So originally this post was going to be a comment on a Facebook link but to be honest, writing longer-ish comments on Facebook makes me nervous. Ever since they changed what the enter key does, I get so paranoid that the comment is going to post before I'm ready. But this was what I was going to say:
The link on Facebook was to another blog post (I think the article was originally from a blog) titled: "Mormon Pride 2011: LDS church calls for political action against nontraditional families."
*Big sigh*
Usually I try to stay out of all conversations that deal with opinions on homosexual marriage. I certainly do have an opinion, but these conversations usually go on and on and people get offended. I try to stay away from offensive comments if I can help it. But I also don't want to give the impression that I'm embarrassed or ashamed of my own beliefs. So here I am, finally voicing my opinion.
In the blog post, the author, "MoHoHawaii" expressed frustration for an "anti-gay manifesto" as he called it, published in the most recent issue of The Ensign, the official magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I was confused, because I had skimmed through the most recent issue already and hadn't spotted anything like that. So before I read the rest of the blog post, I went to lds.org and read the article in question.
It is called "Defending the Family in a Troubled World" by Elder Bruce D. Porter, of the Quorum of the Seventy.
In the second paragraph it quotes "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" by saying that "gender is 'an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.' The differences between men and women are not simply biological. They are woven into the fabric of the universe, a vital, foundational element of eternal life and divine nature."
Reading this in only the second paragraph might lead someone to assume that the rest of the article is about gay marriage. To someone particularly sensitive to the subject, just saying the word "gender" may automatically put them on their guard and assume the entire article is out to destroy them or their beliefs in some way. But it wasn't!
"In our contemporary world, in many dimensions, the family is in crisis." That pretty much summarizes the entire article. And it's a true statement! The family, in our day, is in a crisis! There are families whose parents are abusive, families who spend no time together and have little interest to, and motherhood is an idea that is demeaned and mocked by so-called "successful" business women. Divorce rates are rising, giving some children the idea that marriage is just a cruel joke that does little more than cause pain and heartache. A recent toll has reported that today there are as many as 40% of all births that occur out of wedlock (Brady et all). There are parents with addictions of all kinds that destroy marriages and annihilate trust, leading to broken families and low self-esteem. The Apostle Paul was quoted in the Ensign article as foreseeing this time of crisis, where "men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy …
“Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God …
“Led away with divers lusts,
“Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”
(2 Timothy 3:1–2, 4, 6–7).
To think this article is, as MoHoHawaii called, an "anti-gay manifesto" is just being ignorant. The issue discussed is not homosexual marriage. The issue is that now, more than ever, the traditional family, where there is a father who supports his wife and children, a mother who nurtures and cares for her children, and children who are being raised by loving parents, is being attacked. Are they being attacked by political debates and federal issues? No, this is bigger than that. The family is being attacked by Satan, whose eternal goal is the opposite of our Heavenly Father's: "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39)
The family is being attacked through Satan's influence on mankind, by means of pornography, alcohol, anger, infidelity, and sexual intercourse outside the bonds of marriage. It is also through the encouraged ideas that mothers who do not work outside the home are weak and have low worth to society, that divorce is a viable option for parents who have simply "stopped loving each other," and that sex (with or without protection) is harmless.
Is gay marriage also a concern held by the LDS Church? Yes, of course it is. The Church has nearly always stayed out of political campaigns and will only advise its members to vote for a candidate prayerfully. Prop 8 is one of the first, if not, the first occasion where the Church has made a political stand. Gay marriage remains to really be the only political issue the Church is this vocal about. But the issue is so much bigger than gay marriage! And I think that because of Prop 8, people believe that the LDS faith encourages bigotry and that articles about "defending the traditional family" is about encouraging prejudiced, and even hostile behavior. This is simply not true.
"MoHoHawaii" already had preconceived notions about the LDS Church before reading the article in the Ensign. He assumed his beliefs would be attacked and to be honest, I believe he wanted them to be. He chose to be offended so that he could stand on a soap box and bad mouth the Church. And unfortunately there are a lot of people who just choose to read commentaries and reviews without checking out the source for themselves. It is probable that the hundreds of people that read his post only read his strategically chosen and placed clip-its from the original article and are in full confidence that this article written by Elder Porter is "anti-gay sentiment" with "no words of compassion, just condemnation and a call to political action against families the Church doesn't approve of." I suppose it's possible that MoHoHawaii didn't read the actual article either, because that accusation is completely false.
