New Beginnings Indeed

I'm gonna have to start doing daily blogs as much stuff has been happening lately. Today was my baptism and tomorrow is my confirmation. It was just so wonderful.
President Evans presided, Ashton conducted, Amanda played piano and Toren conducted. They were great.
I picked "I Am a Child of God" and "Ring Out, Wild Bells" as my hymns. I love those songs. Sammy was so sweet as he did the Talk on Baptism. "How are you?" he asked like he was just any other guy.
"You're so mean," I responded. I love that boy. I kept smiling as he spoke and I felt so much joy and he expressed how proud he was. My grandmother did the Talk of the Holy Ghost and she really did bring a tear to my eye as she talked about her experiences. I couldn't wait for a day that I could say similar things to maybe my child or my child's child. I love her. My grandfather baptized me.
The water was cold on the surface, warm below. As I fell through the cold water into the warm water under its surface, I didn't physically open my eyes but I felt as if I could see above me, like a small tunnel with a faint glow at the end. I came up and I gasped, staring in front of me for a while as the water dripped from my hair and into my eyes. I laughed.
I wrote my testimony ahead of time and this is what I wrote:

“Now, we will compare the word unto a seed.  Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves – It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.”

-          Alma 32:28

            The Sister Missionary watched me as I read these words from her Book of Mormon and when I finished, she asked me, “Does that apply to what you’ve been through?”

            I half smiled and I told her, “Pretty much word for word.”

            I must think of that moment every day now and of all days, especially today. It was one day before three weeks into my “investigation” of the church and it was the moment where I knew in my heart that this day would happen.

            The seed wasn’t planted then as I’ve come to realize but instead, has laid dormant for years as it must lay in us all until we realize it needs watering and for us to open up enough for it to get the sunlight. I learned a little; it was watered. I read some; it was fertilized. I prayed a lot and the sunlight nearly blinded me. It burned away my fears and my meaningless worries and it left behind a small green plant that at first I didn’t know what to do with.  And as it grew, so did I. As it changed, I changed a little. I grew happier. I worried less. I even found new friendships.

            But all of these things were nothing to the new knowledge I had come to know. I woke one morning and instead of waking grudgingly, thinking about what I had to do that day, I thought something I felt very unusual at first. I thought, “How lucky are we to live in a time where we have the Atonement made by Jesus Christ, rather than in a time before it.” And as I’ve been learning of Baptisms and Baptisms of the Dead, I think, “How lucky are we to live in a time after the Restoration of this church, rather than before it.” And I’m glad to be alive in this day and age. I’m glad to be baptized today.

            So I must say, “It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.” And I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

As I read the scripture, I was surprised that I didn't stammer once as I read them. I usually stammer over the unusual grammar and phrases in the Book of Mormon or the Bible but this morning, I felt the words slide across my tongue smoothly.

After the baptism, we munched on cookies brought by Sister Evans and we talked. I overheard several guys telling Sammy, "You got a good girl there," They don't know that I'm the lucky one. And before we left, Sammy and I kissed and several Sisters behind us made lil' noises. "Now I don't have to ask!" one cried. Lol. Its so funny.

So yeah, my confirmation is tomorrow. Sammy's gonna do that too. He's great. And yes, for those who haven't quite gotten it yet, we've been dating officially a week now but by as much time as we've spent together, its been more like three.

Christmas and New Years

Wow, did the holidays fly on by. It's kinda insane, you know? I mean, its just crazy.

Christmas was small, just the immediate family. Unusually, my family got me a Nintendo DS for Christmas and my best friend, Nakia got me some games to go along with it. I also got a gold angel necklace with the Angel Prayer on the back of it. I haven't taken the necklace off since I got it and I'm nearly addicted to Nintendogs and I've gotten halfway through Kingdom Hearts. Can't wait to finish it.
The next Sunday, I got to talking to this guy, Sammy D, during the Munch and Mingle after church. He asked me if I was going Swing Dancing. I had to stop and think. This guy has sat next to me during the last two Sundays during Gospel Principles class and now he was talking to me about a dance on Friday. I looked up at him and thought, "Dude, you're flirting with me, aren't you?" It had been a while, but I still know how to flirt. Stupid giggling. A lot of "Oh, really?"s. And a bit of that thing where you pay attention to someone else while they're talking. I still have no idea why this works and most of the time I'm doing it by accident. Boys are weird.
So he was to pick me up at 7:30 and we'd go dancing. But until then, I was left questioning, was this a date or just a Mormon boy being nice and going out to hang out?
New Years Eve came and Nakia and I took a lil trip out to Old Sacramento to participate in the festivities. While there, we got a couple of quotes from tattoo artists and I've finally picked mine. We're hoping to get an appointment for Jan 15. Can't wait.
While in Old Sac, Sammy called. Now we were going to dinner. Date, no doubt now. lol.
So Nakia and I explored our favorite place and you'd be amazed how packed this place is on New Years Eve. Especially "Candy Heaven." It was difficult to move around while sampling my favorite caramels.
Sammy picked me up at 6 and we went to dinner, talking more than eating, and then it was off to this old Dance Studio in Downtown Sac on K Street, not far from Old Sac. The first hour consisted of a lesson where they taught us the dance. It was an old school dance, the kind you see on TV during old 50s movies. Some people were even doing the Charleston. It was insane and I was sooooo bad at it! And him! He could have told me before I began to embarrass myself that he's been doing this since he was 14! 8 years of dance?!
I finally started to the hang of it and on the dance floor upstairs, he showed me some more moves, complicating this already complicated dance even further. It was way too much fun! I loved it, even when I was messing up. At the end of each song, he'd spin me in so that his arm was around me and my back was to him and we'd stay like that until we caught our breaths. When my feet began to hurt or when his ankle began to give trouble, we'd find a seat and talk. He told me how his parents met and how he was born in France, the youngest of six.
Five minutes until the ball dropped, we were all given a glass of sparkling cider and outside the window, the fireworks over Old Sac started. I've stayed up for a lot of New Years but I've never really enjoyed it like this. It was just: "It's dropping.... it's done? Okay, going to bed."
We kept dancing until 12:30 before deciding to go home. We sat in the car in front of my house for I don't know how long, listening to music and talking. When on my front porch step, I took the move.... and missed. I hugged him and reached up, kissing him on the corner of his mouth. It was dark and that hid the embarrassment. It was 2 in the morning when I walked in.
The whole ten months I was with Umiker, I never had a date that was so much fun. I mean, we never even went to prom or out to eat. It was always just hanging at his house, in his room, watching TV or being made fun of.
I'm going hiking with Sammy tomorrow. I can't wait.
Oh! And I've picked the date for my baptism! So I hope to see you all at the Weismann building on Jan 22, 11am!
Well, now I have to start my new commission piece. $110.00, sweet huh?