"What, therefore, may seem now to be mere unconnected pieces of tile will someday, when we look back, take form and pattern, and we will realize that God was making a mosaic. For there is in each of our lives this kind of divine design, this pattern, this purpose that is in the process of becoming, which is continually before the Lord but which for us, looking forward, is sometimes perplexing."-Neal A. Maxwell

I love this quote! It comes from this talk which I have come to adore. Both of my roommates (Kristina and Bahaar) gave talks this Sunday and both included an element that I thought was interesting- that we need to have faith in God's timing. Yes, I know I struggle with this massively. So I like that we keep plodding on step by step and that one day we can look back and see how everything that once caused us sorrow and pain led us to the beautiful life. But I also like the idea of finding joy in the journey today. LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL! And we need to remember that even in our off days. Anyways, now off of my philosophical pedestal and onto some more brief updates/pictures:

• Banana bread/ rain- My home teacher from last Fall/Winter makes THE most amazing banana bread and last Tuesday, I REALLY wanted some. So I coerced him into making some with my roomies and I. We added strawberries and chocolate chips and it was DELICIOUS! It also started raining so we got to dance in the rain. (This may not seem like a big deal but it rarely rains in Provo, so it was exciting.) There was also a really pretty rainbow which just made me really happy!
• Ice-cream/Matt Damon- Yes all of those do have something in common: my Friday night. So on Friday night, Jessica, Angel, Berg and I were super bored. So we went over to Race,Ray and Ler's (his name is actually Tyler, but he calls me Kels, therefore I had to give him a shortened nickname) apartment to see what they were doing. They weren't home, but the door was unlocked... needless to say we were toliet papering them when Race walked in. Berg BOOKED it out of there as soon as she heard the door and it was one of the funniest things ever. Luckily Race wasn't going to rat us out. Unforunately, it turns out Ray had been in a car outside his apartment THE WHOLE TIME, watching us... So cool beans. That's okay though! Luckily for us, they still wanted to hang out so we went to the Malt Shoppe to get ice cream. Eventually it was decided that we would watch Bourne Identity (which was quite alright with me seeing as Matt looks beautiful in that movie) and I think I only made less than 20 comments about how much I loved him/wanted to kiss him. Definitely commendable.... Anyways, it turned out to be quite the night because Jessica slept over so we stayed up all night talking about boys (what else would we do?!?!)
• Saturday of Sun- This past Saturday, Jo, Bahaar and I all did Butt Bible Level 3! It was incredible! I love me some workout. Anyways, afterwards Jo and I decided to go to the pool to swim/get tan. Let's be real here, I NEVER tan. But that's okay. After three hours of this, we picked up all of our other roomies and headed to our ward slip 'n' slide. Basically what happens with this is there is a huge hill in Rock Canyon park (located behind the temple and actually is at the base of the mountain where we went bouldering) and the families back there put a black tarp and hose down the hill and off you go. It was super fun and I only freaked out the first time I did it (but let's face reality here, I screamed every time). Race then suggested we go to the pool which everyone did. Everyone was playing games (except me because even though my dad apparently 'taught' me to swim, I actually can't... Love ya dad!) Anyways, I just kind of chilled which is okay because I was pretty sun beat. We then hit up Red Robin where we very much overwhelmed our waiter but it was super fun being around everyone. Race and I talked about our love of Kayne West's "Gold Digger," but we couldn't remember the lyrics, so we went to his apartment and thugged it up. Also, as a side note, I DID get a little tan :) We then watched Bourne Supremacy making Jessica super happy! (She doesn't really like action movies but we made her watch the second one!) She's so cute!
