2012 a year of growth.

December 31, 2012

Today is New years Eve the last day of the year. As I sit here and contemplate all the adventures that I have been through in the last 12 months my heart is full remembering all the hardships and struggles, As well as all the happy and exciting blessings that I have received through out the year.  I would like to share a few of them with you as I take a walk back and remember the past year.

January

As I rang in the new year back in January 2012 I had made the decision this year was going to be full of love and excitement. As the year started out seemed to be alright and going well. A few weeks past and life was great. By the middle of January this thought changed to this year is going to suck really bad. As my mom was admitted to the hospital to have knee replacement surgery. While in surgery she went into cardiac arrest and had to be revived they believed to have been a minor stroke. She was then sent straight to intensive care where she was monitored for quite a few days when she went into cardiac arrest once more. At this time I thought it was getting close to having to say goodbye to my mom forever. She didn’t seem to be getting any better when the doctor told us she was in total kidney failure and we needed to decide what the next step was going to be. As Gabi and I thought about it we knew that we had to make her fight this and come back it was not her time to go. So we had them start dialysis.  I will not forget that first day of dialysis watch my mom go through that rigorous treatment was painful and I do not wish that on anyone. As the next week went of them treating her on dialysis twice a day for three to four hours at a time my mom made a come back and by the end of the month she was home and doing much better.

February

Feburary 1 2012 was another start of a very scary adventure especially for my sister Margaret as she went into the hospital emergency room very early in the morning that day with what she thought was pain from an infection turned out to be contractions and she welcomed her beautiful baby madison Louis Baldwin that morning. Who was assumed to be dead as the nurse was explaining what had happened to my sister, Margaret felt the greatest miracle of all her beautiful littler girl kick proving that she was a fighter.

This was a start of a very long adventure for Margaret, Tony, and baby Madison.

Madison is and will always be a Miracle baby she is a fighter as the month went on madison spent her time in the NICU in Ogden as Margaret switched to be mom of a very sick baby and Me being on the outside watching has been a growing experience for me and I will forever think of my sister as the strongest person I know her testimony of strength and trust has provided me with a testimony of my heavenly father and that he listens

The next few months were just chill and not much happened.

May

In May my mom decided that she was going to be baptized into the church this was an exciting event and has opened my mind to the truth that heavenly father answers prayers even if it takes a long time. As it was also a reminder that everything happens in his time not in my time.

June

In June I got to go to a nickleback concert which was amazing they are one of my favorite bands and my sister is awesome for getting tickets to go. We also went to this Mexican restaurant that has changed my view on Mexican food forever it was amazing.

July

In July I started a new job it was a huge blessing in my life I thought it was my dream job I loved working for Vivint solar. As I love drafting and all that is involved in that. This job also provided me with a more comfortable income and a little more freedom in what I wanted to do. I thought it was an answer to my prayers for job security and financial security.

September

The month I turned 23 nothing else exciting happened

Sense September my life has been pretty calm that was until December 9^th when I lost my job working at Vivint solar. I also realized that I was not accomplishing the Grades in school that are necessary in order to pass.

December has been full of trials and growing experiences. As I went to North Carolina to visit my older brother and his family I was able to clear my head and make some personal decisions as to where I want to go with my life.

Throughout this year i have had to watch many of my friends get married and leave the single world this has been one of my biggest struggles as i am ready to find that person i will share my life with. its been tough to watch people i have built friendships with get married because it seems once you are married your not allowed to have single friends anymore. i have so many friends who i thought to be good friends get married and i never hear from them again. 

I know that I am not perfect life is not perfect and I need to rely more on my heavenly father for guidance to that guidance only comes when we are in tune with the spirit. As I start out this new year I am making the commitment to be me and not care weather or not people judge me for that.

I know my testimony is there and will always help define who I am but im not going to let what others think my testimony should be define who I am my testimony is defined by the good and the bad decisions I have made and I am ok with that.

this past year has been a growing experience of me trying to find my place in this big old world. i dont think i have exactly accomplished that yet but i am choosing to be happy with the paths that i have found i belong.

I have had my ups and downs im sure most of you have watched me go through them this past year.
but as i get ready to say goodbye to 2012 and hello 2013 these memories needed to be shared. i am sure there were a lot more thing that happend throughout my year that i have forgotten or missed to mention.
i know this post is a little random and out of the ordinary. it is also a little random in the topics but its what my thoughts are today as i am getting ready to say goodbye to this year.

I guess i should update you all on whats new. i have been working at a gas station sense my last post. i love it they promoted me to assistant manager the beginning of august. last week was my birthday i am officially 22 its not much different as for what i can tell. i stay pretty busy working full time at the gas station, part time as a nanny and 3/4 time as a student at UVU. I am really enjoying school its so far great fun. lets see other news. i bought a new car the end of june its nice to be able to go 400 miles on a tank of gas instead of 250. other than that nothing else to exciting going on. just taking life one day at a time.

New Job!!!!

