FSY Training Triathlon

 23 May - 29 May 2022

God is so good. First of all, spoiler alert, FSY training was just the spiritual rejuvenation that I needed! It was so good. Second of all, all of my housing and ride concerns worked out, and they worked out better than I could have pictured. I get to stay with Whitney over her birthday weekend, when her other friends and her boyfriend was out of town. It might have otherwise been a bit lame, but I made her a cake and celebrated with her! And she loved the present I got her! A tortilla blanket! So she can wrap herself up like a burrito!!

But let me start at the beginning of the week! Monday, I had work off. I also had an internship interview in Queen Creek that went really well! Basically, Mr. Harrop said he would love to have me work with him and he could tell I was authentic and all about connections and could bring things to the work place that were lacking. I felt really good about it, except for that I was hesitating on wanting to commit to stay in Arizona. There is a part of me that wants to be free to move and travel, and I'm not a huge fan of the hot weather. The Lord has told me to decide, and it's hard to trust that I am making decisions that will make me happy. But the Lord trusts me, and I need to have more trust in Him and his perfect plan. Not even I can mess it up! Tuesday morning, I flew up to Provo. My previous roommate Mira picked me up from the airport and said I could stay the night. I was so grateful. I stayed in my old apartment, ate Mira's food, slept on the couch, then was off in the morning to check in for FSY training. I waited in a huge line to get my card and bag and shirts, then took a shuttle to Heritage Halls to settle into my room. 

So much happened during trainings! So so much. Basically, all of the counselors were assigned to be in a company with mentor counselors over us, and we went through the experience. I walked SO much, and I got a tan line from my watch on the very first day (I forgot to wear sun screen, so I got a little burnt). I was so so so hungry in between meals and dehydrated. I got two bloody noses on the second day. But I got to meet some amazing people and feel the Spirit testify to me that God is aware of me. He has a plan and purpose specifically for me, and that I was meant to do FSY and will meet specific kids and be able to help them. I was reminded that I have power and authority and stewardship to promise blessings and testify of Jesus Christ, and how that brings the spirit so powerfully! That is something I want to do better at. If God has promised something, and His words are sure, then I can make those same promises to others. I felt a spark reignite inside of me. I felt confidence that I can do amazing things with my life. That I can feel power and the spirit no matter where I am as I turn to Christ and create powerful spiritual experiences with my testimony. I realized that we can't always feel the Spirit. Just like we can't always feel like we do when we are first falling in love, because it would literally kill us from the stress it has on our bodies: the pounding heart, the nerves, the anticipation. If that was constant, we'd put too much strain on our body and it would be so unhealthy. I cannot even be in the presence of God in my body without perishing. Joseph Smith had to be translated, and he was so tired all the time from it physically! So, what I am saying is that it is literally impossible to ride the spiritual high all the time, because it overwhelms our senses. But, it is vital to regularly remind ourselves of our spiritual level and rejuvenate/restore the spiritual power we feel by having powerful spiritual experiences. Like general conference, or fast Sunday, or the sacrament, which are regular events that happen that can refresh and vitalize my spirit, if I let them. I need mini FSY experiences every so often to remember my purpose, to remember the Lord has a work for me to do and I CAN do it! He is HERE with me! I know He is! I have felt His presence this past week. I have felt His love and assurance. I know He is proud of me. He has told me that I can create these types of experiences no matter where I am, and I won't miss out on any opportunities because I stay in Arizona instead of moving to Utah. I can create spiritual retreats and classes and mix the gospel in more with therapy. Testify of Christ and promise blessings! I can do that and create Zion no matter where I am. I am so grateful for the Spirit that filled the ballroom when Brother Brad Wilcox spoke. I am grateful for the spirit that filled the classroom in the MARB as our company took turns bearing testimony. I am grateful for eternal relationships and friendships. There is no greater cause to be sleep deprived for!

Family history photo recreation! I think we nailed it pretty good, all things considered ;)

All the girls in my group!

This is Julia, my mentor counselor. She was great!

Waiting in line for testimony meeting! I'm just realizing how much time was spent in lines!! There were 1700 of us FSY counselors in training!! So lines for food and going between events was so common.

First day of training. Look how fresh I look! So much energy! And no bags under my eyes, lol.

Waiting in line for Brother Wilcox's devotional. We sang hymns and it sounded so pretty!

