What does Easter mean?

What better day to resurrect my blog than on resurrection day? Haha...

I love Easter.  I love Spring.

Spring wasn't always my favorite season.  In fact, it used to be my least favorite at some point.  Don't ask me why, I don't remember.  You may ask me why it's my favorite though:

• It's beautiful!  I love all of the flowers and colors.  Especially the yellow bushes that pop up everywhere, they're my favorite!
• There's popcorn on the apricot trees!  
• Confused?  Click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiRVaey_OCA
• I still remember the morning I looked into my back yard at my apricot trees and though "Oh!  That's where the song gets it!" Cool stuff my friends. 
• It's warming up.  No more freezing cold weather! (Well, sometimes.)
• New Beginnings. It's a chance for change.  
• Why?
• Easter!

As I kid, I always enjoyed Easter.  My siblings and I would do the city Easter egg hunt and play the Easter-themed carnival games.  On Sunday we would come home from church to find filled Easter baskets then head over to my Grammy and Grampy's house all hyped up on sugar.  There we would have Easter dinner and play in the back yard with my cousins until it was time to head home.

I knew the basics of what Easter was about.  I know that Easter was the day we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  I knew (although I was very confused about this in my earlier years) that baby chicks, baby bunnies, and flower were all symbols of new life and new beginnings, both of which were made possible by the one and only Jesus Christ.

I have had the privilege of having this knowledge for as long as I can remember, and for that I am grateful. However, it hasn't been until the recent years of my life where I took the time to ponder the true meaning of Easter, what it meat to those in Christ's time, and what is means to me now.

For those of you who aren't too familiar with Christianity or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I just used a bunch of church jargon you may not understand.  Let me take the time now to define and simplify some of what I have said and what I am going to say:

Ponder:  To take the time to think deeply about something and internalize the idea.  Like taking a tangled mess in your brain and sorting it out to a point where you can understand it; or taking something you understand pretty well and gain a deeper understanding and application to your own life.

Apostle:  Those Jesus Christ called to help teach the gospel, or the message Christ was to teach us.

Atonement:  The process Jesus went through to atone for our sins, meaning He suffered the full penalty for our sins so we don't have to when we repent.  It includes His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, His Crucifixion, and His Resurrection.
https://www.lds.org/topics/atonement-of-jesus-christ?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/the-miracle-of-the-atonement?lang=eng

Jesus Christ:  The son of God who performed the atonement.  Our brother.  The only begotten son of God.  What does that mean? Here:  https://www.lds.org/ensign/2010/12/jesus-christ-is-the-only-begotten-son-of-god?lang=eng

Resurrection:  Rising from the dead.  Coming back to life.  Christ's Resurrection made it so we can all live again one day.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2000/04/resurrection

Crucifixion:  Christ was sentenced to death by those who were against them and those He taught. He was put to death on the cross.  What this to see what that day entailed:
https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/jesus-is-scourged-and-crucified?lang=eng

Repentance:  Recognizing wrongdoings and asking forgiveness from God.  A change of heart so that sin is no longer desirable to you.
https://www.lds.org/ensign/2003/11/repentance-and-change

Garden of Gethsemane:  Where Jesus felt every pain that ever had been or will be felt by every human being that ever lived and will live.  Because of this, justice for sin is appeased, we can be shown mercy and we can be forgiven; we can change.
https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/the-savior-suffers-in-gethsemane?lang=eng

Spirit World:  Where we go after we die.  We wait in either spirit prison or spirit paradise for judgement day.
https://www.lds.org/liahona/1977/12/the-spirit-world-our-next-home?lang=eng

Ordinances:  Steps we take in order to make it back to live with Heavenly Father (heaven).
https://www.lds.org/topics/ordinances?lang=eng&query=ordinances+and+covenants

If you have any more questions or if you want clarification, feel free to ask or go to lds.org.  Just type in anything you want to learn more about into the search bar and a list of articles and videos on that topic will come up.
This is also a great source:
https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language-materials/36863_eng.pdf OR
https://www.lds.org/manual/true-to-the-faith?lang=eng
Happy Searching!

Now back to my story.

One of my favorite feelings is the feeling of relief.  When that feeling of pain finally goes away; when you wake up from a terrible nightmare and realize it was just a dream; when you find out your friend isn't actually going to move; or when you realize that huge assignment isn't actually due tomorrow.  It's a great feeling.  However, the relief, excitement, and overwhelming joy these situations might bring is only a drop in the ocean of relief, excitement and overwhelming joy felt on that first Easter morning.  It's a feeling that millions of people got to feel.  It was certainly a glorious morning.

