Return With Honor and Success

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to spend Memorial Day Weekend with my sister Breana in Provo, UT, the home I lived in before I went to BYU-Idaho. It was great being home with my sister even though there was something missing: my parents. They moved back to the Mormon colonies of northern Mexico after I returned to Idaho this semester. Though it felt weird and different that they are gone, it still felt good to be there.

While I was up here in Idaho and Utah, I kept thinking about where I would live if I had a choice to raise my own family. As I kept thinking, I decided to pick Provo, UT. Even though Mexico has been a home where I was born and raised, and have loved all my life, Provo, too, has always been a home to me. It is a home away from home. It is where I feel loved, accepted, and have built a life with the people I grew to love and care about.

According to Lexie, "No matter where you go, there will always be people who will love and care about you. And the Gospel will always be there." I strongly agree with that statement and that is TRUE.

When a lot of people say, "Home is where the heart is," I feel as if my heart has found it. Who knows where I will live after college? No one knows. Not even me. But, it may happen. No matter where I go, I will do my best to turn a new place into home.

Yesterday morning, I saw the young men from the Oak Hills 6th ward put the American Flag in our front yard. I learned from my mom and Breana that it's a tradition. They put the American Flag in every front yard of the entire neighborhood on Memorial Day and 4th of July; they would take it out after one of those holidays had passed. I felt special when they put the flag because it felt to me as if we are considered members of the ward still, despite the fact that we have moved on with our lives.

When I moved from Mexico to California, and from there to Utah, I have learned that home is no ordinary place. It is where your family and friends love and accept you for who you are. It is also a place where you can start a new life with your family. When I moved to each different place, I have learned to make a new place my home. No matter where you go, there is no place like home.

Breana and I had a lot of fun time during the weekend. She took me to Cafe Rio the day I arrived in Utah, then Old Towne Grill, a breakfast restaurant where you can eat the yummy pancakes, on Saturday, and the singles' ward with her on Sunday. It was a fantastic weekend! On the last day of the weekend, we decided to hike up to the Y to finish the weekend positive and spend one last time together before I went back to Idaho.

It was a long time since I hiked up the Y. This time it was harder. I never felt like a hiker even though I had done it at Young Women's Camp and other Church activities. The mountains were difficult to climb; my legs were burning, and I had a hard time breathing right. Plus, thoughts of complaint and doubt came to my mind and I've been tempted to quit. Breana kept pushing me and pushing me to keep going, but I didn't want to because I was discouraged and frustrated that I had decided to do a very difficult thing. When I decided to rest for a while, Breana kept going. When I gained enough strength, I kept going on the trail until the next turn.

However, I still was determined to keep going. During my rest, I looked at the beautiful nature of the Y mountain trail and the view of Provo. I realized that my goal was to get to the top of the Y. I wanted to get there. There was no time for me to quit and I couldn't go back to the bottom. As I kept climbing, I held onto the rails whenever I got very tired so that I wouldn't faint. But, I never held onto the rails during most of the hike.

When I looked at those flowers, they helped me remember that hikes are very hard, but they can still provide messages about life. There are good things in life, and there are bad things in life. If we want good things in life, we have to keep going until we reach the top. If we want bad things in life, then quit and stay at the bottom. Since I want good things in my life, I had to keep going until I reached to the top. And I finally did.

When I got to the top of the mountain with Breana, I was relieved. I felt complete when I made it to the top. Bre and I looked at the view of the mountain and we were happy we did it. I learned from Breana and the hike that the bottom is the hardest of the mountain but the top is the easiest. She was right. She still is. No matter how hard things get, there should never be a time to quit.

I was sad to go back to Idaho but I was happy to go back with a willingness to finish this semester by starting from the bottom first and then ending at the top of the mountain. This is my goal. Be successful by starting the semester from the bottom of the mountain and then ending it at the top. And when I succeed, I will come home with a happy smile on my face. That will be my reward.

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday marked the 33rd anniversary of my parents' marriage in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple. They were married on May 20, 1980. Not only were they married in the temple, they were also sealed for time and eternity. About a year after their marriage, they became new parents to four beautiful daughters they had raised in the church. Despite the trials they went through together, they never stopped loving each other or left each other's side. And they never stopped serving their families or the Lord.

