sixteen year olds;

Sixteen year olds can be pretty fantastic. For example, Lauren Alaina is sixteen and right now is in the Top Five on American Idol. I can't think of many more off the top of my head but one I can think of, and is actually the reason why I'm talking about this, is Mormon. I just read the book of Mormon (not the whole book...just the nine chapters...I don't know what else to call it). In the second chapter it talks about how when he's only sixteen he leads an army of Nephites against the Lamanites...and wins. If he's not awesome, I don't know what else he is. The Nephites were outnumbered AND were being led by a sixteen-year-old.

I vow to be that awesome when I am sixteen.





Now Personal Progress, something I feel like I haven't talked about for a while.
I just finished the Doctrine and Covenants last night, as well as the Joseph Smith History, which is part of the deal. I only have two more scripture masteries to finish and then I'm done with knowledge! :)
Also, I have finished ALL of my experiences. Nope, not just some...ALL.
Last Friday, I babysat for my young women's leader, Sister Ordyna for free and passed off my last Good Works experience. It felt good to do that for them and it was fun for me. I love babysitting kids. They're so cute and pure and fun and I'm really the one getting the benefit from it. Unbeknowest to me though, Sister Ordyna brought me a little gift on Sunday and I was grateful for that.

So, as of now, I need to finish my Choice and Accountability project (which I will tell you about) and the Book of Mormon. I only have less than forty pages left in the Book of Mormon which is beyond crazy. I'm really liking it though. I didn't really pay attention in the beginning like I wish I had. It was late...I was tired...It's written funny...I don't know what they're talking about...I just read three chapters and realized I have no idea what happened..............These are all things that went through my mind. Not until the end of Alma, though, did I really start paying attention the stories and the messages in it. The two-thousand Stripling Warriors have always been a favorite story of mine and that's what really made me start paying attention. I can't wait to read it again so I can learn the stories and apply the messages to my life better and more.

My Choice and Accountability project is a scrapbook about my choice to get married and sealed in the temple. I'm making it online and I just started last Saturday but I'm already really liking it. I'll try posting some pictures I sent to my sister on here...even though my sister is the only one reading this, probably. Not the point... Nope, it didn't work. Hey, Vanessa, a little help?

Anyways, it's super cool.

helaman 12:3

I was reading the Book of Mormon a few days ago and this scripture stood out to me:

Helaman 12:3:
And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth cisit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him.

I really feel like this scripture can apply to a lot of people. People will ask why? Why would our Father let something like this happen to me? Why would he let me go through this pain? Why? And this scripture is the answer to those questions. And it's so true. If life is going good, if all your bills are paid, if you just received a promotion, it's super easy to think that you don't need anyone to help you. It's super easy to believe that you can handle things on your own, I mean, look how far you've come, right? But the only reason anyone gets that far is through our Father. The only reason anyone is HERE is because our Father. It's super easy, as soon as things start to get rough, as soon as you lose your job, or you get in a bad accident, to look towards Him. It's a little thing called the pride cycle that reaccurs a lot in the Book of Mormon and throughout history. People will be righteous and because of that, they'll prosper, and then because of that, they'll become prideful, and not look towards God, and then fall. It's a never-ending circle.

So, the reasons He gives us afflictions and hardships is because He LOVES us, not because He's punishing us. He wants us to look back to Him to gain salvation.

I'm grateful for that, that He cares enough for me to put me through these tests, to help bring me back to Him.

A Brother of Mine; My Value Project for Faith

A Brother of Mine

I have a brother, quite a hero of mine.

He has a certain way of keeping me in line.

I have my ups and my downs, but for him, never.

He’s up no matter what, He’ll be perfect forever.

He’s humble, grateful, loving, and kind.

He even healed the sick, the lame, and the blind.

I strive to be like Him, everyday.
To perfect myself, like Him, I silently pray.

He’s the perfect example of everything good,

Reminding me of all things, to do, I should.

