Thanksgiving Week!

 21 November - 27 November 2022

Oh boy, oh boy! It is good to be home! Some crazy things happened this week! I saw Shaquille O'neal at the Chicago airport (yes, I did NOT recognize him, but my friend Erika did and freaked out when he walked by a foot away from us)! We did manage to get a photo of the back of him! When I got to Phoenix in the evening, it took FOREVER for my family to get through traffic to pick me up because everyone was flying down for Thanksgiving I guess, and it was CRAZY PACKED! But I finally got home around 10pm, and cute Lucy had decorated my door for me and wrote me a note that she really appreciated all I did for her.

Trying to get my fingerprint card has been a NIGHTMARE! It's seriously the worst. I show up at the place, which said they take walk-ins, and they not only are by appointment only, but they stopped servicing for the government three days ago! While I was in Chicago! All they said was, "Sorry. Request a refund somehow and reschedule through their new provider." Wow. Thanks. Then I rescheduled, and then they cancel my appointment the day of! With no explanation. And this is all after never hearing back from the government on the website after I paid the $68 fee and had to reach out to them multiple times, waiting in a call line for an hour, only for it to hang up on me, so I had to keep trying. It has literally been SO annoying, and I really really really REALLY hope it works out next week and I can be done with it all! Or if not, I guess I'm just never going to work with children... :(. And I still need to get scheduled for CPR certification. Wow. Fun. Hooray. :(

But! On a more positive note, Thanksgiving was awesome! Yummy food, great time with the fam. I've got to hold Gracelyn a lot this past week, and wow she is getting so big and heavy! She really loves me though. You can tell by all the smiles she gives me :D. Mom, Dad, Aaron, and Brie (and baby) left for the Sand Dunes in California after Thanksgiving lunch, so Val, Lucy, and I planned a girl's day on Friday. We played pickleball, went to the movies to see Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, then went out to Zupas for lunch.

On another positive note, I started filming and posting YouTube videos again! I hope to keep it up. I have gotten some really nice feedback lately from random people, and I'm excited to see where it can take me as I continue to bear testimony and focus on Jesus Christ. I looked super cute on Sunday and had a great time at church. I got quite a bit of compliments on how radiant and happy I seemed, and on my baby blue dress. Also! I finished watching Merlin this week and just cried and cried at the end, but it was also really good, but also a bit of a let down, but also okay enough that I felt it had a wrapped up ending. My heart just breaks for Merlin and I love his character so much!!!

I forgot to mention that I went to a bonfire with Val Wednesday night. It was eh. Too dusty! I had a hard time breathing. But it was still fun and better than sitting at home that evening doing nothing ;).

Movies and lunch! Sistas = friends for ever!

Anyways, much love,

Emily Burnham

Chicago Residency

 14 November - 20 November 2022

Wow, I had to buckle down this week to get a LOT done since I was leaving for my residency in Chicago. Monday was the first full day that mom and dad and Val were back from Costa Rica. They were exhausted but absolutely loved the trip. Mom kept telling me how I HAD to go some day! It looked absolutely gorgeous from all the pictures they showed me. Aaron and Briesa and baby Gracelyn were over, and I had the absolute hardest time focusing on school work, so I texted my friend Jasen and asked if we could have a homework party at his house, which he agreed to. I did about 3 hours of homework over there, and it was soooo much more than I would have done if I'd been at home, especially because I was so frustrated with some of my assignments because I was having a difficult time understanding all the nuances of them. I am so grateful for how kind and encouraging Jasen was, building me up and urging me to keep working when I wanted to give up. For FHE that night, our ward made 72 hour kits and it was really fun. They had supplies laid out at all these tables, and we went around and packed them into our bags. It kinda felt like we were going shopping for free!

Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, me and mom went to the gym. I really missed gym time while she was gone. My body could definitely tell a difference of when I was exercising well and getting my heart rate up. My body was much less sore and my anxiety was much more manageable those days. On our way there Tuesday morning, mom commented about how the canal looked different and she stared at it and exclaimed, "Oh! They finally cleaned up all the nasty weeds! I wonder why now? They haven't bothered the whole time we've lived here." I was just looking at her from my position in the passenger seat and said, "Yeah, cuz I'm the one who did it." She was shocked! So surprised and touched that I'd do that for her to help beautify the neighborhood. 

