It's Autumn Time

I love this time of year for about million reasons:
crunchy leaves
holidays
colors
cool air
rain
clouds
harvest food
to name a few. This time of year also reminds me of falling in love with Josh because this was the time of year that happened. We had so much fun and did so many awesome things when we were dating and 99% of those memories are happy ones. First kisses, walks around Salt Lake at night, temple trips, hikes, mountains, going to the zoo, and learning new things together were some of the things we enjoyed. Every year at this time, I start to crave those adventurous falling in love feelings again. I remember how much I love Josh and how much fun we have together. I am generally a happier person in the Fall than in any other season.

The year we started dating also happened to be the year of the "Read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year" challenge. Josh got just a little behind, and I finished early, so I spent a lot of time reading aloud to him, which was a fantastic experience. I remember my own feelings I as finished and how much peace I felt about life at that time. I remember kneeling to pray in my room after Jamie had gone to work and knowing without any question that this book was true, and I was doing the things in my life that I needed to. I remember reading with Josh and loving the review of what I had just read. This time of year always makes me crave the Book of Mormon too, and that's a craving I'm really grateful for.

I figured out a few weeks ago that if I just read 5 pages a day, I can finish by the end of the year....again. We'll see if I can keep it up, but so far I'm actually doing really well and I'm LOVING it.

Josh and I also started reading D&C together for our family scripture study, which has been really interesting. As we read through Section 10 Josh pointed out that it says over and over again that satan or the devil was stirring up their hearts and it kindof made me think. Does Satan have any kind of power/control over our minds? There are plenty of times he messes with our emotions and feelings and "stirs up our hearts" but can he "stir up our minds"? Is that out of his power? We had just read before in section 8 that when the spirit testifies, it happens to our minds and hearts not just our hearts, and not just our minds. I'm still not sure on this, but it seems like a nice idea that our minds are something that we get to be the boss of and that satan has no power over.....if I find a doctorinely sound thought on this, I'll share it.