I am hoping by posting this blog that it will not jinx the fact that i got a new job. i am so excited to just have something to do for work.
For those of you that dont know yet i will be starting an new job working at the gas station called All About Food. its a cute little gas station that also has a car was and doggy wash.
part of the job i have to be trained and certified to use the propain filler which is kind of exciting im not going to lie.
its funny how things work out though let me tell you a little story of this job.

last wednesday june 18th
i walked into the gas station where i will be working to get an application. and see if the hiring manager was there. i got the application but the hiring manager was not there so i left.
the next day so last thursday june 16th
I woke up pretty early in the morning i had an interview in pleasant grove at a company called Teleproformance (probably spelled wrong) I went to this interview and was turned down because i am attending one class a week on thursdays at 7:30 pm. Also because i have the hopes of starting school in the fall and they dont work around school schedules. anyway so i left that interview and was pretty bummed out about it.
Not even 20 minutes after leaving that interview i get a call from a number i dont recognize so i answer it. its the gas station calling me to set up an interview. keep in mind that i had not turned in the application it was still sitting on my back seat of the car. they ask me to come in at 4 for the interview.
so i go in at 4 and the interview takes about an hour. which it was kind of an odd interview.
i come home not planning to hear back from them until monday because that was what they had told me.
not even an hour passed by and the manager calls me as asks me if i would like to take the job.
its amazing how things work out when you least expect them to.
I have my heavenly father to thank for it. I am so blessed to have a great sister that supported me through the last few months and great friends that i have made in the last few weeks.

ok so enough about me i just thought i would let you all know the great news

Utah update...

I figure its been almost a month its probably time to update this a little. So far living in utah is great. I am still on the hunt for a new job. I know one will come in time.
The best thing about moving back so far well other than living closer to family. is the ward that i moved into. its the Saratoga Springs YSA ward i was welcomed in with open arms and have made some pretty cool friends.
nothing else real exciting has happened sense i move back.



however i was pretty excited to get my bed finally, i also got some new bedding that i love.

hope you all enjoy this very short update i hope i have some more news soon.

MY journey from minnesota!!

Ok well I didnt get very many pictures it snowed and rained most of my trip but tuesday afternoon driving through the canyon in South Dakota and back roads of wyoming it was sunny and very pretty so i thought i would share a few of the picutres i took.
yes they are all real i know some of them after i edited them look really fake. The photos of the temple i took when i was in the cities a couple of weeks ago but never posted them.
hope you enjoy.

my first talk in church.

~Go Out And Play ~
author unknown:
God’s children went to Him one day
And asked Him, “can we go out and play?
Run in the park, and climb the trees?
Laughing as loud and as long as we please?

But our Heavenly Father shook His head,
And said, “My children, what has gotten into your head?
“If you get dirty and filthy with sin,
I’ll shut the door, you can’t come in.”

But Jesus Christ stepped forward to say,
“Father, let them go out to play.
“I will die for them so they can come in,
“I will suffer their every worry and sin.

“I am willing to go and am willing to teach,
“To serve and to help and to talk and to preach.
“I will not fail you, Father, I will do my part
“So You can welcome them home with all your heart.”
Our Heavenly Father, He said to us, “yes,
“While you go out and play, you will be blessed
“With the gospel to guide you and lead the way
“And help you get through every day.”

And this is the reason we’re here on this Earth,
To show Him our love and show our worth,
To be happy and loving and come back pure white
And be spotless and clean in our Father’s sight.

L. Tom Perry of the quorum of the twelve Apostles in October 2006 General Conference said
“We are not left alone to wander through mortality without knowing of the master plan which the Lord has designed for His children.”

He also states:
“Many people wonder, “Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going?” Our Eternal Father did not send us to earth on an aimless, meaningless journey. He provided for us a plan to follow. He is the author of that plan. It is designed for man’s progress and ultimate salvation and exaltation.”

As you can see President Whiting ask me to speak on the plan of salvation when first given the topic I thought it would be easy and I would have no problems at all with it. Then I realized it was like writing a paper for school I had two weeks to write a talk to give in sacrament and having never given one I had no idea where to start on writing one. I didn’t feel the spirit guiding me just yet.

So I knelt a prayed for guidance on where to go with this talk. As most of you don’t know I am the type of person that doesn’t easily listen to that still small voice so heavenly father tends to have to speak to me in other ways.

For instance the Wednesday before general conference I lost my ring that I wear on my right hand I never take it off. The ring is a gift and a promise in one when it was given to me by My dad as a promise I made to him to keep myself pure until marriage I wear the ring as a reminder of that promise. This wouldn’t be the first time it was lost but for some reason it really bothered me that I could not find it. Well after searching for it for two days I finally decided that it was time to stop looking for it and hope that it would show up.
The weekend passed and no ring. So I just figured it was gone and I was ready to accept it. Well Monday came and I went on a trip to the cities for a couple of days. When I got back Wednesday evening my ring was sitting on the counter in the bathroom.
I was very relieved to have it back.

The reason I share this story with you is because the plan of salvation is kind of the same heavenly father set forth a plan for us.
As I stated in my story it was not the first time it had been lost. Most of us have had different opportunities in our life some we make the right choice and it leads us on the same path while others times we choose the wrong one and it leads us astray but every time we relies that we have gone in the wrong direction heavenly father is always sitting there when we turn around no matter how far we go and this is why

Before the creation He presented the plan to us, we all had the opportunity to say yes or no to it.