"No words of compassion," huh? Here's a direct quote from the article:
"Certainly it is good to be tolerant of those who are different than we are, treating them with kindness and civility. But love, or charity, is the highest of all, and it is far better to genuinely love those with whom we differ."
The LDS Church has not ever and will never teach to hate. We aren't even taught to just accept! We are taught that we must have charity, the highest love, as Christ has. We are taught to love unconditionally, as God does. If anyone has ever been offended, hurt, or even been hated upon by a member of the LDS Church it is so so important to remember that the Church is perfect, but the members are not.
With that being said, official statements from the Church (like in the Ensign or in The Family: A Proclamation to the World) cannot be apologized for and shouldn't be. Messages delivered through this and other official publication have been spiritually contemplated and are considered scripture.
Well, everyone, this post has become a lot longer than I originally planned, and I fear that the more I write the more unorganized it's going to sound. I apologize for not making an outline or an essay web chart before writing this out. I'm going to skip right to the point I was originally trying to make:
The traditional family is under attack. That was the true statement addressed in the article by Elder Porter. MoHoHawaii, the blog author, took the article as a political attack against gay marriage and suggested that Church's PR needed some improvement when he said:
"Placing political op-ed pieces in the Church's educational materials is not a good idea. In fact, mixing politics with religion, in general, is a bad idea. It results in bad politics and bad religion."
The following are his closing remarks:
"There is a silver lining here. It's clear that Elder Porter's op-ed sermon is very defensive. He knows that the Church's position is unpopular with many members of the Church and that its involvement in Prop. 8 was a PR disaster. The subtext of the article is a sense of panic that the Church is losing this one."
These are my issues with his blog post:
1. Did he even read the article? It's not about attacking gay marriage, it's about how the family is under attack (from multiple influences!)
2. MoHoHawaii was seeking to be offended so that he could bad mouth the Church. He chose to believe that every inch of the article attacked his political and moral views when that was clearly not the intent of the article.
3. His closing remarks. The last two sentences actually. The Church does not have a PR problem. Its involvement with Prop. 8 was NOT a disaster. The Church and its members exercised the ability of free speech and proclaiming beliefs. The last sentence in particular makes me think that MoHoHawaii is under the impression that the Church is scared of losing popularity, members, or a good reputation. Since when has The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints been popular? The first prophet of this dispensation was tarred and feathered. There are people who truly believe that "Mormons" have literal horns growing from their heads. I have friends who are scared to death for me because they honestly think I am going to Hell when I die. I have been made fun of and at times, literally surrounded by people yelling comments that attacked my beliefs. Since when did the LDS Church have a sparkling reputation in the eyes of the world? The Church will not change its stand or beliefs in order to be accepted by the modern world. It never has; why would it start now? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. Our prophet is the mouthpiece of a real God, our Heavenly Father who loves us and is perfect. He will not lead us astray and cannot change his commandments so that His Church could be something as superficial as "popular."
So MoHoHawaii's blog post did make me upset, mostly because he suggested that the Church needs to change it's beliefs to be "successful," as if the Church were a business that needs popularity and money to stay alive. But with all that that I have just exhausted off my chest, I do have one more thing I have to say: I know the Church is true. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know that families are central to God's plan for us, and that families can be forever if sealed in the temple by one of His servants who holds the proper authority. I know that God wants us to be happy.
I also know that God does not approve of gay marriage.
I admit that I do not understand why some of God's children are born homosexual. I don't know why some people have to go through their whole lives being told that they are romantically attracted to the wrong gender. It hurts me to think how some active Mormons live their whole life single or have a spouse they are not romantically attracted to. How awful it would be to feel robbed of the ability to love!
