The Olive Tree

Recently I was reading in the Book of Mormon in the book of "Jacob". I was reading chapter five (more commonly known as the allegory of the Olive Tree) and I had some interesting thoughts as I was reading it. Typically, the symbol of the olive tree is the House of Israel and the allegory is about the gathering of Israel. Yet, as I read it I couldn't help but feel and interpret something different. How I interpreted it suited my life perfectly where I am right now.

In a couple of the verses, the Master of the Vineyard (Christ) and his servant (Christ's followers) try to save an olive tree that is dying. They graft some good branches from a different olive tree onto the one that is growing wild fruit. When I got to verse sixteen I had a thought, it says:

"And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard, and also the servant, went down into the vineyard to labor. . ." That little bit struck me, and I had the thought that I'm never alone! When I go about my day and strive to bring others to Christ, He is there laboring with me!

A few verses later I had the thought that I could also represent the olive tree. There are times in my life when I have some "wild branches" grafted into me. That can symbolize bad choices I make or people that are (and shouldn't be) in my life. If I let them, those bad influences/wild branches can take over and I can become like them and become farther from God's presence. However, I can also take those wild branches and help them bring forth good fruit. I can be the roots (as I am the tree) and help them come unto God.

Picture found at: http://grizzlywriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/olive-tree.jpg

Another thing I learned is that those wild branches can symbolize experiences in my life, or anybody's life for that matter. We all have bad times and trials that we go through, we can either let those wild branches take over us or we can take them and learn from them. We can continue to bring forth good fruit and help others learn from our experiences.

Another quick thing I thought of; during this chapter, the Master of the vineyard continually asks "What could I have done more for my vineyard?" and the servant responds "Spare it a little longer." In those hard experiences, we sometimes as "What could I have done differently?" when in all reality there wasn't anything we could have done differently. Given, there are times when it is because of the choices that we make that we get into some of the situations that we do. But we also have trials because of choices of others. Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: 

"There are many kinds of challenges . . . [they] are not evidence of lack of faith or of an imperfection in our Father in Heaven's overall plan. The refiner's fire is real, and qualities of character and righteousnes that are forged in the furnace of affliction perfect and purify us and prepare us to meet God . . . Some challenges result from the agency of others . . . Some challenges come from disobedience to God's laws . . . For those who think the trials they face are unfair, the Atonement covers all of the unfairness of life." (Ensign, Nov. 2011 p. 106)

Joseph Smith suffered so many different challenges, and yet it didn't negatively affect who he was. Whenever I go through a trial, I've started reading Doctrine and Covenants 122; there are 15 "if" statements that the Lord says unto Joseph which do, ultimately, end up happening to him. They are some of the trials that he would (and had) face(d). Then, at the end of 7, the Lord says: "know thou, my son, that all these thing shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." If we let the wild branches, they can be for our good.

Picture found at: http://www.abruzzopassion.com/2079070472_f7af1b6dcb.jpg

Fall 2012 I've Never List

Alright, I really liked doing this last year so I'm going to do it again!

I've Never . . .

• Eaten Thai Food
• Been to a BYU Young Ambassadors Show
• Been a complete vegetarian for a week
• Jogged up Memorial Hill
• Jogged 1.5 miles in less than fifteen minutes
• Seen My Fair Lady all the way through: CHECK (Dec. 18)

Picture via

• Taken the Praxis Test (it's a test for my teaching license): CHECK (Nov. 3)
• Been in The Messiah: CHECK (Dec. 9-10)

This is me after my performance tonight!! My first solo ever!!! :D

• Seen the opera Cosi fan tutte: CHECK (Oct. 24)

• Seen the musical Les Misérables: CHECK (Oct. 27)

• Seen the play Sleepy Hollow: CHECK (Oct. 27)

• Been to a BYU Football Game: CHECK

Sept. 8; we won 45-13 against Weber!!!

• Been to a YSA Camping Trip: CHECK

Kellie and I on Bear Lake in the Red Ninja!

Heber Relief Society trip to Dingle, ID

We love the Coombs!!!

