Getting A Little Patriotic Here

Wednesday, April 24, 2013 Inspiration , Mission Call , Speeches and Addresses 0 Comments

So, I really should be studying/doing things for my Mark Twain final tomorrow, which is why I'm going to make this quick.

I've already let y'all know about my struggle about my mission call, and when I get stressed/vulnerable, Satan hits me with it again and it just darkens my day.

Funny thing, though. I'm slowly starting to clean out my desk drawers and do my laundry in prep for packing up everything and driving home from school for the last time, and in my art drawer (read: disorganized pack-rat drawer) I found a piece of scrap paper with a random email printed on the back.

The scrap paper that we use in printmaking is really that: random scraps from old lessons, art projects, and other professors' handouts. So, I have no idea who the person who printed out this email is, or who it's from, but I decided to read it after seeing it was a quote from Harold B. Lee.

Finals Week, and Thank You

Sunday, April 21, 2013 Downloadable , Talk , Thank You 0 Comments

Hey. Yeah, I know. I changed it up a bit. Don't panic.

Also, I know that it's been a week since I last wrote anything. Sorry about that. This last week was the final week of classes (for my whole undergraduate career!) and this coming week is finals week, so I can't guarantee that I'll have anything to say for another week or so.

However, I did want to share my experience today giving my going away talk of sorts during my YSA ward's sacrament meeting.

The first counselor in the bishopric Facebook messaged me on Wednesday and asked me to give a talk on church service, more specifically on what that will mean to me as a full-time missionary.

Score.

After

Sunday, April 14, 2013 Confidence , Faith , Forever , Love , Mission Call 8 Comments

Except for Stake Conference today, I basically haven't been out of my room since I opened my mission call Friday afternoon.

Life is good. I've been pretty quiet on the blogosphere lately, which is in part because of my impending call. I couldn't really focus on anything else, or say anything different than what I've already said, but now I've had some time to let it sink in and I think I'm ready to talk about it.

I have been called to serve in the California Carlsbad Mission, English speaking. I leave June 19th. (Read the 'before' or watch me open my mission call)

I never would have guessed or picked any of these things for myself, which is part of the reason why I know that it is perfect for me. When I read the call, I didn't have any thoughts, positive or negative. Instead I was filled with emotion, most of it excitement and built-up anxiety, and that happiness that sometimes signals the presence of the Spirit. I was happy. I was assigned. I belonged somewhere.

It took a few hours for it to start to sink in, that I had finally, finally received my call.

During

Friday, April 12, 2013 Mission Call , video 0 Comments

Before

Friday, April 12, 2013 Mission Call 0 Comments

I'm starting this post at 11:30am. About four hours ago, I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. I tried for an hour, then got up.

I was a little disappointed that my mission call didn't come yesterday, but I knew that it was coming, and I've learned my lesson (for now) about God's timing. So I turned off my alarm, which hadn't even gone off yet, got on my knees and prayed a good morning to my Father in Heaven, asking him to let me feel His love for His children that I would soon be assigned to labor with. I stopped asking to love where I was called when I realized that it's not where, but who I serve that is important.

I had a dentist's appointment at 10, so I started to get dressed. I've been anxious, unable to sleep, since yesterday, so it took me longer than usual to wake up. I got dressed, making sure to be cute because there will be a PBS film crew on campus today.

Sister Nicole Hargrove

Wednesday, April 10, 2013 Interview 1 Comments

Sister Hargrove!

>>Visit Sister Hargrove's blog<<

Meet Sister Nicole Hargrove, called to serve in the Brazil São Paulo South Mission, speaking Portuguese. She's reporting to the MTC on April 24, so we're lucky that she had some time to stop by and answer some questions!



Did President Monson’s announcement affect your choice to serve a mission at all?
No. It affected the timing of my mission (I got to put in my papers a year early), but I always had plans to serve.


Why did you decide to serve a mission?
Since the missionaries first knocked on my door at age 15, I have always wanted to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Sunday General Conference

Sunday, April 07, 2013 General Conference , Pinterest , quotes 0 Comments

It's over. :(

We've been so blessed to hear the inspiring messages of the Lord's servants. I loved the addition of female prayer-givers (did you notice?). It's the first time that's been done in General Conference!

There were a few talks that I know were just for me; even if I didn't think to ask questions, the Lord gave me the answers. I am so grateful for Conference!

