Of the Rich and Famous:

Hey, Hungary!
      This week I've got kind of a crazy story for you. (Okay, so I might say that every week, but that's just because life is unexpected and strange, but it's an adventure worth having.)
      It all started about a year ago when the parentals were out of town and I stayed the weekend with sister Boo. After church, we'd gone over to her friend's apartment to hang out and make wantons. Well, as this party was all going down, another on of her friends formulated an evil plan: she had a younger brother my age, and apparently he was pretty stinking cute, which could only mean one thing--that he and I should go out!

Daniel Lissing. A very attractive actor man.

       Naturally, I laughed it off and thought nothing of it over the next year. Until one night when I am at the opening season football game. [I may or may not have gone with the intent to watch that one James Marsden / Sean Farris guy we discussed in an earlier post...]           And I get a text.

" Hey, You don't know me, but I'm [Daniel Lissing]. My sister is really good friends with your sister and she wanted me to say hi, so hi!" 

So, that happened.

Of course, I was baffled. And nervous. And kind of all together really just in a weird state of dazed bewilderment. So, being the tactful, social being that I am, I consulted my pals. Friend Franson texted back, but I felt like it was too formal (I was also being very over-analytical), so I wrote back something that I thought would be a better, but after reading that I still wasn't satisfied. And so, after almost three hours of him not texting back, I sent a better explanation/introduction, having come to the assumed conclusion that he was never gonna speak to me again because I was a raving lunatic (I'm actually not sure if this is false. I am a little crazy.) 

        AHhaha! but the story continues! Because he texted back! ....And we've sort of been talking ever since. (Except he has a real problem with responding, so it takes him anywhere from an hour to twenty-four hours to reply, but I've just come to the conclusion that that's just how he is.)  

    

         (Is this dramatic enough yet? Aparently it wasn't, because we gon' throw in a plot twist. Brace yourself.)Two days after the initial introduction, Quanne randomly texts me with, "Um, remember that guy? I think he's rich and famous!" 

      PAUSE. wat? This was a plot twist I was clearly not prepared for. So we did some stalking (not actual; just facebook etc). And we found two pages under the same name: one for a normal guy, the other for a famous pianist. Only, they had the same face. *me looking at the fb pages: Did that actually just transpire?

       Yes. Only, I couldn't just leave it to that to tell me. I had to make sure. So casually, remembering he'd said he liked to play piano (but not having realized the significance at the time), I asked him how long he'd been playing. From that point, there was no concealing anything. He told me everything: how he liked to compose his own music and that he'd even released an album last fall! 

        IT WAS HIM. HE WAS RICH AND FAMOUS. This was my chance to marry into money. (Only I'd never do that.)   I have to admit, talking to him now was a little more intimidating, until I realized he was just a normal kid like everyone else, so then it wasn't weird anymore. 

        But it was still invariably exciting and I thought I should tell you about it. Also, it's great because we've got this running joke about school because I love English and he hates it, where as he loves Math and I hate that, so we've decided to switch places whenever we have a test. But when I got to school today, I realized I had a Math quiz I'd completely forgotten about; at the same time of this realization, I saw a text from him asking how my day was going and stuff like that so I told  him about the quiz. He replies, "Oh no, why didn't you give me a heads up?" (Which kinda made me really happy because I thought he was just gonna ignore our pact) Later, after I took the quiz and informed  him that I'd aced it, (after our mini celebration moment) he said, "So I've been growing my hair out for nothing?!" And basically I just laughed and my day was fabulous from then on. 

        Whelp. That's really all I have to tell you this time. Just that I have an almost (but like not really even close to, but that's what I'm calling him because I want to) boyfriend. A rich and famous boyfriend. (Yes, the parents know. No, he's not a real boyfriend. Stop being weird.) So. Pretty exciting, right?!         Ok, thanks for humoring me. I love you.

          Love, America

P.S. I checked out his music. It's incredible. Just in case you were wondering. 

Sunday Lessons:

Hey, Hungary!
      I just wanted to tell you about my day and how good our YW lesson was. We talked about Individual Worth and learning to know what being a daughter of God means. It was combined, of course, because it was the first Sunday, and I'm really glad because I felt like this was a lesson everyone needs to hear.
       Sister Penrod started by showing us this box she'd brought with her. She said she'd brought a picture of someone very special, but that before she showed us she wanted to tell us about them first. So she began to list off some attributes: "This person was sent to build God's kingdom on earth; this person is a born leader; this person is endowed with power from on high; someone others want to live up to; someone who is powerful; someone who can change the world; this person has many spiritual gifts; they stood tall and valiant in the sight of God; they are royalty; someone whom I love."
      At the end of this, she had us each come up and take a look in her box so we could see who she was talking about. By this time, I'm sure you've already figured that there was a mirror in the box, so that when we looked into it we saw a reflection of ourselves. But the really cool thing was that she had listed all of these Christlike attributes so that by the time the girls got up to see the mirror, they could really see how they reflected Christ, which was over all just a beautiful moment.
       After this, she showed a Mormon Message President Uchtdorf had done about the ugly duckling and how, in everybody else's eyes he was different and bad, but when he noticed his own worth was much greater he became a "majestic" swan. (Click the link for the full video.)
      But probably the reason why I most wanted to write this post today was because of this quote she shared with us, which I really felt to resonate with me.

I really liked this quote because I feel like not enough people (even some of those who are in the church) don't really understand this as well as they should. It reminds me of the "in the world, not of the world" motto. The parts about being tender and refined really stuck out to me as being qualities to emulate, and I hope I can be better at doing these. It kind of reminds you of Mom, doesn't it?

    I think it's wonderful how knowing who you are blesses you by giving you confidence to know that Heavenly Father loves you and is looking out for you and that it doesn't matter what the world thinks of you anymore because you're only focused on the Lord. 

     Another thing I wanted to mention was about Mission Prep this morning. I was teaching with someone who wasn't in our ward, so it was a new experience for me to not be going off of what the person said because I was comfortable enough around them to just say whatever I wanted, but really listening to the Spirit to know what to say. It was a special experience as we taught a lady who had a daughter that wasn't making the choices she probably should have. But as we were talking, my companion shared an insight that was, I think, as a result of a prompting, because the woman got really emotional and you could feel the spirit very powerfully. Even though it wasn't a real appointment or lesson, it was a good testament that the gospel really can help in our lives and that Heavenly Father knows us and cares about us.

     Alright, well that's all for this post. Thanks for the example of service and love; it means a lot. 

Love, America.