Favorite Part.

As I've been home from Paris, the question I constantly get is, of course, "So what was your favorite thing about Paris?"

Because a person can pick that.

As I've responded to all these people, I inevitably pick the same thing: church.
Yes, even in the most beautiful city on earth, my favorite thing was church.
Here's why.

We spent a lot of time at the church. Not only did we have the normal 3 hours every Sunday, but we always had religion there on Mondays, plus FHE, and most weeks, the 4 hours of normal class. We were constantly at the church, hanging out at the institute, taking advantage of the free wifi, and eating at the corner boulangerie. The institute quickly became our second home. We all felt comfortable there, we were friends with Elder and Sister Haward, we knew the missionaries who came in to email every monday afternoon, we knew where the comfiest seats were, where the best wifi was, and that the church would always have clean bathrooms with hot water to wash your hands in (both rarities in Paris). The church was safe, it was far from the hustle and bustle of Paris life and we could leave our purses anywhere without worrying about pick-pockets.

However, the actual congregation was also incredible to be around. Going to church every week, and being surrounded by the members of that congregation, who were doing their best to live the gospel in a place where most people think Mormons are Amish, was simply remarkable. I realized over those three months, that I can't even begin to comprehend how blessed I am, and how much I take for granted living in a place where the vast majority of my neighbors are members of the church. They proved to me that faith is so much more than just confessing that you believe, it's living like you believe each and every day. It's sharing the gospel with coworkers, people on the metro, and the people you meet in your apartment complex elevator. Faith is living each day as a representative of Christ, being aware that you are always being watched by those around you, and making sure that those who watch, can tell you believe. They showed me that no matter what your circumstances are in this life, you can love God with all you have, and then give him even more than you have.

I think the greatest thing I learned from the Paris 1st ward is that this gospel, is precious. The gospel changes people in ways that we cannot even begin to comprehend, and even if I've been a member my entire life, it's supposed to change my life, too. They taught me to truly put my faith in Christ, because through him, everything is possible. They taught me to never give up on a person, because everyone can change, it just has to be on God's timing. They taught me to love everyone: rich, poor, black, white, Harvard grad, or elementary school drop out. Above all, they taught me that this gospel means everything, and should never be taken for granted.

I hope that I can remember what I learned from those members.

Thank you, Paris 1st ward.

Love always,
Ems

For the Beauty.

As I've spent numerous hours in churches, I've grown a great love for the way in which the catholic church makes their houses of worship. These churches are incredible. Each church I walk into, I reflect on how it portrays the beauty of religion and the devotion of the people. Many of the great churches we've visited took decades, if not a century, to build.

We were able to visit Chartres last weekend, and it was magnificent. We had a tour from the man who wrote the book (quite literally) on Chartres Cathedral: Malcom Miller.  He explained to us many of the stained glass windows, as well bestowing some facts about the various fires Chartres survived, and the competition between Chartres and Notre Dame de Paris.

After enjoying the beauty of Chartres Cathedral, we had some free time to wander the town of Chartres and we stumbled upon the most beautiful church- Église Saint-Aignan. We weren't completely sure we could go, but since the doors were open, we decided to head on in. In Alex's words, "I'm really glad we're go-inners."

 

One thing I've come to appreciate while walking through these churches is the Catholic practice of saints. Saints usually illude my religious understanding, but as I've sat in the chapels built to different saints, I've come to understand the comfort in saints. While Jesus Christ suffered for the entirety of our existence, these saints experienced specific things, or did specific things, that we can relate to. It's hard for me to explain in which ways I understand prayers to saints, but the more I see candles lit for saints, the more I understand the practice. 

I love the opportunity to visit these beautiful places of worship and to reflect upon God nearly every day in an awe-inspiring church. The craftsmanship of each building is astounding, and while none of these buildings are where I worship, I cannot deny the presence of God in each of them. I believe that any building built with such devotion to God will welcome God's spirit and touch your heart. 

Love always,

Ems

Sundays are the Best Days.

I love Sundays in Paris. Even though they make my head hurt because I'm concentrating so hard on understanding the meeting (three hours in french with various accents is a struggle sometimes), it's a wonderful feeling to know that the gospel is the same all over the world.

