my well-deserved time-out

I do believe I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

I had the incredible opportunity to go to Time-Out for Girls with one of my best friends. Basically, we got to listen to these amazing famous LDS speakers sing and give inspiring talks.

It was awesome. (And I mean that--It. Was. Awesome. Not awesome like the new Taylor Swift CD, or the Avengers, or the frozen burrito I had for lunch. Think about the word "awesome." It means something that inspires awe. Human beings should not throw around this word so carelessly unless the thing you're describing is really that awesome. This is one of those times.)

Prepare to be blown away.

John Bytheway was there. Like, the real John Bytheway. The hilarious and inspiring author of three of my very favorite books? The one who remixed Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Trees? Yeah. That was awesome. He is awesome.

Kris Blecher and John Hilton III were also there. John was pretty hilarious too. He talked about getting personal revelation by searching the scriptures. (But when you're mad at someone and you're seeking for peace, and you open up to a scripture that says "slay him" don't do it. Remember to apply the verse correctly.)

Okay. Prepare to be blown away AGAIN.

My friend Brooke just introduced me to this really cool video by Carmen Rasmusen Herbert and Alex Boye. Watch. Inspire yourself.




If that didn't blow you away, this will.

CARMEN RASMUSEN HERBERT WAS THERE AND I GOT TO MEET HER.

Look! There I am next to a Season 2 American Idol finalist who also happens to be an amazing Latter-Day Saint woman! She is so awesome! I love how even in Hollywood, with all those negative influences around her trying to get her to compromise her standards, she stood firm.  She talked about how true beauty isn't on the outside, but on the inside.


You know who else I got to meet? SANDRA TURLEY. She's a Broadway star who performed in Les Miserables. She was such inspiring speaker. She also didn't give in to the world trying to get her to do things against what she knew was right. Besides that, she has an incredible voice. Like, seriously. This girl was born to be on Broadway.

I admire both of these women because even though they were famous, they decided to end their careers and start families. Carmen said while we were there, "Fame and fortune do not hold a candle to faith and family." I love that. Nothing is more important than faith and family. We want to become who God wants us to be, not what the world does.

One of my favorite parts of the whole day was at the very end when Carmen and Sandra sand "For Good" from Wicked. That song is so special to me, I couldn't believe it when I heard the song starting! Both of them have gorgeous voices and strong spirits, and I hope someday I can be like them.

Laurel Christensen, who wrote my book "He Loves Us and We Love Him" was there too. She said this:

"There is a plan for your life. There is a story that is yours. Just. Yours. What part of your story are you writing today?"

I want to do the best I can to be my best self and write the best life story I can. I needed this time-out so bad. I'm so glad I got to go to this event and feel the spirit.

sisters in charity

I just returned home about a week ago from the most amazing week I've had all year: Young Women's Camp. I always just feel so strong and empowered when I come back from camp, and this year was the best yet.

We were divided into cabin groups, and each group represented a YW value, faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice & accountability, good works, integrity or virtue. The group I was in was the only group that didn't get one of these values--we got the value of charity. Let me tell you, charity was definitely the theme for our family--I mean group. Did I say family? Well, we were a family. We all grew so close, and we loved and trusted each other so much. Each one of those girls I felt like was one of my sisters.

Mikayla and Mikayla with our Charity Flag

Our theme for this year was "The Warrior Within" and the scripture that went with it was "I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4:13) This verse means so much to me now that YW's Camp has helped me truly apply it to my life. Jesus Christ is my brother. He died for me. Even if I was his only sister, he still would have died for me. He gives me strenth, and through him, I can do anything.

The campfire songs, the dancing, the laughing, the Bishop's Day activities...those are all fun. But the real reason why I will remember this YW's Camp year is because my testimony grew so much.

One of the pivotal moments ("aha moments" as we liked to call them) for me was during one of our YCL, Hannah's devotional late at night in our A-Frame cabin. We just started talking about everything, about where we came from, why we're here, where we're going. It was inredible. As we sat gathered around with our flashlights at 11 pm, everything, everything just made sense. You know that feeling? I love that feeling. Everything, for those couple of hours just came together, and for those couple hours, I could see past my worldly problems, I could suddenly see the whole picture.

Hannah then said something I will never forget: she began talking about our life before we came to earth, where we lived with our Father in Heaven. She said, "He held me, when I was a baby. Just like a dad holds his child in his arms, He held me." She had tears streaming down her face as she kept repeating, "He held me." Pretty soon, I was crying too. Because I knew it was true. My Heavenly Father loves me. He probably held me just like Hannah said, and told me that Earth life would be hard, but it I stayed faithful, that I would make it back to Him. I want that so badly. I want to return to Him and have Him smile at me and say, "You did it."

On Friday, testimony meeting day and Bishop's Day, we lit our testimony jars we had made earlier in the week. We each got to decorate a jar, and I put the word "SHINE" on the front of mine, to help me to always remember to hold up my metaphorical light. After testimony meeting, we split from our cabin groups into our Ward groups and had a mini-get-together with our Bishop from our Ward. Each of us went around the circle and said something we can testify of as we held our jars in our hands. The Spirit was so strong.


This year at YW's Camp was incredible. I made so many awesome girls that I feel like I can call my sisters, my testimony grew tremendously. I hope that I will have the courage and faith to stand up for what I know is right, even if I stand alone. Because I cannot have fear if I have faith.

Me and my "Sisters in Charity" in front of our A-Frame Cabin. You guys are incredible.

in which I meet an author and become a superhero

That's right, guys. I'm a superhero. Sort of.

Awesome-Author-Rachel and Me

My aunt Liane's sister, Rachel McClellan, author of an awesome book called Fractured Light came to stay next door to us. As a mutual activity, she came to speak to our Young Women's group about becoming our own superheroes. (Double awesome. Meeting author. Who is also a superhero.)

She started out with this awesome quote by Marianne Williamson:

"We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?"

She told us that we have this light inside of us that we need to use to help, uplift, and serve others. Our SUPERPOWER. (I know, right?!) In order to use our power for good, we have to be unselfish, not judging, have a desire to serve, and be courageous.

Imagine Superman, she told us, sitting in a diner, eating his enchilada soup. What if he was selfish? What if he judged others? What if he didn't want to help the people outside who were being chased by that giant robot? What if he was too afraid to save them? Would he be a superhero? "Of course not," Rachel said, "He wouldn't be a superhero. He's just a really good looking guy in a cape and tights."

Even Superman, with all of his strength, talents, and abilities, wouldn't be anything if he was selfish, judging, and afraid.

But he is a superhero. And those good qualities, being selfless, courageous, brave, kind...we need to be all those things if we want to become our own superheroes.

Rachel's an author. She knows that people, like characters, have flaws. Nobody's perfect. But we need to be the best that we can be so that we can be the heroes of our own stories.

So guess what, guys? I'm not the only hero around here.

You're a superhero too.