• Had a Coming to Sarah week: CHECK

Provo temple

At Bridal Veil Falls

Hopefully this list will keep growing; I'll most definitely update it throughout the fall.

Fall 2012 Goals

"And Jesus increased in wisdom, and stature, and in favour with God and man." Luke 2:52

My roommates and I used this scripture last semester (Spring semester) to set goals. Because we are "trying to be like Jesus" (like it says in the Primary song) we felt that we needed to increase in each of these areas as well. Wisdom, stature, favor with God, favor with man. I feel that, if I share these goals with people I will be more likely to uphold them. Here's the breakdown:

Wisdom:

• Less Facebook!!
• Practice voice 90 minutes a day!
• Practice piano more
• Work 40 hours a week
• Study German and French
• Teach voice lessons

Stature:

• Eat healthy food
• Exercise more (I  plan on doing that by learning new sports like racquetball, and playing more volleyball, basketball, etc.)
• Improve posture (both singing and day-to-day)
• Sleep at least eight (8) hours

Favor with God:

• Daily scripture STUDY (mini. 20 minutes)
• Weekly temple attendance
• Don't just "go to church", "go to worship"
• 24 hour fasts
• Visiting teaching!!
• Splits with Sister Missionaries
• Daily prayer (at least morning and evening)

Favor with man:

• Do something every day that scares me
• Go to YSA activities (as often as possible)
• Less texting
• Don't gossip
• SMILE!! =D
• Controle temper and emotions!
• Be yourself!!! =D

These are my goals for the Fall 2012 semester. Some of these are carry overs from last semester; but they're good to keep around! Wish me luck! It's going to be a great semester!!!

I found a GOOD in good-bye

Spring 2012 Semester has officially ended! It's kind of a bitter-sweet feeling; I love being home with my family and my friends here, but I truly miss my girls from 206. We are all so close, I feel like I got five more sisters out of this school year! One of the girls, Cami, graduated from BYU-Idaho on Friday. She was the hardest one to say good-bye to. However, I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself, I'll start on Thursday.

Thursday I really didn't have much to do, but I stayed up and cleaned until about 3:00am. Sleep came very easily to me that night, but it didn't stay long. I then woke up at 4:45am so I could go to the temple with my ward (we were meeting at 5:30am, but I had to walk up the hill). The temple was such a wonderful blessing after the stress of finals. As we sat in the chapel and waited to start the Temple President got up and gave a spiritual thought. He asked why we were there, nobody answered. He then pointed at me and asked why I was there. I simply answered "Because I want to be!" He smiled and asked me to expound on that a little bit, so I did: "It's a nice chance to get away from finals, white gloves, and just life. I love feeling the tranquility that comes from going to the temple and I know that, by coming here the Lord will bless me with peace and His spirit." He, again, smiled and moved on.

After baptisms I had a white glove clean-check at 8:00am, then at 9:00am I had my Collegiate closing social. We had breakfast and watched part of our concert ("I Bought Me a Cat" was hilarious). Brother Kempton then turned the time over to us to share our thoughts about the semester and then we sang one last time together as Spring 2012 Collegiate Singers. We sang "I Will Carry Your Heart" (here's a video if you want to listen/watch) and I can't tell you how hard I was crying. I'm saying good-bye to a lot of people in the choir because of graduation, missions, or they aren't going to do Collegiate again. I felt a little silly, but I know I wasn't the only one crying! I looked over at Cami as we were singing, which was possibly the biggest mistake I've ever made, and I couldn't hold back the tears. After we sang we went around and hugged everybody and cried some more. I purposefully avoided Cami as long as I possibly could, and she me. As I went to Cassandra I didn't expect to cry because I knew I would see her sometime during the Fall. As I hugged her I felt her breathing become irregular and she sobbed. I, once again, lost it! She whispered to me, "Sarah, you've become my dearest friend." and she has truly become one of mine! Cassandra has been such a powerful influence in my life and I'm grateful for her friendship and love!

