Rose Rosenhan

1 March - 7 March 2021

Monday: Mira and I actually attended Home Evening, since we want to be better about attending ward activities. We played minute to win it games and I had a fun time throwing marsh mellows at one of the guys and he tried catching them in his mouth (even if they had been on the floor from another activity). I have really enjoyed getting to know Mira better. We have a lot more time to talk and hang out now that she has broken up with her boyfriend, and it has honestly been such a huge blessing to me. 

Wednesday: We had our COSTUME CONTEST family history activity at 8pm that evening, where everyone was supposed to come as an ancestor and share something about the ancestor they dressed up as. I dressed up as Rose Ida Rosenhan, and in preparation for this, I had gone to DI to find an old lady jacket and then that day I put my hair in rollers to make it super curly (then, when I wanted to ride my uni, I couldn't because I couldn't be seen with such an atrocious hair style. So I thought I'd cover it with a beanie... but that only looked worse! LOL like a palace guard in England or something!) We had a really good turn out at the event, with our RS pres taking the prize. She ordered a $14 wig on Amazon! Haha she went all out.

Thursday: In the afternoon, I went and donated plasma for the second time, so I should be getting another $100 dollars. Fortunately, this time only took under 2 hours. I attended an online Zoom meeting for psych graduates, and a lot of things they said stood out to me, but particularly this: "You can't make any decisions until you have options." I realized how I am trying to decide what I want to do and which school I want to go to... and I have no offers! So how am I supposed to decide? I realized I need to seek after every opportunity and then I can worry about deciding what I want to do once I actually have some options to choose from. I also decided to wait until after I graduate to look into schools or different options so that I can just focus on finishing my undergraduate degree. 

Friday: Shelly came by to drop off a smoothie and chat for a bit. She is so kind! She said she would worry about me driving to AZ enough for the both of us so that I didn't need to worry at all. Then I went to DI to trade out that ugly yellow jacket that didn't even fit for some exercise clothes (maybe having the wardrobe to work out will motivate me to actually work out?? ;) lol). Then Whitney and I went down to the Harman building to work, and we went on the walking machines, which was really fun. It's 1,000 times better than sitting all day while working. That evening, I worked on finishing up homework. 

Saturday: Welp, I did it! I awoke at 5:10am and started driving at 6am and successfully surprised my mom that afternoon around 4:20pm! I didn't break down or have any car problems, which was a huge blessing. I had lots of friends praying for me as I made the drive. As I turned down our street in AZ, I called my mom and asked her if she got her birthday present from me. She said she hadn't. I told her that it said it had just arrived. She said she would look. She checked out the front door and it wasn't there (obviously), so she started heading over to look at grandpa's front door, right as I pulled up in the driveway. I jumped out of my car and gave her a big hug and said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" My mom was so surprised and pleased and overjoyed to see me! Then Valerie looked out her window to see what all the commotion was about and saw me. I waved to her shocked face, and she ran outside to give me a hug. Then my dad drove by and was pulling into the house when he saw me and expressed his concern that I made the drive in my car (which I guess is his way of saying "I love you"). Then I snuck in the house and surprised Lucy and Aaron with my presence! Lucy immediately jumped up from the couch, shouting my name, and gave me a big hug.

Sunday: I went to church with my parents and took the opportunity to bear my testimony about how there are a lot of things I don't know, but like Nephi, I know God loves me. I don't know what my future holds, but God has a plan and it's going to be amazing and bring me so much joy. Mom teared up. Then I went to the YSA ward with my siblings. That evening, I spent time painting on a big canvas.

Much love,

Emily Burnham