My sisters and I are very thankful for our parents. Without them, we wouldn't know what to do. We're grateful to have a mom who can teach us to be beautiful, kind and extraordinary women that we are today. She has taught us to be loving mothers and faithful wives to our husbands. We're also grateful to have a dad who has helped us understand the perspective of men so that we could be sealed to our husbands in the temple for time and eternity. He's pushed us to keep going even when things get tough.

Because of their love for each other and the Lord, we have never been apart. This family will never be torn apart as long as we love, respect and serve each other and the Lord.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! We're lucky to have you as our parents.

Tender Mercies of the Lord

On Friday, I had an experience with the tender mercies of the Lord. I was finishing an Excel project for my math 108 class but I struggled on it, trying to figure out how to get the equations right on the 2nd part of the project. It was due yesterday at 11:59 p.m. but my professor said that we also had a choice of turning in a hardcopy. I planned on turning in a hardcopy so that I wouldn't have to worry about it later.

When I couldn't figure out how to get the equations right, I decided that it would be all right to guess. I did leave it that way on the hardcopy I printed.

But on my walk to the Ricks building for my class, I was feeling so confused, guilty and afraid. I didn't know what to do. I kept thinking it over; I figured that I should turn in what I got on the equations and see what the fate would turn out to be. But, I prayed in my heart for the Lord's guidance and comfort on my decision. Soon my worry started to soften and I was feeling confident that everything would be all right.

During class time, my professor went through the project to make sure that we understood the instructions. As he taught us how to do the project, I realized that I misunderstood the instructions. But I was still left confused. He, again, told us to submit the project online if we wanted to. I went through the thought again; I noticed that most of the students didn't bring their hardcopies to class, or they didn't take them out because they did the project wrong too.

After the thinking process, I made a decision: start over and finish the project. Though I worried a bit that it would take me forever to finish the project, I was determined to do it. I worked on it after my last class of the day. When I went through the tutorial videos again and finished the project, I realized that it only took me 2 hours. I now realize that you can't do everything on your own. And guessing is not the only option. You still need help when you're going through stress, discouragement or confusion. When you get help, you finish things sooner than later and you succeed.

After I submitted the Excel project, I had a confirmation that this was the tender mercy of the Lord. He is always aware of us. I know that He knows each of us and will always be there for us in troubled times if we believe in Him. This is my testimony.

Motherhood: The Divine Role

What is motherhood? For most people, motherhood is when a woman becomes a mother after she gives birth to her child. It sounds right, but there's more than becoming a mother after a child is born. Motherhood is a divine role that women have in this world who have children. Several roles of a mother: 1) Protect and nurture her children, 2) Help them grow, 3) Teach them what is right and what is wrong, 4) Love her children more than anything else, 5) Comfort them in times of trouble, 6) Treat them like princes and princesses, 7) Love her husband as much as her children and 8) Love and serve the Lord.

Since my sisters and I were born, our Mom has always been there for us because she loves us and wants what's best for us. When she was carrying each one of us at a time, she grew close to us. That is when and how she started calling every one of us 'her little angels.' 

Mom taught us to love and serve one another by smiling and helping other people in their hard times. She also taught us to love each other in the family.

She spared her time with us when we needed help with homework or anything that is challenging for us to live with.

She showed us how to be good examples among those around us, especially our friends. And how to identify what example we should follow.

Mom has always been our cheerleader. She would cheer us on to keep working hard in school and other goals that we plan to achieve. Whenever we felt like giving up, she never told us to quit trying. She told us to keep going.

Since Mom has always been a great cook in our family, we were influenced to become like her: cooking for our families. Especially when we have to deal with the foods that make things hard for our eyes to endure.

Because Mom loves us for who we are, she taught us to look pretty to show others our inner beauty and the extraordinary women we are.

We were taught by our mother to have a strong desire to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead, and have our weddings in there when we would be ready to be sealed to our worthy and lucky husbands for time and eternity.

Of all the heroes that we have in our lives, Mom is one of them. Why? She has been a good mother to us all since we were born. We are all influenced to become like her so that we can influence our daughters to become the righteous mothers they need to be.

Because of her love for her family, her commitment to the Church and her marriage, her good example and her strong testimony, Mom has kept this family together.

Mom,

Ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted to be like you, a good mother to my children and a faithful wife to my husband. Despite the times when we've had arguments or disagreements, or any other hard times, we're thankful that you're our mom. We don't know what we would've done without you. Thank you for being our mom! We will always love you more than a million billion shiny stars.

Love, Caela