Faith in all things; Including science

I wrote this for an elective course in college. It is a philosophy course, disguised as a history course. Hahaha. However, the first few weeks of the class we talked about evolution incessantly. Our professor asked us what stuck out about the course, so I let him know.

This was the result of that assignment.

Small disclaimer: This is merely my own speculation and should be reflected upon as such. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

There was a time that I felt extremely conflicted when presented with the idea of evolution. It seemed from a young age, that I feared facing this internal conflict for my entire life. It was logical to me that evolution could be the explanation of how the earth came to be. However, the conflict came from my own heart and my faith, which told me that God created the earth in His plan for us. Science and history classes taught me that the globe itself formed from some miraculous coincidence. Jared Diamond (1997) is one of the many that propose that we, as humans, emerged from apes and chimps. How could God and those around me expect me to hold true to the feelings of my heart while still listening to the logic in my head? It seemed that the two ideas were incessantly at war with one another.

I once had a discussion with an individual about my confusion on the topic. He suggested that perhaps evolution was simply the explanation of how the earth was created, but that God was why it happened. Perhaps the 7 days that are portrayed in our scriptures were only creative periods, as the measurement of time was not invented by God, but by humans. Perhaps, what was written in many religious texts were tailor made for the people of that time. Could it be that the writers of these creation myths were inspired in this way, for the purpose of the people who would hear it first, so that they could receive it in their hearts and understand it in their minds?

The suggestion was shocking and was an idea that I found to be perplexing. I had never thought that maybe, faith and science could peacefully coexist. I then read in a religious text, “[God] will tell you in your mind and in your heart.” (Doctrine & Covenants 8:2) This passage brought peace to the war that I found myself in on a regular basis.

With this thought of congruity in mind, it would be absolutely illogical to me that God created human beings in the blink of an eye. It would also be illogical to me to think that the world generated itself and all of its inhabitants by opportune happenstance.

Something that I have struggled with since adopting this perspective is how other people of faith do not share this idea of balance between reason and faith. It is confounding to me that individuals can rely solely on faith or solely on reason. While I see the appeal to a strictly science diet, there are still things that have yet to be explained. There are still miracles today, because they are inexplicable to us, even after our vast scientific discoveries that have transpired over the past thousand years.

Nonetheless, I see the appeal in a strictly faith diet, but some of the once inexplicable happenstances have been explained through experimentation and scientific evidence. This evidence does not make your faith or beliefs in a deity any less real. Faith’s purpose is to bridge the gap between these occurrences that we cannot explain and that our limited, human minds cannot comprehend. Faith can be used to help us come to appreciate the sophistication of the evolution theory. The evolution theory can help us appreciate the complexity of the workings of God.

I have realized through my participation in this class, that while I do identify as a devout Christian, I have begun to consider that the theory of evolution may be a possible explanation as to how the earth came to fruition.



What are your thoughts?

My Favourite Painter

Last night when I got home from work, I laid in bed. Like I always do, and went on stumble upon. This is one of my favourite websites. Why? A) Because it's freaking hilarious and the source of MANY funny friday posts. B) Because I find beautiful photography that is so inspiring - I am a closet photography nerd. C) Because I am bored easily. 

I found this last night and I think I have watched it approximately 20 trillion times. Ball park.

Since I've moved to Ottawa, I have noticed the sky so much more. Maybe it's because it's not in the city and there's really nothing to look at on the ground. Maybe it's because I'm working at the top of towers where I can actually look as far as the eye can see. Usually, it'll be trees, trees and more trees and then this beautiful sky. It amazes me every day. I wish I had a camera everywhere I went because the sky is just so beautiful.

Without further adieu, the video that amazes me.

God must be a painter, because he uses so many colours. - Quoted from A Beautiful Mind.

I will wait... for you.

Now, what many people don't know is that I love, LOVE spoken word poetry. After my good friend, Ali performed her poetry at a school black history month assembly, I fell in love.

I usually find youtube videos, but this one my friend posted on her facebook wall and for some reason, today I wanted to listen to it again. I obviously loved it, again. I thought I would share it. It is Sunday after all, and it is quite churchie.

Hope you all had a great week!

P.S. I was just listening to this again, as I just posted it. It made me think of how many couples I know that are engaged or married. I just want to say that I hope you're happy with the person you're with and that they make you the happiest you can possibly be. That they remind you every day of the person you are and who you want to be. That they make you want to aspire to be that person. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I'm prepared to wait for that person and cheers to all those who have found them.

The Little Imperfections & A Happy Easter

Happy easter everyone! Welcome to a beautiful weekend of family, friends and love. Love for whoever it may be. Your spouse, your siblings, your parents, your grandparents, whoever you feel a sense of gratitude towards this lovely easter morning.