• Provo Canyon BBQ/Blind Side- Sunday was great because both of my roommates gave excellent talks! They were so great! I also got extended a new calling (which I won't reveal at this time because I haven't been sustained) that I AM SUPER EXCITED ABOUT because I get to work with some of my favorite people. After church, Bryce, Chase (they used to be in our ward) and all of my roomies drove up to Vivian park and had a BBQ. Luckily we brought men because they made us some delicious burgers to add to Berg's delicious peanut butter cookies. (I may or may not have had more than 3 cookies...). We also went in the river even though it was freezing. Afterwards, we headed out to what I am just now going to refer to as our "Daily Hang Out With the Ward" activity which was watching the Blind Side. There was a zillion people there though so it was pretty hot and made me claustrophobic. On the plus side, I love that movie!
• FHE-Paint Twister/game night. Last name my FHE mom, who happens to be my roomie Kristina, planned a paint Twister night which was super fun but also super messy. Like most of our nights, we ended up having a dance party to the likes of M.I.A. and One Direction (so classy, I know) which promptly ended when I screamed "Take me on a date!" out the window and realized we knew the guys we were screaming too. *side note here* I really haven't done anything THAT embarassing this week and it's kind of shocking. Anyways,we ended the night with a crazy game night involving Signs and music. FUN! :)
• President Uch- I know you are thinking, "Seriously Kelsey, how many times are you going to mention this man?" To answer your question, pretty much every post. Today I had this dream where I met Uchtdorf on campus and totally started crying when he hugged me. Yeah, most people, including my mother, thinks this is highly weird because I love him so much. So I decided to explain WHY I love him so much so less people think this is creepy. Below is a list of reasons why I love him:
• I am a words of affirmation girl, meaning that I LOVE researching quotes and talks to help buoy my spirits. Uchtdorf speaks my language. Seriously. It's like everything he ever writes is written directly to comfort me. I almost have his "Happily Ever After" talk memorized because I listen to/read it so much.
• He RESPECTS women. And I am not saying other guys (mainly other General Authorities don't because I absolutely know that's not true!) don't but he just is so cute about his wife Harriet. Seriously I want my future relationship to be like that. Someone who respects me is at THE top of my "Future Qualities I Want in a Husband" list (Or should I say lists because you always make so many of them in Young Womens)/
• He flies planes. I just think that is so cool because I've always wanted to know how to fly a plane. Also, I really appreciate his flying metaphors.
• He is extremely attractive for an older man.
• He has an accent.
• He has insecurities and he mentions them in conference, thus making me feel okay.
• He has beautiful writing. All of his talks are so eloquent which is super cool because English is his second language.
• He was persistent in trying to marry Harriet. I know this seems weird but I love that he loved her enough from the beginning that he didn't quit trying to date her. (Seeing as I am ALWAYS a quitter, especially when it comes to people not liking me, I love this about him).
• He seems like such a regular guy. Like you could approach him anywhere and he would be the nicest, sincerest man ever.
• He wrote me back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am sure I could come up with more reasons, but that's it for now! Anyways, maybe this just added to why people think I am too obsessive about him, but I just wanted to clarify! Onto some pics:


Provo Canyon BBQ this past Sunday!



Let's just say it was good for Bryce and Chase!

Watching Bourne with Jessica and Angel. They're awesome!

Everyday we're boulderin'

We watched the men's soccer game then watched the fireworks on the field!

Berg, Angel, Jo, me, and Bahaar bouldering! Kristina couldn't make it! :(

Angel, me and Jo!

Nearly half our ward at Red Robin!

Chase (look at that face!) and Berg!

Roomies! (including our adopted roommate Jessica!)

Actual proof that I went bouldering!

President Uchtdorf and Harriet! Seriously adorable!

Anyways, the past few days has been glorious. To end, I would just like to share one other quote from Maxwell's talk:

"This is necessary, not only so that our own passage through the trial can be a growth experience, but also because (more than we know) there are always people watching to see if we can cope, who therefore may resolve to venture forth and to cope themselves. Every time we navigate safely on the strait and narrow way, there are other ships that are lost which can find their way because of our steady light."

I absolutely love the fact that if we are continuing to be good examples that we can help others. It's kind of a random tangent, but I believe being the best "you" you can be will get you further than anything else.

So yeah. Life's great (minus the fact that my roomie Berg is in Arizona)

Kels