The Things of Which I Know.

Soooo this is actually just a recent Christmas letter that I sent to my cousin who's on a mish in Boise, Idaho, but it's basically just my testimony, so i thought i would just scan it and put it on the blog. These are the things that I KNOW are true. I love this gospel, heart and soul. It is the reason I am where I am in my life. I am extremely blessed to have it in my life. I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who cares about me and wants me to inherit all He has. I also know that My Redeemer LIVES! I know that through the Atonement we can repent and become perfect through Him. May we remember the real meaning of Christmas this beautiful season. I love you all. The Church IS true :]






Love, Pono Santos

oh there's no place like HOME for the holidays :)

I'm back in WA! For the first time since August. and I love it sooo much! It's THE BEST. I love being home with family. Me and pup have been partying it up, and Maello just got home yesterday. So that's just added to the party :] haha. Kalei and Elaine get in on Wednesday and I'm super stoked to see them. I have yet to go running, which i really want to slash need to do. I can't waste anymore days of this wonderful WA running ;) And we're gonna start caroling soon too! Which I CANNOT wait for. I love caroling with the fam! Even if we do have to wear our dorky matching sweaters. haha. Also, I'm not 100% sure yet, but I'm pretty sure that the Pacific NW is just the habitat that I need to live in when I grow up cause it's PERFECT. I just love it. The rain, the green, the mountains, it's fantastic. So yah. Home's fantastic! I just needa do a little more running and a lot more practicing and it will be perfect :] Anyways. here's a pic of outside my room window! I've missed it.


Enjoy :]

The Church is True!

it's the most wonderful time of the year?

you guessed it... FINALS WEEK. BAM. i guess you could say i'm a little frightened. here's the thing though. i HAVEN'T started studying yet. and our first reading day is almost over. i know. it's dumb. but i feel like if i study it will have really started. and i'm SCARED OUT OF MY MIND. ESPESH for history. 35% of my grade will be determined on Thursday. meh. Anyway, besides that final i think it'll mostly be ok if i study. which has yet to happen. I had a pretty productive day though! just little to no studying. hah. i went on a 7 mile run, studied PMG, and practiced which was good. Next week looking like this. I have a GROUP Discussion 50 T/F final in psychology of performance Monday night. Then i'm gonna take D&C on Tuesday. Wednesday is French! And Thursday is History. I fly home Thursday night. CRAZY. but yah. it should be good! In other news. I really, rEaLlY, REALLY wanna be a cello performance major. LIKE SOOO BAD. the audish is on January 29th. I'm gonna do it. I know I can with Heavenly Father's help. So I'm gonna practice like CRAZY and pray even harder. We'll see what happens :] I'm excited.


And this is just a fun pic from last weekend. LB and J-Dawg came to the Celebration of Christmas where I sang! i have BOMB best friends :]

Now Glad of Heart.

This is a song we've sang at a couple concerts this year in women's chorus. With the other choirs actually. And I LOVE it. So yah. Here are the words. Enjoy!

Now glad of heart be everyone!
The fight is fought the, day is won.
The Christ is set upon His throne.

Who on the Rood was crucified
Who rose again, at Easter tide,
In glory to His Father’s side.

Who baffled death and harrowed hell
And led the souls that loved Him well
All in the light of lights to dwell.

Then rise, all Christian folk, with me
And carol Him who made us free,
That was, and is, and is to be.

Now glad of heart be everyone!
The fight is fought, the day is won.
The Christ is set upon His throne!

The Church is TRUE!

THANKSGIVING festivities.

So sorry it's been like a year since I've posted anything... haha life's kinda been double O C. In a good way. but still. So I'll start with Thanksgiving. This year mi madre flew down here for Thanksgiving. And it was sooo funnn!! She stayed with J.J. and Megs so I gotta hang out with them as well as Kalei and Elaine a lot for a few days, which was wayyy fun :] And yah. For Thanksgiving we went down to South Jordan to celebrate with my mom's cousins and all their fam. Not gonna lie. it was a little bit outta control. I kinda felt like i was in my Big Fat Greek Wedding. But it was fun, none the less ;) We ate lotsss of food and talked and sang so yah. good stuff. Here are some pics from Thanksgiving day!

me and my little candy turkey :]


Kalei, my bro.