After our first day of church, we went to Notre Dame because it's about two blocks from the church building (i know, right?).  The inside of Notre Dame is magical. I wanted to sing "God help the Outcasts" the entire time; however, mass was going on, so I couldn't do that #disappointment.

After, we wandered up the left bank to discover the Sorbonne and the Latin quarter, which, deceptively means Latin as in the language, and not Latin as in Latin-American; that was confusing for an Arizona girl like me. Regardless, it is a beautiful part of Paris, and full of a history of things like revolts, angry students, professor/student affairs, etc. Very French. Not to mention that there was an accordion player in the place de Sorbonne- can you get more French? 

We proceeded up the road to the Pantheon, got sad that we couldn't go in since it cost money and it was a Sunday, then marveled at the beauty of the building and the crazy ceilings. I have this new love for ceilings so I'm going to have to have an album of just ceilings in my iPhoto soon. 

 We concluded our wanderings at the Luxembourg gardens, basking in the sun and watching all the adorable French children push their boats around the fountain while some nonadorable French 7 year-old tried to wreck all the ships with his electric boat. Those electric boat people, they think they're sooo cool.

Aren't my friends cute? Anyway. We finished the day off with a welcome fireside at the bishop's house, which was beautiful. He thoroughly convinced me to come back to Paris and live. Sold in one minute. We also were fed delicious salads and treats including CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES which essentially, do not exist in Paris. This is a problem because they are only my very favorite dessert in the entire world. I'm a girl of simple pleasures, and chocolate chip cookies are one of them. 

You could say Sundays in Paris are lovely. 

Love always,

Ems

On Communities.

There are a lot of things I love about being Mormon. But one of the things I love the most is the way that Mormons join together. When people talk about ward families, it's not just the group of people you go to church with everyday, it really is an extension of your family. The picture above is of my ward family on the night of our seminary graduation; I can honestly say that they are family to me. We've grown up together, been awkward together, and stuck together through thick and thin because that's what we do as a ward family- we stick together.

I was recently thinking about this because I joined a group on facebook that's a little support network of girls who have missionaries (I know, I'm one of those girls now). I was so not going to ever do this because...Well, I'm not really "waiting" as is typical in mormon culture. I've been dating, enjoying life, and heck, even got really close to marriage with a boy! So I thought, "Can't join that community. I'm not one of them." But the thing is, I got over my pride, joined, and instantly found people in my same situation. It was amazing. With welcoming arms they let me into the group and I started enjoying feeling like I was part of a community again; we all have different "waiting" situations, but there is overlap in our experiences that make it possible for us to reach out to one another (plus, with the year mark rapidly approaching, I feel like a "wise one". ha!).

I think that it's great to have any sort of community. For me, I am lucky enough to find it in my church. For others, it may be through their blogs. And for still others, it may be in their actual community. Any way you find it, it boils down to this: we need each other. We can't just mosey through life alone. There's a reason we come to this world in families. There's a reason we find friends and stick to each other. There's a reason why we, as Mormons, are organized into ward units.

It's almost silly how common sense this all seems and yet it was like this huge realization for me this week. Communities rock. The end.

Love always,
Ems

Thoughts.

I really wasn't going to post about conference because I feel that the blogging world is overpowered with conference posts, however, I think I would be undoubtably ungrateful if I didn't share a few thoughts. And one of the brethren said that we should share our faith more often online, so here ya go!

This conference, I went into conference in a totally different manner than I ever have. Our stake presidency had challenged us to read a talk a night in preparation for general conference. I started off a bit half-heartedly. My bedtime routine was already fairly extensive and adding on another thing to study before I slept...it was difficult. However, probably two weeks ago, I sat in institute and the challenge was given again and I decided to really take it upon myself to commit.

So I did. Every night I read a talk from October's conference and there was a palpable difference in my life. I can't fully describe that difference, but it was clearly prevalent in my life, my attitude, and my desire to do good. It made a difference in my willingness, excitement, and desire to learn from conference.