I cannot empathize with those who are homosexual. I honestly do not know how it feels to be gay. I can't begin to imagine what it must be like. I can't imagine how confusing life must have been during adolescence and how painful it must be at a time like now. I feel so lucky to be heterosexual and only have to contribute to this controversial debate when I choose. Homosexuals are involved with this every day of their life and whether they're Mormon or not, whether they wished more than anything that they were straight or have fully embraced their feeling; they are in the thick of this debate every day of their lives. I have many friends who are gay, and I cannot tell you how much I am inspired by their strength and appalled with what they must have to deal with on a mental, spiritual, emotional, and spiritual level on a daily basis. I commend them for their positivity and their fierce determination to fight for their personal beliefs, whatever they may be. To all my gay friends:
You are incredible, inspiring, and amazing.
And I love you.
Works Cited:
Brady E. Hamilton, et al., “Births: Preliminary Data for 2008,” National Vital Statistics Reports 58:16 (April 2010), 5.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/12/984406/-Mormon-Pride-2011:-LDS-church-calls-for-political-action-against-nontraditional-families?detail=hide
http://lds.org/ensign/2011/06/defending-the-family-in-a-troubled-world?lang=eng
Monday, June 13, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Blonde Moments & Bus Stories
So I usually post these stories as facebook status' but some people make fun of me for having journal entry status' and some people get annoyed when I post more than one status in a 24 hour period (ahem, Steven Marshall). I thought having a twitter account would help me out with the latter issue (and it does) but then the problem arises when I have multiple short stories that I want to post on the same day but I can't explain in 140 characters or less! What to do!?! So that's when I remembered I had a blog... which no one reads, but that's okay. At least it's out there. I'm going to be honest- if something happens that I want to remember later on, it will stress me out trying to remember details until I finally write them down somewhere. Then I completely forget about them. Truly. It's like exactly how a pensieve works.
I'm rambling again. Sorry.
So anyways, the other day on the bus, I was looking out the window and watched the little dingy shops go by. I saw one that looked like some kind of Mexican bakery. I could tell because there were pictures of wedding cakes and pastries all over the building, along with spanish words. I saw on the window next to a cake that said "3 leches." I kid you not, I looked at it, frowned and thought, "'three leches??' It's supposed to say 'tres le--' ohh....."
And then I felt really dumb. Mind you, this all took place in my mind in less than 2 seconds, so at least I caught myself before I would have felt the need to drop out of school, so we're good. I still thought it was funny though.
So this second story kind of appalled me in a funny way. So I was on the bus and was sitting across from the back door, so I was facing it. This big guy came on the bus and brought with him about 5 brightly colored party bags. There were no more seats, so he stood by the door right in front of me. He was very odd, I thought. The only way to describe him really was that he was very animated, but moved in a very fluid, feminine way. It's weird to say that because while all city buses are jerky, no bus moves a standing person THAT much. He also laughed to himself every 20 seconds or so, quite heartily. I was trying to figure out if he was listening to an iPod and had just one earpiece in on the side of his head I couldn't see. Either way, he seemed very odd. Then he proceeded to grab into one of the party bags and pull out beef jerky. He at the piece very daintily, with his pinky up. When he was done he grabbed another bag and pulled out turkey jerky and ate it the same way. The whole bus was casually watching him now. He ate a couple more pieces of jerky, pinky up and laughing more frequently. He reached down again to another bag and pulled out a glass bottle. It was large (probably held a half gallon) and was less than half full of a watery brown-red liquid. On the label shined it's content: Brandy. My eyebrows raised a little and I turned slightly to my left to see if anyone else had seen what he pulled out. The lady next to me had her eyebrows raised too and we looked at each other with dumbfounded faces.
"Drunk!" she mouthed. I nodded and we both looked back at the man who took a big swig as the bus kept jerking forward. Laughing as though he was going to tear up, he put the bottle back in the bag. He brought it out a few more times to take some big gulps, but I was out of the bus before I could find out where the Big Brandy Man was going. Hopefully to somewhere with a shower. Alcohol + Jerky does not do much good for someone's body odor.
And those are my stories. Oh the joys of public transportation...
I'm rambling again. Sorry.
So anyways, the other day on the bus, I was looking out the window and watched the little dingy shops go by. I saw one that looked like some kind of Mexican bakery. I could tell because there were pictures of wedding cakes and pastries all over the building, along with spanish words. I saw on the window next to a cake that said "3 leches." I kid you not, I looked at it, frowned and thought, "'three leches??' It's supposed to say 'tres le--' ohh....."
