Yay! You're Here.
Now let me tell you a little story about why I'm here.
A foot-long circular donut covered in rainbow sprinkles. That is my most distinct memory of the day my little sister Christina was born. In my nine-year-old mind, there couldn’t be a more glorious way to welcome new life into the world than with an enormous donut. Never mind that Christina couldn’t actually eat her birthday treat, she had four older siblings most willing to help her out.
From the day that tiny baby came home to me, loving her was my favorite thing to do. Little Christina was the best thing in the world as far as I was concerned.
So you can imagine my delight, when less than two years later, mom and dad had another baby, and even better, it was another girl! They named her Ellie. That brought my grand total of little sisters up to three—and I reveled in it. Without really realizing it, “big sister” became a bigger and bigger part of my identity. I loved to show them all of my favorite things: movies, music, food, places, people—anything that I liked, I made sure they knew about it, too.
But somehow the years went by and those sweet little people stopped being babies and became my best friends.
Christina is now 18, Ellie is 16, and Amy is 25. And while the childhood days of me teaching them how to play the game Pretty Pretty Princess are over, I’ve never stopped wanting to show my girls the pretty things I find in life.
And to my delight and surprise, over the years “my girls” has come to include more than just my precious three sisters—first it was the girls in my Young Women classes. Then it was the members of the Relief Society in my first YSA ward in college. Next my companions on my mission. And finally the sisters I felt stewardship over as a ward Relief Society President in my early 20s and as a counselor in the Stake Relief Society in my mid-20s.
They are all my girls.
And I want all of them to know about the pretty things in life—and I don’t just mean a fresh tube of lip gloss or the perfect accent pillow.
The very prettiest things in life come from loving Jesus Christ. Truly. I want my girls to experience the truth of these words from President Ezra Taft Benson: “Men and women who turn their lives over to God will find out that he can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace.”
What could be prettier than that?
As I think about my girls continuing to grow up and face the challenges and confusion of being in your twenties, I long to help them in whatever way I can. And I’ve come to believe that the best way I can do that as a big sister is to point them to our Big Brother.
To help them see how Jesus holds the answers about dating, education, self confidence, peace, spirituality, happiness, finding friends, discovering passions, making decisions—all of it. If they, if all of us, can learn to rely on Him through this wild ride of young adulthood, then we are not only going to make it, we are going to be thrilled by all the Savior has in store for us.
There aren’t even enough donuts and sprinkles in the world to adequately celebrate the women we are going to become.
My greatest hope is that something in these pages will help you feel less alone and more empowered to get out there and live with Jesus at your side. I hope as you read about my breakups and disappointments and mistakes you will feel a sense of belonging knowing that we all struggle. As you read about my joys, realizations, and thrills, I hope you’ll feel genuine excitement for who you are and all you can experience in life.
In the end, the gospel principles I’ve written about are “the things of my soul.” As Elder Ronald A. Rasband so beautifully wrote, “The things that prepare me to hear promptings, that lift my sights beyond the ways of the world, that give purpose to my work in the gospel and to my very life. … and help [me] feel secure in the arms of the Lord.”
So light your favorite candle, grab your softest blanket (and, heck, a donut if you have one), and let’s talk.
And let’s talk whenever is good for you.
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