard work to be graduating. We had two hours before we went back to see her walk, so we went outside into the crowds of people and took some photos. Kjetil texted me to ask me where I was at (his family had seen my family earlier that day) and came and found us because his mom insisted that he help take pictures of all of us. Then we left him and went home for lunch (leftovers) before walking back to see Val walk. That part of graduation seemed super long... the speeches were not as engaging. But she did it! Valerie officially graduated from BYU and we are so proud of her!

On Friday morning, I met Kjetil's parents in the Wilk. They were very nice, and I found out that Kjetil is just like his dad! Then I met the family at the Skyroom for lunch. It is a super classy buffet on the top floor of the Wilk, and I was able to eat quite a lot of things there. It was a cool experience, but too expensive for me to go back there on my own! Then Valerie and mom went to drop Symantha off at the airport, while my dad stayed with me because I had to run some errands on campus (printing, picking up an essay, etc.). Then Kjetil texted me if I wanted to meet up to say goodbye (because he was literally doing nothing until later that afternoon when he would drive home), so we met out on a bench on campus and talked for a bit. And he gave me another epic massage. Then Val, dad, mom, and I went down to this Muslim temple where they have llamas, peacocks, parrots, bunnies, and colorful fish. We explored there for a bit, but then it got super chilly, so we ran back to the car and went to The Wall to get their half-off fries! I got a regular fry cone and a sweet potato fry cone. I'm so spoiled! Afterwards, we played three rounds of pool, and I was the loser every time. We went home and played some board games, and then I went to bed early!

Saturday was quite the adventure! Val and I left early in the morning to pick up our parents. We took my car, and I drove us to Salt Lake City. However, about 20 minutes into the drive, the car stopped accelerating. Oh no, not again! I was barely able to make it off the freeway on an exit, and my car kept shutting off, so we had to keep restarting it to make it to somewhere safe for dad to look at it. We finally pulled into a car dealership, and dad popped the hood. He immediately realized the problem... all of the bolts (except for one) that had been holding the engine to the car had come out, and the last one left was barely hanging in there for its life! My dad retightened it, and we were able to make it to a nearby Ace Hardware store so he could get some more and fix it all up. Then the car was absolutely fine after that, and we made it to Salt Lake City! Just an hour later than we had been hoping for... We went to the family history center, then did a live endowment session at the Salt Lake Temple, which was pretty cool. We also went to check out the Church History Museum, and then we drove home. On the way home, we stopped by Brooker's Founding Flavors so mom could try the ice cream. She wasn't too impressed with it compared to the Creamery's flavors, but dad loved it! Then we went home and changed from Sunday dress. Dad took us to Bombay House, and it was SOOO good. I had been sooo hungry since we didn't have lunch (ice cream doesn't count), so I ate all of it until I was STUFFED! That evening, we went to a comedy show that Val had gotten us tickets for, and it was alright! All in all, it was a jam-packed busy day!

Mom and dad came with us to church on Sunday! The apartment complex where all the males in our ward live is closed down for the summer for renovations, so all the boys were kicked out. Since we didn't have any men left in our ward, we are combining with another ward for the summer. Church was wonderful! That afternoon, we dropped mom and dad off at the airport, and it was so sad to see them go. I definitely had such a blast with them this week and am so grateful for my loving and generous parents!

This week, I decided to about compassion. Compassion is a deep awareness, understanding, and sorrow for the suffering of others and a strong desire to alleviate their anguish. The Latin root means "co-suffering." The Savior understand our suffering perfectly, because He suffered in our place. He has a strong desire to lift up our burdens and ease our sufferings. He continues to suffer with us when we are going through trials. He weeps for us because He loves us so much and would do anything for us. In fact, He has done all within His power to save us. We can strive to have more understanding and sorrow—more compassion—for those around us and draw them to the Savior, the One who has perfect compassion because of His great suffering in the garden of Gethsemane.

I sure love y'all! Thanks for all you do for me, and more importantly, for the Savior!

Love,
Emily Burnham

Masking-tape and Massages

Howdy y'all! I miss speaking like a Southerner! ;) I had a wonderful week and feel so blessed:

On Monday, we had ward dinner at the church, and they had food catered similar to what they serve at Café Rio. It was good, but the only down side was that it made me slightly sick the next day.