Image yourselves in these situations:

For the people in the Americas:
The day after Christ was crucified, there was a day of darkness and storms.  Imagine waking up and realizing that the sun isn't coming up today.  Your hear thunder, you hear screams, you may have no idea where your family and friends are.  This went on for a night, a day, and a night.  For those who did not know about Christ, they were scared and had no idea what was going on.  For those who did know about Christ, odds were they also knew that this darkness was a sign of Christ's death.  So not only did they have to deal with the darkness and the storms, they had to deal with the grief of knowing their Savior was now gone off the Earth.

3 Nephi 8: 20, 23 -
20 And it came to pass that there was thick darkness upon all the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof who had not fallen could ^afeel the ^bvapor of darkness;
 23 And it came to pass that it did last for the space of three days that there was no light seen; and there was great mourning and^ahowling and weeping among all the people continually; yea, great were the groanings of the people, because of the darkness and the great destruction which had come upon them.
https://www.lds.org/manual/book-of-mormon-student-manual/chapter-40-3-nephi-8-11?lang=eng

For those in Christ's Community:
They experienced this similar darkness for 3 hours after Christ passed away. On top of that, many of the people in this community knew Christ, were blessed by Him, were given hope through Him, and loved Him.  His dearest friends grieved for the loss of their friend.  His parents, Mary and Joseph, grieved for the loss of their son.  His apostles were feeling this plus a sense of, I think,  "What in the world do we do now?"  I can only image the pain of these people experienced during this time.

Then, Sunday morning came.

That morning Mary Magdalene, came with others to Christ's tomb only to find it empty.  You can imagine her fear in not knowing where her friend's body was, or whether or not it was stolen.  She sat in a garden crying when a man came up to her and asked why she was sorrowful.  Mary, not knowing who she was talking to, asked where the body had been taken so that she could take it away.  Imagine her joy, surprise, and overwhelming relief to see Jesus Christ standing next to her.

For those in the Americas, the storms subsided and the light came back.  Soon enough, those believers in the Americas would get to see their long-awaited resurrected Savior with their own eyes.

What a glorious morning.

I love this story.  To me, it's one of the greatest examples of "blessings in disguise."  You know, like when you lose a job and turn around to find one a million times better for you, when you miss the bus and end up meeting an old friend you haven't seen in years, or when you get sick and have to miss a hike that you might have broken you leg on.  Those kinds of things.

Well, in this case, a tragedy for thousands of people turned out to be a miraculous blessing for not only them, but for all who ever did live and ever will live (Hey, that's us!).

We call this miraculous blessing the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

It gave us a purpose here.
He gave us a pathway back to our Heavenly Father.
Without it, we would be doomed to be dead bodies laying the ground for eternity.

What does that mean to me?

First of all, I'm not doomed to be a dead body in the ground forever, that's a nice feeling.  I get to be a perfect being one day, a perfect, resurrected being with a heavenly purpose.

I will always have someone who can say "I KNOW how you feel."  The day before He was crucified, Christ made this possible in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He felt all of our pains, all of my pains, exactly as we would feel them so he could empathize with us.  He went through this so He could know exactly how to heal us and make us feel better.  Now that's love.  (That's right, Christ loves YOU!)

I will be able to be with my family for eternity.  I can see my Padre again.   I can be sealed to my future family just like I am sealed to my current family.  Death is NOT the end.  It is only a transition.  This is something I didn't know until recently, but the Saturday between Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, He set the foundations for temples.  He established away for those in the spirit world (our ancestors) to learn about the gospel and have a chance to accept it.  Because of that Saturday, we have missionaries in the spirit world just like here on earth.  Down here, we have the opportunity do family history work and perform saving ordinances in the temple for our ancestors that they didn't get the chance to do down here.          

I have reason for hope.  Satan has already been conquered.  I know that thinks will work out, and that everything will be okay.  Whether it be the biggest of worries or smallest of concerns, I know things will work out in the end.

Hang on my friends.  Hang on through your 'dark days,' and know that the light will come.

This is what Easter means to me.  Hope that light will always break though the darkness.  Always.  If not now in this life, it certainly will in the eternities. Keep your chin up darlin'!  And yes, I mean you!

Happy Easter everyone.

    

Jr. Year (so far!)

Jr. year has begun.

Technically, it began a little while ago. Term one is now almost finished. I haven’t been able to post for a while, so here's my catch-up post for the first 2 months of school-

Special Needs Mutual started back up. Rita's a lot more emotional this year, but I still love going every week! It's weird to have so many youth councilors in my grade, but I'm enjoying that too. I love SN Mutual!

Jazz Band for the 3rd year in a row.

Making the Shakespeare Team. Adding 6 am rehearsals to Jazz rehearsals? Bring it on.

Football Games. Good times-especially with good friends.