Today, I'd like to share one of my all time favourite videos. While watching it, think of that significant person in your life. Whether you have found them or you are both still wandering the earth looking for you. Whether you're together this easter or apart. I ask you to literally thank God today for all of the amazing people in your life. I know I have many of them in my life, and I'm so glad that I have my parents as examples of true love in my life. I don't know anyone more in love than my mom and dad. I watched this video with my mom once and we both cried together. I am so blessed and this easter Sunday, I can't help but exclaim it to the whole world. It is not something that I can just keep to myself.

I challenge you all to take a moment to send some love to that person in your life that you're grateful for. Last night, I was watching TV with my mom and just turned to her and just told her that I loved her. This used to be extremely difficult for me, but after many sunday school lessons on telling your parents that you love them, I have the courage to tell them.

Love is meant to be shared.

I want to share one other video today, on the true meaning of Easter. Now I know a lot of people have confused the holiday with the easter bunny, but I am ready to provide some groundbreaking news.

READY?

It's actually about Jesus's resurrection. I just want you all to know, that Christ is the way back to our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for everything that the gospel is and does for me.

Have a spectacular long weekend and remember the reason for the season!

What comes next?

I've come to terms with the fact that I won't be attending university in the fall... But what am I to do now? It seems that it is near impossible for me to find a job that works with my talents or skills, or just a full time job in general. I don't know if I should temporarily give up on the university aspiration and just go to college for Social Work. Perhaps, take more night school courses, summer school courses... I feel like I'm sitting at a crossroads with no map, or guidance.

I don't doubt good things will happen in my life... I'm just wondering what I should be doing to get to the greatness. I know I have potential, but how do I reach it. I feel like I'm being wasted as a human resource. There are so many things that I want to achieve and it feels like there is opposition in every direction.

So, I'm broadcasting to anyone within the realms of facebook, blogger and twitter...


What do you think I should do next? 

P.S. You can ALL comment on the actual blog, just make sure you're not commenting anonymously. Fill in your name before you submit your comment!

Make It MAD

As a new blogger, I've found a new joy: blog hunting. I love finding blogs that I enjoy reading. It's like I can jump on my computer and read about someone else's life and all the great things I have to look forward to. As I was stumbling, on stumble upon one day I came across makeitmad. This is probably one of my favourite blogs to read.

Why?

Well, he is a recent convert to Christianity and has totally turned his life around. He's originally from Los Angeles, but he's currently driving across America (did I mention that I love to travel?) He's writing about all of his experiences as he searches to better understand God. How awesome is that? I think the thing that I love most about MAD is that he's so honest with his readers. He doesn't put up a facade about his life. He has a very "this is how it is" way of writing, that I appreciate.

I have found many of his posts to be inspiring and just plain awesome. I hope you all love him as much as I have!

Here are some of my favourite posts by him:
Christians Are Partying Harder and Having Better Sex Than You
A Gentlemen's Guide to Staying Cool in the 21st Century
A Gentlemen's Guide to the 21st Century

Day 8: Seeing The Prophet & Apostles

Let me just say, this was the most unexpected and exciting part of my trip. Today we were a little on the late side of getting ready, but still a decent time. We got to the temple and mom realized that she forgot her recommend. For anyone who is not a member of my church, to go inside this building, you have to be interviewed by a local leader who will ask you a series of questions in regards to your activity in the church, your faith, etc. before you can go inside the temple. Why? Because it is such a sacred place that only worthy members of our faith can go inside. Luckily for my family, we have the opportunity to all go inside together. But without that slip of paper, mom was not going to be able to go in. Mom and I had to go to the other entrance of the temple. If you've never been inside the Salt Lake City temple, it's on the complete opposite end of the building. We then had to wait for a gentlemen to call our Bishop or a member of the Stake Presidency. He called and Mom was approved and we walked all the way back.

There was a huge line up at the baptistry. Which was out of the ordinary, Salt Lake City temple is usually very, VERY quick. Then after my mom and I had received our jumpsuits, we were ready to go across the hall to go get changed. That is when one of the volunteers told us that we had to wait. We were confused. The change room was right across the hall... No one was going across. I was confused. But we stood there, waiting for whatever reason. Then one of the gentlemen told us that the prophet and his counsellors and some of the Quorum of the Twelve were coming down from their meeting that they hold on Thursdays. (Mental Note: Only go to Salt Lake City temple on Thursday mornings.) I was beyond excited. I was ill-prepared. I was beyond giddy and they hadn't even come yet.

