Pictures, Videos, and Quotes

Seeing this picture reminded me of all those lost, in all of our lives. I miss them all, and I am really thankful for being able to believe, to know, that I will see them all in heaven again one day when Heavenly Father is ready to take me back to his Holy Kingdom. I want to meet all of the prophets of old, and new. Nephi, Joseph Smith, Alma, Hinkley. I would also like to meet my grandpa, and get to know London better. Right now, though, I am happy to be here, to be alive, and to be with people who love me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihGCj5mfCk8

This video is so cute, amazing, wonderful, and inspiring. It is (I think) the cancer patients, their families, friends, and even some hospital workers dancing and singing to "What Makes You Stronger". These guys are so amazing, and so strong, to be able to go through all of what's happening with them. This so seems to explain exactly how they feel. Their eyes are just shining and bright, whether they are sick or not. These guys arae true heroes.

http://vimeo.com/41131772

This kid has such a strong spirit. He has such a good heart, and despite his problems, he always looks for the good in life. I think we could all leard a thing or two from Austin. I will definantly try to "Live Like Austin".


That video, right (^^)there, is a really good messsage to anyone and everyone. You don't have to be good at prayers to say one. God wants to talk to you 24/7. And the more you pray, and LISTEN for answers, the eaiser it will get to say them and hear them.

Other Stuff
-Life is what YOU make of it.
-God didn't give you challenges, problems, and obstacles so you could complain, wait for someone to fix it for you, and then give up. He gave them to you because he knew you were strong and that you could handle it. He won't leave you all alone, but he sure isn't going to let you just walk away without learning anything, either.
-You can't hide from your mistakes, mess ups, and especially not God. Just look what happened to Jonah.
-Obstacles in life are like giant walls: they are too long to go around, so you may as well go over. And even if you feel like crap climbing up, you'll feel a lot better when you get to the other side. And all the exercise can get you into pretty good shape.

*you will have to copy and paste the websites into your search engine. Blogger just updated all their stuff, and I am still figuring out how to do a few things, like getting my links to work.

A Little Bit of Everything

Sorry for not posting for so long. It has just been kind of crazy lately. Well, I guess this is just going to be kind of a collection of a lot of stuff.

I want to start off with prom and summer. I know Im a little late to be talking about prom, but I felt like I should touch on the subject a little. For all the girls out there, I know it must be a bit difficult to find a prom dress that is modest. These days, you can almost never find one that doesn't show too much back, too much of the of the front, and/or has straps, let alone sleeves. But there are still dresses out there. Just remeber: you don't have to show yourself off to look beautiful.

And as for summer, I know it's getting hot. So a lot of you are probably getting out your summer clothes and shopping for a swimsuit, right? Well, just because it's hot doesn't mean that you should go around wearing tiny tanktops or skintight shorts that cover up about as much as your underwear. And when shopping for a swimsuit, (I know this may be a challenge) but try to find something other than a bikini. You can still look good in a swimsuit, even if it doesn't cover up as little as your underclothes. I do not intend to seem rude or harsh to you ladies, but for me, what you wear reflects a little of who you are. And to see girls running around with as little as they can manage, well, you get the idea. If you are wearing things like that to get attention, or to impress guys, then you have the wrong idea. You shouldn't have to get attention from ANYONE for wearing next to nothing. People should want to see you for your accomplishments, for your talents, for YOU. Guys should want to get to know you better because they admire your beauty within. You ARE beautiful, no matter what others say. And as long as you know and remember that, you shouldn't have to feel like you have to prove yourself to anyone.

