Hey family! And friends if any of y'all are reading this!
On Monday morning, I got a text from a guy who used to be in the ward that said he thought I should go on a date with his Elder's Quorum President. I said I was willing to give it a go, and the guy (Braeden) texted me. We set up a Zoom date for Wednesday due to the governor's new mandate to stay in your home. I was actually really looking forward to the date!
I have tons and tons of readings and homework to do, and so I have been working on homework right up until my bedtime! But such is the life of a full-time college student when the end of the semester is drawing near. Lots of papers and finals and work to do.
The date Wednesday night was fun! I may have talked a lot... but there's a reason that my nickname was "Emily-talks-a-lot" when I was a kiddo... haha. But Braeden is super cool and it was fun getting to know him better.
I have sooo much grading to do!!! AHHHH!!! But I'm trying to remain calm. I have loads to do in the next week and a half before I go home for Thanksgiving, but all I can do is focus on one day at a time. I'll do my very best each day and try hard not to waste time worrying about not getting everything done. Anyways, I truly believe you can be happy despite crazy circumstances, and I am having the opportunity to live through that right now. It's not easy, but with a determination to keep my mind focused on the present moment, it has helped me a lot. Whitney came over Thursday evening because I made her dinner (and dinner for my roommate Mira) and she really liked it!
Friday morning, Whitney came over around 9am and we worked on homework all morning. We also went on a "speed-walk" together. I had a work training meeting, and then later that afternoon I visited the doctor at the health center, did more homework, and then went shopping.
Saturday was a pretty great day! In the morning, I went over to my friend Becca's house to make hummus. After a while we got to talking about worst date stories, which is always fun. Also, they had received four books about marriage for their wedding that they said they weren't going to read, so they offered them to me (since I'm going into marriage and family therapy). I'm actually super pumped about that! I can already see the bookshelves in my future office lined with them ;). That afternoon, I went with some friends to the Shops at Riverwood. I got some nice lotion that was half-off, because it's that time of the year when my hands start drying out and bleeding... fun times. We also went to this shop where the owner travels around and buys expensive things from auctions from church history or from movie sets! We got to see a bible from the 1400s and props from different movies such as Harry Potter, Narnia, and Lord of the Rings. That evening, I had a date with a guy I met on mutual. We met at a Mexican Restaurant in Springville called Joe Bandido's. I'll be honest; I was definitely looking forward to eating Mexican food more than the actual date, but I was pleasantly surprised. I had a nice time with Nate.
Sunday was great! After church, a friend in the ward talked with me for a bit about books (he'd finished one that I'd recommended to him and had really liked it). Then after we parted ways, two girls gave me looks and one even texted me to let me know that they think I should go on a date with him. Mira made me some hot chocolate when we got home from church. I met with my ministering sisters over Zoom and one of them invited me to stay for their Come, Follow Me study group if I wanted. I decided to, and I'm really glad I did! There were some really cool girls on there that had great questions and we had a wonderful discussion. Plus, it always makes you feel good when they like your comments ;). One cool thing I thought of was that the best way to prepare yourself now for future challenges is to be your best self in the "now." Just as your current level of happiness on the future correlates with your present measure of happiness, so does your preparation. If you are doing your best every day to draw closer to God, to have meaningful prayers and studies, then when the time comes in the future, you will have built up that pattern and habit, and you'll be prepared. One quote I liked that someone said was, "Just as we should not procrastinate the day of our repentance, we should not procrastinate the day of our happiness." Then someone said that "repentance is happiness." Amen to that!
Much love,
Emily Burnham
P.S. I didn't really take any pictures this week... sorry about that... but I did take one photo of me out in the cold with a cute headband on that my sister got me for Christmas one year. So I guess I can upload that photo, though I low-key kinda look bald... ;)
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