Romans 12:2

So I now have a new favorite scripture. I was a bit behind in my seminary reading, and today was reading day in English, so I decided to bring my scriptures to school and catch up. As I was finishing up Romans, I read the this verse, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good , and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." When I first read it, the only part I really understood well was the very first "be not conformed to this world" so I used my footnotes. So after replacing some of the words with alternate translations and stuff, it would kind of say, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye [self-mastered] by [your spiritually reborn] mind, that ye may [test and try] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Maybe that doesn't change anything for you, and it sounds exactly the same from the first to the second time, but to me, it just made things that much more clear and more applicable to myself. It was just one of those things that really impacts you, ya know? And I've been thinking about it ever since I read it this morning.
No matter how hard it can be, I know that we have to stand aside from the world; we must take the gospel principles we're taught and live by them in our daily lives. When the Lord enlightens (renews) our minds with understanding, he expects us to change our actions (transformed) to be in accordance with that knowledge, and if we fail to do so, he will not continue to enlighten our minds. The last half of the verse, about proving God's will, reminds me of an EFY song from my first year, "Live Like You Believe." The basic message of this song is that if you want a reassurance that the gospel is true, live by it's principles, and you're faith will grow; you will have the strength needed to continue on. To me this sounds like proving the will of God. I know God loves us, and wants the best for us, which is why he has given us commandments to separate us from the world. The actions of those in our world are those of Satan's counterfiets. They want what the Lord has promised, but they have been blinded into following Satan's ways and ideas which appear on the outside to follow so closely with what the Lord says. If only they could recognize that Satan's ways, however appealing and seemingly good, can only lead us to misery and destruction, instead of the joy and eternal life given through obedience to God's word. I hope that I can take these principles more fully into my life and live "in the world, but not of the world" by conforming with God's standards instead of the world's.

Beauty and the Beast

So as many of you know, I was in my high school's production of Beauty and the Beast this past fall. It was a great experience, and I really loved it. Well, just the other day I got my copy of the recording of our show. Also, Lilly borrowed the cartoon version from the library recently. So the other day before church, I was in my Mom's room, and then I hear Hyrum and Lilly playing a game. They were pretending to be the characters off of Beauty and the Beast and were basically reciting different scenes. I heard Hyrum say he was Lumiere and then ask Lilly if she was the boy or girl (Maurice or Belle) coming into the castle. Then Hyrum turns into the Beast and yells, "What are you doing in my castle? You don't belong here!" Then he announces that he's the Dad and Lilly should be the daughter, and he procedes to say, "Belle, no, get out! You don't know what it's like!" Haha, I thought it was so funny, but at the same time, I was so excited, cause now I LOVE Beauty and the Beast! Then when I went to go tell Lilly that it was time for her to get ready for church and pick out a dress, she told me that she was busy playing, but I said it didn't matter, she still needed to pick a dress. So what does Hyrum do? He becomes the wardrobe from Beauty and the Beast! And he starts talking in her voice saying, "What abou this one? Oh, I wore this the night I performed for the King!" Haha, oh man, I love little kids...and how I miss the simple joy of playing make-believe. :)

The Tag that Started my Blogging

Tagged: 8 things
tagged by Julia Willis

Here are the rules:
1. Post the rules on your blog.
2. Answer the six "8" items.
3. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

8 Favorite TV Shows:
First off, we don't even have the ability to watch normal TV at my house, so I don't actually watch any of these anymore, I just remember liking them a lot, and I probably like all of them about the same. :)
1. The Office
2. Hogan's Heroes
3. iCarly
4. StarGate
5. Happy Days
6. The Cosby Show
7. M*A*S*H
8. The Andy Griffith Show

8 Things I did Yesterday:
1. Slept in
2. Went to church
3. Went to a youth committee meeting and was the only member of my presidency there....including leaders, lol
4. Received my Personal Progress Reward and Medallion!!! and got Cheesecake with strawberries because of it in Young Womens!
5. Came home and watched a movie with the missionaries and Paula (On the Way Home)
6. Went out to Grandma Adams's house.
7. Played states with the cousins.
8. Came home and went to bed!

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Meeting my nephew Danton!
2. Thespians! (and all things associated) :) Especially next year's musical!
3. Seeing my friends get baptized....whenever it may be....
4. The Adams family reunion this summer.
5. Getting letters in the mail.
6. Seeing family that I haven't seen for a long time...
7. Going out to BYU and having dance classes and living close to Keith!
8. Being a wife and mother.

8 Favorite Restaurants:
ummm....I don't think I've actually even been to 8 restaurants, unless you include fast food...which I don't really like...so here goes!
1. Lamberts!
2. Any good Chinese/Oriental place, especially the one in the mall!
3. Um...I ate at Applebee's once....and I liked it...but I was only like 8...haha
4. The Lumberjack and Skillet place at Silver Dollar City are good...
5. Oh! My Grandparent's house!!! both of them, and my house too. :)
6. Little Ceasers
7. Subway
8. And I guess my favorite fast food (not subway) would be Burger King, they have the best fries, way better than McD's!!!!

8 Things on My Wish List:
1. MONEY!!!! I've been broke for like 3 months....I hate begging my parents for money....it makes me feel bad...
2. A laptop for graduation....or sooner... :)
3. More clothes
4. Decorating my room...or at least making it look good.
5. EFY
6. A road trip with my friends :)
7. Being in more musicals besides the one my senior year at high school.
8. ...Being able to share the gospel with my friends and their parent's being at least ok with it.....(ok, so that's obviously my number one wish, but ya know)

8 People that I tag:
1. Kelli Lopez
2. Marisa Compton
3. Jessica Willis
4. Sarah Rone
5. Keith Adams
6. Sheri Adams
7. Nyoka Halle
8. Garry Adams

ok....so let's see how many of these people actually do it...I must admit, I don't have much faith in them as a whole, but I can't exactly blame them since they probably don't even know I have a blog yet!!!

A New Blogger

Hmm...well I suppose I knew I would get sucked into the world of blogging eventually. Actually, I've considered starting one for some time now, and lots of people have told me I should. And then just a minute ago as I was reading my cousin Julia's blog, she tagged me and told me to start my own, so I decided, what the heck? Might as well start now! So here I am....blogging....about me....I'm sure there will be times when I blog everyday, and other times when I blog....let's just say....not quite every day :) Anyway, I'm not sure who all will actually read this, but to anyone who does, enjoy!