Tuesday night, I went to practice a musical number I'm part of for the Christmas program with three other sisters in the ward. I am happy to help out and use my talents to invite the Spirit, but I'm not particularly excited about the musical number and just hope we all sound good together. But if not, who cares? I know I'll sound good at least ;). We also took work photos on Tuesday, so I dressed up super cute, and I'm excited to get those photos back, especially my headshot, which I can use for other bios I need professional pictures for. Wednesday after work, I went home, finished up some last things to prep for my trip, then went to bed just after 6pm until 10:45pm. That long nap just before my redeye flight saved my bacon!! I then traveled from 11pm that night well into the afternoon of the next day. I believe there was 12 or 13 hours of travel total, and I switched between three planes. It was such a long day!! 

When I got to Chicago and waited outside for the shuttle to take me from the airport to the hotel, I began FREEZING! It was around 20 degrees outside and the wind is so bitter! I now know what it is like when people say the frigid wind "stings" their cheeks. It burns! And your face feels like it'll just freeze off. It was good getting to the hotel and seeing my old friends from my track 1 residency in Orlando, Erika and Madison. We are all members of the same church and get along great. They are both mothers of young children and are super cute. I have really enjoyed sharing a room with them and discussing deep topics with them and feeling valued and heard and important. It's just kind of been like a girls' night sleepover every night :). We stayed inside the first two nights, but we decided to go out Saturday night to the nearby mall. We took a shuttle, and just walking to the shuttle was torturous! I thought I was fine, then we turned a corner and were assaulted by this strong, frigid wind! I'm not very impressed with the big city views. It's not really pretty. It seems overcast most of the time, SUPER cold, and dry. I woke up and had a bloody nose after a couple of nights.

Class has been super helpful. I'm learning so much. We are all taking turns as a therapist and working with a couple or family through the lens of a model, and it is very much a realistic experience. It is so interesting to see the differences in models, what works, how different everyone is, and how there are so many directions pulling you, especially the more people you add as clients! Families are CRAZY! I have a lot to learn and experience I really need to gain, but all in good time! My hour-long roleplay was recorded, and I have to re-watch it sometime this week and write a paper about it, which will be super interesting. I've packed lots of good snacks, and I made sure that they would have food I could eat for breakfast and lunch. I got in good with one of the servers, telling her my anxiety over meals and what I can eat, and she made an exception so I can get a special plate of food that accommodates my food allergies that I can get so I don't have to go through the buffet with limited options and potential for cross-contamination. 

Sunday has been a bit sad because it doesn't really feel like Sunday :(. I wore my nicest dress to honor the Sabbath and have taken time to connect with God today. I'm so glad all the roleplays are finally over. We had TWELVE students in the class, which means four 1-hour-long roleplays in three days. It was emotionally exhausting. And playing a client is so draining too. You have to draw on real emotion, even if the situation is fictional. I have gained so much confidence and wouldn't trade this experience, but I am super excited to be going home tomorrow evening! Chicago is not for me. Too cold!! Yuck! But it's been a valuable experience, and I've been part of some pretty crazy but enlightening role plays.

Much love,

Emily Burnham

Single Mom of a Teenager

 7 November - 13 November 2022

I feel like the title of my blog post pretty much sums up my week... kidding! It was such a joy to have the past week and a half alone with Lucy. Lots of bonding as we worked together to keep the house clean, fill our time, tell each other about our days, do things together, and have family prayer day and night. Grandpa fed us both Sundays for dinner, and he would pop on over at least once a day, dropping off the mail and probably checking to make sure we were still alive... haha. There were some more stressful days where I had a LOT to do and felt like I was cleaning up for Lucy on top of it and not able to keep the house as clean as I would have liked, but those moments were few. I usually felt very productive and accomplished as I managed the home along with work and school. 