Reflecting back on conference, I realize that worries and concerns I didn't even know were really on my mind were completely calmed during conference. One, that I've written about before, was the feeling I struggle with that desiring to be a mother above anything else made me "less successful" and "less of a woman". Oh, how silly that thought seems to me now. Sis. Dalton's (I was close to tears when she got released) talk is now my new mantra. My desire to be a mother was reaffirmed as a righteous and wonderful goal, and I realized that those thoughts of inferiority are from Satan.

I felt that there was so much focus on the family and I soaked it all in. I know that the world I will have to raise my family in will be terrifying, but I have great faith and hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the divine support network of the church. I have great hope that through the teachings of latter day prophets, I will find strength to correctly guide my children to righteousness and happiness. I realize now, more than I ever have, that Sis. Dalton's words are true: "It is mothers ho most directly influence the lives of children... how great is their worth, how marvelous their contribution." I think I need to frame that quote in my room.

I am so excited for the opportunity to raise children. I know it will be hard, but I know there is nothing greater that I can do with my life. I'm grateful beyond expression for the uplifting words I heard this conference weekend. What a blessing it is to be led by men and women who are so close to God and know precisely what we most need to hear.

Love always,
Ems

Thoughts from Rob Gardner's The Lamb of God

Tonight, I had the opportunity to go and see a performance of Rob Gardner's The Lamb of God. Going into the program, I didn't really know what I was getting into, I had only heard that Chad loved the music and that it really meant a lot to him. 

Sitting in the performance, I was struck by the beauty of the music and the retelling of Christ's story. However, one of the most profound moments came during Mary, the mother f Jesus's, solo. As she sang her solo, I began to connect to Mary in a way that I never have- on the maternal level. Although I'm not a mother, I began thinking about how she must have felt watching the crucifixion of her son. I cannot even imagine watching the sacrifice of your son for the world. On our way home, I asked Chad if he thought that Mary understood exactly what would happen to her son before that moment of weeping at the foot of the cross. Did she ever expect that she would have to watch her son die in such a brutal way? Is there any way she could really comprehend what the angel Gabriel meant when he said that she would bear the Savior of the World? Chad and I discussed it and felt that she couldn't have fully comprehended what bearing the Messiah meant. How her heart must have broken as she witnessed the crucifixion of her son. I cannot even begin to comprehend her pain and sorrow. 

I also felt that Thomas's solo was incredibly moving. Especially these lines:

We’ll read the meaning of our tears,

And there, sometime, we’ll understand

Why what we long for most of all

Eludes our open, pleading hand.

I love the idea of understanding the meaning of our tears. I feel that often, I don't fully understand the meaning of my tears, but it is comforting knowing that God understands those tears and that sometime, he will help us to comprehend them. Through Christ's atonement, those tears are all accounted for. All of them. Above all, God knows what is best for us, and as those lines state, he will show us why not all of our prayers were answered. In the end, all will be made right, and I think that is an  important thing to understand about the atonement. 

I was incredibly impressed by the performance and would highly encourage any one who has the chance to go and see the production. Surely, you will walk away with a fuller understanding for the atonement of Christ. 

Love always,

Ems

Sunday Thought

"I remember a time when I was desperate for guidance on a crucial decision. I had fasted and prayed and been to the temple, but the answer wasn't clear. In frustration I told a friend that I just couldn't get an answer. He responded, simply: "Have you asked the Lord to teach you how He communicates with you?" I hadn't, so I began to pray daily that He would.

Not long thereafter, while reading about Nephi building the ship, I couldn't help but notice how clearly he understood the Lord's instructions. With that, I began to hunt for scriptural evidences of direct communication between God and man. At each one I made a little red x in the margin of my scriptures. Now, many years later, my scriptures are littered with little red x's, each an indication that the Lord does communicate with His people—and often. The scriptures are the handbook for the language of revelation. They are our personal Liahona. If you will regularly immerse yourself in the scriptures, you'll get clearer, more frequent answers to your prayers."

-Sheri Dew, BYU Devotional, Dec. 09, 2003

-------
I've been thinking about this recently, how the Lord communicates with me, and I thought that she had a wonderful idea. I know that The Lord is always communicating with his children, I just need to learn to recognize it more often. I think that I have found a new scripture marking tool. 