Now, talking about beauty, here's a story for you girls (and guys) about true beauty.

https://www.lds.org/new-era/2001/09/beauty-tips?lang=eng&query=most+beautiful+all

Now, we all have those feelings as teenagers, where we we start liking the opposite gender, and are always talking about who likes who. But sometimes we get so overwhelmed with each other because sometimes, it is just a little hard to understand each other. So here is another website, where guys and girls talk about each other:

http://www.lds.org/new-era/2010/04/whats-the-deal-with-boys-whats-the-deal-with-girls?lang=eng&query=guys+girls

I guess that this is it, for right now anyways. Again, I am really sorry for not having posted anything in a while. And just as a reminder, you can email us at alexis_brim@msn.com if you need something, have problems and/or questions, or just want to talk. I will be here for you guys in anyway that I can. *And just a reminder, everything sent through email will be kept private, unless you dont want it to be* I would also grealty appreciate it if you would email any ideas or suggestions to put on the blog. Stories, topics, a shout out, pretty much anything if I approve it. Thanks for visiting the blog! Hopefully I will start working on it a little bit more soon! ~AJ

*Sorry, but you will have to copy and paste the websites into your search engine. Something is acting up where I can't put any liks in. Sorry!

The Pearl Necklace

I was forwarded this message a while back, and since then it has helped me get through all of my rough patches in life. Hopefully, it can do the same for you.

The Pearl Necklace
The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mom at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box. "Oh Mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?" Quickly the mom checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face. "A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma." As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace. Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere. Sunday school, kindergarden, even to bed. The only time she ever took them off was when she went swimming or took a bath. Her mom said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green. Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?" "Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you." "Then give me your pearls. "Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection, the one with the pink tail. Rember, daddy? The one you gave me. She's my favorite." "That's okay, Honey. Daddy loves you. Good night." And she brushed her cheek with a kiss. About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's dad asked again, "Do you love me?" "Daddy, you know I love you." "Then give me your pearls." "Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper.." "That's ok. Sleep well, little one. Daddy loves you." And as always, he kissed her cheek before leaving her room. A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed. As he came close, he saw that her chin was trembling, and a silent tear rolled down her cheek. "What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?" Jenny didn't say anything, but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. When she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a quiver, she finally said, "Here daddy; this is for you." With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of real genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny... He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure.

So it is with our Heavenly Father. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures. God will never take away something without giving something better in your place.

Scriptures vs. Phones

I found this on a blog called www.murrayandmathews.blogspot.com. I thought it was kind of interesting, how they compared the two.

I wonder what would happen if we treated our
scriptures like we treat our cell phones?
What if we carried them around in our purses or
pockets?
What if we turned back to go get them if we
forgot them?
What if we flipped through them several times a
day?
What if we used them to receive messages from
the text?
What if we treated them like we couldn’t live
without them?
What if we gave them to kids as gifts?
What if we used them as we traveled?
What if we used them as a standard part of our
lives AND for emergencies?
Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phones,
we really don’t have to worry about our scriptures being disconnected because
Christ already paid the bill…

Tornados

Well, I'm sure most of you have heard about the tornadoes in Indiana, and Kentucky. For those of you who haven't, some places were hit really hard. It missed us thankfully, but many houses were torn down, some people were hurt, and it was so bad that it even demolished an entire high school! (the picture is of school after the tornado hit)Now the teens there are trying to raise enough money to have a senior prom. I wasn't sure how I could help, so this is the best that I could come up with for right now. If and of you are willing, it would be amazing if you could donate money, clothes, help, food, or even something simple but almost entirely necessary, like toilet paper or toothpaste. I'm sure it would be very much appreciated. Below is a link with all different links to websites forf helping the tornado victims. Please help in some way. It would mean a whole lot.

http://www.wdrb.com/category/232998/how-to-help-the-victims-of-the-march-2012-tornadoes

Service

So every month we, our families and our friends go volunteer at a place called Feeding America, and work from 1-3 hours. It may seem really boring and/or unnecessary to do service projects, help others, or just acknowledge that someone exists. But really, it can be a lot of fun, and can get you to feel super happy. Like when we go to Feeding America, it is really fun for us. It isn't hard work at all, so while we work, we can talk all we want, and sometimes we make up games to help the time go by. We work on the Backpack Program, where we fill bags with food for kids that need it. So we like to race to see who can go down the line the fastest. Not to mention the fun we have when we are done, and we all go out for icecream at Baskin Robins.
I guess what I'm trying to say, is that service is a good thing, for everyone.
So I dare you, my good readers, to do a random act of service each day, for one week. It could be helping with the cooking and cleaning, volunteering your time and effort somewhere, or just making an effort to be nice to people you know, and those you don't.
After this one week, I ask you to report back here, on this post. Comment on how you feel, what you did, anything really.
Hope you guys write! Later!