Some highlights of my week!! Regina Grossarth dropped me off a gift card to In-n-Out Burger because I had helped her with the badminton party. For $25!! That fed me dinner on Wednesday night and then both me and Lucy on Saturday night! I have learned that I am really bad at cooking just for myself, so I averaged 1.5 meals per day this past week... yikes, I know. So that was truly a blessing. I also felt prompted to ask for a priesthood blessing, so I asked if Jasen and his dad could come over. They gave me a blessing Tuesday night after dodgeball, and it was SO needed. What's really cool is that as soon as I even just asked for a blessing, I felt immediate peace, as if they blessing had already happened. I think that was God's way of reassuring me that asking for a blessing was the right thing to do. Then I cried a lot during the blessing. It was so good to hear from Heavenly Father. I gave Jasen and his dad a hug after wiping my eyes and nose with a tissue, and that was that! Also, via text over the next couple of days, we planned a homework party. I invited Jasen over Friday after work to do hw together so we could keep each other accountable. I wasn't sure how it would go, but it was actually very helpful! I got more done than if I had been by myself. Also, he asked if I'd eaten yet and brought food over on his way for us to eat from Costa Vida. Seriously, what a blessing! I'd been so hungry but didn't know what to eat and didn't want to make anything, so I'd decided just to go hungry... and then he offers to pick up lunch! So we ate food, did homework, talked some, then he left. Super chill.

Hmm... let's see what else I did... oh, Friday night was "girl's night" at Amber's house. My coworker Denae came, which was awesome! The first hour was a bit awkward with pauses and stilted conversation, but then I pulled out my game Moods and we all became fast friends, laughing and joking and having a good time. It turned out pretty great after all.

Saturday was my mom's stake women's conference, and I attended with Lucy. Briesa was also there with the baby. I've gotten lots of baby snuggles this week, and I'm really enjoying holding Gracelyn. She has started to snuggle into me. LOVE HER SO MUCH! Anywho, this woman's conference was amazing. We showed up late, but we caught the tail end of one class and then got to attend another class, and I heard and felt amazing things. There was so much spirit and power and insight to be learned from the speakers. Then we had lunch, and they had an entire allergy-friendly table set up! I ate SO much! The salad was super yummy and the soups were good and they had bread and peppermint brownies! And Joy D. Jones was there (she'd spoken at the very beginning, which we missed, but she sat at Briesa's table and help Gracelyn, which I got a picture of. Then, later, when they started cleaning everything up and I was holding the baby, Joy came up to us to say goodbye and gave me and baby a hug). 

Sunday was really good. I made gluten-free corn muffins for our linger longer, and I also taught Relief Society second hour. I did the best I could but didn't feel AMAZING about it, but I got such great feedback. God is good. One sister was visiting and came up to me after and said, "this was the best Relief Society lesson I've been to in a long while." She asked if she could take a picture of my lesson plan to use some of the things we'd talked about for her own ward's Relief Society lesson. CFM went well. I was able to talk to Whitney for a brief moment before I had to hang up because people had started arriving. Jasen came early to help, then Spencer, Blake, Justin, and Derek came soon after! We had it outside, and I had the chairs around the fire pit. There was a nacho and hot chocolate bar. I loved that everyone was super chatty and getting along, but it was harder to focus and discuss the lesson, but I still think it was a success. Then three people stayed late after everyone else left and chatted for an hour/hour and a half in my kitchen while I listened in and cleaned up. Finally I had to kick them out so I could shower and get ready for bed (and to write this blog post while I wait for it to be time to go pick my parents up from the airport). Moral of my week: I've heard God a lot this week and had some pretty great insights and revelation. Also, I love the gospel and church, and I'm SO grateful for my friend group. 

