Happiness is a Choice

I hate goodbyes. They are not fun.
Ok, now that I've gotten that said, on to happier things.
Yes, my sisters are gone. They left right after Sunday School yesterday morning. I miss them already but the fact that I will be home in two weeks gives me great happiness, and I'm not gonna lie, moving back home will be a totally welcome development.
I got a letter today! Absolutely love letters :D It's actually a little bit ridiculous how happy I get when I have one. I should write my missionary friends more often though.... and other friends who email me.... sorry guys.
It's sunshiny and wonderful today! My student Alley brought me some flowers today, buttercups to be exact. Picked right out of the field and still smelling wonderful, it was amazing! :D
It's been raining these past few days, I love the rain.
School is good. Really these kids are such good friends to me, it's more than I deserve sometimes.
Music class is now over though, it ended for the year at the performance they had this past Friday. Some are happy, others sad, but one thing's for sure, it'll be here again next year.
We are onto the last quarter of the school year.... insane huh? But not really, I can't wait for it to be over, even while I know it will be sorely missed. So life goes on, and it's just what we need, right when we need it.
I'm reading Isaiah Decoded, wonderful book, although truthfully I do wish he'd use more references in his text. Anyway, I love it very much, and I'm learning a lot of things. Some that I already 'know'. That is something I've come to realize about the gospel. How much most of it, I seem to have already known all along. It's more of a remembering. "Oh yes, this is the way it is"
Something I love about the gospel is how much it just MAKES SENSE. It just does. Truth always will. The parts that seem to be confusing are only because we muddy the waters and are imperfect in our application of the gospel to everyday life sometimes.
I was reading something aloud to Lisa about how trials are there to exalt us, and she commented something I wanted to share, because it struck me as well. It's on pages 50-53 for those who care to read along and see really what the book said but basically the principle it was discussing was how in order to ascend to heaven, we have to temporarily descend into hell. Our loyalty in the blood-covenant with Christ will be tested, so God knows who it is that he can count on. The higher the ascent, the lower the temporary descent. And Lis said this:
"It's so funny with things like this how much it's more of an 'in one ear, out the other' kind of thing" and I was like What? She went on to explain. How much we *already know* at least in theory, if not in fact, that God gives us trials because he loves us, but when we're in the middle of the trial, we always seem to ask Why? Why Me?
I agree with her. Funny thing isn't it?