Because I Have Been Given Much

I’t’s 4 am. I’ve been watching youtube videos of sisters opening their mission calls for the past two hours. 

Bawling. 

(This may be becoming unhealthy… >.>)

I know a lot of you guys are familiar with Nearer, My God, to Thee as sung in church, and as performed by BYU’s Vocal Point. Personally, I’m a big fan of both. I love Vocal point’s arrangement. 

So, I present to you, dear followers and other readers, a performance of that arrangement (a brilliant nine part harmony) performed on the cello:

I loved this post by Al Fox. (If you’re not familiar with her, check out her blog and/or her YouTube channel.) I’m inspired and I thought I’d share my own journaling system.

The black journal is the oldest. I started it in May. It’s my missionary journal. My boyfriend will be leaving for a full-time mission this year. Whenever I come across a scripture (like D&C 66:11), something said by a church leader, or some other quotation that I feel might be useful to him in the mission field, I write it down in here. It also contains things like a list of books I want to read by the time he comes home, and a list of things I want to do/try for myself while he’s away.

Next came the grey composition book. Every day (in theory; I’m not perfect) gets one page. In blue I write good things I did related to the Gospel like saying my prayers, studying the scriptures, participating in a discussion during an Institute class, etc. In red I write down things that weren’t so good like missing Institute, forgetting to say a morning prayer, etc. It sounds kind of petty, but it helps me to see where my weak areas are and work toward improving them. (The rare days that are all blue even get a gold star sticker. Haha, I’m a five-year-old at heart.)

Then there was the red journal. I struggle with panic disorder and this journal is just for that. I write down what was going on and what triggers each panic attack, what specific symptoms were present, and how I came out of it. It’s been helpful.

Tonight, I made this journal:
 
It’s directly inspired by Al Fox’s testimony journal. I found this blank notebook tonight around an hour before I saw her blog post. I put it aside because I just had a feeling that I would have use for it soon. Once a month, on fast and testimony Sunday, I’m going to write my testimony in it. (And maybe once in a while when I have one of those moments where some truth of the Gospel just hits me the right way and I need someplace to write it down.) It will definitely be a good thing to have. 

And, of course, I’ve got this blog. :)

I never used to be very big on journaling, but it’s strongly encouraged by the General Authorities and I’ve quickly seen how useful it can be.

So what about you guys? Do you keep journals? What are your habits?