My awesome friend MaCall, who also LOVES books!

It was been fun being with Whitney. After checking out of Heritage and eating breakfast, I picked up Valerie's car and went shopping. Then I drove to her apartment and we did laundry, I napped (which was MUCH needed after how sleep deprived I got), and then we went shopping. She took us out for ice cream after. Then we had a girls' night, just the two of us. We did face masks (boy, did my face need it after how burnt and clogged it got from FSY training!!!) and watched the first two episodes of Julie and the Phantoms. Then I went to church with her in the morning, made her a bday cake (gluten-free, because I knew she'd feel bad if I made her a cake that I couldn't eat), and we had people over for tacos and cake. She also loved the burrito blanket I got her! 

Lols, we look so funny!! My pores NEEDED this!

I've just had so many spiritual promptings and thoughts this week, and it has been SO needed. I want to keep this up, and I know it won't be all the time (like I previously mentioned. There is a reason why our bodies work in cycles and ups-and-downs), but I want to plan events and times where I can touch up on my spirituality when it gets low and over time, I hope that I can be more and more spiritually tolerant. I want to share my insights from conference talks and scriptures. It's so much more motivating and exciting to share insights when you have amazing studies!! Anyways, I hope I adequately captured all my thoughts and emotions so you can get the basic idea of how grateful I am for this past week and the opportunity to be reminded of what it is like to be a missionary without a name tag. To have power and authority from my covenants to minister and help those in need. To promise blessings. To bring the spirit through testimony. Whitney has also inspired me. She goes out street contacting with a group for her calling in the Latina Outreach program. She literally just strikes up conversations and invites them to come to English classes, to come to church, or to read the Book of Mormon. I asked how I could have more missionary experiences, and she said, "Talk to everyone." That's it. I need to talk to people at grocery stores and be genuine and interested in them and their lives, what they're doing. And then I need to testify of my Savior Jesus Christ. I want to do that! So I'm writing down that goal here, and I hope you will hold me to it! Also, she has been talking a lot about her boyfriend, and she commented how things happened so fast. She feels like she has known him forever, and all the painful dating experiences and sting of loneliness has been swept away, as if it never happened. She said that is might feel like a long time, but it'll happen so fast and unexpectedly, almost out of nowhere, which brought me a lot of comfort because even though marriage seems so far away (because dating needs to precede that, haha), the Lord can and will bring the right person into my life when the time is right, and it can happen suddenly, and all the pain will be swept away. So I will move forward with hope and confidence, trusting in the Lord's timing.

Much love,

Emily Burnham

A Talk in Church

 16 May - 22 May 2022

Howdy there, y'all! This past week has been a lot better. First of all, Monday was a great start to the week  because I didn't go into work. I stayed home and started packing for FSY, did laundry, and other tasks that have been on my to-do list for ages. I went with mom to get my passport, and we had lunch at this yummy Thai food place called Charm Thai. Yum yum YUM! It was good, and the prices were very reasonable. I needed a good day like that. Then in the evening, I attended FHE where we watched President and Sister Nelson's devotional to the young adults.  It was good, and I took Sister Nelson's challenge to heart, asking myself each day, "What would a holy young adult do?" The promised blessings she listed really did come true in my life. I felt more productive and happier. Then I was asked to give a talk about the devotional, and I had some great thoughts and ideas come to my mind. My talk was a success! I felt the spirit and felt that I said what needed to be heard. And my mom and dad came to listen and support me! I had people come up to me after and say it really touched them and was what they needed to hear. Plus, I looked pretty cute today. 

Okay, let's see what else happened this week.... oh yeah! So many tender mercies from the Lord! I felt SOOOO loved and overcome with gratitude and love for him. I was stressing about where I was going to be staying during my off weeks for FSY, and then within one day, everything worked out. The family I used to babysit for texted me back that they'll be out of town and I could stay at their house and dog sit. It's perfect! I'll get the house to myself and can finish up school work in a quiet place where I'm comfortable (since I've spent many hours at their house) and I'll be close to Provo and can visit my friends. I get to spend Whitney's birthday weekend with her, and I get to spend the next weekend with Shelly. Then I get to be a counselor! I am getting so pumped! I am excited to go love those teens and have spiritual experiences with them.

