Aaron and Briesa Got Hitched

 20 September - 26 September 2021

I felt absolutely awful at the beginning of this week with a cold. I still attended work and FHE on Monday (where we went to the Rollins and had delicious smoked burgers). The nice thing about work is that it is very slow in the mornings, so I was able to relax and take it easy. On days when I'm feeling better, it's nice to be able to work on other things, like my orientation course for classes starting soon. I stayed home from the evening activities on Tuesday and just rested all day and night. I think I slept pretty much all day. I was so exhausted! I felt bad that I couldn't help much with the wedding. On Wednesday, I made a bunch of gluten-free cookies for the wedding. My mom was stressing about there not being enough food (though of course there turned out to be waayyy more than enough), so I wanted to help ease her worries. That simple task wiped me out and I rested for the rest of the day. That evening, I met up with co-workers from the ice rink at Costa Vida for dinner as a get-to-know-you thing. It was alright. I wasn't very impressed with the food, and the company was interesting. On Thursday, I worked and when I got home, I helped a bit with setting up outside for the wedding, but mostly watched because Wendy had a lot of people over to help. I went to institute in the evening and got to see my high school seminary teacher, Brother Blamires! I stayed after to play some dodge ball. I left work early on Friday to be home to help with wedding preparations. Then I got ready and off to the temple we went! It was sweet and tender to watch Aaron and Briesa be sealed for time and all eternity. We took pictures outside of the temple afterwards. I got a lot of compliments on my appearance. Then we went to the reception! It was a hit. Everyone had such a blast and it was so pretty and there was SO much chick-fil-a left over. And treats left over. One of the highlights of the night for me was when I danced with Kayla's baby Jaylee. I bounced her around and she had so much fun. Her big blue eyes were round as she took everything in. Symantha was a beast! She worked so hard all night, making sure everything ran smoothly.

On Saturday, I was SO tired, but I still had to go in to work at 7am. I brought left over treats with me because my mom wanted to get rid of as much as she could. That made my coworkers very happy. When I got home, I slept and slept and slept. My whole family was just tired from the wedding. Aaron and Briesa left that evening for their honeymoon. We worked on Lucy's murder mystery escape room activity that she is putting on for mutual next week. 

My lesson on Sunday went well. I did my job, which was to focus on Jesus Christ and invite the Spirit. I did that, and it went wonderfully, despite my imperfections. I got a lot of thank-yous after. I could see that a lot of people felt the Spirit and were touched. Valerie and I went to the AZ region wide devotional, and it was good (though we didn't find any boys to get numbers from). I love how there is still so much to learn in the gospel. I learned new truths about eternity and that at baptism, we covenant to be obedient to God. The sacrament renews that covenant because we promise to obey, but it also adds in two other new covenants: to take His name upon us and to always remember Him. And then the first covenant we make in the temple is also to be obedient to God. God loves us to promise to be obedient.

Much love,

Emily Burnham

Make a Wish

 13 September - 19 September 2021

Well, what a week! I started my first full week of work on Monday at the ice rink (which my mom totally thought was called a "ring" up until this week). It was so boring on day one! I was going to die of boredom because hardly anyone comes in to the rink in the mornings. My second day of work that week, Thursday, I brought cleaning supplies and cleaned the desks and swept the floor. I attended the temple on Tuesday and did initiatories and felt the Spirit. I felt loved and peace about my life. I just need to keep moving forth one day at a time and count each day a victory when I do the small and simple acts of righteousness. Keep going forth in limbo until it doesn't feel like I'm in limbo anymore. And I guess that's why life has been so hard lately. Because nothing is going terribly wrong or hard in my life, but I'm not yet in school and don't feel like I'm progressing with work. I feel stuck. And it's hard to be stuck, but then I also feel like I can't complain because I could have it a lot worse. This week, I also started orientation for Capella University. I also realized that one reason God hasn't been giving me direction and has instead been saying to make my own decisions is because I am not putting in enough work to find all the choices available for me to choose. For example, just talking with my mom this week, she said that I could do school full-time and finish my degree sooner so I can get a job I actually want. It struck me. I hadn't considered not working and just knocking out school as soon as I possibly can. Then I don't have to work a job I don't love and that pays poorly, wasting time I could use to get more school done. I've also been working on the painting for Aaron's wedding gift. It's coming along! I am almost done, but just need to touch up some things and maybe add a cacti on the right.