J.J. and a baby!


family :]

The day after Thanksgiving of course is THE BEST DAY OF THE YEAR!! You called it! BLACK FRIDAY!!! and i gotta go shopping with mom for about 10 hours. haha it was sooo fun!!! So yah. I unfortunately didn't take any pics. We were to intensely shopping. haha. but yah. fun fun fun!!!

And on Saturday of that weekend we went to the Temple Square Christmas Lights in Salt Lake. It was a little cold, but sooo fun! Here are some of my fave pics from the night!


The temple!!


J.J. being awk... haha


Smooz trying to be G.


Smooz and Megs :]


foot pop!


Kalei and Elaine!


Smooz and the 2 most important women in his life. [besides me of course.] haha


reflection pond!


accidental close-up of me and smooz.


the gang in front of the HUGE Christmas tree in the JSMB. [after Kalei and Elaine left]

Anyways, it was a FANTASTIC break! CAN'T wait til Christmas!

The Church is True!

Love, Pono

KRAY.

So life is crazy right now. Here are the things that I have coming up in the next couple days that I am devoting my life to at the mome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-emR-6-rtE

Boccherini Cello Concerto. I'm performing it in the Dejong on Monday night. I'm SOOO STOKED! but still have a lot of work to make it good. it should be good though. 4pm. BE THERE. if you're in the area! it's gonna be LEGIT.


French test tomorrow. I needa study HARDCORE PARKOUR. Which is what i'm doing as soon as i post this. kbye.


D&C test also tomorrow. gaaah. i needa study for this too. I LOVE THIS CLASS THOUGH!! Brother Perkin's is a fantastic teacher. I never leave that class not having felt the Spirit. It's quite amazing :]


HARRY POTTER 7 FREAKING PREMIERE ON THURSDAY NIGHT!!! me and my roomies are going with a group of friends at 8pm actually. so i'm glad i won't have to be up all night after the midnight premiere. i guess you could say i'm kinda stoked outta my mind. Also, it's Liz's birthday on Thursday!! 20!!! AHHHH. crazy cool.


I have a history quiz on Uncle Tom's Cabin on Friday. I guess you can say I'm a little bit scared. Considering how much of the book I've read. bahah. that'll be fun...


And this is one of the things that i'm thinking about but i still have some time. i'll prob be running a marathon in April. CRAZY, huh? bahah. i'm stoked though. I have to train HARDCORE. oh man;

Well, that's all for now. I gotta hop on the studying and reading and practicing.

Oh. in other news. i love itunes stalking people. k that is all. ttfn.

~Pono Santos

photoshop

sooo i'm not very good with photoshop, i kinda just click randomly on everything i see and drag it around. but here's a little creation i came up with today! pretty proud of myself... bahaha. mk that's all. hw time. cuz this week is krayyy!


peace out. the church is true!

autumn.

can i just say, BEST SEASON EVERRRR?! I honestly luuuhh it. it's AMAZING. today my roomies and i took some pics in the beautiful leaves. it was wayyy fun! And I love Christmas music. haha. Although i can't stand snow, i gotta say, the Christmas season is pretty fantastic :] I feel like everyone's sooo happy and giving during this time of year and I love it. In our appartment we have a "Thankful Wall" and it's sooo fun! I luuuhh it. I'll try and post a pic of it soon :] Anyway, one of the things I'm super thankful for are my roomies. Elise Osorio, Elizabeth Tingey, and Rebecca Johnson. These girls have been such a blessing in my life this semester and will continue to be for the rest of the year I am sure. Each one of them makes me want to be a better person. They are so strong in the gospel. And, mish or marriage, i will always love them ;)

Anyways, here are some of my fave pics from today! Enjoy!





Elise Osorio, ladies and gentlemen... bahaha




Oh. Also, i think i'm running a marathon on April 16th ish. Crazy, but i'm stoked :]

The Church is TRUE! I can't wait to go on a mish :]

Love, Pono Santos

running, music, and boys.

