My Favorite Feeling

On Tuesday I had the coolest experience! It all started in the morning with basketball practice. At practice I was really frustrated and when I was done I was extremely angry. I was planning on going to the temple after practice but I was fighting myself, which isn't normal because I am always down to go to the temple. I had texted a few people and none could go with me so I thought that maybe I shouldn't go. So I sat down and made me some food and continued being angry. At this point I was annoying myself because I was being so negative, so I thought "I need to stop feeling sorry for myself, what can I do to fix this?" Then it  hit me, I needed to get my lazy self to the temple. I got ready in a hurry, so I wouldn't change my mind and drove to the temple. On the way there I was thinking it wouldn't be super busy because the weather wasn't all that great. I was excited about this because my appearance was not all that wonderful and my outfit was not the cutest. I walked through the doors and I see a handful of people from my early morning seminary class there. So visited with them and then one of my friends said "You have like a two hour wait ahead  of you." I got a little nervous but then I assumed she was exaggerating. So I walk down the steps to the baptistery and realize that she was not joking in any way. The temple worker told me about the wait and I told her that was perfectly fine but on the inside I was a little nervous. I continued to go get my clothes when I saw more of my friends there, and that the temple was completely filled. Seeing the temple filled with so many willing people to serve made me beyond happy. I was thrilled.

When I went into the locker room I ran into a friend who was walking out of the changing area. Whenever I see this friend it makes my day. We immediately hugged and and that is when I was reminded that Heavenly Father is always looking out for me. He knew that if I saw her my mood would be improved. So I finished changing and went and waited. The wait was absolutely amazing. Scripture reading, pondering, and lots of praying. While in the temple I finished The Book of Mormon. At the end it tells you to ask if it is true so I did just that. I prayed and asked and I knew without a doubt, The Book of Mormon is true. Every word. After my two hour wait I got to finish in in the temple and the spirit was so strong. Everyone there was beaming and as you looked around you could tell everyone there wanted to serve. I left the temple that day much happier and spiritually uplifted.

       I love the temple so very much. 

CHRISTmas

Christmas season is in full swing and I am pumped. I have always loved Christmas and each year I gain a greater appreciation for the holiday. I love how everyone always seems to be serving others and creating ways to help other people. I even enjoy the commercial side of Christmas, the gift giving, the decorations, and Santa Claus. Lets be real, the best part of this season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.  I have been thinking a lot about it lately and I realized that this is one of the most important days in the history of the world.  The day that we celebrate is the day when the most amazing person to walk the earth entered it. Isn't that crazy? The day He was born  was the day it all started. Because of this day The Savior did so many amazing things, healing the sick and raising the dead. One of the greatest things Jesus Christ did was go into the Garden of Gethsemane and take all of our sins, pains, and afflictions upon Him. I will be eternally grateful for the atonement. I know I would not be functioning without it. I feel like I will be in debt to Him forever. People say the best way to repay him is to live and spread the gospel. I am trying my best to do so because I know that I owe so much to Him. The older I get, the more I realize this.

Since I am becoming more mature, I feel like I am appreciating having the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the gospel in my life. I have been trying to make my life constantly like the Christmas season. Being happy, finding ways to serve, and trying my best to always be kind. I would encourage anyone I talk to, to do these things because we could make this world a better place all the time. (: As this season continues I would encourage everyone to be thinking about The Savior and all He did for us during His life on earth, I know I will be. I know this is totally cliche but if you haven't seen this video you should totally watch it. . If there is anything I can do for you during this busy time please let me know. I hope everyone has a very merry CHRISTmas!! (:

Addicted to Happiness

Hi friends. Everyone loves to be happy right? Recently, I have found that I am a happier person and definitely a more pleasant person to be around. This is because  I have actively  changed my attitude. I have done this because I grasped the concept of: HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE. In any circumstance I can make myself happy. Did you know that there are studies that show if you just smile, you will become happier. Sometimes, I seriously have to "fake it, to make it" but it works. I slap a smile on my face and BOOM I'm so much happier. I love it. I am changing from a pessimist to a realistic optimist. I say realistic because I don't want to get crazy and think things are all fine and dandy when they are not. But when things aren't fine and dandy, my favorite thing to do is to find at least one thing that is positive from the situation. That one positive thought can go a long way, I promise. I encourage whoever is reading this to find those things that make you happy and keep them in your life. Make them common events, people, or things in your daily life. I am addicted to happiness. I can make anywhere my happy place because I have realized that there is no happy place. Happiness is a state of being and anywhere can be your happy place if you want it to be. Choosing to be happy is the best decision I make each morning.
My sources of happiness are infinite but a few things that I can always count on are my friends, family, and the gospel. I know I can always find a member of my family and they will put a smile on my face. I know that I can fall to my knees in prayer and become happy, I know that I can go to the temple and be instantly happy, and I know reading the scriptures and reading conference talks will always make me happy.
Thank you to those that have ever made me happy. Which is probably most of the people reading this because people who read my blog make me happy.

Here is a lovely picture of my wonderful family. They make me so happy and this picture not only makes me happy but makes me laugh and laughing is one of my favorite parts of happiness.  

White Crayons

Today in Young Womens we found a white crayon on the ground. It appeared unused and comments were thrown around like "White crayons are the most useless crayons"and "Why are white crayons even a thing?". I am not sure why but this almost made me angry. Then I stood up for this little white crayon and said  "Its not useless it just depends on how you use it." then we decided that a white crayon is a perfect option for colored paper, especially black, dying eggs, and other activities. This conversation maybe lasted two minutes but it has really stayed in my head for the rest of the day.

Aren't we all just white crayons? During this brief conversation I realized we have quite a bit in common with this white crayon. We can go through life and try to make marks on white paper or we can find our canvas and color our own picture. Make our own impact on the world.  This summer I realized a fraction of what I am here for. I found my colored paper and am now starting to write out my own story. I know Heavenly Father has a plan for me. He has a plan for every single one of us. We just need to let him guide us in the direction that we need to go. Every single one of us is as useful as this white crayon. We just need to realize what we need to do here. I know that sharing our knowledge of this perfect gospel is something we can and should be actively doing. Teach others that they are useful rather than useless. If you have not found what you should be coloring on, I hope you seek to find it, and if you have already found that paper, I hope you are creating something beautiful.  I am thankful to those that have helped me find me find my place to draw.

That Time When I Ran Cross Country

On October 21st, 2015 I completed my last race of my high school career. I have never felt so relieved after a race, especially since I stayed on my feet. I've ran for Murray High School all four years, and it is one of the hardest things I have done. When I mention that I run cross country, people always ask if I am crazy. Before, during, and right after every race I learned more and more that I am a little insane. Cross country is hard, but so if life. When running a race and running through life I do my best to keep my Heavenly Father right by my side. I know through him I can get through the tough times. Through cross country I learned so many things and met the most amazing people, some who have become my closest friends.

Running is 90 percent mental. I had to break through some major walls in my head to become successful. If it were possible I would just turn my brain off for the 20 minutes. Before every race we pray as a team and I know that because we do that we perform better and have The Spirit with us as we run. There have been times in my races that I heard a whisper that just said "Keep going, I know its hard, but you've got this". Then I would somehow find energy to push through all the pain and keep going. (After all 22 minutes isn't that long right?)  Something I learned from cross country is that our bodies are amazing. They can accomplish so much more than we think they can. I would have never guessed that I could run so many 5K's at the pace that I have. Our bodies are so strong and capable of so much. Do you know why that is? It is because they were designed and crafted by the most powerful being in this universe. I don't know about you but I think that is amazing. Cross country has given my confidence in my body, and in myself. I had the most amazing coaches,
teammates, and all around program. I was never that serious about cross country and honestly, neither is the Murray team. We work hard but its still fun. Our coaches make it so we actually want to come because they are fun, and we are fun.