On Tuesday, I had my last Sociology and Writing Within Psychology classes. I also made myself homemade French fries! Yummy. Later that afternoon, I met with one of the guys who had asked me on a date last week and we played pool at the Wilk. I toasted him :). I never even knew I was so good at pool, but I guess I'm a hidden pro! That evening, I went to my very last self reliance class, which was actually a party. We had yummy barbeque pulled-ham and chips (well, other people ate the ham on a bun, and I ate it with chips).

Wednesday was a great day. It was the last day of classes! I didn't have to go to my last two classes, so I was able to go to the Wilk and write thank you notes to my teachers. This even was put on for members of Phi Eta Sigma (which you basically can join if you have good grades). It was great because they even had candy you could stick in the envelopes for you teachers, which is basically bribing them to give you a good grade on the final. Haha, just kidding! I had a really cool opportunity that evening to go clean the Provo City Center Temple from 10pm-12am. It was amazing the detailed cleaning they have us perform--such as dusting the carved etchings on door frames with q-tips. It truly is the house of the Lord.

Thursday was a great study day, since final exams are this weekend. I also went to the temple to do initiatorys, then went to the library to study because I can focus a lot better there than staying at home! Also, they had this little station in the library to take a break from studying and create a masterpiece out of masking tape! So of course I had to stop and make one ;). That evening, I met up with a new guy for a date. We went to this soda place to get drinks, and I just asked for a lemonade, since I didn't want carbonation. However, it was disgusting! I don't know how they ruined it! But we had a good conversation.

I had my first final scheduled bright and early on Friday at 7am! But I didn't actually show up until 7:30am. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting! After finishing, I went home and had lots of time to study for my statistics final tomorrow. I've also been painting a lot! It's very relaxing, especially amid the stress of finals! That evening, I decided to watch a movie, since I'd already spent hours studying and had no homework. I wasn't able to watch the movies I wanted to, but I found this other movie I heard great things about, called A Quiet Place, so I watched that one. But little did I realize how scary it would be! I was terrified!

Saturday was good overall. I had my statistics final at 11am, and I felt pretty prepared, but it was so long! It took me 2.5 hours to complete, but I'm confident that I did pretty well. However, afterwards I was so exhausted so I went home and just painted. I finished the mission flag magnet I was making for Kjetil as a gift, and then I went out shopping with Valerie and got some candy and treats for Easter! I also received a job offer from my Psychology professor to be a Teacher's Assistant in the Fall. I took her up on the offer because the hours will be flexible, plus I can't keep waiting around forever to see if the MTC hires me. It's already been 4 months since I applied the first time! So I'm super excited about that! Then, that evening, I went over to Kjetil's apartment and we made pizza! It was the best pizza I've had since developing my food allergies. He is such an amazing cook! And he gave me a massage for about an hour or so. He is so sweet and thoughtful, and I had a great time. He also like the paintings I gave him :)

  

Easter Sunday was great! We had a wonderful program where students bore their testimony of the Savior, and in between, we had lots of beautiful musical numbers! I was in one of them (since I'm in the ward choir). And Val too!

I feel so blessed all the time and am so grateful for my Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ. Today, I felt the Spirit bear personal witness to me of the extreme love that Heavenly Father has for His Son, Jesus Christ. He is so pleased with His life, His sacrifice. And I know that Heavenly Father holds that same love for us. I strive to live my life in a way that He is pleased with me, too. I know that the Savior died, but more importantly, lived again. He lives today and sits at the head of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know He will return soon to the earth, and I am so humbled to be a part of preparing the earth for His coming.

Much love,

Emily Burnham

Origami and Opera

General Conference was amazing! I went with Valerie over to Levi’s apartment to watch conference because he has a giant projector! I was so excited to have the opportunity to watch it with questions in mind and gain direct revelation from Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost.

I volunteered at a bike shop after class, and I biked there because my sister wasn't home with the car. I saw this little toddler rolling on his scooter across the street, so I jumped off my bike to pull him back into his driveway. There were two or three cars lined up, waiting behind me. I'm so glad I was able to see him and make sure he was safe! After that, I went home to get everything ready for Home Evening. We had an artsy night and painted canvases, which was super fun (even though my painting turned out terribly)!