After presenting the plan and us accepting the plan he put his plan into action.

The first step being the creation, on the sixth day of creation he created man.
Genesis 1:26-27 says
“26¶And God said, Let us bmake cman in our dimage, after ourelikeness: and let them have fdominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27So God created man in his own aimage, in the image of God created he him; male and bfemale created he them.”

He then placed the Man (known as adam) and the woman (known as eve) into the Garden of Eden. Gave them very few instructions on what they where to do. The Biggest in my opinion was not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Well as stated In Gen 3:1-6

“1Now the aserpent was more bsubtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, cYea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3But of the fruit of the atree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4And the serpent said unto the woman, aYe shall not surely die:
5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then youraeyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, bknowing good andcevil.
6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for afood, and that it was bpleasant to the eyes, and a tree cto be desired to make one wise, she took of the dfruit thereof, and did eeat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did feat.”

Once Adam and eve ate of the fruit.
But before that serpent could tempt eve Heavenly father had to give them the Gift of Free agency. So with that gift she was able to make the choice to do wrong.
After making the choice to sin adam and eve then could see the difference between good and bad so they then covered there bodies with cloths and Heavenly father cast them out of the garden.
We have to remember that this was all part of his plan and we cannot blame adam and eve. For sin on earth.

After they where cast out of eden we then needed a savior to come and be sacrificed for our sins. So quite a few years later Heavenly father sent his Son Jesus to the earth to live as the only man in human flesh with no sin. He then was cruisified and bleed for our sins.

The next part of the plan was to restore the gospel on the earth in its fullness, which in the early 1800 a young boy of the name Joseph Smith knelt and prayed seeking for guides of the true church. That was the start of the restoration. He then in the following years translated the book of morman, organized the church and sealed his testimony by being martered in Carthage, illanois on June 27, 1844

After The gospel was restored it is stated in scripture so we now know that to be saved we must first place our faith in heavenly father, Be Baptised, and Receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
In return of our salvation Heavenly Father asks us To always strive to be worthy of his celestial glory,
For the younger ones here this it means to obey your parents and strive to be temple worth, paying your tithing.
For those that are a little older it means to strive to be temple worth, receive the blessings of the temple, and always strive to be worthy to partake of the sacrament in doing so we renew the covenants made a baptism.


With that I want to leave you with my testimony that I know that the church is the true church I have been through a lot and everytime I seem to second guess it I am reassured it is the right church. I also know that the prophet is the true prophet of God, I bare you my testimony that if we strive to fulfill his plan that I have mentioned that we will return to see our heavenly father someday.
I found a poem that was written
FROM William Wines Phelps TO JOSEPH SMITH: THE PROPHET. Called
GO WITH ME.
Go with me, will you go to the saints that have died, —
To the next, better world, where the righteous reside;
Where the angels and spirits in harmony be
in the joys of a vast paradise? Go with me.

Go with me where the truth and the virtues prevail;
Where the union is one, and the years never fail;
Not a heart can conceive, nor a natural eye see
What the Lord has prepared for the just. Go with me.

Go with me where there is no destruction or war;
neither tyrants, or slanderers, or nations ajar;
where the system is perfect, and happiness free,
and the life is eternal with God. Go with me.

Go with me, will you go to the mansions above,
Where the bliss, and the knowledge, the light, and the love,
And the glory of God do eternally be?—
Death, the wages of sin, is not there. Go with me.
Nauvoo, January, 1843.

I leave this to you in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Remembering the little things.

Four years ago in june my dad wrote me a letter that was given to me at laura light camp. last week i lost my covenant ring and in searching for it i came across this letter i thought i had gotten rid of it.
i would like to share this letter with you all its defiantly from my dad. the person that ask him to right this letter the point was to show our strong points and remind us that we are important.
he starts off the letter with

Hello Sarah-

well you are a challenging person, and thats for sure. You always have a strong opinion on most all things!

you are a good worker and have a lot of self drive. It has always been difficult to get you to change your mind. once you have decided on a course of action all I have been able to do is make suggestions! A very strong willed person you are sarah!

you like pink, and color by numbers art work. oh yes! Big fuzzy house shoes are something you like.

Hillary Duff movies are all around the house (your favorite)!

i would say that you are a very nice young lady who enjoys life and can be a lot of fun to be around, but you need friends who will stand up to you and let you know what they need and expect from you!

and some day when you find that right man in your life?... He needs to be a strong and understanding man, who will listen to your needs and allow you the space you need, to be part of his. Thats in the Bible!
when other girls are painting there bedrooms pink and pastel with little red hearts all over, you paint yours orange with yellow flowers and green trim.
Go get them sarah!

your DAd

he put his little smiley face at the end.

it always amazed me that even though my dad had 10 kids he knew how to make each and everyone of us special to him and all of us to have our own time together.

I miss you everyday Dad.
i cant believe its only been a year sometimes its seems like forever sense you have been gone.
love you