One of my favorite things about cross country is that we aren't like a normal sports team. We had serious athletes but we also have some of the smartest kids in the school on our team. Yes, we are all awkward but somehow we still manage to get to know each other. I have gotten to know kids I would have never even thought about socializing with. We are like one big family that is all so different, yet we are all the same. I would not trade my time on the cross country team for anything because of how it had brought me closer my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Prayer is so Powerful

Hey there folks! Over the past couple of months I have changed, a lot. Most of it I made an effort to change and then some of it just came a long with my efforts. One of the things I changed in myself was prayer. How I pray, when I pray, where I pray, and what I pray for. I pray more intently, I pray A LOT more often, I pray anywhere, and I pray for basically everything. If I am nervous, I pray. If I am sad or angry, I pray. If I am happy or feeling grateful (which is pretty much always), I pray. If i need help or a friend needs help, I pray. this new habit of mine is so great and I highly recommend we all pray all the time.  Because of all of my prayers I feel the spirit with me, I am so much happier, and I am a lot more aware of what is going on around me. This past week I have had several experiences with prayer. 

One of these times my prayer was answered during the prayer. Isn't that cool? Nothing like this had ever happened to me and it was so awesome. When I knelt down, I was pretty upset and just wanted a way to let my emotions out. So in reality I just wanted to cry. I have a very hard time letting myself cry because I tell myself it is a sign of weakness. So I prayed and cried and it was super awesome and I stood up feeling so much better about life. The next day I had pretty much the opposite experience. I was crying uncontrollably and I felt like Satan was keeping me from thinking about what I needed to think about and I know that he was making me feel super angry and flustered. So there I was kneeling in my room asking for the opposite of what I had asked for the day before. About 30 seconds after I said amen, my crying didn't just fade out, it just stopped. It was insane. When the crying ceased, so did all the feelings of anger and confusion. I immediately knew what I needed to do and everything worked out perfectly. The difference in feeling I had was incredible and I can't even describe it. So the following day I had this super amazing experience with prayer. I had been praying for a few weeks for a friend and for them to be helped with what they needed. I was texting this friend and had casually mentioned they go read a certain conference talk about hope, and they did. (If you would like to read/ listen to this talk click here.) After they read this talk they told me that this talk helped them with exactly what they needed. My prayers were answered and that feeling is so wonderful.  

If you put to much thought into it, like I have, prayer looks strange. Kneeling with your eyes closed and just speaking to air. If you have not prayed, try it!! Once we get over the fact that it looks strange and actually try it, it will work. I love to pray and hope that you do too! Pray wherever and whenever!

Here is a super awesome talk on prayer that everyone should listen to!

I am more than an Athlete

Hi, I'm Jennie and I play basketball, softball, and run cross country. This is how I used to introduce myself to people when they asked me to tell something about myself. Please notice how I say USED to. I let sports be who I am and I really don't like that. I use to dress and carry myself in a way that people would look at me and say "wow she is an athlete". I wanted people to know me as the girl that plays three sports. Not only did I want other people to look at me this way but it is how  I looked at myself. I breathed sports; any decision I made, I had basketball in the back of my mind. I would skip out on fun social events to go work out or go shoot by myself. As an athlete some may think that this is the road to success, and they are correct, to be a successful athlete. I want to be more than a successful athlete. I hope one day to be a successful, wife, mother, and daughter of God. I know that a person can be all of those things and a successful athlete but the balance in my life was not healthy. I let sports run my life instead of letting Christ run my life. I wanted to go play college basketball which was going to keep me from receiving so many blessings. This would have kept me from part of girls camp which would have kept me from relationships with some very amazing people. This most likely would have kept me from going on a mission, which if everything goes the way it should I will be on in around two years. Over the course of my junior year I learned that sports do not define me. Once  I had that figured out, I still needed to figure out what did.  Through one of my teammates I learned that sports could be taken from me in a split second. In my mind that would have been the end of the world.  I watched her go through this injury and she handled it like a champ. This messed up her chance of going to college on an athletic scholarship but she went through it the best way possible.I don't wish to get an injury that will take sports away from me, but if it were to happen I know I could handle it, and I know I could find some sort of positive in the situation. As I went to girls camp I learned that sports do not define me. I am more than an athlete. I like to think I am a kind person, I like to read, recently learned that I enjoy writing, I love helping people and plan on spending my life doing just that, and most of all I am a daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves me and I love him. I love to talk about the gospel and I try to share it as often as possible. I am an athlete, but I am also a disciple of Jesus Christ. It took me a while to figure this out, but I am so glad I am figuring this out now and not entering college and figuring it out while I am sitting on the bench at some college basketball game because that would not be fun. I am more than an athlete. I am my own person, not what sports make me.  I am Jennie Anderson and I am a daughter of a King.

