Miracle Summer

The Bethany that left for EFY in June is not the same Bethany that is writing this post.

This Bethany has an absolute assurance that God hears and answers prayers, because she had to be positive of that fact before she could tell dozens of youth about it.

He really, really does hear us. And He answers. I know it.

This Bethany is sure of her identity as a Daughter of God.

He is my Father. I am His daughter. Nothing will change that, ever.

This Bethany has learned to rely on the promptings and inspiration of the Spirit to sustain her from moment to moment.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

This Bethany has learned the meaning of patience, humility, and servant leadership.

This Bethany has 82 pieces of her heart spread out across the country in the form of amazing, strong, beautiful young women facing real heartache.

This Bethany will forever look at others differently. This Bethany is not afraid to open her mouth and share the Gospel with friends, family, strangers, everyone.

This Bethany has fallen in love all over again with the word of God. This Bethany knows the meaning of 'study' and not just 'read' the scriptures.

This Bethany is different.

And she is grateful.

I also got accepted to nursing school this summer. Twice. Looking back at this post, or just searching 'nursing school' in the search box up yonder, you will maybe catch a glimpse of how much this means to me. Four years, people. Four years of crying and worrying and stressing about making my dream come true. I have three major dreams to accomplish in my life, and that is one of them. A third. People at EFY keep asking me "Where do you go to school? What are you studying?" And I am filled with the biggest sunshine ray of gratitude and happiness when I reply "I actually just got accepted to nursing school at BYU...." WHAT?! That's a real thing??? Those words are coming out of MY mouth??

This is how it happened:

At BYU, they have a rule that you can only apply to nursing school two times. MAYBE they will let you appeal for a third try, but rarely. So I applied twice in the last 3 and a half years at BYU, and I was rejected both times. So I made a few plans, prayed, cried, researched, adjusted, and moved forward. This past April, life changed around and I decided to apply to UVU's nursing school. For two weeks I ran around in a flurry taking entrance exams and getting credits transferred so I could meet the deadline.

I also appealed and was allowed to apply to BYU for a third try. Why? Because I hate being told what I cannot do. And I'm not a quitter.

On June 16th, I was working the EFY Salt Lake City Special Edition session. My mom texted me that the letter from UVU had come. I had planned to make her wait so that I could open it myself, but I changed my mind and told her to open it. She texted me a photo of a letter that started like this:

"Dear Bethany, CONGRATULATIONS!!"

I was walking at the back of a line of youth when I opened the message. I tilted my head back and faced the sky while I laughed and prayed and cried tears of gratitude. Finally. 

Two weeks later I was working an EFY session in Tacoma, Washington. I received an email from BYU that said "We're sorry, your application to the College of Nursing has been denied...." I smiled. I had read this message twice before, and I could face it with peace because I had tried my hardest and was still going to become a nurse. Just not at BYU.

On July 16th, I was working EFY in Provo. We were sitting in morning side, learning about choices and personal revelation and how sometimes the Lord gives us two good choices and He trusts us to make the decision ourselves. My thoughts: "This is so great for the youth to learn. I'm so glad I've learned this lesson already in my life. Agency is so great." 

At this moment, I looked down and saw a missed call from BYU on my phone. I excused myself from morning side and listened to this voicemail:

"Bethany, this is Cara from the BYU College of Nursing. We have had a spot open up and want to extend to you admission to our program for Fall 2013." 

Wide eyed, shocked, and shaking, I realized the entire morning side was for me. Heavenly Father is smart like that.

I took 24 hours and prayed about it. I weighed the pros and cons. I remembered telling people that if I was admitted to both programs, I would choose UVU. I laughed at the irony of it all.

I chose BYU. I feel so happy about that decision. This was my dream, and it was given to me after a long trial of my faith. While I have wrapped up my EFY summer here in Provo this week, I keep having little shivers of joy at the prospect of coming back here to study what I have always wanted.

The words blessed and grateful do not even begin to cover it.