Also, on Saturday night, I went to my first writers group meeting. I'm actually very excited because everyone was so excited and pumped about my goals and dreams as an author. I got some good feedback and am excited to have a support group to help me achieve my goals.

Much love,

Emily Burnham

Acai Bowl

 9 May - 15 May 2022

I invited my coworker Adrian to come to YSA sports night, which he actually did! He had dinner with us beforehand. Mom and dad made homemade pizzas, and Valerie had a couple of friends over. I really don't think Adrian is interested in the gospel of Jesus Christ, but at least I'm giving him opportunities to feel the Spirit and show Christ-like love. I kind of joked with my sister that... well, here's some background first. Our ward mission plan is to pray and invite. I joke that I skip the pray part and jump straight to inviting everyone. It's good on the one hand, because I'm not shy or scared to invite people to come to activities. I've become very natural at inviting. However, I also get discouraged because most of the invites are rejected, and I feel like other people pray and have strong promptings about who to talk with and then have these amazing experiences, and I pray and feel nothing or just have random people I know come to mind that I'm already willing to talk with but nothing comes of it. So, anyway. That is why you should not compare yourself to other people. So I'll keep inviting everyone and work on praying harder and being a better friend. 

So, I know this post is almost a week late! I did start writing it last Sunday but just did not have the motivation or desire to write about my week. Probably because these past few weeks I've felt down in the dumps, unable to focus, and discouraged. But I am grateful to say that this feeling has mostly passed. I think a big part of it is my diet, and another big part of it is the adversary discouraging me. That bit of revelation came to me at night while I was having trouble falling asleep. The thought came to me that the adversary was working so hard on me, attacking me, dragging me down, because I am going to make a huge difference in so many kids lives this summer at FSY. Immediately, the spirit filled me and testified of the truth. Things got a bit easier after that, and I told Satan to get hence! The other thing that made it easier was talking out my stresses and struggles with my friend Whitney. I think she listened to me for a whole hour!

On Saturday, I took mom out for her acai bowl. Valerie and Lucy tagged along. Mom thinks the acai bowls were SO good! I'm glad I got to treat her. I went to stake conference that evening, and some things that people said sunk into my soul and brought me encouragement. So, all in all, this week and the past week were reminders that life can be ROUGH even if terrible things aren't going on, but that it will pass. Keep moving forward! And here is a picture of me and my cute mommy :)

Much love,

Emily Burnham

The Lu-Wow

 2 May - 8 May 2022

As I'm reflecting on my past week, my initial thoughts are that I'm tired and not feeling super well (but I think I'm to blame for staying up late two nights in a row on the weekend, watching TV...). Also, my diet could have been better. I did good this week, but the one day I made pancakes for dinner with chocolate chips and syrup on top killed me! I think because I ate all five of the pancakes and because of all the sugar. Ugh, I was a gonner there for a bit. Anyways, I'm going to get back into shape this week to feel better and more energized, especially since FSY is coming up soon! I leave for Provo in basically TWO WEEKS! Yikes, it's so soon. Oh well, I need to give myself some grace for this week and realize how amazing it is that I made it through a tough time with some joyful moments. Also, I want to say that I LOVE JULIE AND THE PHANTOMS!!!! It's a TV show on Netflix, and it was SO good. The songs are inspiring and uplifting, the messages are wholesome. It's just so flippin' what this world needs. So you can imagine (maybe) how my heart BROKE when I googled and found out that Netflix is not letting them do a Season 2!!! Literally, my emotions bounced between sadness and anger for a good 10 minutes. Something better change about that. That's all I'm saying. I was literally praying for a miracle so there could be a Season 2. But, I digress. Maybe I was too emotional and obsessed this week and went a little overboard, but I gotta say, people using their AMAZING, raw, and genuine talents in uplifting and inspiring ways gets me so good. I can't even imagine how happy God is to watch us all cultivate and use the talents He blessed us with to bless each other.