Because Labor Day

Clearly, today is Labor Day. I've always known that Labor Day was a holiday that honored those in the military but I have never really thought much about it until today. I have put a lot of thoughts out to those serving for our country and I pray for the soldiers and their families. Recently I have read a couple of books and watched a few shows about the military. Yes, I know that they probably are not the most accurate when it comes to feelings and the technical terms and all that stuff. But they have definitely opened my eyes on the military. I am so thankful for everything our soldiers do. I cannot comprehend why people would want to go into the military, maybe because its because I'm selfish but I could not voluntarily go and get shot at. These people go through so much just to protect our freedom. I will never be able to express how grateful I am towards everyone and their contributions to preserving the independence we have.

 Now lets take a second and talk about the families of those that are serving. That takes some serious toughness. Their family member takes off and they have no idea whether they are going to come back alive or not. I don't know about you, but I am not quite sure if I could do that. I don't think I am strong enough. I could not go on with my life knowing that my husband, or child is being shot at. These people have incredible strength. I cannot wrap my mind around the feelings they must feel as they watch their family member walk away. How do you even say goodbye? I really don't think  I could do it. Now, if my husband were in the military I would support him but I would definitely need some support myself. So I guess what it comes down to is that Labor Day should be a holiday that we are thinking of our troops and their families, and send a prayer in their direction. Happy Labor Day everyone!

Last First Day of School

Hey there folks! Today was my last first day of high school. It's a weird feeling and I don't feel like a senior and don't think I look like a senior. But I just need to face it, in 179 school days, I will be graduating. About two months ago thinking about this would have put me to tears. I avoided the topic and if anyone asked me about my plans after high school I would either cry or tell them that I am going to live in Disneyland and possibly turn into a cat. Now that I have figured out that I want to go on a mission, serve The Lord, and have a pretty solid degree option, I feel so confident going into my senior year. I am pumped. I have surrounded myself with great friends and know that Christ can help me get through this year. If my children and grandchildren are reading this, here is what I have to say to you.  Hopefully you have heard this from me already but if you haven't for some reason; being nervous and even a little scared for school is okay! People can be scary and the classes can be overwhelming. Find two or three friends that you can talk to about the scary things and be a good friend to everyone. Keep The Spirit with you at all times and try your best to not put yourself in situations that it will leave you. Even if people are telling you otherwise, you are loved by so many people including myself and your Heavenly Father. Always be open to make new friends and go to school things. Support your school and your friends, remember you only have one high school experience so don't waste it. I know it's a lot of pressure but I know you can do it.
Anyways, my first day of school went really smooth. I was definitely blessed with some really cool people in my four classes today. I kind of really love this new attitude I have because it makes me go into these situations more positive and then my day goes so much better. Anyways so my A day schedule is pretty chill and laid back with classes like, Women's athletics, SLCC human development, psychology, and SLCC English. SLCC English is probably the class I am least looking forward to because the teacher that I wanted to teach it left and I was really looking forward to having her and English isn't really my thing. You all are probably going to love me being in that class if you continue to read this because hopefully my writing will improve. I ventured into the library today which is pretty normal but the strange thing was I actually checked out a book. The first library book I have checked out in my two years of high school and I plan to check out many more! So that how my last first day went, nothing too exciting but it needed to be documented. All in all I'm really excited for this chapter in my life.
Oh, and here is what i looked like when I left the house on my last first day, I had a serious hair malfunction but everything turned out alright. (:

Thanks for reading! Definitely more to come from my senior year so stay tuned!

The Beginning of The Last Firsts: Last First Cross Country Meet

So those of you that know me know I run cross country for Murray High School. It is one of the most challenging yet fulfilling things I have ever done. When I run a race its me running my guts out for 20 minutes. Its so so hard but afterwards I feel great but before every race I get super duper nervous and pretty much would rather do anything than run. So I had a race Saturday morning and I was so nervous and I didn't know what to do. So to motivate myself and calm myself down  I watched this video that  I have seen a few times but we watched it at EFY and I thought it could help, and it did. So here it is:

This video is super duper awesome and motivating because at anything we do we can really only give our  best. So as I was eating my french toast and watching this video I realized that as long as I go run the best that I can and give it my best effort, I could not be disappointed with myself and as long as I'm not disappointed with myself I can be happy.I was at the start line ready to start my race and felt super nervous and then I remembered this video and then we said our prayer like we do before each race and I don't think I have ever felt so calm before a sporting event in my life. Through the race whenever I got tired I played the coaches words in my head "just 30 more steps" in my head. Yes, I knew I had more than 30 steps left but I just took it 30 steps at a time.  So I am happy to report that I ran my race (3 miles) in 21 minutes and 15 seconds. This is just an average time but for my first race of the season its not too bad.
Now for the actual interesting part of this blog post. The spiritual side of things. Every time I watch this I think of the coach as The Savior, Brock as us, and the other kid, I think his name is Jeremy, as our trials. Brock says "I could go to the  50 with nobody on my back". Well, anybody can make it to the 50 with no extra weight. Anybody could make it through life without the trials.  That would be way too easy and pretty much make this life pointless. Little do we know that we are a lot stronger than we think because we have The Savior and Heavenly Father on our side. We can do anything through Christ. I don't know about you but I think that is amazing. Anyways, the blindfold is an interesting thing, very similar to the veil. Brock needed this because he would have given up at the 30 or the 50 but since he was going just off of his strength he could go the full 100 yards. I think we went through the veil because we could not complete this life knowing how hard it is going to be. Without the coach Brock would have given up so much earlier and I can relate to that so much. I haven't gone through anything extremely rough but I would definitely already given up on life if I didn't have The Savior. He is always by our side and is doing whatever he can to motivate us. The biggest difference in this coach and Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father is they are there to take the weight from us. Not only will Christ be constantly with us and encouraging us but He will take the weight and carry us to that 100 yard line. He is willing to help us, all we have to do is let him. When I learned this, I realized that this life is not going to be easy but will can be easier if I let Christ help me through. I could go on but this is already extra long so there are a few of my thoughts. Thank you for reading!

My tiny EFY experience

So I got invited to go to an EFY (especially for youth) in Twin Falls, Idaho with a friend who teaches EFY. I've never been to EFY before, so when I saw opportunity I wanted to jump on it so before I graduate to adulthood I could say that i did get a piece of EFY at some point in childhood. (Yes, I still consider myself a child.)
I was pretty pumped to go on the four hour drive with this friend because she's super awesome and we can have a lot of fun and talk about the gospel at the same time. We had some super awesome conversations and I loved every second! When we got into Twin Falls we realized that it is absolutely beautiful so I took some pictures. The pictures don't even do it justice though.