And then I felt really dumb. Mind you, this all took place in my mind in less than 2 seconds, so at least I caught myself before I would have felt the need to drop out of school, so we're good. I still thought it was funny though.
So this second story kind of appalled me in a funny way. So I was on the bus and was sitting across from the back door, so I was facing it. This big guy came on the bus and brought with him about 5 brightly colored party bags. There were no more seats, so he stood by the door right in front of me. He was very odd, I thought. The only way to describe him really was that he was very animated, but moved in a very fluid, feminine way. It's weird to say that because while all city buses are jerky, no bus moves a standing person THAT much. He also laughed to himself every 20 seconds or so, quite heartily. I was trying to figure out if he was listening to an iPod and had just one earpiece in on the side of his head I couldn't see. Either way, he seemed very odd. Then he proceeded to grab into one of the party bags and pull out beef jerky. He at the piece very daintily, with his pinky up. When he was done he grabbed another bag and pulled out turkey jerky and ate it the same way. The whole bus was casually watching him now. He ate a couple more pieces of jerky, pinky up and laughing more frequently. He reached down again to another bag and pulled out a glass bottle. It was large (probably held a half gallon) and was less than half full of a watery brown-red liquid. On the label shined it's content: Brandy. My eyebrows raised a little and I turned slightly to my left to see if anyone else had seen what he pulled out. The lady next to me had her eyebrows raised too and we looked at each other with dumbfounded faces.
"Drunk!" she mouthed. I nodded and we both looked back at the man who took a big swig as the bus kept jerking forward. Laughing as though he was going to tear up, he put the bottle back in the bag. He brought it out a few more times to take some big gulps, but I was out of the bus before I could find out where the Big Brandy Man was going. Hopefully to somewhere with a shower. Alcohol + Jerky does not do much good for someone's body odor.
And those are my stories. Oh the joys of public transportation...
Friday, October 15, 2010
'tis the season for haunted houses...
So here I am waiting for class to start again. I have about 30 minutes to kill, so here we go. First of all, I want to add a disclaimer about this post. Extremely unfortunately, I have noticed that my eyesight has gotten considerably worse in the past few days. I'm seriously hoping that that just means that the contacts I have in need to be thrown away, because I don't think I'll be able to stand not being able to read what's on the computer screen 14 inches away. For realsies, what I'm writing looks soo blurry to me right now :( UGH! So frustrating! But anyways, if there are any typos or whatever in this post, I apologize, but that is why...
Hmm...what to talk about...
So I went to a haunted house last Saturday night. We went up to Salt Lake to the "Nightmare on 13th" which apparently is an award-winning production (like, in the top ten in the nation or something). Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I don't do well with scary stuff. So why did I go? Good question. I'll get back to you on that when I figure out why haha.
I've gone to 3 different haunted houses in my life. The first was when I was in high school. I had no idea what to expect, so, naturally I had my eyes closed the whole time. It was safer that way. I think we were in there for a good twenty minutes, but the only part I really remember is thinking at one point that it was safe for me to open my eyes since no one was moving around or anything, and I opened my eyes to see a creepy clown about an inch away from my nose. Good gravy, that wasn't funny...
The next haunted experience I've been to is the infamous Haunted Forest in American Fork, Utah. The first time I went was freshman year, with a pretty good sized group of people. I was soo scared! I was almost crying as I got out of the car. I made sure the whole time that I was completely surrounded by my friends. The few times I found myself at the back of the group, I made sure I went completely hoarse, yelling at people to get behind me (poor Joel...haha). This experience was probably the most unforgettable out of all of the haunted experiences because my bestest friend, Nadine Morris was with me, and we had some pretty near-death experiences and trying moments as friends that night. Like when our group had formed a train at one point (I would NOT let go of the person in front of me and I made sure someone was holding my waist from behind at ALL times- most of the time this was Nadine's calling). We were "scuttling" through the forest at a very slow pace when the chainsaw guy jumped out at us (well, I'm assuming he did; I don't know if I saw him since my eyes were shut tight). I heard Nadine scream and I felt the hood of my coat pop off as me and the "train engine" ran forwards. I started absolutely yelling at Nadine that she'd better not have dropped the hood of my coat because if it was still back there, she was gonna get it 'cause I sure as heck wasn't!!! I didn't hear a reply and I almost went crazy and opened my eyes to look for her. I soon heard running footsteps though, and she soon reunited with us. She attached the hood back to my coat as she explained that when she got detached from us, she freaked out and ran into a tree.