Then I heard them talking in the hall, and they came around the corner. I couldn't even believe it. It was like I was imagining this - it was that surreal. Then Monson piped up and said: "Guys, conference is over!" We all laughed. He then asked is anyone there spoke German or Spanish. I replied (yes, I spoke to the prophet.) "Français?" To which he said, "Oh no, there's too much romance in that language." Then he waved and went on. A man in the group thanked them for his mission call to a Deutsch speaking mission. Then after the First Presidency was gone, the apostles started walking by. The ones that I saw were D. Todd Christofferson, Richard G. Scott and M. Russell Ballard.

It was so amazing and I can still hardly believe it happened. After being in the temple, we went to tour the conference centre and our tour guide was awesome. As always! He talked to us about scouting, the First Vision and a lot of other fun facts about the building. Did you know that they had been talking about building a new Conference Centre to replace the Tabernacle for about 50 years before they broke ground? I thought that was really interesting!

Then my mom really wanted to go to Welfare Square... Honestly. It was boring. We might have gone at the wrong time. I honestly don't know. I was always disappointed when I didn't go to see it when I went before but it really wasn't that interesting. Did I miss something? Did you see something more interesting there?

After that, we went to Deseret Book and I got some great books, CDs and other souvenirs for friends back home. I'm really excited to give it to them too! I know they'll love it. I got my sister some more stuff, and Brittany some great stuff too. I'm ready to be heading home tomorrow, it's been a great vacation. It was replenishing both spiritually and physically. I got to sleep in and hear the prophet and apostles speak. I can honestly say that packing was a bitter sweet moment.

Day 7: Sales, Embryos & Embarrassing Sunburns.

Mom finally bought some clothes! Such a great successful day! But lets start from the very beginning... A very good place to start.

We had another lazy morning yesterday. I got up extremely early, 6:30am, because my face was killing me! Every time I rolled over in my bed, put my face on my pillow or just moved in general, my face hurt. It was awful. Then when I finally accepted the fact that I wasn't getting any more sleep, I went downstairs to hang out with my parents. Once I had had breakfast, I went to get ready... And put on a tone of make up to cover up my sunburn as best as I could. I was really embarrassed and didn't really want to leave the house. We then decided that today was Provo Day. We were going to go shopping, pop by the BYU bookstore, do a drive by of the MTC and go to the Provo Temple to get some pictures. I also had some friends in Provo that I wanted to visit. After our lazy morning, however, we didn't get out of the house until 11:30am.

It was only Colin, Mom, Dad and I today. Andre was feeling better and Daniel had an awful sunburn - his face was actually swollen. So they were ready to spend the day in the apartment and play Andre's new xbox 360. The younger boys were all set up for a day of gaming and we went off into town. We stopped at the Missionary Mall and picked up some ties and shirts for the boys. Mom and I went to the Sister Missionary Mall, she was being extremely difficult. In her defence, the clothes there were not as nice as I would have liked either. But we left with a gorgeous lace, brown skirt. Other than that, the store was a bust.

We then decided to go to Coney's Frozen Custard. The funny thing about this was that mom was saying how much she hated custard as we were walking to the Sister Missionary Mall. That it was always inconsistent and there were little chunks in it... Well, let me tell you. She loved frozen custard. It was smooth and much much better than ice cream. Dad and Colin split a chilli dog and a peanut butter sundae. Mom and I got a turtle pecan sundae which was SO delicious. I definitely love frozen custard. It was love at first bite. The first bite was in Nauvoo on a hot summer's day, after a long day of touring and learning. It was amazing and definitely cooled me off. Nauvoo is not only hot, but humid. It's sweaty and sticky and awful. It's more humid than Toronto - that's super humid, if you ask me.

Once that was finished, we decided it was time to head to BYU. But on our way there, I saw the store Nordstrom that was recommended to me by not one, but two people back home. I told dad to let us go in. Mom and I went in and it's about the size of a Sears or The Bay... But so much nicer! The service there was amazing and it was actually just classy. I was so impressed. My mom had so much success. She found another skirt, three shirts, a dress, a cardigan, a coat and a swimsuit! It was definitely a shopping spree and if you know my mom, you know that she hates shopping. She's picky and gets discouraged when she doesn't find everything she wants in the first store we go into. Obviously this store was a great success. The dress that she bought is going to be worn at a wedding that's coming up in a few months. Now, when I zipped her up and she turned around we were both in shock. She looked amazing. I'm really excited for her to wear it out! She's going to look so good. Her swimsuit also looked great, basically everything she found looked amazing. I'm so excited for her, because she never spends money on clothes for herself.

