Maine!!!

Stockton's Baptism

One of the happiest days of my life, seeing my brother's little boy enter the waters of baptism. My brother Brad was able to baptize him, and we got to spend time with Sydney, Stockton, Samantha & Hadyn--such a great weekend. I love you guys--all the way to Heaven & am so proud of you Stockton for deciding to follow the example of Jesus & be baptized. I know your daddy Scott would be very proud of you!

Things Change in 5 years...

So many things change in 5 years...I have completed 2 degrees, started 2 businesses, put in thousands of hours of volunteer work, lived in 2 states, paid off a car, travelled to 17 countries and all over the states... but one thing hasn't changed... I miss my brother. I got the chance to see his 3 little kids last week when his little boy was baptized and I can't help but see him in their little smiling faces--they are the most beautiful, talented kids in the whole world! Sometimes I wonder if anyone else misses or remembers him...? I hope that from all these trials and lessons, I am a better person today than I was in 2006.

Scott Crist

Dec 30, 1977 - July 3, 2006

Where, Doesn't Really Matter...

A reunion with good friends from Jerusalem yesterday, dates with a few good men this week, a party with a good friend and meeting some other good friends and having the chance to reach out and be that good person in the lives of some friends who needed it this week, drinking juice boxes while swinging on the swings with a good friend, following the promptings of the Spirit to help restore in others the belief in good people... it is all good, life truly is good.

Really it has helped me to realize that whether I am in Jerusalem, Israel or Florence, Italy or Boca Raton, Florida or even Bountiful, Utah--there are good people all around me of every faith and ethnicity and we each bring a great variance of life experience to the table and if we follow the promptings of the Spirit and reach out to others consistently that it really doesn't matter where we live but how we live.

Monday I had the experience to follow the Spirit--the promptings of the Holy Ghost-- the still small voice inside that whispers or prompts or induces feelings or thoughts that when acted upon help me to accomplish good for the Lord and bless the lives of others [to read more on the Holy Ghost please see: http://lds.org/study/topics/holy-ghost?lang=eng] Monday I had the opportunity to reach out to someone that I didn't even know needed it--but God was aware of this person--and through the Holy Ghost helped me to be there and help save a life.

It really doesn't matter where I live or how old I am, or what my marital or educational status is, so long as I know that the course of life I am pursuing is in accordance with the Will of my Father in Heaven and that I have qualified for the companionship of the Holy Ghost and am helping to accomplish the work that my Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ would have me do... then life truly is beautiful!

Change Has Been, Change Will Be...

"Reunion"

Change will come
Change is here
Love fades out
Then love appears

Now my water's turned to wine
And these thoughts I have
I now claim as mine
I'm coming home

Change has been
Change will be
Time will tell
Then time will ease

Now my curtain has been drawn
And my heart can go
Where my heart does belong
I'm going home.

That's right, the words of Collective Soul say it best this time around... it is time to return to those I love on the other side of the world and to move forward with the next phase in my life. The last 4 months of my life seem to have flown by, and... well... I am not surprised with the pace or travel, study and service that we have kept. I am excited to go through the last week of Christ's life and to be tested on the last 3 finals of my college career--material that has increased my knowledge and testimony and that has helped me to become.

I remember coming home from full-time service as a missionary with a plethora of emotions and unsure which I "should" feel... I am now done with the shoulds and onto the rejoicing in whatever phase of life I am in. It has been a wonderful opportunity to be here in the Holy Land and to learn more of the life and ministry of my Savior Jesus Christ, but the Lord doesn't bring you some place this wonderful and expect you to settle for medicority--where muich is given much is required and I can't wait to return and apply what I have learned to the building up of the kingdom of God on the Earth!

May we all rejoice in the first Presidency Message from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that He is Risen, Christ the Lord is Risen. Because Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose again--so too may we. The message of hope and love and rejoicing found in the gospel of Jesus Christ is one that we can share during this Easter season whether we live in Israel and walk the streets where Christ carried the cross, or dwell somewhere across the world where we personally must take up our crosses and follow the Savior.I know He lives. I did not need to walk these streets or see these places to have my faith confirmed. I know no more surely today than I did six months ago that Jesus Christ lives and that He loves each one of us. I have a better understanding of the land where he lived and the teachings that He shared, but those are available to each who truly seeks--He is found in the scriptures and through sincere prayer. I love the Lord Jesus Christ and am excited for this adventure today and each one to come!

Sweet Lil' Sienna!!!

Simply because I can't be there and post my own pictures yet... I am borrowing the awesome ones brabby shared with me today. I am so thankful for a happy and healthy mom and baby... welcome to the fam Sienna Elise!!! I love you!!! Love, Aunt Ashwee!

Yad Vashem...

Really no words can adequately express the multitude of emotions that wash over you when seeing the atrocities of the Holocaust. The childrens museum hit me with particular significance because of the great love that I have for my nieces and nephew and the children here in Jerusalem... the candles are in the museum in honor of the 1.5 million children that suffered and died in the Holocaust. How grateful I am for the atonement of Jesus Christ that in and through Him, all things can be made right, if not in this life than in the next. I hope and pray that we can all help prevent such world suffering.