Much love,

Emily Burnham

Halloween Party and Crepe Bar

 31 October - 6 November 2022

Halloween night was the big, epic party! Valerie and Lucy spent weeks planning and prepping for the mad scientist escape room! We set up outside with food: nacho bar, cookies, fruit/veggie platters. And all the carnival games! The escape room was in the motorhome and everyone who went LOVED it! They said it was so professional. I dressed up as Katniss from Hunger Games (not that I really like the movies that much, but it made for a convenient last-minute and cozy costume). Valerie made my day when she saw me and said, "You're prettier than the actress that plays Katniss!" My mom is truly amazing! She did so much to prep and make sure it was a huge success. Not to mention my amazing sisters. Wow, I feel so blessed by my family. Anyway, my favorite part of the night was playing the carnival games with my friend Jasen and seeing his reaction when I kept "beating" him (he was doing super well himself, but he loves to exaggerate how bad he is and over-emphasize how good you are. He's the ultimate hype-man). We stayed up late cleaning everything up and Jasen stayed to help. What a pal!

Bright and early Tuesday morning, I dropped my parents off at the airport. Well, my dad drove us all there, then I drove the car home. They're off to Costa Rica for two weeks!! That evening, I went to stake dodgeball and did pretty well. I impressed Brother Keadle! It was a good time :)

I finally got my internship application submitted (I had to email Michele and tell her I was becoming anxious about it as the deadline approached, and she came through for me, which was a huge relief and answer to prayer). I am so excited (and a bit anxious) to start my internship in two months! I feel both ready and unprepared. There are certain aspects that I feel ready to jump on in at, but others that I still feel clueless about, but I know it'll all come with time and practice. It's been hard to focus on getting school done because I'm getting tired of school work that doesn't seem applicable or relevant... I'm ESPECIALLY sick and tired of writing essays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Blah. But I just need to hang in there! The end is in sight!! When I graduate, Imma throw a BIG party to celebrate NO MORE ESSAYS!!!! Haha... :)

Anyway, on Thursday, Regina came by in the afternoon to start setting up for the badminton party that would take place in our backyard. I helped out quite a bit with things, then left during the party so I could go to institute, where I ate WWAAAAYYY too many donuts (gluten and dairy free, of course) and had fun socializing with people. I'd been feeling pretty anxious and restless throughout the week. It was awful. Friday night was the worst. I was literally so anxious that I went to pull weeds outside at the canal... but only after collapsing onto my bed and crying/yelling into my blanket for a couple minutes. I just didn't know what to do with myself. Looking back, it was a combination of many things, and one of them being loneliness. But I'm so glad for the tender mercy moments when I felt peace and rest. When Lucy got home from work, I came inside and told her that she needed to save me from myself. I asked if we could paint, and she spontaneously invited over some friends and we had a fun painting night and then watched the movie Inspired Guns. Awww yeah! (But the mess... Ahhh noo!!!! lol).

Saturday was good. I went to the ward temple trip in the morning and felt calm and peaceful in the session. In fact, my body was so exhausted from feeling anxious all the time that when the lights dimmed and I was so relaxed, I have to fight so hard to stay awake!! But I did :). Haha, I even printed off my own family name to use, but then I accidentally left it in the car! Whoops. I finally finished one of my four essays I need to do before I leave to Chicago. I cleaned up around the house. And then Lucy and I played pickleball in the evening with Jasen and Marissa, two former tennis players. Yeah, we got toasted. Oh well!