One of the lessons my friend gave was about self worth and on the ride up we talked a lot about Satan. In reality Satan should not impact our self worth but sometimes he does. One thing I realized was that Satan literally hates us. At first I was a little taken back when I thought about someone hating me. I know that there are people out there that don't like me but hatred is a whole different thing. But then I thought, if I want anyone to hate me I definitely would want it to be Satan. When we were in the car I had a "mind cannon" and I came to the understanding that Satan is a jealous hateful soul. He is an envious spirit and will do anything for us to destroy our bodies because he cannot have one. So next time you look in the mirror and see those insecurities whether they are physical or just anything you don't like about yourself, and Satan is in your ear telling you everything that is "wrong" with you, make sure you let him know you at least have a body. We have bodies and they have "flaws", we have flaws because we are not perfect but a "flawed" body is better than no body. Kick Satan out the door because you're too awesome to be thinking negativity about yourself. Satan does not decide yourself worth, Heavenly Father does and "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;" (D&C 18:10) We are children of a king and He loves us very very much and we are worth more to Him than anything in this world is worth. Thank you so much for reading!

The Struggle is Real, but so is God

Sorry for such a fast second post but I feel like I should share my thoughts.  Everyone has struggles. No matter how perfect a person may seem they have their own types of problems and trials. Just remember that as you go through life. Our struggles in life are what make us strong individuals. Some people say that their struggles are so small and that they do not matter.  THAT IS NOT TRUE. A struggle is a trial and all trials are important because they make us stronger and prepare us for our lives and possibly bigger struggles. I am a firm believer in the phrase " what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" because it is true. In some way we should get stronger from everything we go through in this life.  The good and the bad. We should be progressing in this life with anything and everything we do. I often get caught up in a conversation with someone and I will often say, "the struggle is so real" and the struggle may be real but so is God. Something even more awesome is that Heavenly Father created that struggle for YOU.  He created it and He can sure get you out of it. So really I just think that we need to appreciate everything in this life especially our struggles. We need to learn from everything we can and look for opportunities to share our knowledge. Thanks so much for reading!

The Start of my Blog Journey

So I am starting this blog, not necessarily because I want to but because I feel like I need to. I'm not sure if it is because I need it, a friend needs it, or because my children and grandchildren will enjoy it one day. I hope it is for all of these reasons but who knows? I've always thought blogging was intriguing but I have talked with a few people about it and The Spirit really made me feel like I need to do this. I am not really sure if anyone is going to read this but if you are, this is what it is going to be like. This will sort of be like a journal, actually a lot like a journal where I can share my experiences with learning with the internet world. Just for the record my thoughts are going to be super scattered so please forgive me.

I went to Girl's camp about two weeks ago and I had the most uplifting and spiritual experience of my life.But back up to December. In December I was trying to convince my parents to let me leave camp early to go to a basketball tournament but my dad told me that I needed to go to girls camp. He never said why he just said I needed to go. I fought him and fought him but finally gave up. I am going to take a solid guess and say that The Spirit was telling him I needed this. I am eternally grateful I went because I learned so much and loved every second of it.  First of all I gained a ton of new friends and made other friendships stronger and that was amazing.  I was also reminded that my Heavenly Father is always watching no matter what I am doing and will continue to always look out for me. I was taught that everything about God's plan is perfect. Some of it may be painful and be hard but it is all worth it and through Christ we can get through anything and everything . Our struggles are worth hearing about and worth fighting through. Don't just push them to the side. In my opinion, the best way to get through your struggles is to talk to someone you know will understand. So in other words, hit your knees and talk with our Savior. He understands and will help you with anything you need. These are just a few of the lessons I learned at camp, and I know I came out of there with a stronger testimony and a better outlook on life.  I am a better person after camp and wouldn't trade my experience for anything.  So a big shout out and thank you to all that made my experience worth it and amazing. If anyone has any questions at all let me know and I would be more than happy to answer them!