It wasn't until later that day that I said good-bye to Cami. We weren't expecting to have to say good-bye until after graduation or around that time. As we hugged, I felt so much love and gratitude for my wonderful friend, and sister, Cami. We've been through a lot together and this was, possibly, a true good-bye. We still have Facebook and our phones, but I'm not sure when I'll see her again. It was the same way with most of my roommates. All-in-all, this has been the hardest semester for me with good-byes. However, to whomever reads this I want to let you know how much I appreciate you in my life. Whether it was because of choir, because we're family, because you've been my dear friend, or because we've gone through four years of school together you've made a difference in my life. Know that "I carry your heart with me" and I love you! Thank you for your wonderful example and your uplifting testimony and spirits. God bless! =D

"I Need Thee Every Hour"

This is an experience that, within the past few hours, has taught me to trust God with my whole heart. I have been called as the fourth Sunday Relief Society teacher. I have had this calling for two semesters now and I absolutely love it (I'm so sad for the end of this semester when I won't have that calling anymore)! This morning I received a text message at 10:30am asking if I was planning to give the lesson in Relief Society (just a note, it's the second Sunday, not the fourth). I responded that I wasn't because I teach the fourth Sunday. I received a quick response that "It would be AWESOME if you did  though!" I got the hint and told her that I would teach the lesson. She then continued to ask me what my favorite treat was; I told her the only thing I needed were her prayers at that time.

I studied only for a few minutes before it was time for me to go lead the practice for Ward Choir. When we got out of choir, I hurried down to the room where we meet for Sacrament meeting and put myself in a corner so that I could concentrate of the lesson I was to teach. All of Sacrament meeting the speakers were talking about missionary work and how we are all missionaries, which is kind of what the lesson was on. As I read through the George Albert Smith manual, I came to a particular quote and it reminded me of another quote in the Daughters of My Kingdom book. I searched for the quote and, when I finally found it, I felt that I needed to teach the rest of my lesson from that book. I immediately got frustrated with myself! Why would I think that? That Daughters of my Kingdom is not the George Albert Smith manual! I spoke to one of my friends about it before Sunday School (which I ended up skipping to study more for the lesson) and she talked about how I needed to continually follow the spirit. The problem was, I was feeling like I wasn't feeling the spirit! I felt like I had closed all gates for the spirit and I was cutting Him off. I went off into a room by myself and just cried. I felt so stressed and frustrated that I couldn't focus on the lesson. I went over to the piano and played hymn number 98, "I Need Thee Every Hour" and sang as I played (or tried to; it's hard to sing and cry at the same time). I then took a minute to pray and invite the spirit so that I could teach the sister's what they needed to hear.

I went back and sat by my lesson and tried organizing it again. As sister's started coming in I could feel my stomach tighten and I started to feel a little light headed. When the time came for me to give my lesson I said another prayer, praying that I would feel the spirit and that I would say what the Lord would have me say. As soon as I stood up to give the lesson a feeling of peace and calm washed over me. I literally felt as if somebody had taken a bucket and dumped water full of "calm" all over me. I began the lesson and could feel the spirit guiding me step-by-step. I felt as if the Holy Ghost was standing right next to me. As I finished the lesson and sat down, I realized how much God loves me and how I had been directed the entire time by the Holy Ghost. Even though I didn't feel that it was the Holy Ghost, it was. I, once again, began to cry a little bit. I feel that I learned much more than the sister's I taught that day.

I have a testimony that God does hear and answer prayers. I'm so grateful for this opportunity that I've had to learn more about how I can teach with the spirit. I know that God loves all of His children; He was willing to send His son to die for me. The atonement is real! There is no doubt in my mind! I have the opportunity daily to use that atonement in my life to repent of my sins, my shortcomings, and to feel comfort during my times of trials and stress. He isn't only there during my trials and pains though; He's also there during my joys and successes! God is always there for me; He succors His people. I love that the word "succor" means "to run to". Even if I run the other way, He continues to run after me, with his arms outstretched toward me inviting me to come unto Him. God is real and I am so grateful for His constant love and comfort.