Sunday was fabulous! I woke up feel "eh" and Lucy asked if I wanted to do some yoga with her, so I agreed. She had the fake candles lit and the oil humidifier going and this peaceful music with nature sounds. It was a relaxing atmosphere and helped wash away my anxiety so I felt peace and courage to go about my day. I really felt the spirit at church during testimony meeting. I went and bore my testimony about the Savior. He truly finds more joy in us than we realize, and it is His sacred honor and earned-duty to mourn with us and empathize with us in our low moments. It doesn't cause Him suffering, but the ability to bond and ease our burdens through empathizing means the world to him. We had a good discussion in Sunday School, and I realized the powerful truth that I am willing to make sacrifices for the people I love that I wouldn't even make for just myself. That is why community and friends and family are so so important. They give us the strength and motivation to be better people, to grow and aspire to be more. I decided to do a crazy thing and make a CREPE BAR for CFM treat! I started prepping toppings before dinner. Grandpa Jim made us Sunday dinner! It was so sweet of him to take care of us like that. He made us chicken strips, potato salad, and biscuits. I made a salad. Then after I got to making crepes and was running a little behind schedule, but fortunately Jasen showed up fifteen minutes early so he was able to help me get the supplies over the grandpa's and make crepes. Then Justin showed up 10 minutes early and was able to help set up the chairs!! We may have started a little bit late, but everyone was so excited about the crepe bar and were really socializing and stuff, so WORTH IT!! Then I asked Jasen to lead out CFM while I made more crepes at grandpa's stove and listened. We had a huge turn out and great involvement and discussions. Pretty much everyone spoke up and we had some sincere struggles and questions come up. It was amazing! Then six people stayed after to help clean up and play games. We played Moods, which everyone said they really loved!! We had a great time, and I'm so grateful that this friend group is coming together. It's been trial and error with inviting people and seeing which ones actually come and then which ones stick around, but we're getting a pretty steady group coming and we're becoming closer together, which I love!! Some highlights of the night were watching everyone chat and enjoy each others company and that I had a great conversation with Jasen. We were talking about something and then Angela asked, "Are you to related? Brother and sister or cousins?" I said, "No, we're just friends" at the same time that Jasen said, "No, she's my best friend." It warmed my heart to hear that because it's been a hard and lonely year with me trying so so hard to make friends. Jasen explained, "When I first came to the YSA ward, she was so friendly and invited me to come to CFM and has just been the nicest person ever." I am always nice to people, but I often to get to hear the impact it has on people or it seems to go unnoticed or unappreciated. Then after everyone left, Jasen also stayed to help clean up over at my house, doing all the dishes. I was so so grateful! And I feel so much peace about being friends and not having to worry about anything else. Lucy loved the leftover crepes. Unfortunately for her, she stubbed her toe on a rock on the way to grandpa's house for dinner and has been hobbling around ever since. It's been cool to spend so much one-on-one time with her. I've tried being a substitute-mom for her, making sure we pray morning and night and read some scriptures. I help with meals and listen to her rant about her day and offer support and encouragement and hugs. She's been a lot nicer to me this past week, more vocal about her love and appreciation for me and also initiating physical touch (but probably because she just really misses mom, who is usually the only one she'll hug). I also got to hold Gracelyn a lot and my absolute favorite moments were when she smiled SO big at me and Lucy this week. It happened twice, where Briesa walked in carrying her in the car seat and put her down. She was wide away, so we went over to say hi and when she saw us, she started giving us the biggest smiles and some laughs and even a squeal! Wow, be still, my heart! That gave me so much joy to see!!

Awwwwwww!

She often sleeps with her hands on or near her face.

Every baby was Kung Fu fighting...

And just an adorable pic grandpa sent me this week that I wanna include.

Much love,

Emily Burnham

A Week to Laugh

 24 October - 30 October 2022

Hola, mi amigos. My tender mercy of the week was that I got to go back to work! I only work 12 hours a week now, but better than nothing! It has been nice to go into work, where it's pretty chill and quiet, and have time to do some homework. I've also made sure to have better scripture studies in the morning. It really helps if I read before I get up to exercise. I've also been studying by topic, which has been super cool. I think of some words that describe my problems or concerns for that day and then search for them and their synonyms in the scriptures and read verses about it. I've gained a greater appreciation for the Bible and how many emotions are expressed in its pages.

Monday night for FHE, we played glow in the dark Frisbee. It was pretty fun, and I even caught and threw the frisbee a couple of times without dropping it or messing up too badly! I was very happy about that! Tuesday was pretty productive because I went shopping after work and got new garments and things. Doing homework this past week has been tough... and by "homework" I really just mean trying to get ahead on all my essays that are due in three to five weeks. I want to get ahead on those so that I am not weighed down by them right before, during, and then after my trip to Chicago mid-November for my Track 2 Residency. But I'm doing my very best, and I did pretty good working on one essay on Saturday and felt so accomplished afterwards, for doing something I'd been DREADING but making progress anyway. Just so much pride and joy and encouragement. So I think I will be okay.

