Journals and New Beginnings

Two of my all time favorite books are:

Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

and

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl


Both of these books are written as a journal is letter format. I highly recommend both books, because they are not only entertaining, but truly inspire you to be a better person yourself. Part of the reason why I started to keep a journal was because of the influence that these books had on me. The thought that maybe some day somebody would read what I wrote and be as entertained and inspired as I was by these books, was something that I admired and that I still aspire to.

Anne Frank writes that "Paper is more patient than man". What a true statement. I know that my life has been greatly blessed by the patience of paper. I love being able to sit down at the end of the day and record some of my own thoughts and experiences interrupted. Anne Frank goes on to say "I hope I shall be able to confide in you completely, as I have never been able to do in anyone before, and I hope that you will be a great support and comfort to me".

Today is November 1st. The beginning of a new month, and a chance to make this month better than the last. Both Anne Frank and Jeri Spinelli wrote in their books about beginnings and trying to be better.
"I love beginnings. If I were in charge of calendars, every day would be January 1. And what better way to celebrate this New Year's Day than to begin writing a letter." -Love Stargirl
"How noble and good everyone could be if, every evening before falling asleep, they were to recall to their minds the events of the whole day and consider exactly what has been good and bad. Then, without realizing it, you try to improve yourself at the start of each new day; of course, you achieve quite a lot in the course of time. Anyone can do this, it costs nothing and is certainly very helpful."

I love the first day of each month, as well as every Sunday(the beginning of each week). It really is a chance to hit the Reset button and try again. You can learn from the past and look forward to the future. At the end of every day I write 10 things in my journal that were good that day. I know that this has blessed my life because it gives me a chance to be grateful for the good things in my life, and look past the things that may have caused grief or frustration. Its been interesting to read back in my journal and remember the little things that made me laugh or that I enjoyed. Things like a warm shower, eating a really good breakfast, talking to a friend, or listening to music in the car with the windows down. All blessing, and all good things.

Here are a couple of my own entries in my Study Journal and Gratitude Journal.

July 31, 2011
1 Nephi 2
"I started reading The Book of Mormon again yesterday, July 30th, 2011."
"1 Nephi 2:15 'And my Father dwelt in a tent'. I remember that one week in church when I was younger, I was assigned to give the scripture in Primary. Mom was out with one of the kids or home sick, so I asked Dad to help me pick a scripture after sacrament meeting. Of course, being Dad, he opens up to 1 Nephi 2:15 and asked if that was an okay scripture. I remember being so annoyed that he though that would be a good scripture to share in primary and told him to 'pick a real scripture'. He was pretty amused with himself, I was not. I love my Dad"


August 6, 2011
1 Nephi 9
"9:5-6 Just as it states in verse 5, there are times in our life that we will not understand what God is doing in our lives, or why he is allowing us to go through a trial; but verse 6 is the answer. There is a plan and a purpose in all things. There is always something that we can learn in every trial or experience that we have. We just need to find out what it is. Our Heavenly Father is not a God of random acts. He is a God of love and purpose. He wants so badly to help us so that we can raturn to him. Sometimes that means that we will struggle, feel hurt, lonely, or lost, but it is all for our benefit. Every tear, every heartache, and every moment of stress will be returned ten fold in blessings if we will just endure and be patient. There is a time for everything. Not two people are on the same schedule here on the earth, so don't compare yourself to others. Just have faith and trust in the plan that Heavenly Father has for you. He loves you!"

September 20, 2011
Jacob 4
"4:6-By searching the scriptures and recognizing the many witnesses of Christ, we can obtain Hope and develop unshakeable Faith."
"4:10 We have access to the most understanding and wise individual in the universe. All we have to do to receive advice, guidance, counsel and reassurance is get on our knees, exercise faith and pray. He hears and answers our prayers."
"4:13-We have access to the ultimate search engine through prayer, scriptures, and the spirit. Any questions we may have about life can be asked, and answered (or found) through one of these three resources. I promise that you can find absolute truth in the scriptures. You can receive a witness of truth from the spirit. And prayer is the ultimate lifeline to receive counsel on any subject, topic, question, or trial that we may come across in this life. The best thing about these 3 resources is that they are all free and work as efficiently as we will let them."
"Use your resources! Pass the test!"
"Set a goal to pray EVERY day, morning and night and to read your scriptures EVERY day."
"If you aren't sure how the spirit speaks to you, this week is a good time to figure it out. Pray that you will recognize the spirit in your life"

November 1, 2011
1. It rained a ton this morning. I love rain!
2. It was cold enough to have apple cider, which is my favorite warm drink. So good.
3. I got my public health reading done, which is always kind of a miracle.
4. President Thomas S. Monson spoke at the BYU devotional today. It was really good. He even quoted Lion King!
5. David came over and we talked about his trip to Hawaii. He is a really good guy. I'm grateful for his example and testimony.
6. Work was a little bit slower today, so I was able to get some of my compliance training done.
7. I went to my Marketing Management test review tonight. I'm feeling pretty good about this midterm test.
8. After my review I went to Jake and Jen's to study Preach my Gospel with them and Jen's cousin Kayla. I'm learning lots.
9. It is the 1st of the month! I love beginnings!
10. When I got home from work today Mia, Meg, and Milo were at the house. When Meg saw me she yelled my name so loud and ran right to me to give me a huge hug. It totally made my day!