Sunday, January 10, 2010

Tender Mercy

Lately, Joseph and I have been feeling a little overwhelmed by our current transition period into "the real world", currently Joseph is in Austin, Gwen and I are in Boston, and nothing seems to be going according to plan. So tonight after I put Gwen to bed, said goodbye to family and was feeling a little down, I was reminded of the Lord's love and awareness of me through a tender mercy. As I was going online to access Elder Anderson's CES Fireside I noticed a link on lds.org to this month's First Presidency message entitled, "Hold On A Little Longer" by President Uchtdorf. Instantly I felt the love of my Father in Heaven sending a message just for me. I read the talk and was reminded that even through trials we can receive beautiful manifestations that will strengthen our testimonies - we just have to hold on a little longer.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Out of Rexburg..

Well, it's almost been 2 weeks now since we've left Rexburg! I think it finally hit us when we arrived in Long Beach, CA from SLC to make our connecting flight to Boston, and as soon as we sat down I looked over at Joseph and sighed, "I miss the 'Light' of Rexburg." That has led us to reflect and discuss our life at BYU-Idaho and the bittersweetness we feel moving on. Joseph compares it to returning home from a mission - going from a spiritual high to "just blah".

So what have we been up to? Well, only Joseph has managed to put on a few pounds as we try to grasp the concept of doing a whole lot of nothing. It's definitely been an adjustment and we're excited to get going again in Austin (although Joseph did start recruiting for BYU-Idaho at church). In the meantime, it's been good for Joseph and I to spend a lot of time together - eating junk food, watching movies and figuring out where we're going to live when we get to Austin.

Gwen, who turns 9 months tomorrow, has been a great sport about all of the new changes and getting RSV. Meanwhile...Joseph is "studying" for the GRE and I am busy cleaning and organizing my mom's home. Joseph will be flying to DFW this week to set up shop at which point I will follow with Gwen.

As exciting as our life is we ache for our friends in Rexburg. Joseph is experiencing Wackee-Six withdrawls and I'm missing the late night laughs. We hope all of you have a Happy New Year and know that our hearts are with you.