THE NIGHT OF ALL NIGHTS

 It still hasn't really struck me yet that this was THE last dance. It was the last time I'll get to pick out a gorgeous dress and tie for my date to match. It's the last time I'll chat with my friends about what activities we'll spend the night doing and who will be doing our hair/makeup. Seriously it's surreal. What makes it even more sentimental is that I got to have Dylan take me to my first dance and now last dance ever (to revisit that awesome night all the pictures/words can be found here)

 Story time: I booked a wedding for 12:30 on the morning of prom thinking that I would be picked up around 5:00 and have plenty of time to get ready. Well... we ended up getting picked up at 3:00  (for reasons explained in story number 2 found below) and on top of it the bride and groom were late to exit the temple. Of course it was raining too so I couldn't do my hair before hand because it would surely be ruined after being outside filming. I ended up leaving the temple for my 40 minute drive home at around 1:45. It got even worse when I took the wrong exit and got stuck in an awful amount of construction traffic. Thank goodness I ended up managing to get myself together in 30 minutes though (if I didn't Dylan was nice enough not to say anything about it so major props to him hah!)

Story No. 2: A few weeks ago we found out that Elder Holland of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles and Lynn G. Robins of the 70 would be speaking to us on April 30th at 7:00. This happened to also be the exact same day and time as prom. Of course even though the youth in our stake and their parents were invited to attend, the entire valley was planning on saving their seats hours before it started. Our original plan was to have our sweet parents go early to save us seats so we could arrive only a couple minutes early but the stake president sent out emails telling us to not save or reserve seats for others. So we really had no choice but to go 2 hours early if we wanted to hear him speak. My group ended up eating an early dinner then sitting with great anticipation for Elder Holland and Brother Robins instead of going to the dance. It was so worth it. 

The biggest things that stood out to me in the talks were these little notes:

in Brother Robins: we are in the "decade of decisions." Between the ages of 12 and 22 we will all make choices that will alter our destiny probably more than we will make choices between the age of 22 and 32. During this crucial time it is easier to avoid temptation entirely than to resist temptation. When we succumb to certain things little by little, Satan can use those memories as ammunition against us and eventually we will succumb to the temptation because we remember how it felt. It is easier to just not commit the sin or go near it in the first place. He also mentioned that the prophets do not draw specific lines in most areas because then members would go as far as they could without crossing them. It was a principle that has always made sense to me but I had never heard put into words like that before. We see not as much what the Prophet has told us not to do but what the Prophet has told us is okay/justifiable. 

in Elder Holland's: He also spoke about the "decade of decisions" and how it in a sense was a tithe of our lives. If Heavenly Father asks us to pay 10% of our monetary earnings, perhaps he also demands 10% of our lives. Say we get around 100 years on the Earth, 10 of those can be spent in the decisions decade proving to him (and ourselves) that our testimonies are strong and lasting and that we can resist the temptations put in front of us. You can't know how you'll feel about the issues you're facing in your life right now 50 years from now so try to keep a good perspective on everything. He mentioned how much not only how friends matter in our lives, but how we matter in theirs. It is crucial for us to draw people into the light. There are plenty of people in this world who will spend their time tearing people down, we need more who are willing to build people up. "The power of Heaven often comes from genuine love" is how he worded it. Don't underestimate the power you can have on your peers. I loved that he said to light other people's candles instead of blowing them out and at the same time do not blow out your own candle that you've been given. I absolutely love all the analogies that our modern day prophets use to guide and direct us because they always make so much sense. 

Something I really loved about being in the presence of an apostle was being able to feel his (and all the general authorities') love for me and the youth. They care about our opinions. They care about our concerns. They care about the problems of all magnitudes that keep us awake at night. They pray for us to be able to withstand this hard time and decade of choices and I am so beyond grateful for that. It is always amazing to know that there are people out there praying for your safe return. There are angels on the other side of the veil helping us along the path and filling us with light as we go. 

If you want to know more about any part of this lengthy section of this post go here

Story No. 3: (this one is short I promise). After we ate dinner we were surprised to find that it was POURING rain outside (thankfully it had cleared up for pictures but then decided to come back right in time for us to make our exit). Dylan insisted that I stay inside while he ran to the car to get an umbrella, ran back to get me, then made sure I got out to the car without one drop hitting me. It was the sweetest thing. I don't lie when I say Dylan is one of the best dates ever.

 

 

 

 Laurel class presidency pic. It's weird to think that even that will be over soon!

 

 Prom (and every activity throughout all of high school) would not have been possible without the lovely Bethany Bulloch. She is the greatest president ever and I love her to pieces. Her passion for what we all do is infectious and her testimony inspires me to be better daily. I heart Bethany B.

 

 I love my sweet little sister so much. She was so sweet to spend the day being my assistant filming at the temple, calming me down when I was a nervous wreck trying to drive myself home to have time to get ready, and coming to take all these cute pictures for me. She's the real MVP. 

 Now that it's the beginning of the end of high school, I have really gained some more perspective and been appalled at the amount of friends I have had that do not sincerely care about me. On the contrary I'm also amazed at the amount of friends I had all along that sometimes I forgot to take note of, who genuinely did care about me and wanted my happiness as much as their own. To me, that's what defines a sincere friend. I feel like I need to take this time to use the small amount of influence I have on my little blog to promote the message of being a genuine and sincere friend. A sincere friend will be there every day to talk with you and laugh at a new inside joke. A sincere friend will encourage you in all your worthy pursuits. They will send you scriptures and conference quotes on your sad days. They will, in the words of Elder Holland on this great night, light your candles instead of blowing them out. A sincere friend will stop at absolutely nothing (Hannah) to make sure you have a prom date. Thank you Hannah for being such a sincere friend that has truly withheld the test of time. I love you to pieces. 

this bromance.  

The pictures I post of Hannah and Robby always get the most re pins so I just had to throw a few in here ;) 

 

It makes me so sad that I didn't get to spend my last dance with the rest of my best friends but it makes me feel a little better when I include them in this little post. It's been a crazy time these past 4 years but we're on the home stretch and I can't wait to cross the finish line with you all!! (I'm sorry this is really the cheesiest blog post of all time).

 I'm so happy that I not only got my dream dress but my dream florals for this special dance. Does it get any better than pink peonies with lots of green!? I'm obsessed.

I love my sweet momma too and am so happy when people tell me that I'm her clone. It's one of the best compliments out there to be compared to the one and only Heather Pritt.  

 

Thank you for being such a wonderful first and last dance date, Dylan! I wouldn't have wanted to have it any other way! 

This vlog is an eternity long and I'm sorry about that... It's just too fun to look back on everything I can't help but include it all.