After that, Colin came to find us because there was a 50% off sale at Aeropostale that he wanted to go to. He got so much new clothes. Shirts, shorts - preparing for summer. I wanted to get some stuff for myself but the shirts just weren't fitting right. Then we went to another store for Colin where I found an extremely cute necklace. I was bored though, none of the clothes there suited me. I went off to Forever XXI and looked around. Again, nothing that suited me. It was just not my day for shopping. Finally, I found my parents and Colin on the way into American Eagle. I finally found a pair of pants that I liked!

After that, I went off to my friend Josh's party. It was an embryo party. Yes, that's right. An embryo party. We watched the movie Embryo. I asked when it was made and Josh said 2007... Liars go to hell, Josh. It was probably made around the same time as The Sound of Music. It was kind of an odd movie. Then Noelle got to the party, a friend from EFY that I have kept in touch with over the years. She brought me my pillow that I left at her residence room after staying there a night back in October. She took good care of it while it was there. It even matched her bed spread. We talked a bit, enjoyed some tasty jell-o embryos and fetuses. Just as we sat down to enjoy the movie, my dad texted me telling me that the party was over and I had to leave. I got a photo with them before I left for the second time in 6 months. Just as I was leaving, Josh looked at the photo and said "you look like a raccoon." That is what made me not want to leave the house this morning. I knew Josh would make fun of my stupid sunburn. And I told him I knew he would. We laughed, hugged and Noelle and I left. We took her back to her residence on the BYU Campus. She needed to call someone to find out the address of her residence. It was Brent! Another member of our EFY group! I said a quick hello and a quick goodbye. I also told him to have a great mission and that I'd see him, eventually, after he got home. When I said that he was like "Wow, that's scary!"

The baby fetuses that Josh so kindly made for us... A little weird to eat. Can't lie. 

After I left my friends, I got back in the car and headed home with my parents and Colin. We got home late at night and I was TIRED. Mom showed off her purchases to the rest of the family, and I tried on my new spanx. Then I got into my pyjamas and crashed in my mom's bed. No blogging was done last night. This morning we're going to do everything on Temple Square. It's going to be a busy day.

Day 6: A Slippery Slope

I woke up at about 7am today. I never get up at 7am. Ever. I stay up late and wake up late. It's just how I like to work. So I stumbled into the shower and got ready for skiing... which really means got back into my pyjamas. I got into the car after checking to make sure that my gear wasn't moved after yesterday's disappointments. However my brother's did not do the same and we had to go back to the house to discover that Colin's hat and mitts were still in the car.

So frustrating.

We drove to the mountain and found that the road the GPS suggested we take is closed during the winter. Yay! So we got to turn around and go all the way around the mountain...

So frustrating.

Did I mention I was frustrated when I got to the mountain? Andre was still sick. My parents thought it would be best for him to come along so that he could join us, if he felt better later on in the day. He ended up staying in the car all day. Poor kid. He started feeling a little better when we got home today after having some ginger ale. Ginger ale is heaven's blessing for sick people. I'm convinced. I was sick about a month ago and I'm pretty sure that's all I drank. All I ate was saltine crackers. Best diet.

Once we got to the mountain, it was just unbelievable. It was so beautiful, no pictures could ever do it justice. But I did try to get some good ones. It was also remarkably warm. There was so much snow and it was such mild weather. Mind boggling. When I go skiing at home for an hour, I'm freezing and that's only on a little hill! I had my jacket unzipped and had to ditch my scarf. I almost left my coat in the car too, but I didn't want to fall and get all wet.

Some of the highlights of the day:
Click to enlarge any photos.
- Going down the first slope and watching Colin do somersaults and landing flat on his face.

This isn't this specific incident, but he did fall here. it works.

- Colin trying to go pee on the edge of one of our runs and falling into the ditch. I was laughing so hard and had to go pee so badly that I had to dance around a bit to avoid peeing myself.

Yepp, that yellow snow is pee. 

- The views. Oh my gosh. If you ever get the chance to ski or snowboard in Utah. DO IT!

It's so much better in person, but this photo is nice!

- Daniel standing on the edge of a double black diamond to get pictures. I was having a heart attack. "STAY AWAY FROM THE EDGE!" Honestly, it looked like if he fell backwards, he would have fallen into the pits of hell. That is how steep this slope was.

Can you see why I was freaking out?

- My mom snatching my camera out of my hands when we were on the lift. I almost cried. I was being so careful. She was not allowed to hold the camera without having the strap around her wrist. AND SHE JUST TOOK IT! It was awful. But after realizing that my precious camera was not plummeting to its icy death, I was okay.

I was freaking out.

- Going to get groceries with my mom. P.S. No Philadelphia cream cheese dips here... Disappointing. I was craving so hard.

None of this... :(

- Getting a fresh, classic Wonderland sunburn, in April... Sunglasses lines all over my face. I'm so embarrassed.