On Wednesday night, I attended our Relief Society activity called "Make a Wish" night. We had dinner and then we all wrote down one thing we would wish for, and then we had other people volunteer to fulfill those wishes. I thought about what I wanted most, and it comes down to the fact that I feel lonely and want to meet friends, so I wrote down that my wish was to be invited to game nights/work outs/parties. On Friday, my perspective on work was much more positive because I can work on things during slow moments, which means I can work on my orientation for school or watch Sue Thomas FBEye ;). Saturday, work was so busy that I didn't have time to do anything but work! Oof, I was a bit overwhelmed, but the time went by a lot faster when there is more to do, so I won't complain at all. I'm not a big fan of working on Saturdays. It makes my weekend feel a lot shorter. And it's not fun to get up at 6am on Saturday to get to work at 7am. But it won't be for forever! And I just have to keep reminding myself that I get to go ice skating for free!

Even though it's been a tough week (for reasons mentioned above about feeling stuck and purposeless), I have faith that things will improve, especially once I start school in a couple of weeks. I will be able to wear my "student" hat and feel like I'm progressing. My future is open, and I need to stop limiting myself and my future in my mind. Oh yeah, and it doesn't help that I started coming down sick this week, so I definitely need to extend myself some grace and love.

Much love,

Emily Burnham

Briese's Pieces Bridal Shower

 6 September - 12 September 2021

Welp, it's been another week. Let's go through the highlights. 

I went to our stake sport night event to play basketball on Tuesday. And yes, I even scored a basket in one of the games! It was really fun to play, even though I felt a bit sick from all the running. Fine, so I admit I am out of shape, but I still love playing the game! Even though we lost both of our games...

I started my new job on Wednesday. Yeah, I know why it's a minimum wage job. It's so lax and a lot of doing nothing in between waiting for guests to arrive to pay for skating. Ugh, this job is going to drive me crazy if I can't do something product during the down time. But on the plus side, I get to go to ice skating classes for free and get free skate time! Which I already took advantage of this week... :) Also we made pizzas on Wednesday for mom's activity day girls!

Thursday: I went ice skating with Aaron, Briesa, and Andrew. I got them all in for free because of my job, which was awesome! We had a good time, and they were all eager to learn new tricks from me. I think I surprised Aaron and Briesa with how good I am at ice skating (especially Aaron, since he hasn't ever seen me skate since I've gotten good). My mom and dad got their new bed, which means Lucy and I get their old bed. We will have to share a bed, but there is a bit more space in our shared room now, which is nice. I watched a cheesy scary movie with mom and dad in the evening instead of going to institute. But Valerie went and scoped out a tall cute guy for me!

Friday: I helped take down our old beds and assemble our new bed upstairs, which was a lot of hefty work. I also felt bad because I told my mom I didn't want to go to urgent care alone, so my mom drove with me and spent two hours sitting in the waiting room. Ugh, I felt terrible! I should have just gone by myself. They checked my ear, prescribed me some medicine to take to help the Eustachian tube unplug, and that was that. The rest of the two hours was just waiting!! Blah. But on the bright side, I finally got the next video for my YouTube channel filmed, which has been on my to-do list forever!

Saturday: I got to go to Briesa's live endowment session in the morning. We went to her bridal shower in the afternoon, and the food was really good! It was fun to watch her open up all the gifts, and mine brought a smile to her face. I got her a Recies Pieces package and wrote "Brieses Pieces" onto the package, which is my dad's nickname for her, then included a card that said "You know you're officially part of the family when you get a nickname." In the evening, I watched tv (Sue Thomas FB-Eye) with my mom, which is always the highlight of my evenings because I love spending time with my mom.