I have also started working on writing letters for my coworkers and giving them the best book recommendation EVER!! (aka, The Book of Mormon). On Wednesday evening, I drove Dana to ministering night and then back home. I was not in the best mood that night, but I am trying to be positive. At work on Thursday, I made a bunch of Gracelyn memes! Everyone loved them.

Then I snagged a quick pic of this cutie just chillin' while dad voted:

On Friday, I went to the temple and had a class meeting in the afternoon, and then we had friends over for dinner. I invited Jasen and Lucy invited her friends Ezra and Adeline. They all LOVED the pizza. Jasen and I then went to Elder Cook's devotional, and my favorite part was hearing him testify of his SURE witness of Jesus Christ's voice and face. I'd had a sacred and special experience at the temple earlier that day that brought me such a greater appreciation, love, and gratitude for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I kept almost crying every time they talked about Jesus Christ.

I felt so calm on Saturday. I slept in almost until noon!! (I did get up at like 7:30am for almost an hour to talk with my dad and mom, but then headed back to sleep). I was so exhausted for whatever reason, and it felt amazing not having anything to do. I attended my family's ward Halloween party. They had chili and treats. Lucy got to be a swamp monster in the "haunted house" the YW put on inside the church. That was a hit. Seriously though, what would the ward do without the Burnhams? My mom seriously brought half of the carnival games, and then Val and I and mom did a lot of grunt work for helping to clean up at the end. We went home and then me and Lu watched Merlin until we fell asleep.

Can you spot the swamp monster??

Idk why they trusted me with the job of handing out candy... a few pieces may have gone missing...

Sunday was good. I picked Dana up for church and took her home. We had some good talks in the car, and I even made her laugh and smile big with my sound effects while turning corners and stuff. Sacrament meeting was really good, and Valerie did a great job teaching part of second hour. The other teachers weren't as good, but it was still good overall. My other highlight of the week was holding Gracelyn while she was in a really good mood and was actually snuggling with me! It's amazing how you can look for and create light and laughs during weeks when you otherwise don't feel all that great.

Love,

Emily Burnham

Time Out For Woman

 17 October - 23 October 2022

Oh what a week! So much to write about... guess I better get right into it!

Monday was supposed to be my last day at work, so I went early into the office and packed away all my personal items and the Halloween decorations I had put up. It was kind of a bittersweet day, and it was ironically super busy. I spoke with Chris about what he wanted from me, and he was super unclear (typical). The message I got was, "If we're busy, we want you here. If you're not, we don't need you." Well, how am I supposed to predict when it's going to be busy or when they are going to want me, especially if I'm not coming in every day and watching the calendar. Chris said to come in on Tuesday to feel out the pace of how things were going since Monday had been so crazy busy. So Tuesday ended up being my last day. After that, I didn't feel a point in coming back because it was super dead and I don't imagine it picking up before next year, when I will start my internship. That night for FHE, Val booked us a racquetball court to play as a family because the YSA ward was planning a movie night with the cheesy Singles Ward 2 movie, which we both didn't want to do (but I guess her more so than me). So I went along and had fun with my family... even though I did get hit by the racquetball a couple of times! I am legit a magnet to that ball. 

Tuesday was a little rough for me. I went to work in the morning and then left around noon to pick up my order from JC Penny. When I got home, I had to participate in a meet-and-greet Zoom call for my Track 2 Residency course from 3pm to 4pm, but we'd planned to go horseback riding at Uncle David's house at 4pm, and I couldn't get the audio to work through my ear buds on my phone, so I missed getting to ride with my mom and Lucy and was getting a little frustrated and antsy. Then right after the call ended, I drove madly to Dave's house but got stuck in a dumb detour that added 7 minutes to my trip and I was getting mad. But it all turned out okay because it took them half an hour just to saddle up all the horses! We ended up just riding around in the fenced area and not on a trail ride. But my horse, Wild Fire, was NOT having it. She kept trying to run with me on her, which Dave said would be risky cuz the ground was muddy from all the rain and the horse would stop suddenly and slide in the mud and I'd go flying off. So I had a couple of scares. The second scare ended in my breaking a nail as I yanked on the reigns to slow the horse down. Then I quit riding her after that... hehe. I got to ride Ginger next, and it was hard to get her to WALK, so there was no risk of her trying to run and knock you off.