Three words that sum up my life. [outside of school :)] bahaha. no but seriously. Mk, where do i start. This last Saturday, the 30th, I ran MY FIRST HALF MARATHON!!! LEGIT. It was one of the hardest but best thing I've ever done. 13.1 miles. wow. I ran it in 2:01 approximately. I still needa figure out what my real time was. but here's a pic of me running. not attractive, but, whatev.


and here's a pic of me and my roomies after the race! yaaaahhh. Love it.


in the music realm, i'm practicing a lot in preparation for my audition at the end of January. and i have a men's chorus/women's chorus concert this weekend! Friday and Saturday. I'm super stoked. it's gonna be LEGIT. we're singing waaayy cool songs. and I sat in on part of men's chorus's dress rehearsal tonight and THEY'RE SOOO GOOD!!! i wanna be in men's chorus sooo bad. dang it. haha. but yah that should be good :]

finally. boys. seriously, i feel like i'm a miamaid again. Cuz all me and my roomies ever talk about is BOYS. it's a little bit ridiculous. Quote from a girl that hung out with us for like two hours,

"I think I've talked about boys more in this time hanging out with your apartment than I have with my apartment this whole semester."

haha gotta love it.

anyways, that is all for now.

The Church is True!

p.s. I got my first letter from Elder Munk yesterday!! i was stokkkkked! He's loving the MTC and doing great :]

p.s.s. it's mish week, so for part of that I haven't gotten on facebook for a week, and i kinda love it. I'm DEF limiting the time spent on it when i get on again.

Elder Lund!

OH YAH! And here's a pic of ma BFF in the MTC :] I luuuhh it!! He's doing well, working hard, and having fun! Can't wait to get to Brasil!

That is all, The Church is TRUE! I can't wait to be a mish :]

I Choose To.

Sooooo, i'm officially the worst blogger of all time. but. i thought i'd just take a couple minutes and share some thoughts. This last Monday [the 11th] in Psychology of Performance we were going into more depth on the 5 Peak Stages of Performance. So we started with stage one: The foundation. And this is made up of three needed parts. 1. Our GOAL or INTENTION. 2. our MOTIVATION. and 3. our COMMITTED ATTITUDE. Anyways, my teacher talked about how often people are reason bound. This is not always a bad thing. Some reasons are good. However, there are also many reasons that tend to hold us back in our goals and intentions. In order to be free and fearless, he said it should be our goal to get out of "the land of reasons rule" and switch to the land of "I CHOOSE."

I CHOOSE TO DO SOMETHING THAT'S UNCOMFORTABLE OR DIFFICULT.

This takes commitment. Real power comes from choosing. Choose your mindset. Choose your attitudes. When we choose things like this, our emotions are guests. And fear is an unwelcomed visitor. So, CHOOSE IT. That is my new goal for this year. To eliminate stress, eliminate would, should, and could from your vocab and fill it with I choose!

Sorry, this is kinda just like word vomit, I wish I had a way with words, but this will have to do... hopefully it made some sense.

Anyways, that's all for now. CHOOSE! The Church is TRUE :]

My roomies are better than your roomies :]

Soooooo, I love being back in p-town. sooo much! I feel alive again. And I am constantly surrounded by AMAZING people that make me want to be more than what I am. Three of these people are girls that I'm lucky enough to live with. They are all amazing and I strive to be like them everyday. Here are some pics and some fun things that have happened so far :]


bridal guides :] the note is for elise :]


hiking the Y the first night we were together and setting individual and apt goals at the top,


first Sunday at church :]


first fhe!