Fall Leadership for FCCLA. So much fun! Great speakers and workshops and lots of good times to be had with my fellow officers. (Love you guys!)

Shakespeare Competition. What an awesome experience. Our school did very well, (Chior-1st, Anna's monologue-1st, Keaton's and Ian's scene-2nd, Ensemble-3rd, Sweepstakes (overall)-1st), Le Mis was AMAZING, Hamlet was BRILLIANT, our ensemble scene was great (the gun actually went off!! There was a silent breakdancing party back stage after we exited), the rounds I watched were great, the judges of those rounds (all of the judges I listened to, actually) had mind-blowing things to say, and we got to hear from the Shakespeare Festival's founder. I had such a great time! I learned a lot of new things about acting. I made lots of new friends, and strengthened bonds with some old friends. And the best part of the Competition....

General Conference! I was lucky enough to watch both Saturday sessions at the SUU institute building with the Chamber Choir and some other friends of mine. I was able to be with them when the Pres. Monson gave the Missionary Announcement. The spirit was so strong that day, I'm glad I was able to watch it!

Conference in General in Seminary. Wow. I love seminary.

My sister and I worked on the Service Project we started together.

Fall Break: Goodbye Wisdom Teeth! According to my mom, I was hilarious right before they put me under. I felt pretty sane during the whole ordeal, but looking back the next day, I was crazy. It was great! (If you want specific stories, feel free to either ask me or my mother).

What's coming up next?

·         The rest of Fall Break.

·         Sadies!

·         The FCCLA service project.

·         The school-wide service project.

·         The zombie run with Kevin.

·         Halloween.

Bring it on!

Need a Laugh?

In my opinion, there are two different kinds of March Madness. 
March Madness #1- The basketball kind. The good kind. The fun kind.
March Madness #2- The bad kind.  The stressful kind.  The teachers-throw-everying-at-you-all-at-once-becuase-it's-end-of-term-three kind. 

Personally I prefer #1, but sadly, #2 for high school students is inescapable. However, there are ways to help overcome madness of March, and one of those ways is laughter. 

It's proven that laughter relieves stress, lowers blood pressure, and even helps you live longer.  Cool huh?

What makes us laugh? Things that are funny.  Why are things funny?  Because they are, I don't really know why.  Maybe someone else knows, then you can ask them.  Or instead, you can just laugh at the funny things people say (or hear):

Random Girl in Hall- "Where's my phone? Oh yeah, it's in the fridge."

Random Girl in Hall- "You guys are so mean to me!"
Random Guy in Hall- "What do you expect?  We're a bunch of guys!"

"Get a haircut, grow a beard, do something productive!"
     -Eman Ashtawy

Carly- "No pickles? That ain't nice."
Me- "Hey, that ain't proper grammar! ...Oh wait."

What Caleb said- "I made a butterfly in school today!"
What Carly heard- "I made a bubblefart in school today!"

What Caleb said- "We're having a beach party at school today!"
What I heard- "We're playing beer pong at school today!"

What Caleb meant to say- "Look mom, I'm a statue!"
What he actually said- "I'm stoned."
What my mom said- "You better never actually be stoned or I'll ground you for life!"

Caleb- "What's that smell... It smells like summer sausage!  Oh wait, it's poo.  Nope, it's summer sausage."  (Oh brother.. haha )

What Mom said- "Carly do you like Lucky Charms?"
What I heard- "Carly do you like to lick your arms?"

Sage- "My mom's alarm clock sound like a fire truck, and it always makes Brycen fall out of bed.  So I like to get up really early in the morning so I can watch him fall out of bed."

My Great Grandma says to my Mom (when she was 16)- "You're such a pretty girl, we sure worried about you for a while."

A very tired Carly on a road trip- "Slug blug boo!"

Random Person from the Internet- "The only reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory."

Sage- "It seems like everyone has one of those ripstick things."
Mom- "I don't know why, they're kinda weird."
Sage- "No kidding, they're just a bunch of exercise!"


Andrew's mom- "Are you going to be ok alone?  What if you pass out?"
Andrew- "Don't worry mom I have my phone, you know, just in case I pass out and need to call you."


Brycen was asked- "Where did you get that sore?"
Brycen- "I don't know, but it doesn't hurt when I put it in orange juice."



So, when life begins to feel like this,

Simplify your life and give it a good laugh so you can again feel like this,

I love to see the Temple

1. I love to see the temple.

I’m going there someday

To feel the Holy Spirit,

To listen and to pray.

For the temple is a house of God,

A place of love and beauty.

I’ll prepare myself while I am young;

This is my sacred duty.

2. I love to see the temple.

I’ll go inside someday.

I’ll cov’nant with my Father;

I’ll promise to obey.

For the temple is a holy place

Where we are sealed together.