I am a daughter of a King, a God,

And so, I promise to hold to the iron rod.

He’s the shepherd of his herd, the light of the world,

Waving the banner of His gospel, proudly unfurled.

I don’t know all things, I don’t even know a lot;

But I know, because of his love, alone I am not.

The world is full of darkness, hatred, and sin…

But in the battle over evil, I know good will win.

In moments that I can feel the Spirit near,

If I listen really hard, I hear His whisperings in my ear.

To love Christ is to love everyone,

For the amount of people He doesn’t love is none.

Service and charity are all part of the job;

He gave us everything; helping others is our way not to rob.

Of all the money I earn, I pay ten percent,

Knowing that everything that I have was from him to me, lent.

This gospel means the world to me,

And I hope I can worthy be.

Bringing this joy to others is the mission of many;

It doesn’t matter who they are, the Lord accepts any.

This brother of mine is quite the one to look to,

For he tells us of all things which are true.

He would give anything for you, and He did,

To make sure that all of our ungodliness is from us rid.

He died on the Cross, among his own people.

Will we let that be in vain, or will we be the steeple,

The steeple that is high in the air, for everyone to see,

Sharing the gospel as a true example of He?

I don’t want this life to be a waste.

I want to be told that although I had many trials faced,

I stood strong, never forgetting who I was,

A daughter and a sister to two without flaws.

I am a beautiful soul, with worth beyond belief.

Knowing that I’m important to Him, brings me joyous relief.

He lives! He lives! I know that my Redeemer lives!

What comfort this sweet sentence gives.

what a good day.

Today was just a GOOD day. Overall. Enough said. First of all, I decided not to do anything with myself. Therefore, I am dressed in a t-shirt and sweats. Comfiness? Check!
Then...in seminary I figured out I only needed seven more scripture masteries which IS NOT EVEN ANY! woohoo. And by the way, I totally finished Alma last night. I'm hoping it'll seem to go faster now because Alma took so, so, so, so ridiculously long of a time. Kay, back to my story. And we were talking about what we want in our eternal companions and it just makes me happy to think about my perfect man ;). He will be a return missionary, have a good sense of humor, can cook decently, is patient with my impatience, has freckles, is worthy of the temple, and is good with children. And that's just a few. Hahaha. Just Kidding, kind of.
Then, after seminary I played a little prankie on my friend Emily Stephens. Outside of our teachers house there's always a car next to my brother's that looks like his too. And a while ago, she got in that car on accident (which is always unlocked, for some reason). So, today when we walked by it, I told her, "Hey Emily, that's our car. Get in it." She only replied, "Okay, as long as I don't have to sit in the middle." And she gets in the car. That's what I call gullible. It made me laugh though.
School was school but I DID get complimented that I was pretty twice, even in my sweats and it made me feel good. Yay for nice people. :)
I don't really know what else, but it was just a good day. Something I really needed. Plus, right now, I'm jamming to Rascal Flatts and writing, two of my favorite things. AND I'm going to try to finish Faith today.

I did the lesson in FHE last night, finishing my last faith experience, about prayer and faith. I showed one of those Mormon Messages on youtube. Type in "Thomas Monson Prayer" and it'll be the second-or-so one. It's worth it. And today, I'm going to try to finish my faith poem, which is my ten-hour project. And then I'll be DONE with faith. I love the feeling of accomplishment.  I will definiitley post this that on here when I'm done, too, even if no one is actually reading this. That's okay.

When I was reading the Doctrine and Covenants last night, I really liked this scripture: "Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you-there is no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and if any man lift his voice against you he shall be confounded in mine own due time." (71:9-10) I really like that because it lets me no that no matter if I'm feeling bad because of something someone said or did, I will always have the Lord with me.

Carlisa:)

compliments to the chef?