We spent the rest of the night, just us girls, cuddling up in blankets and watching Princess Diaries with the lights on, and eating frozen yogurt (Nadine had to do it one-handed, since the other hand was busy holding an ice pack to her bruised-from-the-tree cheek).
Phew. That was a scary night.
So why, WHY did I agree to go to not one, but TWO haunted houses this season??? I've gone completely mental- there is no other explanation.
So this first one: "Nightmare on 13th" up in Salt Lake. I went on a triple date with a guy I hardly knew. Driving up was fine, even though I was nervous. My date was a nice guy. I'm just glad he was tall- I was planning on hiding behind him as soon as we got out of the car.
So we got there. The place was crazy. I don't want to ruin anything if any readers want to go themselves, but I flat out screamed multiple times. If I wasn't screaming I was whimpering. Either way my hands were white the whole time from a consistently tight grip around my date's stomach. Yes, yes, that's why boys like it when girls get scared easily, but what else was I going to do??? I had to hang on to something!
I didn't think I'd really cried, but my date was convinced I had. They were moist, but I don't think tears actually came out of my face... oh well. The worst part was at the very beginning actually, waiting inside the building to start. We stood in kind of a theater decorated like a boiler room (of course). Talking about it scares me, so lets just say something smacked against a glass door and I screamed very loud and entertained the entire room. Elgh. I HATE haunted houses!
The second place I went was the Haunted Forest in American Fork. I couldn't believe I was allowing myself to go again. What was worse was our group was almost entirely made of girls!!! There was one boy, but what good was that gonna do us? Thank goodness Amanda Lloyd was there. I hugged her so tightly from behind and kept my head down almost the whole time. I'm gonna be honest though- this wasn't nearly as scary as I remember it being. Even though we were one of the only people there (it was a thursday night). And afterwards all the actors came out and laughed at us, saying "Oh man, you should have seen your face when I did such-and-such and blah blah blah..." It was kind of weird and embarrassing to realize the people doing the scaring are just... people.
Anyways, my review on haunted houses in general after a fairly good amount of experience: I still hate them. Boys who want girls to hug you or hold your hand or seek you for protection: ... okay maybe haunted places are the way to go. I was going to say watch a movie, which works, but some movies scare me just as bad, if not, worse. So... I'll get back to you when I think of something that works better than scaring girls into your greedy little hands. Of course if you wanted to just woo them the old fashioned way and just be patient until they hug you because they WANT to, that would work too.
Oh, dang, I didn't mean for this to turn into a rant against boys. Sorry 'bout that. I love boys. I really do. I just strongly disliked getting scared :)
Hmm...what to talk about...
So I went to a haunted house last Saturday night. We went up to Salt Lake to the "Nightmare on 13th" which apparently is an award-winning production (like, in the top ten in the nation or something). Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I don't do well with scary stuff. So why did I go? Good question. I'll get back to you on that when I figure out why haha.
I've gone to 3 different haunted houses in my life. The first was when I was in high school. I had no idea what to expect, so, naturally I had my eyes closed the whole time. It was safer that way. I think we were in there for a good twenty minutes, but the only part I really remember is thinking at one point that it was safe for me to open my eyes since no one was moving around or anything, and I opened my eyes to see a creepy clown about an inch away from my nose. Good gravy, that wasn't funny...
The next haunted experience I've been to is the infamous Haunted Forest in American Fork, Utah. The first time I went was freshman year, with a pretty good sized group of people. I was soo scared! I was almost crying as I got out of the car. I made sure the whole time that I was completely surrounded by my friends. The few times I found myself at the back of the group, I made sure I went completely hoarse, yelling at people to get behind me (poor Joel...haha). This experience was probably the most unforgettable out of all of the haunted experiences because my bestest friend, Nadine Morris was with me, and we had some pretty near-death experiences and trying moments as friends that night. Like when our group had formed a train at one point (I would NOT let go of the person in front of me and I made sure someone was holding my waist from behind at ALL times- most of the time this was Nadine's calling). We were "scuttling" through the forest at a very slow pace when the chainsaw guy jumped out at us (well, I'm assuming he did; I don't know if I saw him since my eyes were shut tight). I heard Nadine scream and I felt the hood of my coat pop off as me and the "train engine" ran forwards. I started absolutely yelling at Nadine that she'd better not have dropped the hood of my coat because if it was still back there, she was gonna get it 'cause I sure as heck wasn't!!! I didn't hear a reply and I almost went crazy and opened my eyes to look for her. I soon heard running footsteps though, and she soon reunited with us. She attached the hood back to my coat as she explained that when she got detached from us, she freaked out and ran into a tree.