As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth:

A fam’ly is forever.

This was always one of my favorite primary songs as a kid, and it still is. It's a great song, and the message is sweet and simple.  I especially love hearing little kids sing this song, it's awesome!  

When I would sing it as a small primary child, I would always imagine what my first trip to the temple would be like, and what a beautiful day dreaming moment it was.  Since those days, I haven't been able to go inside the temple as described to the song, but I have been able to participate in the sacred work that us youngin's get to do; baptisms for the dead.  And I love it!

Last Saturday I got the opportunity to go with some family and friends to the temple and do baptisms for the dead.  Needless to say, it made it one of the best weekends I've had in a while.  And at the end of the night, we had 45 of my family members baptized and confirmed, a closer feeling to the Spirit, and wet hair. haha

And if you missed the fun this weekend, don't worry, I'm planning on doing it again soon.  

The next day, (Sunday), was Stake conference.  Ironically enough, the first two talks were about Temples.  It was awesome!  However, there was one statement that stuck out to me the most, which went something like this; "When time seems scarce and life gets hectic, that is when we need to visit the temple the most."  This is not a direct word-for-word quote, but the message is still powerful.  So when your life's getting crazy and you just need a time-out, give me a call, I'll be happy go with ya'. 

And one other thing I love about the Temple, are pictures of them.  Take a gander;

Mt. Timpanogos, UT (the one we went to Saturday).  

Mesa, Arizona (my favorite)

Denver, Colorado

 Anchorage, Alaska (Eman's favorite)

 Freiburg, Germany

 Fukuoka, Japan

 Salt Lake, Utah

 Logan, Utah

 London, England

 London, England

 Lubbock, Texas

 Merida, Mexico

 Mesa, Arizona

 Salt Lake, Utah

 Orlando, Florida

 Rexburg, Idaho

 Salt Lake, Utah (yes, again)

 San Diego, California

 Laie, Hawaii

What's your favorite Temple? 

 (comments always welcome)

In my Fondest Memories..

In honor of today, (Jan. 9th 2012, the 4-year mark), I have decided to write my first blog post in memory of my father, Luke Tener Short.

As I sat in my 6th grade class in Peoria, Arizona, next one of my best friends Kylee, there was no way I could even fathom what my life could be 4 years from then.  Who would have know that within a few short years, I would be living in Pleasant Grove, Utah, making lots of new friends, and preparing to become a musical therapist.

To me, this is all proof of how your life can change in an instant.

I had a really great relationship with my dad, and I miss him tremendously. Not a day goes by when I don't think of him or what life would be like if he were still here.
However, the purpose of this blog post is not to mourn over my loss, but to celebrate all the many lessons he taught me, and all the lessons I learned because of him.  

He taught me to love the Gospel and my Heavenly Father with all my heart, mind, and soul.  He also taught me how to keep Christ as the center of my life.  

He taught me to work hard, to be ambitious, and to never cut corners.

He taught me how to keep a great sense of humor.  (Many of you may remember is humorous 'poetry' that he wrote for multiple events.  And, if you can't remember someone's name, their name is either Fred or George).

He taught me how to work with my hands, and to love the work I do.

He taught me how to garden, and how to keep the things you grow alive.  (He also taught me to never touch my eyes or any part of my face after you harvest jalapenos, haha)

He taught me the importance of family, and how to love them, (even though we all may be a little quirky).

He taught me Service!


He didn't teach me to much about music, but he did teach me to love singing and "If you can't sing.. sing loud!"

Even after he's gone, the lessons still continue.  If I've learned anything in this life of mine, it's Everything Happens for a Reason.  


Life may seem hard and confusing right now, but learning to look for the hidden blessings we receive through enduring, has made the world of a difference for me.
 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." -Proverbs 3:5-6


These are a few examples of that lesson that I have come to know.


Every trial we are given to endure will make us stronger.

Our family is one of our greatest blessings, and we became part of our own families for specific reasons.

Every friend we come across was given to us to teach us a lesson about life, and vice-versa.

Every teacher we were given, are set in our paths to not only to teach us, but to inspire us.

I am thankful for all the many blessing I have received throughout my life;
For all the places I have lived, and all the friends I have made.
For my two fathers in Heaven, and Jesus Christ, my greatest role models.
For my family, especially my parents and siblings.
For Kevin, an amazing step-father who has been sent to us to love us and guide us.
I am thankful the Church, the Gospel, and for my ward.

My friends, when you are going through hard time, I hope you remember, that with endurance comes great blessings.  I hope you will remember to pray to your Heavenly Father, and to turn to your friends and family here on earth in times of hardship.  I hope you will remember, that everything happens for a reason!

(I realize it's sideways, but you can turn your head right? haha)