Belle at My Birthday

Hello my name is Bethany.

I am Princess Belle at heart.

I would love to come to your birthday party. 

{ $20 for a half an hour visit within Salt Lake County. Program varies depending on age group. 

Email me with questions bethany . coleman 21 @ gmail . com}

20 Seconds

I did this today.

We'll see what will come of it. :)

Even When You're Broken

There is a new album of music made for every year of EFY. One of the awesome parts of being a counselor is the opportunity to sing the songs to the youth during morningsides and firesides. It is another way to testify to the youth what I know in my heart to be true.

This week I get to sing this beautiful song about the Atonement. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that what He suffered in Gethsemane and on the cross at Golgotha is not a thing of the past. The Atonement is real and it works in my life every day. The Savior knows you, loves you, and He wants to be at one with you, hence the word at one ment. He knows everything about you, and He loves you perfectly.






another witness: None Were With Him

Hello Seattle I am a Pioneer

So. The last few months I have been doing an intensive study of my identity. I learned this phrase at an efy training and it changed how I study the gospel: "Questions invite Revelation" and since then I've been asking questions and writing them down before I begin my scripture study. One of the questions I asked was "how can I increase my self esteem and self worth?" IT HAS BEEN AMAZING. GOD SERIOUSLY ANSWERS EVERY QUESTION. Anyway. Through prayer and the Temple and scripture study I have truly come to understand who I am. I am Bethany. I am a daughter of God. It's an incredible truth. 

    Anyway. As I have come to know who I am and who my Father is, I have come to care and love everyone. Seriously. I know who they are because I know who I am. And for the first time, I have that burning desire for everyone to know who they are. For the first time I can't stand that everyone doesn't know that Jesus died for them. 

    On a slightly different note, all last year and all this year at efy we are challenged to pray and ask for who we are supposed to share the Gospel with. I have felt so frustrated for two summers because whenever I pray I never feel like I received a name. I have felt very frustrated about my part in the missionary work, because I pray every night for missionary experiences. 

     I learned from a fellow counselor at efy that one way she has missionary experiences is to talk to and sit by strangers. So that night after I talked to her, I went back to my dorm here in Washington and prayed and told Heavenly Father that I am so serious about this. I want to share the gospel. I want to not be afraid to share it. So I wrote my testimony inside a copy of the Book of Mormon to show Heavenly Father how serious I am and I put it in my backpack to keep with me always and I told Him to please let me know when it was the right person. 

     Last weekend, after all the kids left, all of us counselors took a day trip to Seattle. (Side note, I am OBSESSED with Seattle. So so so beautiful.) A few of us decided to be adventurous and hop on some random buses to get back to Puget Sound, and when I got on the bus I remembered my promise to sit by strangers. So I walked to the back of the bus and saw this guy and I knew he was the one Heavenly Father wanted me to talk to. So I sat down next to him, and looked at him and in my head I said "this is a Child of God" (to remind myself of his identity and to not be afraid) and I stuck out my hand and introduced myself. He had to pull his earbuds out to hear me and then introduced himself as Rome. I said "oh cool I am named after a city too!" And then we started talking. For an hour we talked on a bus about everything. We talked about school (he studied religion in college) and so I asked him what he knew about Mormons and we talked about my beliefs and we talked about hiking and I told him that we believe God created a beautiful world for us because we are all His children. I told him that the primary children sing I am a Child of God and and the young women say We are Daughters of our Heavenly Father. We talked about how much we both hate Twilight. We talked about bowling, comedy, his relationship with his family and my relationship with mine. We talked about music. We talked about everything. I told him about my role at EFY and what we teach the youth. I wanted him to feel loved. 

    Before I transferred buses I turned to him and said "Rome I hope you don't think this is weird, but I want to give you this gift." And he took the Book of Mormon and said "thanks! I'll read it!!" 

     I have a testimony of missionary work. I have a testimony that I am God's daughter. When you know who you are, it is no longer scary to share the truth with everyone.