Love always,
Ems
{photo Via}

An Example.

Today, with his permission, I would like to tell you about Garrett's best friend and one of my really good friends, Spencer.

Spencer met Garrett during their freshman year here at BYU and they have been friends- best friends, actually, since then. Spencer's friendship has meant a lot to Garrett over the past three years, and as I've become friends with Spencer, it has meant to me. In all honesty, he has become such an incredibly example to me. Let me tell you why.

This October, Spencer decided to do something that took an insane amount of courage. He decided to tell the world (literally, since it was on his blog for everyone to see) about his struggles with same-sex attraction. As a member of The LDS church, and a student at BYU this was a huge step because being gay and mormon is, unfortunately, a pretty taboo subject; even though understanding is growing among members in the church, there are still a lot of misconceptions. However, Spencer "came out" and with this coming out has encountered an enormous amount of support and has become a huge support to men at BYU who struggle with the same attractions.

The most amazing thing to me though, is how sure Spencer is of the atonement. I have never met another person who has such great faith in Jesus Christ, His atoning sacrifice, and thus, His ability to comfort in times of trial. Through this, I feel that Spencer has really been able to acquire the gift of charity. Spencer loves EVERY.ONE. He knows that the Lord is on his side and consequently, he is able to extend his hand of friendship to so many people around him and I seriously admire that. I admire how faithful he is and his great desire to do good in the world. I have not a single doubt in my mind that he will be able to do anything and everything that he wants in this life- including a marriage in the temple. I'm grateful that he has shown me the true meaning of charity and has taught me through his example, courage, hope, faith, and above all, love for God's children.

Also, he's really funny and just a great guy. So he has that going for him too. But really, his blog is worth a read if you care to be enlightened and uplifted. I especially love this post.

Love always,
Ems

Spencer's Blog: Here
Garrett's Guest Post: Here

Sunday Thought.

Obviously, missions and missionaries are close to my heart right now.
So thankful for my many wonderful friends who have given up two years to serve;
they truly come back changed and better than they ever could have hoped to be before.

Love always,
Ems

Happy Day, All is Well!

Happy Pioneer day, folks! I'm actually super sad that I'm not in Utah celebrating, but I made sure we had a family home evening lesson on pioneers so that we could have a mini commemoration. 

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I am so grateful for the early pioneers who had the faith and courage to leave behind all their worldly possessions and move out west. They endured so much so that we could practice our religion freely without the persecution of mobs, and that is the greatest blessing I could ask for. I will forever be indebted to my ancestors for taking the trek. Indeed, it is a happy day, where all is well.

"Let us never forget the faith of our fathers and the selfless sacrifice of our mothers, those pioneering Saints who set such an inspiring example of obedience. Let us remember them as we strive to be valiant servants in our work to 'invite all to come unto Christ' (D&C 20:59) and 'be perfected in him' (Moroni 10:32)."

 -Joseph B. Wirthlin 

Love always, 

Ems

The Last Day.

Today was my last day in my Book of Mormon class with Bro. Griffin. He surprised us all and had three of his kids there with his wife so that his two little girls could share their Easter song for us. It was a beautiful end to the Easter season, and they were so very wonderful when they sang it together. I found the song on google, and thought I'd share the simple, yet beautiful song just because Easter isn't too far removed from us, and we can always use a reminder.

Love always,

Ems

Remembering Easter

In the midst of my studying and paper writing tonight, I stopped by my church's website so that I could look up a scripture for my Book of Mormon paper. 

However, I took a break from writing to watch this video that was on the front page and I'm so very glad I did for it helped me to pause and remember for a moment the beautiful and important weekend that is ahead of me. 

I am so grateful for this Easter weekend and for the opportunity it gives me to pause and reflect on that eternal blessing and sacrifice that our Savior made on my behalf. However, I am even happier that it gives us reason to fully remember that our Lord and Savior has risen, and because he has risen, we too can live again with him and our Heavenly Father. 

Love always,

Ems

p.s. go check out more of the new videos on the life of our Savior, here. They are all wonderful.

Comfort.