Appartment dinners :]


yah i just thought i'd throw this one in here cause it's HILARIOUS. bahaha. love you roomie :]


break the fast :]

I LOVE YOU ALL :] it's gonna be a great year!!! The Church is True!

college version 2.0

So, as of last Monday I have been back in P-Town. And, IT IS AMAZING. I LUUUHH IT. it is as good as i remember it. Since i've been down here i've been unpacking, organizing, reminicing, laughing, running, playing, practicing cello, making new friends, talking, not sleeping, anddd singing. it is sooo much fun. I'm in 43rd ward this year. And I've played night games with some ppl in my ward, swam in the pool with them, and went to the ward breakfast this morning. It has been oh so fun :] Also, I auditioned for women's chorus today. And had 2 auditions. I hope I passed. They put up the call back list on Monday. And call backs are Wednesday. Also, I signed up for my orchestra audition. It's this Tuesday at 3:18. AHHH!!! I'm kinda scared. but excited. I WANNA BE IN PHIL SOOO BAD. but i dunno if it'll happen this year. HOPEFULLY! but we shall see. Pics will come soon :]

The Church is True :]

Love, Pono

p.s. OH YAHHH!!! since i last blogged, i forgot to say, I'm GOING TO BE AN AUNTY!!! I CAN NOT WAIT. I LUUUHH BABIES :] mk. that is all. until next time. goodbye.

Catching Fire.

Sooooo, I bought this book yesterday after work and started reading it around 7pm. I just finished. IT IS SOOO INTENSE. AAAAAAAAAHHHH. FREAKIN' OUT. I bought it for $18 at Barnes and Noble. Which was dumb of me, but I just couldn't wait anymore. And Costco didn't have it. Sooo, I splurged. BUT WOW. I CANNOT WAIT FOR MOCKINGJAY. IT'S GONN BE KRAAAY. STOKED! I pre-ordered it before I even read Catching Fire. Well, I guess I should go read ma scriptures now and study Preach My Gospel and stuff, since it is the Sab. haha. Anyways, PEACE out. ONE WEEK. til I leave for P-Town. I guess you could say I'm a little excited :]

mish wisdom.

sooo I got this letter yesterday from my friend who is on a mish, currently in the Provo MTC. Everything he wrote was cool, but there was this excerpt that I wanted to share, cause when I read it I was just like wow, you don't sound like a 19 year old boy. It's crazy how much insight these mishs get and how in tune they are with the Spirit; it is AMAZING. So w/o further adieu, here goes. He knows how much I LOVE mish work and I've been writing him about how I've been going on splits with the mishs. So he wrote this concerning missionary work,

"I had a thought come to me the other day that I wanted to share with you. When Christ was on the earth, He was the PERFECT MISSIONARY; perfectly obedient, the Spirit as His constant companion, and demonstrating love for ALL. Yet, despite this, did Jesus convert everybody that He taught? No. People have their agency no matter how good a missionary we are. Yes, it's frustrating sometimes, but that's the way it has to be. We can't convert everyone. We need to remember that and not get down on ourselves. It just means we need to double our efforts to find the people that will listen. And how do we do that? Put our trust in God, thrust in our sickles, open our mouths, FOLLOW the Spirit, and LOVE and talk to EVERYONE."

I thought that was sooo cool. I've never thought about mish work like that before, but it's true. Another mish in the MTC challenged his family and friends to study Preach My Gospel everyday. So I'm gonna do it. Or try my hardest to. The church is true! Mish work is awesome. Open your mouth and you will be blessed :]

The Hunger Games

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW. I just read this book: in < 36 hours. Any I had to work too, or else it would have been faster :] UNBELIEVEABLE. I want Catching Fire RIGHT NOW. Annnnd Mockingjay. No but for serious. AHHHHHHHHHH. I wanna know what happens next. I am FREAKING out. Cool. Mk I'm done. I'M STOKED TO READ THE REST OF THE BOOKSSSSSSSS... THAT IS ALL. peace.

yes, please :]

I think I'm in love...

I want to be a missionary now!

I CAN'T WAITTT.

The CHURCH IS TRUE!!

Love, [future] Sister Santos :]

Pride and Prejudice

LOVE THIS BOOK. SO SOO SOOO MUCH!!! ahhhhhh. I just wanna scream right now. And can I just have my own Mr. Darcy? Please. He's perfect. Forget Edward. hahah. Anyways, I love it. DEF reccomend reading it if you've just seen the movies. It stands by itself very well. I love summer reading. Wish I had more time to read during the school year, but oh well. Next up, The Hunger Games! I'm pretty excited. Peace out, girl scout :]