Summer Projects

Alright, well I am going to introduce you to a few of my summer projects!

Summer Project Mission #1 - "Guitar Ninja"

I took a guitar class this last semester and I loved it! Guitar is something I tried as a kid and thought I would never be able to do. Of course, my hands were a lot smaller back then (not much bigger now, but big enough to manage). But, I have made a lot of progress and I think I now have the tools and skills to keep learning on my own.

I want to be able to get to the point where I can pretty much play anything I put my mind to. And I want my songs to sound like the originals. The capstone of this project is going to be whether or not I can play the intro to Chuck Berry's song "Johnny B. Goode". On a folk guitar. I'll have to make friends with someone who has an electric I can try out...volunteers can step up anytime now.

Summer Project Mission #2 - "Eh-scahp-ay! Funny, It's spelled just like the word, 'Escape'!" (a.k.a "Summer Reading List")

Not only did I build my own reading list, but my roommate gave me a three page list of her favorite books. So I'll be working on that. Books from both me and her include "Cinder", "Lectures on Faith", and "She Got Up Off the Couch: And Other Heroic Acts". Yeah, there's really no reason or rhyme to my selection of books. But if I even read any books for fun, I'll count that as a success, considering I haven't been able to do that since last summer.

Summer Project Mission #3 - "Barkin' Up the Right Tree" (a.k.a. "Family History Book")

I started this project for my New Testament class and quickly realized I wasn't going to finish in time for the end of semester. I am researching ancestors who immigrated from Scotland to Oregon in the early 1900's. This family is stinkin' awesome. There are so many gemstones in this not-even-started-yet-book. (I'm still trying to finish the research before I solidify it on paper.) But I want to have the book finished by the end of August. Here's a little sneak peek!

This is for my ancestor, Peter Campbell Crockatt:

"The picture below is the RMS Lusitania arriving in New York from Liverpool in 1907. In 1908, at 16 years of age, Peter Campbell Crockatt immigrated to America by himself on the Lusitania. In 1915, that same ship was torpedoed by a German submarine, prompting the United States to join the first world war. This picture is probably what it looked like when this wee Scottish lad arrived in America to make a new life! He would be followed across the ocean a year later by his widowed mother and two younger siblings. Peter would grow up to be a Professor of Economics at the University of Oregon, and die in a tragic car accident in 1926 near Spokane, Washington."

Here is the record of the voyage:

Peter's entry is about 8 lines from the bottom.

Well, these projects are only the tip of the iceberg! Hopefully I'll make good progress on them this summer!

Well, I'm no longer living in Provo

Hey guys! I haven't posted in a while because finals week was coming and it was crunch time. But now I am done with my junior year in college and finals went okay! Hopefully I'll be able to find interesting things to post about. Anyways, I have a few leftovers from my pictures of Provo. So here are a few of them. There were so many times that I felt like a weirdo. I mean, how do you cover up walking on the side of the road and then creepily stopping and taking pictures of stuff while people walk past you? I dunno.

First there was this killer sunset happening when I was walking home from finishing a huge project in the lab.

You can probably now tell that I think the temple is pretty.

And finally all the flowers started blooming at the temple and on campus! It was gorgeous! I remember walking to campus one day during finals week and being stunned that the trees and grass actually looked alive!

...But we're ignoring the fact that it is snowing in Alpine as we speak.

Divine Nature: Pretend You're a Seed, Okay?

“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

-2 Peter 1:3-4

...In summary, we have been given everything that pertains to life and godliness because we have been called by God to gain glory and virtue. Because of this, certain promises have been made to us, and it is through these promises that we can take part in divine nature.

What is divine nature? When I was in Young Women, I had always thought of divine nature as more of a divine temperament. We are who we naturally are based on what our spirits were like in the pre-mortal existence.

"Pretend it's a seed, okay?"

In my New Testament class today, we talked about another interpretation of what divine nature means. The Greek word for divine nature is “phusis” (pronounced “foo’sis”) meaning “growth (by germination or expansion), i.e. (by implication) natural production (lineal descent); by extension, a genus or sort.” We talked about the implications of growth by germination. When you look at a seed of a redwood tree, you’ll notice they look nothing alike. Honestly, how could this...

...turn into this?: (P.S. We're ignoring the fact that I don't know this person.)

 

Clearly seeds are nothing like massive redwood trees. But they have the potential to be.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that just as a seed has the potential to turn into a massive tree, we have the potential to become like God. We are, by nature, divine beings who were born to become like our Heavenly Father. We are literally children of our Heavenly Father. Divine nature is about being like God, and this earth was created so we could have the opportunity to grow into our divine nature. In Isaiah 45:18 it says, “For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited.” Earth was created for us to come and get a mortal body and experience trials and tribulations, to go through the fiery furnace to rid ourselves of our imperfections and faults.

But lest you get a big head, all of this is literally impossible without Jesus Christ. To be like God, you have to be perfect, and there is no way that any of us can be perfect. That is why Heavenly Father created the Plan of Salvation. We would come to earth, receive bodies, and because of our fallen, imperfect nature, Jesus Christ would come to atone for our sins. In the New Testament, the actual translation of the concept “atone” is “reconciliation”. Jesus Christ would reconcile the difference between God and our fallen, sinful state and make it possible for us to return into the presence of God. For “no unclean thing can dwell with God” (1 Nephi 10:21).

Jesus Christ, through his Atonement and Resurrection, has paid for our sins, and has made it possible for us to return to the presence of God, to be like Him, and to fulfill our divine nature of Godhood. When we return to Heavenly Father, it won't be on our own merit, but on the merit of Jesus Christ. This is why it is so important for us to come unto Christ and keep the commandments. It is only through Him, that we can reach our full potential, and it is only through Him that we can be exalted in the Kingdom of God.

If you have any questions on what I’ve written, feel free to contact missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They can answer any questions you have about what we believe. You can reach them here! Or you can leave a comment and we can talk about it!