Day #43: Religious, Southern, Trailer-born, Middle-Child Finds Joy, Confidence, and Love.

A TRAILER PARK -- 
My dad always says, "You can take the people out of the trailer, but you can't take the trailer out of the people."  I was born while my dad was finishing school at BYU in what was then the BYU married student trailer park at Wyview.  During this time, my dad was going to school and working while my mom stayed at home with my older sister and I.  My parents had to sacrifice so much to make this possible, but their example and the way that they raised us through this time has shaped who I am today.  First of all, this has impacted how I view the important things in life.  Because of my parents example, I find it so important to put the important things in life first: God, family, and people being at the top of the list.  Although we didn't have much during this time, my sister and I wanted for nothing.  We were children who knew laughter, dancing, music, and great joy!  Again, this trailer park instilled in us the knowledge that material goods are not the key to happiness, but rather righteousness, laughter, and family.




$10,000+ DOLLARS --

I worked very hard while I was growing up even though I did not have a steady job with a set income.  I babysat a lot and mowed my lawn on occasion, but mostly, I worked hard at school.  My mom told me that if I worked at it, I would be able to get scholarships and school would be my job.  While school and education in and of itself was always important to me, I always had another secret dream that motivated my desire to succeed: to travel and study abroad.  However, such a goal would cost a great price.  As I came to school, I continued to work towards my goal and was extremely blessed to be able to go to the BYU Jerusalem center over this past summer and had enough financial support to be able to accomplish this goal.  This experience and the Holy Land changed my life.  Through the people I met, the experiences that I had, and the places I visited, I learned more about myself and about life.  I gained a love for a people I had never met before and developed a desire to serve and connect to more peoples of the world who have different cultures than my own.  Most importantly, this experience strengthened my testimony, which is at the heart of who I am.  This wonderful place is where my Savior lived, taught, walked, died, and arose.  I came to know Him, and I am continually trying to put Him, His Father, and their gospel at the center of my life.  This experience definitely helped me continue on this path. The $10,000+, though a large chunk of money, got me on a life shaping adventure that I will forever be grateful for, and is representative of my belief in hard work, blessings, my Savior, and the confidence that I gained from this experience.




A PAIR OF JEANS --

In between my freshman and sophomore years of high school, my family moved from Georgia to Utah.  This move across the country rocked my world; it was culture shock.  The weekend after we moved was youth conference.  Because we had to wear long pants, and all of our pants were in boxes, we almost did not get to go.  However, our young women's leader stopped by our house and told us that she was going to take us to the D.I. to buy some jeans so that we would be able to attend this youth conference. While we were at this conference, we met a girl named Jillian who was moving to Indiana.  Jillian introduced me to a girl that would be going to my high school named Kirsten.  Kirsten ended up introducing me to people who would change my life forever.  The friends that she introduced me to taught me so much about what it means to love.  They taught me what it meant to have good fun and gave me the opportunity to practice being an example and to practice uplifting and loving.  These people shaped the way that I look at people and my desire for close friendships.  I will forever be grateful for the leader who saw fit to take me to buy a pair of jeans.  These jeans are symbolic of Heavenly Father's hand in my life and how I believe that He has blessed me with the experiences in life that I need when I need them.