Turtles, Ties, and Puppies!

It's summer!

That doesn't actually mean too much for me though. But it does still feel different than the normal school year, and I am excited! I am doing a lot of things that will be a bit challenging, but what better a time do them? The Young Single Adult population in Tucson has drastically dwindled for the summer, so I had better find something to do! Here's what I am up to this summer:
- An internship at Eye Care and Cure. I started last Monday. It's pretty cool. Lots of hands on work, which I am not really used to. In a lot of ways it beats sitting behind a desk all day.
- A biology class at Pima Community College. It's a lower division class that I neglected taking a few years back. The material is simple, but it is time consuming. The summer only adds to that because everything is so condensed. I got 100% on my first test today though so that's good.
- Both Organic Chemistry Labs at U of A. I took the lectures during the school year. So again, I don't think the material will be too hard, just time consuming.
- Studying to retake the OAT (optometry admissions test). I already took it last year, and I did well enough to get accepted into most schools, but I would like to really crush it and give myself even more of an opportunity. I also took it before I had completed at least six courses who's materials were included on the test. I have now completed most of those course, so hopefully I can do better.
- Singing in the Cornerstone Dedication of the Tucson Temple. I know what you're thinking, I can't sing. While that's true, I'm excited to work really hard and hopefully develop a new skill. What a wonderful opportunity that's truly once in a lifetime. I'm glad I was picked to participate.
- Attempting to have a social life.
- Skateboarding.

I'll catch you up on some highlights of my summer so far!

My Grandma Debbie has retired from Burns Pest Elimination! She has been there for 18 years so it was kind of surreal. I can tell she doesn't know what to do. It was funny, I called her yesterday, which was her last official day of work, and I asked her what she was going to do the next day. She was just like uhh... Well I'll go to the bank... and uhhh idk. She will get to help my Aunt Sherri bake some cakes or something  on Friday. She was so excited for that because she has never really been able to do things like that. She has worked full time almost her entire life, including when she was raising 5 children. I am so happy for her and my grandpa, who also retired :)

I found a freaking TURTLE!! Technically a tortoise. A sulcatta or something like that. It was in the middle of the road right down the street from my house. It was definitely someone's pet, but there was no way of knowing whose it was. So Caroline and I took it to my friend Brittany's grandma's house who also has another Sulcatta turtle. And she loves her. Even if we do find the owner, which doesn't look too promising at this point, I don't see grandma giving her up anytime soon. I'll attach some pics.






We have had some pretty fun game nights! I've had to make new friends and so far I haven't scared anyone off! So we're doing something right!

Friday Night we went up to Mount Lemmon for a ward activity. We set up all the tents for girls camp, and tbh I had a blast. I wasn't too sure if I was gonna go, but ended up going with Aaron and Joel. We played an epic game of Werewolf (literally the best I've ever played, shout out to Matthew Grabinger for being a Lycan and confusing everyone). Then in the morning I got up early and started to prepare a talk I was giving the next day. There's nothing better than a peaceful scripture study up in the mountains, early in the morning. I have received sacred revelation in places like that. The peace and serenity that can be felt are so great.

On saturday I went to Mesa for the night, and I hung out with Jenny and her mom. Her mom was super fun and literally acted like she was our age. At one point she even encouraged me to "just make out" with someone haha. We went to Frost at San Tan and subsequently ended up at Barnes and Noble, which is my favorite. I've yet to meet a member of the Aranda family I don't like!

My mom got a new puppy! Same as my other dog Romeo, just smaller and a girl. I'll post a pic.



On Sunday I gave a talk. This was the fifth talk I've given in the last 8 or 9 months, and honestly besides my little scripture study on the mountains I didn't do much to prepare. There was the slightest touch of arrogance that I was carrying around with me because I knew I could give a decent talk. That came back to bite me it the butt, hard. After leaving jennys on saturday my engine guard came loose on the bottom of my car. I was dragging it and throwing sparks while driving down the 202. That was fun, and I didn't get home until very late, leaving no time to finish my talk. I told myself I would finish it in the morning. Yeah right. By the time I got out of the shower in the morning it was 8:45 and I needed to leave for Tucson to give my talk at 11. I told myself I would get there a few minutes early and put the finishing touches on it. As I was driving I had the impression that I should include in my talk the difference between church culture and the actual doctrine of Jesus Christ. I just couldn't think of how I was going to do that over the pulpit without accidentally offending someone or any traditions that they might hold near and dear to their hearts. Because to be honest it is actually a good thing to have certain customs or cultural norms that we follow, but it's when we allow those things to take precedence over the true essence of the Gospel that we can get into trouble and really miss the mark. I decided to dismiss that thought since I couldn't see how I could fit it in with so little time. Well, it's funny how the Lord works in mysterious ways (cue the forest gump voice). On the way there I realized I did not have a tie, and I did not want to take the time to run home and grab it since that would be cutting it pretty close. I called my roommate and asked him to grab me a tie and bring it to church. He didn't know I was giving a talk, so I don't think he sensed any urgency in the situation. He also wasn't feeling very well, which I didn't know. Anyways, I got to church around 10:45 and my roommate was nowhere in sight. 10:55, still no roommate. I'm freaking out at this point as I have no tie and only about 4 bullet points written down for my talk. At 11 oclock he texted me and told me he would be leaving the house soon.... Meltdown mode. I admitted defeat and slowly walked up to the stand... with no tie and with virtually no talk. To make matters worse, I found out I was going first. I was shaking I was so scared.  Guys giving talks is my thing! I'm an extrovert times 10 and I might speak every week if they asked me to. But this day was different. I felt so embarrassed, but I decided to just suck it up and put together what I could during the sacrament. I realized that this was the perfect situation to teach the difference between culture and doctrine, because guess what! Wearing a tie is a part of our culture not our doctrine. We are asked to wear ties and we should do so. There's nothing wrong with it and it can help promote a certain level of professionalism and reverence that should be present at church, but there isn't any actual power in the tie. The power is in Jesus Christ.
I calmed myself down, gathered my thoughts, and gave my talk. It was one of the best talks I've ever given. At least that is how I felt about it because i learned a powerful lesson that day. When the Lord needs something done, he'll get it done. He is the one who provides the power so that our words reach the hearts of those we teach. It doesn't matter how skilled we think we are or how much knowledge we believe we have, we will always need our Heavenly Fathers help. He'll humble us to make us remember that if necessary. He'll also provide us with spiritual help and power even if sometimes we don't totally deserve it. I'm grateful that the Lord found it worthwhile to help me, as insignificant as I am, to deliver a talk. I'm sure someone needed to hear what he had to say.

After church I had a meeting with Bishop Call. He is a great friend and I appreciate the loving help he offers to me and others in our ward. He's a good man.

The rest of the week consisted of two pool parties for memorial day. Work and school the rest of the week, and three movie nights. Shout out to Maddy Truman for being a constant at all three of those movie nights. She seems to just follow me around....

Tucson Temple Open House starts on Saturday! Make sure you come on down to see it!