So, here are some more quotes. Feel free to download, pin, post, whatever, and if you really love me maybe you'll give OYSMF a shout-out!

(Note: I'll keep adding as I make them! Keep checking back over the next few days.)

Saturday General Conference

Saturday, April 06, 2013 General Conference , quotes 0 Comments

Well, it's been an absolutely lovely day here in Virginia. It's a balmy 65 degrees, the sun is shining, but most importantly, we got to watch the first two sessions of General Conference!

I attempted to live-tweet the conference today, but let me tell you, that stuff is a lot of work. It did help me to focus in on some wonderful quotes from today (Catch the wave, anyone? :]) which got me to thinking about Pinterest-style quote visuals.

Oh, how I love Pinterest.

So, in honor of this successful first day of Conference, I decided that I should share some of my favorite quotes in visual forms. Feel free to Pin these (or repin them from me!)

What were some of your favorite talks and quotes?

Y'all are free to take these, download them, post them wherever, but if it's online giving OYSMF a shout-out wouldn't be terrible. ;)

Southern Virginia Plug

Friday, April 05, 2013 General Conference , video 0 Comments

Holla atcha girl 0:07/0:08 seconds in to 0:12.

Look out for this ad on BYUtv during General Conference this weekend!

And oh, don't you worry, there will be much ado about GenConf on OYSMF and over on Twitter (@oysmf), so follow along for some fun!

Assigned to Labor!

Thursday, April 04, 2013 Sister Missionary 2 Comments

Big news, ladies and gentlemen.

Well, for me, not for you.
(Sorry/not sorry.)

My call has been assigned!

That means that within the next week and a half, I will find a big white envelope in my mailbox that will contain my call. And after that I will have an MTC report date. I will have things to buy. I will have somewhere amazing to dream myself in every night. I will still have a semester to finish and a graduation to attend, but that hardly matters in comparison to this.

This, my friends, is real life.

Sometime yesterday, an apostle of the Lord looked at my papers (and my picture) and assigned me a place to labor.

Somewhere, a mission president is or already has been told of my presence. They know me and are expecting me.

Somewhere, a black name tag is being made with Sister Broadbent at the top in bold white letters. (Or maybe Hermana or Sœur or some other language).

Somewhere, my mission call is being typed and printed, and the other things that come in that big white envelope are being assembled so that they can be sent off to me.

Somewhere, there are people whose hearts are growing closer and closer to a place where me, Sister/Hermana/Sœur/Whatever Broadbent, will be able to teach them about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Here in Buena Vista, Virginia, my stomach is in knots and I'm always two minutes away from a breakdown of the best kind.

It's coming. I can feel it.

Here's to one step closer to being a sister missionary.

And for you sisters who have been struggling, and waiting, and crying, and doing all of the things that lead up to serving a mission, I just want to let you know that you can do it. I spent seven months of my twenty-first year of life doing the same thing. I know what that's like to be unsure about everything.

But let me tell you, eventually it will become a reality, and can I just say that I have never felt an excitement that's so stressful and nerve-wracking, yet incredible, as this?

There is no greater call!

Guest Post, RM Style

Monday, April 01, 2013 Guest Post , Mission Life 0 Comments

Easter

Monday, April 01, 2013 Easter , Faith , Love 0 Comments

I know it's not Easter any more, but I still can't let the day pass by without saying something.

If you're like me, meaning poor and in college, the holidays are very different. I've been lucky enough to be able to go home for Christmas and Thanksgiving while I've been at school, but Easter has been all mine to do on my own.

One year a few friends and I went out to the countryside and had a picnic and drove around, falling in love with Virginia's rolling hills. This year, I went to church, ate a chicken burrito and a piece of a giant Reese's Easter egg, took an impromptu nap, then video chatted my family.

Compared to Easters past it wasn't very festive, but we all know that it's not the candy and the Easter eggs that matter.

It was a Fast Sunday in my ward today because of General Conference next week and Stake Conference the week following, and I wanted to bear my testimony but didn't.

I wish I had. Take it from me, the girl who can count the number of times she has bore testimony in sacrament meeting on one hand: never give up an opportunity to share your testimony. It's for your benefit more than it is for anyone else's, because by bearing your testimony you solidify it, you discover that you really do have faith and by sharing that, you strengthen it.

But since I didn't bear my testimony in sacrament meeting, I'd like to share it here, if that's okay.