- Taking pictures with Colin in front of those giant snow banks I mentioned yesterday.

We had lunch in the cafeteria and it was surprisingly busy because when you're skiing you might see like 3 other people. It's so great! We got some chicken tenders, onion rings and french fries - meal for champions, right? I also had some problems with my ski boots. They were too tight and were cutting off the circulation. I went up the lift after the first run and after adjusting them once already, in absolute PAIN. It hurt so much. I am not someone who gets shin splints or cramping in general. I hated my life for about 10 minutes (not exaggerating) while I went up the lift. Once I got to the top, I popped off my skis and a nice guy heard me complaining and told me to undo all of my bindings and loosen them all. That being fixed, I enjoyed the rest of my day skiing.

I also got some one on one time with my dad when my mom and brothers decided to go down a black diamond. My exact words were... Hell. No. So we took a blue down to the lift and waited for them to come down. It felt like a year ago and we were in Utah again together. Just some daddy-daughter time. I actually love my dad. He gets me. I'm a daddy's girl. What can I say? Hanging out with him was a good time. I also got some really great pictures of him. I may hack into his facebook and make it his profile picture without him knowing. I've done it for my mother before.

After skiing, we went to go pick up some sick people food for Andre. My dad went into the store and everyone else waited outside. When he came out he had bought himself a bottle of pop. He sat in the front seat next to me and opened it. It sprayed all over him. It looked like he had peed himself. So my mom and I hopped out of the car and took a picture with him.

She should buy a shirt that says "I'm with stupid"

Anyways, I'm dying. My knees are killing me, my face is so hot and sensitive and my right quad was cramping up after avoiding an edge from the very top of the mountain. The slopes were slippery and had much MUCH longer runs than my Toronto born-and-raised self is used to. It was totally worth it, by the way.

Day 5: A Day of Dissapointments

Today was a day where absolutely nothing worked out. My mom told me that apparently this always happens to her and my dad when they travel together. Our plans for today included: skiing. That was it. Go to a nice hill and ski all day long until we just couldn't ski no more. But we are on vacation, so we should have a slow morning. Sleep in, get bribed out of bed by delicious breakfast, the usual vacation stuff.

Once we finally got out of the house, we all piled into the car and drove into the city to go skiing. We got close to Park City, I noticed that there was a sign on a shops window saying they sold discount lift tickets! Intrigued, my dad went inside. Good news: they did in fact sell discounted lift tickets. Bad news: Not to Park City. The gentleman who spoke to my father however mentioned a store that did sell them. It was about a 20 minute drive. We all decided that it was in our best interest to drive there and save the money on lift tickets.

Finally we got to this store, we realized that the lift tickets and rentals were way cheaper than anywhere around. We got a night lift ticket, a morning ticket for the next day AND our rentals for... drum role, please! 700 dollars. Now, keep in mind that this is for 6 people. It came to about 115 dollars per person. That is only a bit more than it costs to go in Toronto and these are mountains we're skiing on. Not bunny hills. So, we gladly spent all of our allotted ski money at this store and loaded our skis and snowboards into our car. Once we got in the car, Andre announced that he wasn't feeling so hot. We went to a pharmacy and picked him up some drugs to make him cheer up and to help him get doped up.

We then drove to the mountain. Note: I did not say ski hill. I said mountain. This ski "hill" was in fact a gigantic mountain. The snow banks were the size of two cars piled on top of each other... HOW? It was mind blowing, so much so I did not think of taking a picture. Brilliance at it's finest, people! Once we arrived at the hill, we parked our car and decided that it would be best to eat our lunches in the car before going up to ski. My dad returned to the car with more news. Good news: It was Monday, family home evening. Now, I expected the bad news to be "it's extremely busy because every one is here to ski together as a family." But... Bad news: The mountain closes early on Mondays. Why? Family Home Evening. This is when everyone in the car agreed that it was a "only in Utah" moment. We all asked the question - what if people want to go skiing as a family? WHAT THEN?

Sigh... Disappointing.

We then went to the grocery store and picked up some more food for our kitchen. I also got some hair product in my desperate attempt to fix my hair. It's really the only thing that I'm extremely vain about. Deal with it. My hair just cannot be a mess. Ever. I don't really care about the clothes I wear out in public, if I'm wearing make up or not, etc. My only thing is my hair. It's been driving me crazy. Anyways, groceries + hair product. Great success! I also picked up a box of trix cereal for my friend who is so infatuated with them. It's almost ridiculous.

As we cruised along I cracked open a glass bottle of root beer. Glass bottles of root beer are SOO DELICIOUS. It's superior root beer. I love root beer normally... But this surpasses any tap or plastic bottled root beer. It was so great, it has been chosen for the photo of this post.

