I Feel The Spirit! No Seriously, My Face Is Tingling!

So as we are nearing the end of March, which means we are approaching the first General Conference of the year and I am really really excited! It's also less then a week until I've reached the year mark of my baptism into the church, and I have to say WOW. Seriously, what an AMAZING journey this has become. I've never experienced something so wonderful in my entire life and I just have to say, I am extremely blessed. I am beyond blessed, I seriously wish that I knew of another word that could describe how loved and lucky I feel. But alas, my vocabulary isn't as great as I wish it could be, also I don't think that there is a word out there that could even begin to explain how I feel.

But seriously, I've loved every minute of the way, even during the sad times. My relationship with Heavenly Father, Christ our Savior, the friends I've made in this church and the missionaries that I've become friends with along the way are what have built me up from being just this rifraf hoodelum to a productive young women and I have a lot to be thankful for. I've come to notice that some of the most important people in my life are people who are currently serving missions, which is what leads to the title of this post. I just couldn't help myself. Elder Geier, who has come to be one of the goofier elders I've gotten to know, said that in a lesson that I had with them last week and I just HAD to have it be the title of this post. As funny as it is, it's true what he said. The spirit affects us in different ways, whether we start to cry, we feel a little hazy, there is a burning within us, or we start to tingle. Every one of those is an affect that I've felt while feeling the spirit, and I just loved how he came right out with it!

But in all seriousness, life is good. I'm excited to say that I an 95% sure that I will be going to General Conference with Savannah and her family. I've asked my Bishop for tickets and all that we have to work out is the ride situation with Savannah's family and how things are going to work. Along the trip they wanted to go camping and I wouldn't mind going with, but there are still some kinks in the plan that need to be worked out, but I have faith that things will work out right, or at least the way that they are suppose to. Going to General conference is definitely going to be another huge step in my life. Especially since just recently, I've grown to understand just how serious and important G.C really is! Along this trip, I'll not only be experiencing the wonders that is conference, I'll be able to cross another temple off of my list of temples I've visited. Temple square is one that I wanted to visit before I went on my road trip last November and got to visit both the Mesa Arizona Temple and the St. George Utah Temple, so you can bet that I am super excited to get to see Temple Square now.

Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita from the Quorum of the Seventy, spoke in the October 2011 Conference on the Sunday afternoon session and it really meant a lot to me when he spoke of his conversion story and how he gained such a strong love for the missionaries, the church and everything they taught him. Even if it did take him a while to really fully understand what they were sharing with him, I was able to really feel the spirit as he spoke and how I was able to relate with him. Which also came into my realization of the true importance with General Conference and it helped grow my testimony of the Prophets and General Authorities of today. Elder Yamashita went on to say
"When I was 17, I didn't really have a good understanding of the messages that the missionaries had been teaching me. However, I had a very special feeling about the missionaries and wanted to become like them. And I felt their deep and abiding love."

I've felt the same way as elder Yamashita, I was also 17 when I was baptized. So for someone as fresh and new to the gospel to hear a talk like the one that he gave really helped lift my spirits and I loved it. Especially since while I was taking the lessons with my missionaries, Elder Saager and Elder Malietoa, there were a lot of things that needed to be covered before my baptism and I didn't have all the time in the world to gain a full testimony in everything that they taught me. All I knew was that I needed to be baptized as soon as possible and as long as I believed this church was true, and wanted to proceed, I would be able to continue my learning and growth after my baptism. Which is exactly what I did and I am so excited to have a great understanding of things now.

I'm so excited for this new journey. I can't wait to go to Conference and go to Temple square. I'm always looking for new adventures to go on, whether physical or spiritual OR BOTH! And this definitely will be something to remember forever!