Church emails are inspired!

Real quick- another story about prayer! 
Lately I have been feeling like my prayers aren't sincere enough. I feel like it's the same thing over and over again. But I just didn't know what else to pray for or about. So one night, I prayer to my Heavenly Father to help me make my prayers more sincere.
The answer came the next day. 
I get emails from the church every day with some kind of quote of scripture. 
The day after I had said that prayer I got the email that said this- 

"In reality, there aren’t many things in a day that are totally without significance. Even the mundane and repetitious can be tiny but significant building blocks that in time establish the discipline and character and order needed to realize our plans and dreams. Therefore, as you ask in prayer for your daily bread, consider thoughtfully your needs—both what you may lack and what you must protect against. As you retire to bed, think about the successes and failures of the day and what will make the next day a little better. And thank your Heavenly Father for the manna He has placed along your path that sustained you through the day."

Enough said I think ;) 

Lifesaver.

Prayer can be a literal lifesaver! I can't even explain to you how much I truly believed that- and believe it even more now. 

Our dog Sandee loves to get on the roof. My window doesn't have a screen and my nightstand is right next to it, so she can get out pretty easily if the window is open. 

Well on Thursday it was a super hot day. I'm saying like BLAZING hot! Sandee wanted to go out on the roof. I didn't want to let all the cool air out (lesson learned- I need to stop being so selfish), so I decided that I would just let her out there and then close the window, thinking- oh, I'll just let her back in in a little while. 

But guess what? Of course I forgot about her.

I then went shopping with my sister and some friends. We were gone for about 4 hours. About 10min after we got home a lady comes to the door really concerned telling us that we had a dog on our roof. We told her, oh, she does that all the time. She just likes it up there. Then, I started to freak out! I had left her out there for more than 4 hours in the middle of the day on a super hot day! We ran upstairs and called her name. She wasn't coming. We started to freak out. I was thinking, crap, she jumped off and killed herself (really this is not logical, Sandee is way to smart for that). After about 3min of calling her we see her come around the side of the house and she is walking so slowly and with a limp. It was one of the most heartbreaking things that I have ever seen. I felt like a complete jerk and idoit (well, I should have- and still do). 

I'm just grateful for that women. I know that she was guided by the spirit to come and tell us that, and I'm so glad that she listened. 

Finally she got back in and she felt like she'd been cooked to death. We quickly got her some water that she gulped down as fast as she could. Then, she threw up half of it a minute later. Because she was so hot we put her near a vent on her favorite pillow in my mom's room to rest. I felt so bad. I was just laying in there petting her and I prayed so hard to my Heavenly Father to just let her be able to cool down and rest. The second I opened my eyes she was sound asleep. 

For the next few days we thought she was going to die. I was literally preparing myself mentally. Besides that, I felt like an awful person. Every time I would look at her a sick feeling would enter the pit of my stomach.

She walked like she was 200 years old and wouldn't do anything. She walked with a limp in her back leg and the pads of her feet were super burned she could barely walk anywhere. She wouldn't bark, eat, drink, or do anything. It was really sad because normally she is crazy and active. 

My mom almost took her to the vet on Friday morning because she thought she was done for. But then she looked it up online and started giving her half water half gatorade through a syringe every 30min. That actually seemed to help. She got better and better. And by Sunday afternoon she was pretty much back to her regular self! 

Now you are probably thinking- what the heck does this have to do with prayer. Well- for one- the little story about me praying for her in there. Second- all my family had been praying for her and she got better! It was kind of a miracle. Third- well, this doesn't really have to do with prayer. But Heavenly Father was sure looking out for us when she sent that lady to come and tell us about Sandee. We are 99% sure she would have died up there. Or at least died from the effects once we found her. 

As I'm writing this, a quote comes to mind that I just love. 


"God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs."


That is just the first part of it, and I know it has to do with serve. But i think that this applies here!

Wicked!