On Wednesday, I didn't have work, so I was able to get a lot of errands done, like filling up my gas tank and doing laundry. I've been fixing up my new room. It's been kind of nice to have my own room, but I'm still not liking my bed too much. I wake up sore pretty much every morning, though part of that could be from the gym. I overstretched one morning this week and was SOOOO sore! I didn't go to work on Thursday either, since I was waiting to hear back from Jill about whether or not I was needed anymore. I did school work and am working on finalizing things for the upcoming internship due date. Thursday night, I went to institute and ate some yummy snacks after and got to wave at Jasen and everyone else in the institute choir. Jasen asked me if I'd like to go to the play Oklahoma with him and his parents, and I was happy that he asked me and have been looking forward to it... except then Lucy went with her friend Wednesday night and said it was terrible. The only way to improve the play was to bring a sleeping mask and ear plugs... I didn't know how to tell Jasen that the play had been modernized and was going to be inappropriate without it sounding like I didn't want to go with him, so I just decided to go along without saying anything. Aaannnnd... they play was absolutely terrible! But we had a fun time laughing at it and making jokes. So it was still a fun time. The play was on Saturday night... sorry for jumping ahead in the week... :). Here's a pic of us from outside of the bldg next to the sign for the play.

On Friday, I went to the temple, and then we went to Time Out For Women in the evening. We got pretty good seats and it was good, though two hours of devotional turned into a five hour ordeal because we had to leave at 5pm to get there even though it started at 7pm, and then it took us an hour to get home. On Saturday, we had to leave at 8am in the morning and didn't get back home until 5:30pm. It was a long day, and while it was fun to spend all day with my sister Valerie and my mom, it was a LOT of sitting and my bum kept going numb from the hard chairs. But there were so many nuggets of truth and insights that did build my faith and testimony. One of my favorite quotes was from Brooke Romney: be easily and loudly amazed. There is so much light in this world if you just look for it. It was also Brie's bday, and they came over for dinner later that night, but I missed it because Jasen picked me up at 6:15pm for the musical. It was cool getting to know his parents and we played a game while we were waiting for the show to start.

We took a walk during our lunch break and found this cute mural.

The Bonner Family's last song. We all lit our flashlights and waved it. It was so pretty in person!

On Sunday, I got to teach Relief Society, and while I'd sort of planned out what to say beforehand, it was during sacrament meeting that some ideas come into my head of things I should say to make it more real and applicable to the sisters. I had this epiphany that being real and genuine and authentic led to deep connection and friendships. However, how can we "be real" when we hate ourselves? When we don't even like or want to be ourselves? This is a major reason why Satan attacks a woman's self-worth and identity so much. He knows that as women embrace themselves and love who they are and wouldn't want to be anyone else, they will be distinct and different in happy ways, which has been prophesied as the way that people will flock to the church in these latter days. I am so glad that I love who I am and can be that example for others and help them love themselves. Three people wrote me a nice-note, which made me feel so good! Come, Follow Me study group that night was a bit weird because it was me and six boys! All the girls cancelled. My own sister ditched me to go to a tamale party, and my younger sister had stake hang-out. It was harder to stay on topic and get people to open up, but everyone did end up talking and sharing something, even the really reserved ones, and they had a fun time chatting afterwards. Jasen was only able to come for a little bit, but he texted me later that something I shared was what he needed to hear.

Also, I have the cutest pictures of Gracelyn to share with you this week!

She's smiling!

Look, she's winking!

Also, here is a quote from the week (from me): "I believe that even on their worst day (or especially on their worst day) people are worth loving. It takes the pressure off of trying to be "perfect," you know? We're all just doing our best and some days are harder than others, and if we all just kept loving each other no matter what, we'd have more room to grow to become like Christ."

Best,

Emily Burnham