Apostles Live and Speak to us Today

Dear family and friends,

This has been a really good week.  School was hard; I had a really big test.  It was worth a third of my grade.  But I studied really hard and did really well on it!  I know God blesses me for my hard work.  And He is with me and He helps me do more than I could ever do alone.

This week was a lot of work, but I got a lot done.  Last week I had three tests, so only have one this week gave me time to have some fun and get other things done.  I chose to write my term paper for my American Literature class on Little Women and I'm doing a project for my Spanish class about how the music of Spain influenced the music of the new world when they conquered territories there and how that influence is still seen today.  It's pretty exciting (at least for me, I hope this is interesting to others too).

One highlight of my week was actually going on a run.  I ran cross country all through high school and even though I hardly run now, I still love it.  So, I haven't run in a really long time, being so busy with school.  I was able to run 3 miles and it felt so good!  And I felt accomplished.  I also remember running and thinking: this is blog worthy.  So there's that.

Today was a multi stake conference.  Elder Ballard was the main speaker, but the whole conference was amazing.  I am so grateful for living apostles and leaders of God's true church to lead and guide us.  I was inspired and uplifted.  Elder Ballard encouraged us to be our best and take time to reflect and personally interview ourselves to see how we are doing and where we can improve.  He told us to ask ourselves, "Self, how am I doing?"  He encouraged us to do the right thing and to do our best.  He told us God only expected us to do our best. He also gave us some advice from "Grandpa Ballard."  If anything, I felt his love as he spoke.  He also told us to be our best beautiful selves and to let our eyes twinkle with the spirit.  It was beautiful.  He spoke for about 40 minutes, and I enjoyed it so much!

I know this church is true.  I am so grateful for God's love and for the Atonement of His Son Jesus Christ.  Make it a great week everyone!

Con amor,
S. Olsen