We got tickets to see Wicked for Christmas last year. But, it wasn't until July! So, it was a LOOONGGG wait! Yesterday was the day! We got to see it!
We know a lot of the songs, but we didn't actually know the story line. Boy were we surprised! It was beyond amazing! Besides that, it was hilarious! I wouldn't hesitate for even a second to go again right now to see it. It was completely worth the wait! :) We went with the Gocken's because Cindy was the one that found the tickets way back when and told my mom about them. Let's just say, it was the perfect present for us!
We went to dinner and did some shopping before. It was so much fun :)

Man. I really do love life! :D

Sometimes I think about really weird stuff.

This time when my mind wandered I thought- "Am I afraid to die?"

It was kind of a weird one, I'd never really thought about it surprisingly.

But- you know what- I really am not afraid to die. That is all because of my religion. We never learn that death is a scary thing or that we should be afraid. All I know is that when I die, I get to see a lot of people that I love again. Who would be afraid of that? I also get to be a missionary! Come on. Let's be real. Best things ever! So I could see why a lot of people would be really afraid of dying, but not me! I wish I could tell everyone to not be afraid because really, it's a lot better up there! Not that down here is bad, because I love it down here as well! I can't imagine how it is up there!

A little more about Primary! :)

I love being in Primary! I say that a lot, but I really do! They told all the Primary kids to pray for rain because of the fires. So they did in their prayers in Primary and I’m sure a lot of them did in their own prayers. But it rained the week they told all of them to pray! It was so cute because the next week in Primary all the kids were so excited because their prayers worked! It had rained and the fires were out! It was amazing to see their strong faith in their Father in Heaven. It just shows that Heavenly Father answers and hears ALL of our prayers, especially the kids. :) 

When push comes to shove

I don't care what anyone thinks (including my mom) Rascal Flatts is the best band out there. The end. I love every single one of their songs and the lyrics are phenomenal. 

So! I was listening to them right now and I just love the lyrics to the song "Stand" but especially the chorus! 

Cause when push comes to shove

You taste what you're made of

You might bend, till you break

Cause its all you can take

On your knees you look up

Decide you've had enough

You get mad you get strong

Wipe your hands shake it off

Then you Stand

Ya. That's it. It's pretty good stuff. 

Flaming Gorge 2012!

You know how much we love this place! This year was especially fun and probably one of the most memorable for a lot of my family!

I'll just explain in a short time and I'll only post some of the pictures (I have 339 I'm not posting all of those). 

Friday- 

Long fun drive. 

Got there. 

Set up camp. 

Thought we stabbed a turtle. 

Lake. 

Food. 

Food. 

Ate. 

Stuffed the floaties in the car. 

Washoos. 

4square.

You can't stop the beat. 

Games.

Took a million pictures while talking. 

Slept. 

Slept. 

Peed. 

Slept. 

Saturday-

Lake. 

Floated. 

Rock throwing contest. 

Ate. 

Ate. 

Danced. 

Slept. 

Washoos! 

4 square. 

Games. 

Rain. 

Wind. 

Chin people. 

You can't stop the beat. 

Sunday- 

Church. 

Showers.

Games. 

Hike. 

Games. 

4 square. 

Badmitten. 

Washooes. 

Fire. 

Smores. 

Singing. 

Singing. 

Singing. 

Testimonies. 

Crying. 

Slept. 

Slept. 

Slept. 

Monday- 

Early. 

River. 

Fishing. 

Moses. 

Sunglasses. 

Titanic. 

Lizzie Mcguire. 

Lizzie Mcguire. 

Fail. 

Empors New Grove. 

Food. 

Lodge. 

Food. 

Games. 

4 square. 

Sleep. 

Sleep 

Sleep. 

Tuesday- 

Hike. 

Canyon. 

Injuries. 

Stream. 

Lake. 

Cliff Diving. 

Cliff Diving. 

Floating. 

Ice Cream. 

Lodge. 

Packing up. 

Sad. 

Sad. 

Sad. 

So! That's pretty much it! We did a lot of eating and playing games and water! We love it every year! :) I think I missed a bunch of stuff. But it was a blast! 

But! The best part was when we sat around the camp fire. First- singing girls camp songs, then we moved into church songs. The spirit was so strong as all of us tone deaf Calder girls sang our hearts out. We cried. Then Austin got up and shared his testimony as well as some others. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. It was by far the best Sunday we have every had up there! I can't wait till next year! I already want to go back! :)