The other slightly stressful thing in my life right now is finding an internship for January. I know it'll all work out how it's supposed to, but in the meanwhile, it's so stressful when you know you need a specific position at a specific time and places are already sending you rejections because they're not taking on interns at that time. And what if I have to wait half a year to start my internship? That puts me behind. I don't even want to consider that as an option. But I'm going to trust God that things will work out and that He has my back and will open doors for me. Oh, and money is a *little* stressful because now that tax season is over, I'm working shorter hours. My schedule isn't even really consistent. My boss will just send me home early some days or give me a day or two off if it doesn't seem like it'll be busy. Then my dad is hounding me about not making money and it stresses me out more because it's out of my control. It gives me more time to do homework, which is good right now honestly, because I need to get ahead on my assignments since I'm leaving for Provo soon but will still have three weeks of school left. And there are so many things I want to do, but I just don't have time to do. Or the energy or motivation or hope. Like finishing my book, making the edits. I really want to, but then it's like I don't have the energy or time. Or learning how to laser cut. I think I'm just scared, so I've been putting it off for when I'll have a bunch of time to sit down and face my fear of ruining things as I learn. I think FSY will be a nice break for me because I'll be too busy to think about all my worries for a time and can just focus on bringing souls to Christ.

In other news, my mom ran the escape room at the family history ward activity, which I stopped by to support. Everyone loved it. Grandpa Jim went all out on his posters and set-up. Afterwards, I went to our stake Lu-Wow (Luau) and it was good. I felt GOOD. I was peaceful and present and happy. The weather was beautiful and I couldn't keep a small smile from gracing my face. I met some new people and enjoyed the night in a carefree way that was rare. So that was very nice. Plus, all the food there was SO good! Well, except the pig. I tried a small piece and it was rather dry, but I probably grabbed a piece that was close to the top and got overcooked. Then, of course, Mother's Day is today! I cleaned the bathroom like my mom wanted, and I also got her a card with a lunch date to go to Berry Divine to get acai bowls, which she was very excited about. Dad gave a talk in church and I got to teach in Relief Society. Dad also wrote mom the sweetest, cutest card ever that warmed my heart. Then I got to talk with my friend Whitney on the phone for a bit, catching up, and she sounds so so so happy, which makes me so happy for her. I truly have amazing friends and family.

Much love,

Emily Burnham

Escape Room & Hot Tub Movie Night

 25 April - 01 May 2022

I do so much better on the bone broth diet, off of sugar. This week was hard emotionally and even a bit physically because I haven't been eating as healthy. The good news is that I got Friday off, and I could just mope and be sad at home. Anyways, with that inspiring and positive intro, let me move on to the highlights of my week, starting with Family Home Evening on Monday. We had a combined activity called Shark Tank: Date Style. We all got paired with a random guy (I got paired with Mitchell) and we had to come up with a date idea and present it in front of everyone. The bishopbric and their wives picked their top four favorites and then funded the date for $25. It was a good time. Sean's was super funny. His date idea was to set a picnic blanket on the table with candles, then go buy a Happy Meal and watch Twilight after they ate. 

I enjoyed institute on Thursday evening. They had a taco bar, and everything was so yummy! I ate way to much. We had our last institute lesson of the semester with Sister Dalton. I shared my YouTube channel with her and asked if she'd be interested in filming videos about topics we discussed in institute, which she said she was. We'll see how that goes. All I know is doing my channel by myself has become overwhelming and I think/hope it was a prompting that lead me to ask Sister Dalton.

Saturday was great. I felt much better emotionally and had a productive morning, doing my laundry and washing my car while listening to all the songs from Julie and the Phantoms (my new favorite TV show). Then I got ready and went with my mom and sisters to a Star Wars themed escape room. We escaped with nine minutes to spare! We all worked pretty good together, and I figured out some key stuff, including flipping the last switch into the correct position to open the door and escape! We went out for lunch. That evening, I went to a girl's night at Ashley Deardon's house. We watched Cloudy with a Chance 2 and had all the snacks (popcorn, chocolate, gummies) and then we chilled (or should I say, heated) out in the hot tub. Very relaxing way to end a hectic week. Sunday was also good. I had a more looking outward mindset, seeing who I could wave at and talk to, and then I stayed after for a teacher's meeting, and it was actually good because I got to share teaching insights and bear testimony of the importance of having the spirit in the classroom and praying for your students and the authority of your calling. And mom made a very delicious dinner, and the best part was that I did not go back for seconds. I fasted today that I can treat my body better and have self-control about what I eat. I decided I cannot find joy or fulfillment in eating anymore. I can't look forward to food as a reward or the favorite part of my day. I do not need to focus on or think about food. I need to find other things to occupy my thoughts and desires so I can avoid the treats and crap that make my body feel terrible. 

Much love,

Emily Burnham