late night rambles.

it's currently 2am and i need to get up here in about 4 hours...but blogger calls. i made a few changes... what do ya'll think? I also put more music in my playlist that i'm pretty excited about- so give 'er a listen if you can. I was ecstatic to find my favorite hymn ("come thou fount of every blessing") done by one of my favorite bands, sufjan stevens. you should check it out, fo sho. well, i've been having a lot of thoughts lately but I think if i tried to express them right now in my extremely fatigued state, it would just be incoherent jibberish- so i'll save that for another time. but i did have something cool happen yesterday that i reckon i'll talk a bit about...
every tuesday here at byu-i we have devotional, and it's my favorite part of the week. last week we had elder gerald lund come and speak. he's a member of the quorum of the 70 and has written a lot of great books, including the Work and the Glory series which I read several years ago and fell in love with. Anyway, this week Elder Groberg came. I have been so excited ever since I found out about his coming. Sure, it's always cool to have a general authority speak, but Elder Groberg especially holds a place in my heart. I've heard him speak before and have been very moved by his words and the Spirit he brings with his message. Also, he was the missionary the movie "The Other Side of Heaven" is based on. He served his mission many years ago in Tonga. As many of you know, one of my very best friends (Daniel) is serving his mission in Tonga and has been out for going on 10 months now. I've missed him like craaaaazy, but I can't fully express how proud I am of him and the person he's become. It's still been hard though because for the past few months he's been on an island that is a 20 hour boat ride from the main island and the mission base in Nuku'alofa. On this island there is absolutely no electricity, no running water, no stores... it can be described as one of the most primitive places in the world. Daniel has to farm or kill everything that he eats. I can't even fathom that lifestyle. Yet, if I know anyone who would be able to handle those kinds of situations, it would be Daniel. And I'm sure he's doing so with a smile and a helping hand to all those around him. It's been rough for me though, because I haven't heard from him since this transfer... so I'm left with memories, old letters and emails and a strong feeling that he's thriving on the other side of the world. Anyway, I was extremely excited for Elder Groberg to come for many reasons. Apparently most students had the same enthusiasm I did because when my roommates and I got to the auditorium there were absolutely no seats left. I was pretty bummed that I wouldn't be able to see Elder Groberg in person, but I knew the message would be the same regardless. So we went to the Kirkham auditorium and watched the devotional via broadcast. Isn't it amazing how sometimes you listen to someone speak to thousands but it's like their message is catered exactly to what you need to hear at that exact time in your life? This is exactly what happened with Elder Groberg's devotional. He talked mainly about faith...but he took it deeper than the usual, "having faith will bring blessings." I'm not having any luck finding the talk online- but if you can I strongly urge you to read it, or watch it at www.byu.tv. It'll be worth it. He talked about his time in Tonga and the faith required at that time in his life and other general convictions regarding faith. Well... my description isn't giving it any justice, but it helped me a lot in many ways. It was a great reminder to me that whatever weaknesses we have, with faith in our Lord and Savior, those weaknesses can become our strengths. Sure, I've heard this before, but with my recent calling I was really able to apply this principle to my life. I'm so grateful for opportunities I'm given to stretch out of my comfort zone--for the strength He gives me to grow. He knows what situations and experiences I need to become the person I want to be and the person He knows I can become. I think it's interesting that faith is the first principle and ordinance of the gospel... such a title has made the principle of faith almost overly-simplified in my mind, but I think it's one of the most all-encompassing principle there is. Anyway, that hour yesterday helped me a lot in my motivation to become more faithful, more confident that as I rely on the Lord, He'll mold me into the person He'd have me be, which is the only person I truly want to be. And I felt more at peace with Daniel, knowing that even though I haven't heard from him in so long that he's growing and being taken care of by He who is over all.

(this was going to be a short post...)

so after devotional I was debating whether or not to go to the gym. I really didn't want to, but knew that I probably should cause my fat isn't gonna run itself off. I also felt something deeper than my need to burn calories pushing me to the gym. My roommate Carrie had a class right after devotional and asked me if I could take her arrows with me (I guess that might sound a little weird... she had archery class in the morning). So I'm walking down the hall of the Hart (where the gym is) and I see President Clark (pres of byu-i) and his wife Kim walking toward me in passing. He looked right at me, stopped walking and asked, "Oh man- what are you going to do with those?!" (referring to the arrows I was holding). I replied with something lame like "...they're my roommate's"... He chuckled and reached out and shook my hand. We ended up talking for a minute or so in the hall. It was a really cool experience. He is an amazing man. So then I went into the dressing room and put on my gym clothes. Since my hair is so short, my ponytail had to be pretty much on top of my head. So i'm in my grubby gym clothes and my hair looks like that girl on the flintstone's... ah snap what's her name? Anyway as I'm getting ready to walk out of the dressing room I think how cool it would be to see Elder Groberg. I knew, of course, that he wouldn't be around though because devotional had ended 20 minutes before and he'd certainly be gone by now. Yet right as I walked out of the dressing room I looked to my right and saw him and his wife walking, with several sunday best dressed students surrounding him. I stood there in the doorway, wanting so badly to talk to him but knowing that he was engaged in a deep conversation with other students, who were certainly more presentable than myself. As I was debating what to do, he looked right at me. He walked right up to me and shook my hand and said hello. I had a mini freak-out inside but remained composed, I think. I told him that his devotional was incredible, that it was exactly what I needed to hear. I also told him that one of my very best friends is currently serving in Tonga. I could tell he was excited by this. He asked his name and mine and said he was probably heading there in the next few months.
....I was really glad I had sucked up my hatred of working out and decided to go the gym yesterday....
I love this place.
Also, my lesson for gospel doctrine is on 3 Nephi 12-15. ANY suggestions, thoughts, insights, etc. would be GREATLY appreciated. Mostly anyone reading this probably knows my email but if not it's megheb@gmail.com. I'd flip to hear from you!

Here is a picture of Elder Groberg (KOLIPOKI) and his wife, Jane, in Tonga. :-)

We are so blessed to have apostles on the earth today... and so blessed that this very weekend we get to hear from them. I hope that we'll make listening to their words and the words of the Spirit a priority Saturday and Sunday. I know that if we go into watching General Conference with specific questions, as we have the Spirit of learning with us, those questions will be answered. I'm inspired by a story of President Monson at a General Conference, when he spoke. A little girl sat in the audience with her grandparents. Upon listening to his talk, the girl turned to her grandparents and told them that she would live the gospel for her entire life. She was unsure if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was really something she wanted to be a part of before Conference. She wrote down 6 questions, all of which were answered to the T, consecutively by President Monson. I know that as we go into Conference with specific questions, those questions will be answered, and we will become stronger sons and daughters of God.
Imagine if Moses was on the earth. Or Peter. Or Isaiah. Or Mosiah. Or Nephi. Or Moroni. Or King Benjamin... would we give up the opportunity to listen to what they would say to us?

I cannot wait until Saturday :-)

was that preachy? i didn't mean for that to sound preachy...