Epic, right?

We got some pies while we were out too. When we got home, we devoured half of them. So delicious! I love pie. Andre, however, was still not feeling well so he went straight to bed. The rest of us watched dancing with stars and other great things. Those other great things being the news. I was done after about 10 minutes of the news, so I bade my family goodnight and came upstairs to begin blogging for the day. Andre got up and went to the bathroom. All of a sudden, all I could hear was him throwing up. Daniel was all over it and called my dad to aid. Dad went into sergeant, general and captain mode. Get me water, get me a new garbage bag, STAT! He has clearly done this many times. Take a moment to appreciate your parents who have watched you throw up when you were sick. I couldn't even listen. I'm going to be a great mom...

Immediately after all that had been dealt with, our entire family gathered in my parent's room for Andre to be blessed. As I watched my dad and brother, Colin, place their hands on Andre's head, I felt absolute bliss. We all know the miracles of God and how greatly we've been blessed, especially to just be able to take this trip together, to strengthen our testimonies together. I know that blessings work and that God hears and answers our prayers. I have had my prayers answered way too many times to ignore this truth. I love this gospel and I'm so glad I've had this opportunity to come to conference with my family. I hope that Andre will have a speedy recovery and I know that his health will be restored. I just hope that his illness is not passed on to any of our other family members! Now, it's time to sleep - I'm getting up early tomorrow for skiing. Wish me luck!

Day 4: Walking in a Winter Wonderland

I woke up to the sound of snow falling of the roof and pounding on our rental car. Always a joy. I went downstairs for breakfast and we all got ready for our PM session of conference while listening to the morning session. Was it just me or was this like the best general conference ever? I always leave thinking they could not be better. But they can be and they are, every 6 months. 

Honestly, I was so excited when I got here. The weather was so beautiful and warm, I thought I might even go home with a tan. I feel cheated. I'm 2,000 kilometres from home, farther south and here I am... stuck with an overwhelming abundance of snow. I am not impressed. After we were all ready, we left for the 7 mile dirt road that takes us into the city. We were all pretty scared that the road wouldn't be good enough to drive on, but we saw that other cars had already driven through and that the road would be, hopefully, safe. 

This was taken right at the beginning of the dirt road. The high water and fast current was intimidating.

We drove and took pictures. We also noted that the river may have overflowed part of the road and it had. I would have taken a picture of it, but I was honestly terrified. I didn't even have my camera on. If you know me well, you know that I worry about everything. I get stressed out extremely easily, for a Bee anyways... It reminded me of the feeling I had had on another family trip, from when we were kids. We went to walk in the mud flats of the ocean in Nova Scotia while the tide was out. I was cool with the mud and the cuts you got on your feet from stepping on clams. But as soon as the tide started to come back in, I felt a deep sense of urgency to go back to the car and head for higher ground. How quickly was the tide coming in you ask? Not quickly. But I had the clip from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang playing over and over in my mind. The happiest family, sitting on the shore in their favourite car and before they knew it, the tide was in and they were stuck! As a child, envisioning this scenario made me burst into hysterical tears. As a fully grown adult, it made my eyes wide to the point of them almost coming out of their sockets. Staring out to that river flowing over the road, I saw the clip of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang again. The scenery was different this time: there were mountains, snow and the chance of us being carried away. Another factor adding to my anxiety was that if we did get stuck, I was in a skirt and had stilettos on with no change of clothes. I would be abandoned at the car while the rest of my family went for help. But lucky for me and my adorable outfit, we had our Lincoln SUV and we made it across with no issues.

As we continued driving, we saw some horses walking around the valley. We stopped to take some pictures. When we went to continue driving, the horse ran alongside our car. This resulted in FABULOUS pictures taken by my mom.

Isn't it just the cutest?!

 After we got into town, we parked our car and walked to general conference. Our seats were AMAZING. Now in the conference centre, you can see the podium from wherever you are. But where we were sitting was so close that I could see the detail in the podium. The beehives and the faces of the speakers. For the time before conference, I found myself watching the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve interact. Henry B. Eyring was like a little school boy. He was clearly excited for the talks to begin. He was making jokes and leaning over to Thomas S. Monson to tell him... heaven knows what. Dieter F. Uchtdorf was just absolutely jolly. He smiled at everyone and laughed at everything. Thomas S. Monson was the most interesting. He seemed very pensive and then a second later would be laughing with his counsellors.

Awful quality, I know. But I was close enough to take this. I'm not lucky. I'm blessed, YES!

The thing that struck me most was that when the apostles were on the stand waiting for the First Presidency to come out, they were talking. It never really hit me, but these men are all extremely close. They're best friends. It just made them so much more human and relatable.

