Easter Morning

Today was Easter Sunday, and while my husband and I didn't do eggs, or a big fancy dinner or anything like that, it was still a beautiful day. This morning as I walked to church, the sun was still behind the mountains, so it wasn't supper warm yet, there were clouds in the sky that looked like they had rain in them, the birds were chirping and saying hello, and it was just so calm and peaceful. It's mornings like this that I think are like the morning when Christ was resurrected. While the sunny, beautiful spring mornings are wonderful for Easter Sunday, it's the mornings that are little bit covered in clouds, the sun barely rising, that reminds me more of Easter than anything else really.

Easter Morning

The most wonderful thing to me about Easter is that it was the day that our Saviour, Jesus Christ, was resurrected after three days in the tomb. He had died to pay for our sins, and he did so through the Atonement. I think this is part of the reason I like mornings like this. While it's not all bright and sunshiney, it is still a calm morning, a peaceful morning. I know I've said this a lot, but this, to me, is a morning where it doesn't seem like a lot has happened, something has. The day is new, the sun is rising, and there hasn't been a lot to show the world that something spectacular has happened, that's the beauty of it; something spectacular has happened. The Lord is risen, and he has broken the bands of death. We will be able to live again, and be able to live with him and our Heavenly Father again. All of this because of what he did for us, dying for our sins, and then rising again the third day. I do believe this to be true!

So...yeah, that is my Easter Sunday. I hope that everyone had a great day and that your Easter Sunday was an enjoyable one where ever you live!

Talk to you soon,
Ashley

Getting Ready: Nervous and Excited and so many other things.....

In order to get this blog ready for this summer, I should probably fill you in on what is going to be happening this summer. I am going to be going to Visakhapatnam, INDIA!!! It's a bit scary to be honest...but also exciting! This will be my first time leaving the country, in way shape or form that requires a passport and visa and plane tickets and so many other things. Let me tell you now, I AM NOT A FAN OF VISAS!!! I really, really don't like visas, unless I have more time in order to acquire said visa. Otherwise, I never want to do this again. Okay, I take that back, I would love to do this again, I just now know what would be required of me to leave the country...and the timeline required to do these things. Also, I don't like getting immunizations.

So, there's that. Moving on! This past weekend was The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' General Conference. I love General Conference, it's actually one of my favorite times of the year, the first weekend in April and the first weekend in October. It's a time when the leaders of my church, President Thomas S. Monson, the Twelve Apostles, and other leaders in the church speak to the members of this church over a series of topics, from the Atonement of Jesus Christ, to repentance, to relying on Christ, and many other things. It's during these times that I relearn how much I love this gospel! Between now and October, I will again forget how much I love this church, but that is why I love General Conference! It reminds me that there is a lot to learn from this time that we have here on earth and I need to take advantage of it. That's part of the reason why I'm going to India actually. I have to for school, obviously, but this will probably be my one and only time that I'll visit a country on the other side of the world for three months and I want to learn all that I can while I am there.

I actually have a friend there right now. She's on the same program that I am going to be doing, the India Study Abroad program, and she's been keeping a blog about her time while there in India. And that something that I want to do as well. I want to be able to write down as much as I can about my days while I am there as well as record my experiences for others to see and read about while I am gone. So that's part of the reason why I started this new blog, that, and I have a new email address so I figured should have my blog with that email address. Just makes a lot more sense.

That's about all that's going on in my life at the moment. Yes, I know, this post is very jumpy and just all over the place, but it's late at night so I'm blaming sleepiness.

Talk to you soon,
Ashley