Sunday: I went to church lookin' like a babe! I got dressed up in a fancy outfit and did my hair and makeup. Well, I asked Lucy to do my eyeshadow, and after the scary results, I had to fix it up a bit. Relief Society was really good. I felt the Spirit and got to bear my personal testimony of how I've come to know the Savior through repenting. After church, I went out in the hallway to socialize with others for 20 minutes before heading to another church building. I decided to try out a different ward today that started at 1:30pm. It actually made me really glad for how outgoing my ward seems in comparison. During church, I got inspired with an idea that I'm excited to try out. I'm going to create my own business to be a content editor. I already started working on a website. I'll have to offer my services for free and get some feedback/reviews before it can be legit, but it could be a handy dandy side business. I decided to just go for it and see what happens. If there is one thing I know, it's how to tell a good story.

Much love,

Emily Burnham

Called to Teach

 30 August - 5 September 2021

I'm going to be real with y'all. This week sucked. Seriously. It was the worst I've felt in years. I felt so down in the dumps, like there was no joy or hope in my life. My bubbly, smiley personality was subdued, and I often felt on the verge of tears. You can chalk some of it up to hormones, but even accounting for that, I haven't felt that sad since probably my period of depression on my mission. In the thick of things, it feels like things will never change for the better, that you're stuck and you'll never feel joy again. Then, at the end of the week, things got better. I felt much anxiety and uncertainty and dread about applying for a job at the ice rink, but I decided to go ahead because nothing else was panning out. I prayed that I would get a sick feeling in my heart (not stomach, since it was already feeling sick and sore from something I ate), but I didn't. So I moved forth. And I got the job. Just acting on that one choice lifted my spirits. Plus I was able to attend a wedding reception and see a lot of old friends, which brought me much joy. On Sunday, I took the opportunity to bear my testimony about how even when life sucks (because let's be honest, it can be really difficult at times), I've never felt more peace or joy or fulfillment from any other source than Christ. Even in the dark times, I must hold on. That is the very worst time to abandon Christ, the only One who can save you. No other source will make you feel as whole or loved. And now I'm on the other side of things. I feel hope and gratitude and joy. I feel less anxiety for the future, and more hope for good things to come. I just had to stick the hard time out, pushing forward when I couldn't see a purpose for it.

In other news, this week I shopped at DI with Briesa and picked out some jean shorts (one of which was long but later cut and folded into shorts). Wednesday evening, I went with Valerie to help a girl move out of the ward. I had voice lessons in the morning on Thursday with Christina, and she was very happy with my progress. She loves listening to my voice. My mom keeps saying I should record songs and post them on YouTube. Who knows, maybe I will. All day Friday, I lazed about. I took an easy day because for no apparent reason, my stomach had a conniption. I didn't eat anything out of the ordinary, but my stomach freaked out and felt like it was tearing itself apart on the inside. So I withered in pain for hours before I fell asleep, and it still hurt (not as bad, thankfully) the next day. On Saturday, I helped clean the church and then I was able to participate in initiatories at the Gilbert Temple. Is it bad to say that I love the Provo City Center Temple more? I just really miss the people and atmosphere there. And I miss working there. Later that afternoon, I had my interview at the ice rink and got the job. That evening, we attended the Campbell's wedding reception.

Church on Sunday was very good. I fasted to know myself better so I can know what I desire and what choices I can make to achieve those desires. I fasted to make friends, to feel hope and motivation and joy and closer to Jesus Christ. I left early for church so I could meet with Brother Rollins. I got a new calling! I am a Relief Society Instructor!! I also took the opportunity to bear my testimony, which was good because it seemed to touch a lot of people, plus gave people the opportunity to know me better. Also, I included a selfie of how cute I looked at church today :)

Much love,

Emily Burnham