Hey! So, in all honesty, this past week sucked. Not all of it. But I just didn't feel very well all week long and became overwhelmed and stressed with all that I had to do. Wow, I'm so grateful that it is Sunday so I can rest from the craziness that is my life! I have a headache for the third day in a row and will feel nauseous/dizzy on and off. Despite all that, the Lord has sent ministering angels my way and has strengthened me through it so I could accomplish the things I absolutely needed to get done.
Monday
I did not feel well today. Mostly emotionally/mentally, so I didn't go to my first class. Instead, I went shopping because I needed food. It was cool to run into six different sets of missionaries at Walmart! During my second class, we were asked to draw pictures of God, and mine actually turned out pretty good! So I gave it to Miranda as a gift. We had a Harry Potter themed Home Evening tonight, complete with a realistic looking Hagrid-made birthday cake for Harry. It was super cute and a lot of fun.
Tuesday
Ironically enough (or maybe it was planned, I don't know), the speaker for today's devotional related 5 principles from Harry Potter to the gospel. So that was pretty fun! That evening, I felt so sick and did not go to institute. Then I felt super bad and disappointed in myself. I think I have felt so bad these past few days because I was just on a conference-high and now Satan is striking me down. But not for long! I also surprised my roommate Kayla with some watercolor paintings I did for her because her room is so empty with zero decorations.
Wednesday
I ran into so many people I knew today on campus! I saw Whitney Callahan twice, Lexy Rowberry, and Spencer Ashworth! It was fun to get to chat with them all for a second before getting to class. I am also really enjoying my singing class, and think I'm getting better, but it's hard to tell. I also called and talked to Johnny for half of an hour, which made me so happy! I love hearing from the Wrights and the joy that comes from staying close to those you met on the mission that changed your life forever. He is doing well, but may have cancer in his ear, so I'm keeping him in my prayers.
Thursday
After my Social Psych class today, I was talking with Haley Bell and she thanked me for my comments that I give during class, which made me feel good. She showed me pictures of her cute kids and said she was open to being set up on dates. It was a really good conversation and I gave her a hug. Then I remembered she said she had the flu! So I stopped by the JKB on my way home for a free flu shot! I went to work at the MTC and had an amazing lesson with these two elders. What made it so great was how excited they got about teaching me the Plan of Salvation. It felt so good to obviously be helping them to fulfil their purpose. That evening, I spent a lot of time printing, cutting and finishing up my poster for my art class tomorrow. I had a small bit of time to do some readings but then needed to go to bed.
Friday
I went into work. I don't know why, because I felt absolutely awful. But I did. I got to talk with Ben and give him Haley's number so he could ask her out when his divorce is finalized (I never considered myself to be a match maker, but who knows what'll happen). Then I had my art class. It was really good! I got to present my painting projects and was super proud with how well they turned out. My teacher seemed pretty impressed. Then we had some free time at the end to work on our next project: guerilla art. I got the whole class in on doing a flash mob on campus where we will freeze in place for 4 minutes. I'm super exited about it and recruited some friends to help me out. I had a QPR training about suicide prevention for my TA job, and it was actually very good and informative. I held my TA office hours and went shopping and then to the temple, and then came home to do homework. I went with Whitney to a game night for about 45 minutes that evening. All my other time was spent doing homework!
Saturday
I did not sleep well, and I couldn't sleep in until 6am. My body was too stressed, I think. I had a service project out in Lehi, UT, so I left with Helena (she's in my ward but she's also in English class, which is the reason we had to do this service project) at 7:30am. I thought that when we showed up, they'd put us to work digging ditches for five hours or something. But no, we totally got spoiled! They had breakfast laid out for everyone, a junior high choir serenaded us as we ate. Then we got to pick which service we did (we helped paint the mural outside) and they had food trucks feed us for lunch. Plus they had water and snacks for us. I got to meet and talk with some pretty cool individuals and feel reassured that I'm doing the right thing. I brought home a doughnut from one of the food trucks for someone and ended up giving it to Kayla's fiancée, Matt. He was so happy. I quickly had to leave to go to work. I just packed a lunch with me and ate there. Then, because I only had one lesson scheduled, I was able to clock out for a bit to get some homework done, and then I also could leave early since I wasn't feeling all that well. My cheeks were flushed all day and I was a bit out of it. All week. I went to the Harman building for a few minutes to finish up some work and then went home to work on homework. I got a perfect score on my quiz! And I got pretty far on my essay that is due. I'll just need to wake up early on Monday to finish it up.
Sunday
I slept in a bit past 8am. And I still didn't want to get up. I'm so grateful that Sundays can be a day of rest for me! With how busy my weekdays are, Sunday is a mental rest day too! I started my fast and was almost ready for church when I started have violent waves of nausea and knew I had to eat something or I very well might have thrown up. So I ate a banana, but that's all I had! I enjoyed listening to everyone's testimonies today and being filled. I sat next to Lexy in Relief Society and we talked afterward about how time-consuming it is to cook for ourselves, and we decided to do a small food group. She'll cook for us on Tuesday and I'll cook for us on Wednesday. That way we have motivation to cook and don't have to feed ourselves once a week. Kathrine may be in on it as well. As we were walking home from church, Lexy and I stopped to talk to a guy in our ward named Isaac, and he said he is a videographer and offered to help film my weekly YouTube videos so they are not ghetto-quality. Wow, what a blessing! He is my new best friend. Also, I need to actually have more coherent and meaningful things to talk about... yikes! But it'll be good :). I posted some new videos to my channel today as well, and I don't think they are as bad as the first couple, so that's good! Vincent and Kathrine came over for Come, Follow Me study group, and it was nice having a small group today. I'm grateful for the many friends that I have and the ones I am making each day!
I've been thinking a lot about the joy and love we will experience in Heaven. I know that it will be so great--and so worth our every trial and hardship we had to go through here in order to get there. I am filled with hope that my hardships happen for a reason. Waking up for work at 5am, walking there in the cold feeling nauseous from hunger. That'll be a fun story to tell my kids one day! It has helped me see that I can do hard things and overcome anything with the help of the Lord. I know what awaits me in the future will more than make up for every misery I go through now.
Much love,
Emily Burnham
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