October 2012 General Conference

http://www.lds.org/?lang=eng
You can watch the broadcast live by clicking the above link 

It's almost here, it's almost here!

:D

I love General Conference!! It makes me so happy when LDS.org has links to the broadcast to share, because that means that IT'S ALMOST HERE!!!!!! 

I've come to realize that the only think I dislike about the fact that we moved back to California, is that now we live 8-10 hours away from the Conference center instead of 5 minutes away.. Last April we didn't have the chance to go because we had already requested time off work for a work conference in Las Vegas that was the week after General Conference, and neither of our managers would allow us the time off to to. Kind of a huge bummer, so we said we would go in October. Well, plans changed and we moved home, so now it's a little bit more difficult to get time off of work. I could easily get the time off work because I don't work on the weekends, but Jayson does... His parents are going up with his brother, Kyle, and they invited us to come along, but the big deciding factor will be what exactly happens with Jayson's work schedule. It's kind of a long story...

Anyway, If you have never watched General Conference, I highly suggest that you do! It is the most uplifting and spiritual weekend of the year (with the exception of Christmas of course..)! I know with out a doubt that the Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and the other church leaders are inspired by our Lord and Savior to speak about things that we need to hear. I have a testimony of our Prophet, that he was called upon by the Lord so serve him as a witness of him. I have a testimony of this Gospel, that this is the true church here on earth. I know that I am a daughter of God, who loves me unconditionally and knows me personally. He knows my wants and desires that I have for myself, my husband, and our family. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he saw God the Father and His beloved Son in the Sacred grove.... I know that the Book of Mormon is in fact another testament of Christ and is so true. I'm grateful for the knowledge I have gained over these past four years and I know that I have been blessed by watching General Conference every year. I know that without doing so I would not have been able to receive those blessings that Heavenly Father had laid out for me.

Encourage others to watch with you <3

In time of need...

READ THE SCRIPTURES

and you'll read exactly what you need to hear

Alma 7: 15-16

15 Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism.

16 And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth, the same will remember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me.

Truth is: I am CANNOT do everything by myself...

I've had a really rough weekend ever since Thursday night when I had my dream about the temple. It's made me go back and really evaluate my progression as a Latter-Day Saint over the past four years, and I can't say that I've progressed nearly as much as I should have. It saddens me... because I know that I am better than the example that I have been, and I know that I can do so much better. I have to start preparing for the future...

My biggest downfall in life is that I think I can handle every ounce of burden and pain on my own. I've been pretty good at it my whole life, since I've gone through a lot of rough situations that most people my age haven't had to go through and I'm proud to say that 90% of the time, I've come out of it far better than any statistic has thought possible. But there are a lot of things, where I've just brushed off and thought "I can handle it" and then when I realize that I can't, I can't change what I've done to ease the pains or change the circumstances.. This weekend has really made me realize just how much I need Heavenly Father and how much I need to allow theatonement and the love of my Savior in my life. I know that He loves me unconditionally....but it still makes things hard... What makes it harder is that He is the one person that I don't ever want to disappoint but I know I have, and I know that by not doing this one little thing that's been sitting on my shoulder for quite some time is only disappointing Him more and more as the days go by..

I hate hearing the words "I'm disappointed in you" from anyone. That's worse than someone telling me they're mad at me. I don't know what I'm more afraid of... someone that's related to me whose telling me they're disappointed in me, or feeling like the Lord is disappointed in me... I guess they're both pretty terrible to hear, but... GAH. At this point I'm just rambling... but I have so much emotion right now that I don't know how to explain it all in a way that makes sense....

My son, Peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
-D&C 121:7

Dreaming of the Temple again

I had another dream last night about the Temple that caused me to wake up crying with tears of joy. The last dream I had about the temple, was the night before my first missionary lesson. I had a dream that I was standing in this room that was in a basement of this giant white building. In the room, there was a pathway leading to what looked like a giant bath tub that was placed on top of what I thought were sculptures of cows. Across the way were benches that were facing toward this tub thing, and to the right on the wall, was a picture of Christ being pushed under water in a river. I also remember seeing myself standing in front of this building next to the doors wearing a white gown thing, and seeing Jayson walking up to me. At the time of that dream, I was so confused but felt at peace when I woke up and I just remember laying in bed that morning, staring at the picture of Christ that hung in my room and I felt as though he was smiling back at me.

Well last night, I had a similar dream. I had a dream that the day had finally come for me to take out my Endowments. My dream started in a room that looked like a Sunday school room, and there were so many people from Jayson's home ward, The Thousand Oaks 4th Ward, and my home ward, The Thousand Oaks 2nd Ward, a long with all of our friends who had recently gotten married. In the front of the room, two missionaries were giving talks about the importance of the temple and always being worthy to go through and do the work of the Lord and how important it is that families get sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. I remember being hugged by Jayson's side of the family and all of our friends before finding that I was dressed in that same white gown from my first dream, and walking into this giant room with a sparkling chandelierand a spiral stair case that led up to a balcony that over looked the rest of the room.

I cannot wait to go through the Temple. I just want to hear the date be set. I honestly cannot wait. I decided that I want to go through the Mount Timpanogos temple in Utah. Why? Well, the first time I ever went there, I just remember sitting on the grass with my friends and just having this overwhelming sense of peace and comfort and I just felt like that was the temple that I would take my endowments out at.

I'm so grateful for personal revelation. I am so grateful for my Father in Heaven and my savior, Jesus Christ. I am so grateful to know that He knows me and my needs and knows just how to lift me up in times when I need Him most. I really needed this dream last night, as I have been struggling with a lot of things this summer... My faith had been lacking every now and then, but this was that small reminder that He is here, He knows me and knows my desires and is trying so hard to help me get there.

Waiting for Mail..again!

Alright MG's, you all know what that's like!!

I've been checking the mail like a mad woman lately

It's been over a year since I waited for mail from my sweet hubby. Those days where I knew exactly what time the mail would come, trying to figure out what color envelope to look for, wondering if I was getting a letter or a package that day, or how many letters I would be getting. I think the one time that I can specifically remember about getting mail when I least expected it was when I got a letter sent to me at Desiree's house when I was on vacation in Utah while Jayson was on his mission! (Haha Dez if you're reading this, I still feel totally guilty that you were the one waiting for a letter, and I ended up getting two! )Yep, I kinda miss that stuff..... Call me crazy, but I can promise you that one day out of the blue, you'll remember those days and you'll be waiting for the mail to come, but instead all you'll get is nasty, yucky bills.... BOO!

Anyway, so over the past couple of weeks I have been stalking the mail. Well, not exactly stalking, since we currently live at my in-laws and they would think I'm nuts if they truly saw me stalking the mail like 'back in the old days.' But I've gotten a few packages over the past few weeks and I'm still getting just a bit excited over them. Ahhh, such a sweet feeling to remember again :) Jayson's grandmother sent me a cook book that she's made for all of her grandchildren and their spouse's as a wedding gift, and today I got a canvas that I ordered from The Beehive Organization.

Inspired from Disney's Tangled and this photo via pinterest

Ahhh, I love getting packages ^_^

Call me crazy...but I get so giddy seeing my name on a package!

Maybe it's because it now says Ashley Anderson

instead of Massey....

~ ~ ~

Speaking of packages and letters, does any one know of any missionaries (even your lovely, handsome boyfriends :p) who could use a letter of encouragement?? I miss writing to missionaries!!