The session was amazing, and if you want to watch it you can click here. I got some great notes in my notebook and got to talk to Nick, Cameron, Janine and Brooke AGAIN! But once again, we forgot to get a picture together. So silly of me. I've been so good at taking pictures on this trip! Oh well, tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it.

After conference we walked back to the car in the snow. Yepp, it started snowing AGAIN. On the plus side of things, it was not a bitter cold like it is in Toronto. It was just a little chilly with some snow falling. It's weird, but so much nicer than Canada. When we were walking back to the car, my feet were beginning to feel the pressure from wearing stilettos all day. I trailed back a bit from my family so that I didn't fall and die. I was the last one in the car.

We went to wings for dinner at Wing Nutz, on Cameron's recommendation. We ordered 100 wings. We left with less than 10 leftover wings. I was stuffed with wings and happiness! So yummy. There were a bunch of different sauces which was cool. We had Jamaican Jerk, Teriyaki, a BBQ one that I can't remember the name of (which was my favourite sauce...) and another that I can't remember the name of... But it was HOT. I only had one wing with that sauce. Hot, hot, hot.

After we had pigged out on our wings and some of us were wearing the sauces, we headed home. I was surprised that I didn't get any sauce on myself. That's usually what happens when I'm being careful not to spill because I'm wearing white or something nice. But I was successful! YES!

On the ride home, we took pictures. We also saw deer, dart in front of our car. Nothing like hitting your head on the seat in front of you to realize that there's a deer ahead that you should be taking pictures of. The rest of the ride home, I played with the settings on my camera and came out with some cool water droplet photos. I think I might start getting into photography when I get home. I seriously love it so much.

One of my favourites :)

Once we got home, we had some pineapple and strawberries while we watched the apprentice. A nice relaxing Sabbath with inspiring talks and a loving family. I'm so blessed and I'm so happy to be here!

Day 3: It's Uchtdorf!

Today, I woke up in a strange bed. Uncomfortably close to the ceiling. I was on the top bunk of our apartment's bunk beds... As I shifted around to find my computer, I remembered how noisy my bed is. There seems to be a plastic type of sheet under the cotton sheet. I guess it saves other guests from our cooties. It felt like I had just had the most relaxing sleep of my life, and it was 8:30am. Gotta love that time difference!

I went downstairs to the kitchen to see that Colin's murphy bed was stowed away. How did he get that beautifully large bed? And I'm on the top single bunk? What happened to seniority?! Anyways, mom was making egg mcmuffins and offered to make me one. My dad, my mom and I all sat around the kitchen table while we ate our eggs, Colin came in shortly before we finished and mom whipped him up a breakfast sandwich too. Then it was time to get ready for conference.

I don't know why, but my hair has been extremely uncooperative lately... So this morning's preparation included many "How does my hair look?" Finally, after all six of us had showered and groomed ourselves well enough to see 20 thousand members, we were ready to leave. But classic family move, we didn't leave until the first session of conference had started. But since we were in Utah, that was not an issue. We had it playing on the TV as we got ready and listened to it on the radio on the way into the city. Honestly, I love General Conference. The talks we listened to were so fabulous today and I encourage you all to take the time to listen to them. I teared up a bit in the car while we listened to one about women. Such a powerful talk.

After that talk was finished, we pulled up to a farm with a dog and some donkeys. They were so adorable, Daniel and I got out to take pictures. One of the donkeys came over and was so friendly, I gave him a little rub on the front of his face. I have no idea what the proper term for that is...

Cutest dog EVER!

After Daniel and I were done taking pictures we hopped back into the car and a new talk had just started. My mom, unable to contain her excitement, exclaimed "IT'S UCHTDORF!" Now, what most of you don't know, is who Uchtdorf is. Not only does he have a wicked last name, he's a general authority. He's one of the men who run the show at church and he too gives amazing talks. He is also known for being German and having an awesome accent. The man who was speaking on the radio did have an accent, however... It was Spanish in origin. We obviously had a good time making fun of mom for that one.

When we arrived in Salt Lake City, we drove around for a bit trying to find our parking and helped a family find the parking lot they were looking for (since we were, after all, going to the same one). We then walked the 2 blocks to Temple Square. I took my family the more scenic route, instead of just walking right up to the temple, I wanted them come around the corner and see it. So that they could get the "there she is" effect. I even made a little hand gesture as I was way ahead of them. Side note: I went to Utah with Dan last time I was there. He walks so fast, and he also towers over me. The combination of his long legs and fast pace leaves me at a light jog trying to keep up. Naturally, I have been walking at a quick pace for most of this trip out of habit. Returning to this trip, my family was pretty impressed with the numerous fountains and the view of the temple. (I'm an awesome tour guide.) This is when I took my opportunity to hang out at the back of the pack and take pictures of everyone having their first walk through temple square.

