“As children of God, knowing of His great love and His ultimate knowledge of what is best for our eternal welfare, we trust in Him." -Dallin H. Oaks

Wow it's been a long time since I blogged.
Pretty much my life has been crazy busy for the past three weeks.

While I was still in Colorado I went to the Denver Botanic Gardens with my best friend Kaitlyn. It was such a beautiful place! I absolutely loved it.

I also was called as Ward Camp Director. Girl’s Camp was so crazy. I never realized how much work the leaders do. As a youth Girl’s Camp was always the highlight of my summer. This past time it was  a lot of work though still enjoyable.

The coolest experience of the week was on Thursday night. Typically up at camp we have done an Iron Rod experience. A rope is tied through various places in the forest and you walk by yourself blindfolded on it until you come to the very end with a picture of the Savior. This year they decided to do something different. What we did was called, “A Walk with the Savior.” The girls were blindfolded. There was a narration and music played and as the music described parts of the Savior’s life the girls received things in their hands to represent what was going on. When Christ was born they received straw and fleece. When the woman with the problem of blood touched Christ’s robes the narration read, “She made her way through the crowds,” and during that time we pulled a cloth along their hands so it felt like someone was walking right next to them. When Christ calmed the raging sea we had squirt bottles spraying to simulate the storm until the words, “Peace, Be Still,” were spoken.  When Christ was crucified they received a nail and we had sounds in the background of whips and a nail being hammered into the board. The spirit was so strong on that night. It ended with the song “I Know My Redeemer Lives” being played and the blindfolds were removed. Immediately afterwards there was a spotlight on a picture of Christ. It was such a powerful night. It was the highlight of Girl’s Camp.

Once Girl's Camp was over I drove with my mom and my brother out to Salt Lake to move my brother out. We left Sunday morning and got back to Colorado on Monday night. It was a lot of driving but it was a wonderful time to spend with my family.

Then on Wednesday I flew out to college. I moved into my new apartment on Thursday. I'm sorry I'm not able to post pictures. My camera connecting cable was left in Colorado by mistake. It's as nice as I thought it would be and I like it thus far. My favorite part is my giant photo collage wall. I seriously think I have about 150 photos on it this year.
Then the past two days have been orientation.
I never really know how to feel about orientation. I feel like I'm just constantly meeting people and half of them I won't remember later. Since this is such a big school I probably will never see most of them again. They grouped all of the transfer students together which was nice. I think I would have gone slightly insane with new freshman. I know I'm just a sophomore but there is such a big difference between first-time college students and the transfer students. Comparatively transfer students are really laid back.

My favorite part of orientation was the Friday night dinner. It was just for transfer students and I must say the catering here totally beats the catering at my old school. I realized how lucky I am to be here at this dinner. They shared a few statistics with us that I simply found fascinating.
34.4% of transfer student applicants were accepted.
26.2% of transfer students enrolled.
2% of the student body consists of transfer students.
I feel kind of special. I am in the 2%! Hahaha. I feel at my old school there were a lot of transfer students with a very low retention rate. Now I'm at a school with an 84% retention rate. It's such a different environment.
Even though both of my schools have been religion focused something is special about BYU. Since it is church endorsed the school has an incredible history. I also just feel the spirit easier on this campus than I did at BYU. I have classes in buildings named after apostles and prophets. Everywhere I go at BYU I can see something church-related. Today I was navigating around campus to find the locations of my various classes and I stumbled upon an amazing statue of the prophet Joseph Smith. I realized how magnificent this place is. I'm so excited to go here.
For those of you reading my blog who have told me that I am going to get married this semester, let me share some stories with you. The Princeton Review ranked BYU the #1 Stone-Cold Sober School in the Country. The Princeton Review should also rank BYU the #1 Most Emphasis on Dating School in the Country. There have been constant references to dating. Let me give you a few examples:

• Yesterday when I toured the journalism rooms the broadcast journalism room was labeled as "A Great Place to Find A Spouse" since apparently so many people meet through the program and end up getting married.
• Today, as a part of the campus tour, there were constant references to "this makes a good date by the way." Examples: The planetarium in the Eyring Science Center, the tandum bicycles that can be rented out on the bottom floor of the Wilkinson letter etc. 
• My favorite was when we were on the library tour. Apparently if you want a date the section to go to is the periodicals section. People meet there and go on dates all the time.

For those of you who are wondering, I did not transfer to BYU to get married. I have gotten so many questions asking if that was why I transferred here. When I went out to college last fall I was so adamant that I did not want to get married until I was at least 21. My views on that have changed however which is probably why I have gotten so many marriage questions. A huge factor  in my change of heart came through the April 2011 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In Conference, Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave a talk entitled The Eternal Blessings of Marriage. He explained, "two of the vital pillars that sustain Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness are marriage and the family. Their lofty significance is underscored by Satan’s relentless efforts to splinter the family and to undermine the significance of temple ordinances, which bind the family together for eternity. The temple sealing has greater meaning as life unfolds. It will help you draw ever closer together and find greater joy and fulfillment in mortality."

There is nothing that brings me as much happiness as my family. I love my parents and my siblings more than anything. I don't want to lose out on the blessing of having a family because I refuse to be married so young. The above video kind of shows my feelings about being married young.
Now for clarification purposes, I am not looking for marriage. However, if I meet the right guy and it is the right time, I will not put the blessings of marriage on hold because I think I am too young. 
The Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Thomas S. Monson,  also shared some thoughts on marriage in his talk Priesthood Power. He remarked, "There is a point at which it’s time to think seriously about marriage and to seek a companion with whom you want to spend eternity. If you choose wisely and if you are committed to the success of your marriage, there is nothing in this life which will bring you greater happiness."
I have had several friends get married at my age. Some older, some younger. Some recent, some not. I have seen the joy that enters into their lives because of marriage. I want to have a family one day. There is nothing in the world that I would rather have than a family.

Well, moving on now. I have church at 8:30 in the morning in a classroom. That will definitely be an interesting experience. I will miss my church building.

I haven't really met anyone outside of my orientation group yet either. I know one girl across the hall if that counts. I knocked on her door and asked if I could go to church with her since my roomies are both out of town. I'm really excited to get into a regular routine of seeing people. I'm excited for classes to start and to go to church tomorrow and meet everyone in my ward. It will  definitely be a wonderful experience. To quote Annie, "I think I'm gonna like it here."