On Tuesday, the figure skates that I had ordered arrived! I was so so so happy! I tried them on—perfect fit! I’m so excited for the opportunity to try them out. 

On Wednesday, I was thoroughly amused in my English class. Each group had a creative presentation—from making origami canoes and guns to an opera performance! I went over to my friend Kjetil's apartment to practice my oral speech presentation for tomorrow, as well as the lesson I had prepared to teach at the MTC for my applicant rating session. I desperately needed the practice… I felt prompted to talk about patience, so hopefully everything goes well and I get hired! That is my dream job, and I am also tired of working custodial... ;) 

My class Thursday morning got out super early, so I was able to practice my presentation to Hallie, as well as practice-teach her about patience. I had a really cool experience because as I bore testimony of the Savior’s patience while suffering in Gethsemane, the Spirit filled us, and Hallie started crying. I felt the Spirit speak through me as I spoke to her, and I know she needed to hear those things to help her as she prepared to serve a mission. We hugged afterward, and she left with a lighter countenance and a greater desire to be patient. My oral presentation went well, and my practice teaching session at the MTC went okay… That evening, I had a date with a guy named Stephan. He was really nice and cool. We went to an ice cream place—Brooker’s Founding Flavors—and they had dairy/gluten/egg-free options for me! Today was also Miranda's birthday, so I gave her the Texas-shaped soap... and also this magnetic mini-canvas I painted for her! She loved it!

On Friday, I had another date, and it was sooooo awkward. The guy was shorter than me and super weird. I felt sad that the date went bad, and I was close by Kjetil's apartment, so I asked if I could stop by for a short while. We just talked about random things until I had to go for Val's graduation party. I couldn't eat any of the food (except for a bag of chips), but it was fun. Then I left to go home and eat dinner at around 9pm... I was so hungry!

On Saturday, I went to the temple in the morning and felt peaceful. Then I had another date (yes, a week of lots of dates, crazy right??) where we played basketball at a recreation center. He was getting flustered because I was totally beating him at “Around the World” and “PIG.” Hehe... then I just had lots of homework to work on. That evening, after finishing my 3 essays, I was massaging Val on the living room couch when we heard the doorbell ring. I went to answer it, but no one was there. I did hear loud footsteps running away. On the doorstep was a bag of heart-shaped cookies that Kjetil had left for me because he knew I had a busy weekend with lots of homework! How sweet and thoughtful! He really is a great guy and a wonderful friend.

I bore my testimony in church this Sunday, and felt the Spirit strong as I testified that this was Jesus Christ’s church, that we are His saints, and that we are ushering in His Second Coming. My sister Valerie got up to bear her testimony right afterward, and as they lowered the microphone and pulpit to her level, she said, "I look up to my sister in many ways... both literally and spiritually." Everyone in the congregation laughed at that one! I also had the amazing opportunity to talk to Rhoda and Johnny, recent converts I taught in Brewton, Alabama. They shared about how they felt when they went to the temple to be endowed and sealed. What an amazing experience! I am so proud of how they are flourishing with the gospel in their lives, and I love them so much! One new Southern phrase I learned from Rhoda is “Don’t be spittin’ on my word!”

God’s timing is perfect. He knows what we need, when we need it. He is determined to make us happy, and so we cannot compare what we have (or don’t have) to others, because there is a time and a season for everything in our individual lives. We are supposed to find joy in the moment and learn what we can to prepare for the future.

Spiritual Thought:

I’ve always thought that I did not have any patience. But as I studied about patience this week, I realized that I had no idea what patience meant. It was such an abstract concept, and now it is slowly becoming concrete. Patience—the ability to go through opposition and trials without becoming angry, frustrated, or anxious—is more than enduring trials. It is more than waiting for God to fulfill His promised blessings. Patience can only be developed in trials because it is the very thing that enables us to put off our natural man and access the enabling power of Jesus Christ’s Atonement to endure—to endure well. It allows us to behave as our most Christ-like selves in the midst of our hardest hours. Patience is the ability to access the grace of Christ to keep us from giving into our weaknesses when we are struggling—whether it is increased charity for someone we are faltering in our love, the ability to forgive beyond our own capacity, or a temperate demeanor when we are encompassed about by a mountain of stressors.