This message was a perfect fit for my week.
It's good to know that I can always turn to the gospel for strength,
to know that I do not have to be perfect,
but that if I work,
the Lord will be there to pick up my slack.
I'm grateful for his endless mercy to me,
and for my knowledge of this gospel,
and especially for the knowledge that
I am a daughter of God.

Love always,
Ems

Sunday Thought.

"My thanks to all you wonderful members of the Church—and legions of good people not of our faith—for proving every day of your life that the pure love of Christ “never faileth.” ⁴ No one of you is insignificant, in part because you make the gospel of Jesus Christ what it is—a living reminder of His grace and mercy, a private but powerful manifestation in small villages and large cities of the good He did and the life He gave bringing peace and salvation to other people. We are honored beyond expression to be counted one with you in such a sacred cause."

-Jeffrey R. Holland


I hope that on this Easter day we can all remember our Savior, Jesus Christ, and live in emulation of him by being the greatest example of him through charity, servie, hope, and faith.


He lives.

Love always,

Ems

Happiness.

Do you ever look at life and realize that you're blessed?
Realizing that really, you don't have it all that bad because
your best friend, the family next door, or that kid you met last year,
is going through life with a smile on their face but a darker battle underneath.
Sometimes, I forget to look to all that is beautiful in my life-
not just the immensely beautiful things like family, and the gospel, but the little things
like the singing birds, and the dazzling sun that fills my body with warmth the
moment our paths cross.

Joy, I have found, cannot always be found in the same place.
Families aren't always perfect, and the gospel blesses, but it also tries
in ways that, quite simply, are tough to endure.
However, I know that life was meant for us to find joy,
and even though I sometimes have to escape into that joy
through poetry or books, I know that I can always find glimpses
of it somewhere because God intended me to be happy.
Happiness isn't always easy, and sometimes it slips away all
too quickly, but it's always hidden somewhere in life.
You just might need to prepare for a bit of a dig, because it,
like all good treasure, may be buried deep.

Love Always,
Ems

Sunday Thoughts

Today, I was thinking about my family. And how much they mean to me. Really, they mean everything to me. I decided that I'm so grateful for how much my church believes and works on family succes. Your family shapes who you are. I also thought about how grateful I am for this inspired document:

The Family: A Proclamation to the World. I know what it says is so true, and I'm so thankful for all it teaches us about family. It really is the best thing ever.

Love Always,
Ems

Goodness :)

I love the videos our Church puts out. This one is especially good because I'm SUPER impatient a lot of the time... And, these kids are stinkin adorable!


And I REALLY love this music by SHe & Him Please tell me you ROFL. Because if not... something is wrong. Seriously. And isn't she gorgeous?! LOVE she &him!


And I love the invention of this embeded thing. It's awesome. Life is great. :)
(the SAT....not so much)


Love Always,
Ems

Thoughts...

Today I was redoing my board in my room and listening to my favorite church music. And my favorite song came on I Am His Daughter. It's from the new EFY cd and it bears such an amazing message, just in the title, even. To know, and to have known since I could first sing "I am a Child of God" that I am his daughter, has blessed my life in so many ways. The fact that I can have the reassuring love and comfort of my Heavenly Father always with me through the Holy Ghost brings me so much peace and happiness. It just makes me hold my head up a little higher whenever I think about it. 

So then I kept thinking...

And I started to think of all my amazing guy friends who will be leaving on a mission in one-two years. And they'll be serving for TWO YEARS. Pause, and just seriously think about how crazy that is. They'll be nineteen and they'll leave everyone behind to go and preach the Lord's gospel. Wait, pause. That's sooo not normal for a nineteen year old boy to do. But ALL of my guy friends are going to be doing it.... My brother and cousin are doing it right now! And to see the changes in them is amazing and truly testifies of the truth. Wow. I have to admit though, I'm going to miss all my friends soooo much. But no worries, I will not be picked up by a wife-hungry RM whilst they are gone. NO SIREEE.

And I really like this picture

I kind imagine it as Christ talking to all those 19 year-old boys, telling them why it's so important.

And I started my BYU application!!!!!!

So STOKED.