Life can be so complicated. Sometimes I don't even know what to think. I feel like I'm searching for something, when I don't even have a clue as to what I'm searching for. I'm so confused and frustrated right now. I'm not even sure I truely know myself. I feel like I should be doing something much more than what I'm doing right now. But what? What am I suppose to do? What and I looking for? Who am I, really? Where do I belong? Why can't I seem to find any answers? Ugh. Life is so complicated. Maybe I'm just having a bad day. I am not sure. I am tired. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

this video helped to cheer me up, and i even had to laugh. Hopefully it can do the same for you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5xJi8ZnNco&feature=colike

Unfortunatly, i could only put a link, if i wanted to keep it with this post. i will post the real version above this post. that other one really had me thinking... so check out both of these videos...

Today is Sunday. The missionaries came over today, and we talked about Sacrament Meeting. Now, I have been going to Sacrament Meeting ever since I could remember. Well, except for those few times over the years due to being sick, lazy, or going on a day trip with my family. But for the most part we would always go. So I never really thought it was anything special. In fact, to be honest, I use to, and still kind of a little bit, dread going to church. I mean, you sit there for 3 hours, listening to people give talks while your stomach is growling because you overslept and had to rush to the car with your hair half done, your makeup spilling out of your hands (to try to put on in the car while you are driving down the street, seeming to jolt at every small turn), and missing the most important meal of the day: breakfast. Anyways, you get my point. Going to church didn't seem near as awesome as sitting in your PJ's all day, watching cartoons, updating you status from "waking up" to "ate leftover cake for breakfast" to whatever things you do, that no one really cares about, on Facebook.

Anyways, we were chatting with the missionaries, and they had four main things.

1. Help Others

2. Be a Christian

3. Keep the Commandments

4. Always Remember Jesus Christ

Then they asked us how they fit together. If you are like our family, you know that everyone, and soon as the missionaries ask a question, look down at their lap, and pretend to be deep in though, until they give you the answer. We all know of course, that really you are thinking of nothing except, "Please don't pick me! Please don't pick me!"

So after a minuet or two, they told us that it was all part of the Sacrament prayer. Then, of course, every one's face has that expression of, "oh yeah, I knew that!" As they nod slowly to everyone else around the room. We really don't know what they have to do with the Sacrament, but that doesn't mean you can't try to fool others into thinking you knew.

But as we got deeper into the conversation, I noticed that they did all fit. They were some of the covenants, or promises, we made to Heavenly Father.

Then I realized why we go to church every single Sunday, week after week. We need to renew our covenants to Heavenly Father. Yeah, it doesn't seem like a big deal, sometimes maybe even a drag to go to, especially when you are rushing to get there. But at least we have the opportunity to do so. At least we are able to repent of our sins. Can you imagine what would happen to us in the afterlife, if Jesus hadn't given himself so we could be forsaken of our sins? We'd have to be accountable for every single one of our sins. From pushing your mom into the pool with only her normal everyday clothes to protect her from the water (true story, but I'm not going to get into it now), to putting gum in our sister's hair, to getting into one of your monthly shouting matches with one of you family members or friends(well, that one was a big exaggeration, but you know what I mean). We would never be able to take those back. No sorry would be good enough.

Now, aren't you glad to go to church, despite being unable to sleep in, missing breakfast, and rushing out the door once a week? I think it is well worth it, if it can help us to be closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Don't you think?

-AJ