One of the great shots I got before conference!

We toured around a bit, going through the North Visitor's Centre and through the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. But honestly, I felt like we were really killing time because it's so much better to be on temple square when there aren't 20 thousand people walking around. By the way, I'm not even over exaggerating when I say 20 thousand. That's how many people fit in the conference centre - that's excluding all the people who watch conference in the Tabernacle, the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and the North Visitors Centre. We went to the afternoon session of conference shortly after getting some food in our stomachs. The session was amazing and we had PHENOMENAL seats. We were close enough that we could see all of the general authorities facial expressions, and not just the one at the podium either. Elder Holland was just hanging out, on the stand, no big deal.

When we were leaving, I ran into two people from our branch - Brooke and Janine, our stake president, his wife and two missionaries who served in my YSA branch - Manwaring and Hicken... now known as Cameron and Nick. It was so cool seeing them again. But I think the weirdest part was that when I saw them, I gave them a hug. Not that I don't like these guys, but you don't hug missionaries. Ever. So, it was just like oh my gosh, they're human again. I don't know - IT WAS WEIRD. But awesome. I definitely love those elders... or... guys. I got my mom to take a picture of all of us together, but she is blind and it came out blurry.

Blurry... :(

We walked Hicken over to Deseret Book and we lost Manwaring, Janine and Brooke somewhere along the way. We said our goodbyes and walked back to our car to get some sandwiches. Once we were there, Colin was making his sandwich and got mustard all over himself. At this point, he was totally upset and refused to eat any more sandwiches. No one really cared that he was making a fuss though, we just ate his share. We were starving! Mom and I then dropped the boys and dad off in front of Temple Square, agreeing that we would meet back there at 8:30pm to pick them up after their priesthood session.

Mother and I went shopping. It was a huge success for me. There were so many sales and the tax here is so much lower than in Ontario, I was like a kid in a candy store. Except I was really a teenage girl in a shopping centre. It was so exciting. I got a new skirt, 5 shirts and some shorts for the summer. I'm going to have to go again because although mom tried on about 10 pairs of pants, 3 skirts and a dress. She found nothing she liked. She is such a pain to shop with. Honestly, she hates shopping. Why? Because she doesn't know where to go to find things she likes. She doesn't know what kind of clothes look good on her body. She also has no idea what size she is in 98% of the stores because SHE NEVER GOES SHOPPING. Needless to say, I felt like a huge jerk because I was having a successful shopping day and mom bought nothing. On the plus side, I got my sister's souvenir or gift. Our family has a tradition that whenever we go on trips, we have to buy something for the people who stayed home. I'm really excited because a) I got her item on sale and b) it is super cute and I know for a fact that she will love them.

By the time we checked the time, it was 8:32pm. We still had to walk to the car and drive to the designated pick up spot. We got to the spot at almost 9pm and the boys were nowhere to be seen. So we waited for about 10 minutes and when they didn't show up, I decided I would call dad's cell phone. Immediately after dialling, I felt a vibrating sensation by my foot. Great... Dad wasn't here and he didn't have his cell phone. Then we heard the whistle. Every dad has one, every child and mother knows the distinct sound of their dad's whistle. When we heard it, mom and I were looking around frantically. Then mom saw him, right outside Deseret Book. "Oh, Dad in Deseret... That's dangerous." Her exact words. And I know for a fact, that that is no under exaggeration.

Soon after, they all came over to the car and they were all soaking wet. We decided to go to Cafe Rio. The food was delicious and the service was speedy and spanish, as always. The pork there is SO GOOD. If you ever go, do not waste your time on anything else, the pork is delicious.

After our meal, we headed home and I was done for the day. So I passed out in the back seat sleeping on my mom's lap. Then I was woken up, why? Because we had been pulled over and I needed to be awake. Dad had apparently gone into an off ramp without realizing, so naturally he veered off when he realized. The sheriff pulled my dad over to find out what the heck he was doing. He was super nice (obviously, he's from Utah) unlike all of the police officers who hate their lives in the Toronto area who pull over people who are on their way to work... me.

To be avoided... DAD!

After that, I went to sleep again. I got woken up again to see that we were in a blizzard. AWESOME! So now, that beautiful weather is gone. There is only snow - everywhere. I'm so sad. I hope it melts very very quickly... I came to Utah in hopes of escaping the snow and cold of Canada... Oh well, it will be interesting going to conference tomorrow with all this snow on the ground.

Well, Daniel is snoring in the bunk bed next to me... I should probably try to sleep now since I'm probably not going to get any real sleep tonight.