My essays are being edited...

And once I submit them, I'll post them. :)

Ah, life is so good!

Look around and find five things that make you happy today.

It will not disappoint you, I promise.

If you're a real over-acheiver, you'll do 100. :)

I love life.

Love Always,

Ems

Moving.

My Girl's State 'Mom' showed me this blog. Her story is heart wrenching, but her faith is moving. Read this post, One Was Enough and then continue to read her posts about her dear Baby Gavin and her strong faith through everything. I cannot even imagine going through something like this, and I think it is well worth spreading word. Please help, because Natalie said, "One was enough" but really, it was too many. Thank Goodness for the great gift of eternal life.

Love Always,

Ems

{Thanksgiving}

YAY! I love the holidays! Where to begin with thankfulness?? Let's start at last night... :)

MONOPOLY+siblings=probably the most competitive thing since the world began. not.even.kidding. So... we started the game at about eight. I went to bed at about 2:20 cause I was dying I was so tired. My brothers....they stayed up till 3:45. By the end of the game, Josh had sacrificed himself, Caleb and I had become a corporation, Josh came back from the dead to take my spot, and Seth was still killing us!!!! HE HAD TWO MONOPOLIES!!!! We had the entire rest of the board! It was craziness, plain craziness. Not to mention the fact that we ate an entire bag of Twizzlers, a box of Dots, and a thing of Mac&Cheese. Ya, don't mess with Barton family monopoly games. Just another reason why I love my brothers. :)I'm thankful for cute little things like above....and just romantic cute things in general. They make my life all the better and happier. :) I'm especially thankful for super kind messages from people that make me smile to the ends of the Earth and back just because they're so cute and nice-waking up to those are the very very very best. :)

I'm grateful for these girls:
They've been my all to me forever and I love them to death. We've had the best of times and the worst of times. But I'm pretty sure that if we got back together for a night we'd be the same crazy friends we used to be. They've always been there for me and pretty much I think we taught each other everything we know. I really don't know where I'd be without them....probably some loner in the corner wearing ugly cloths and still wearing slickedback ponytails.... But really, I'm so thankful for everything they've done for me, I don't know what I'd do without them. And, I miss them. But I'm grateful for them.

I'm also grateful for these gorgeous girls:
So how we all came together is crazy and we really can't even remember how it happened. But they've made my high school transition so much better. Brought me up from super sad times. Given me advice in crazy situations and although I don't always follow their advice {...Lizzie...} I know they're always going to be there for me when I'm crying over something. Even though we've been having some weird times recently, I'm sure it's just a phase and Utah will mend everything. :) I really do love all these girls so crazy much, I can't even express it fully, they're just the best. end of story.

I'm grateful that my parents have made travel such an important part of growing up. Because then when I happen upon pictures like the above I can say, "I've been there! It was awesome!" I was so happy when I randomly found this picture cause I felt so cool having been there. I LOVE traveling. :)

I'm grateful for missing people. Which is weird...cause normally it's a bad thing. But I've decided that when you miss a person, it brings you closer to that person cause you're always thinking about them. And, it makes the reunion all the better. I'm also grateful for this cause there are so many different ways to miss a person. Sometimes you miss people who you see everyday. Sometimes you miss people you haven't seen in months. Sometimes you miss the way you used to know a person. Or you miss the way a person holds you and cares for you. Sometimes it's a combination of some of those, and sometimes it's none of them all, it's just more like a pit that you can't fix. However it is that you miss a person, I'm grateful for it, cause it makes you stronger as a person, and helps you realize all the blessings you've had because of that hole in your heart. I'm grateful for missing people.

I'm so grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It's the most amazing thing in my life. Really, it's above everything. That's pretty much all I can say about cause I don't even know how else to put it. I'm glad to be Mormon! :)

There is so much else, but I think if I listed everything we'd both be here for about five years....cause I could go on and on about all that I'm thankful for. I just love life and everything that makes it beautiful and good. :) which is a lot of things. :) I hope everyone has an amazing Turkey Day, I'm so happy it's the holiday season. :) I'm grateful for all of YOU readers! Thanks! :)

Love Always,
Ems