I, Chef Carlisa, at la Restaurante Carlisa (also known as the kitchen in my house), is making dinner this upcoming fine evening. It's actually for my Nutrition and Wellness class but there's a Personal Progress experience that tells us to make a part of dinner everynight for two weeks. Well, I'm making the ENTIRE dinner tonight. I actually already made dessert, wonderfully crafted Mint Brownies with ganache. They look/smell/hopefully-taste/feel/and-SOUND beautiful. To eat them is going to be a loud, boisterous, crazy, colorful, and obstreperous (yup, I said obstreperous) EXPLOSION of those five things we call our senses (some actually have six. don't believe me? ask bruce willis). Anyone ever seen Ratatoullie? You know when he eats the strawberry-cheese thing? That explosion of his musical senses is what's going to happen when you eat my brownies...
Sorry, I guess I went off on a rant for a bit. Well, tonight, BESIDES my wonderful brownies, I'm making chicken calzones (mmm) and fingerling potatoes. The potatoes sound funny but they're basically just miniature potatoes. I will update you on the success of the endeavours tomorrow.

The Introduction;

Personal Progress is something I used to take for granted. It's something that I used to brush off, "Oh, I have six years left." "Oh, I have five whole years to do it." "Four years is a lot of time still." This was my mindset until only a few months ago, when I realized that I only had almost two years left. I've really been going for it since then. Currently, I have only 12 value experiences left to go and 5 value projects. I'm working on one value right now and actually 3 projects, now that I've started this: four. My goal is to finish by June 9th of this year, which from today is 2 months and 3 days away. I will keep you updated as much as I can, and to share any valuable experiences that should be told.

The value I'm working on right now is Individual Worth, experience three. It asks that for two weeks, I do all I can to notice and acknowledge the worthwhile qualities and attributes of others. I really like this experience because it'll not only help myself become a better person but it'll also help other people feel good about themselves.

Although four projects sounds like a lot, it's not really. I balance them and it all works out. My Knowledge and Virtue projects are kind of connected. The project for Virtue is already decided for me, which is to read the Book of Mormon. I've been reading almost every night since around Christmastime of last year. I'm in Alma right now. For my Knowledge project, I'm trying to accomplish the "Monster" award for seminary (or so my seminary teacher likes to call it). That encompasses reading the entire Doctrine and Covenants (which I have been reading alongside my Book of Mormon), passing off all 25 scripture masteries in D&C, and having 80% attendance to seminary (which really isn't a problem for me). Right now I have 14 scripture masteries passed off and I'm in Section 45 of D&C, which is pretty good considering I only started on March 11 and it's been less than a month. For Faith, I'm working on a poem about Christ. It's not done yet and it has a lot of work to do, but I'll post it when I finish. And four: this blog. This blog is my Individual Worth project. Hopefully, the work I put into this will help me and maybe some other people who happen upon this. I also love writing and dream of being an author when I'm older so this will also help develop those skills (my INDIVIDUAL WORTH...hint).

Recently I finished my entire Integrity value (my first one all the way completed, thank you very much). For my project I found three frames at Goodwill. The end. Good idea for a project, I know. You can use it if you want, just give me credit....Just kidding, fooled some of you, huh? After I got the frames, I took a bunch of old magazines I had and cut out words or phrases that went along with Integrity and reminded me to have it. In the middle frame, I put a picture of Christ. It's on my wall now and I hope it will be a constant reminder of who I'm striving to become. (I just tried to post a picture but it's being difficult).

I also just did Individual Worth experience 2, which is basically to learn about patriarchal blessings and then to prepare to recieve your own. I really want to recieve mine because it's personal revelation from my Father to me. Not to everyone, not to our own church, but ME: small, simple, yet He knows me. Individually. That makes me feel so important in His plan and I cannot wait until I get it. It also helps that my sister's father-in-law in the patriarch so I already know him ;)...

-Carlisa Johanna Cramer
BTW: I go by Carli. I just think Carlisa looks a lot cooler so I'll probably write that out most of the time.