We spent the rest of the night, just us girls, cuddling up in blankets and watching Princess Diaries with the lights on, and eating frozen yogurt (Nadine had to do it one-handed, since the other hand was busy holding an ice pack to her bruised-from-the-tree cheek).
Phew. That was a scary night.
So why, WHY did I agree to go to not one, but TWO haunted houses this season??? I've gone completely mental- there is no other explanation.
So this first one: "Nightmare on 13th" up in Salt Lake. I went on a triple date with a guy I hardly knew. Driving up was fine, even though I was nervous. My date was a nice guy. I'm just glad he was tall- I was planning on hiding behind him as soon as we got out of the car.
So we got there. The place was crazy. I don't want to ruin anything if any readers want to go themselves, but I flat out screamed multiple times. If I wasn't screaming I was whimpering. Either way my hands were white the whole time from a consistently tight grip around my date's stomach. Yes, yes, that's why boys like it when girls get scared easily, but what else was I going to do??? I had to hang on to something!
I didn't think I'd really cried, but my date was convinced I had. They were moist, but I don't think tears actually came out of my face... oh well. The worst part was at the very beginning actually, waiting inside the building to start. We stood in kind of a theater decorated like a boiler room (of course). Talking about it scares me, so lets just say something smacked against a glass door and I screamed very loud and entertained the entire room. Elgh. I HATE haunted houses!
The second place I went was the Haunted Forest in American Fork. I couldn't believe I was allowing myself to go again. What was worse was our group was almost entirely made of girls!!! There was one boy, but what good was that gonna do us? Thank goodness Amanda Lloyd was there. I hugged her so tightly from behind and kept my head down almost the whole time. I'm gonna be honest though- this wasn't nearly as scary as I remember it being. Even though we were one of the only people there (it was a thursday night). And afterwards all the actors came out and laughed at us, saying "Oh man, you should have seen your face when I did such-and-such and blah blah blah..." It was kind of weird and embarrassing to realize the people doing the scaring are just... people.
Anyways, my review on haunted houses in general after a fairly good amount of experience: I still hate them. Boys who want girls to hug you or hold your hand or seek you for protection: ... okay maybe haunted places are the way to go. I was going to say watch a movie, which works, but some movies scare me just as bad, if not, worse. So... I'll get back to you when I think of something that works better than scaring girls into your greedy little hands. Of course if you wanted to just woo them the old fashioned way and just be patient until they hug you because they WANT to, that would work too.
Oh, dang, I didn't mean for this to turn into a rant against boys. Sorry 'bout that. I love boys. I really do. I just strongly disliked getting scared :)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The Inevitable Just Happened
So I was just going to class and I alllmost sat down at a desk and got super confused because I didn't recognize anyone in my classroom. After a quick scan of everyone's textbooks I definitely understood this was not my class. So after leaving and deciding to just sit at the JKB computer lab, I remembered my class doesn't start for another hour. Yes, that just happened...dang it. Oh well haha.
So in my New Testament class we are supposed to do a three week project that's due in about 2 weeks. Don't worry, I started a week ago, so I'll be good :) But we're supposed to pick a scripture from one of the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) to really apply to our life and then do a one page write-up about our experience. I figure I have time now, and I'm bored, so I'm just gonna type my write-up here I think. Anyways, for the past week I chose Matthew 11:29 which says,
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
Okay, to be honest, I'm not sure I applied it how it probably was intended to mean, but I think that it's somewhat normal for the same scripture to mean different things at different times.
Basically, the scripture jumped out at me when I saw the "ye shall find rest unto your souls" part. Goodness knows I am kind of emotionally unstable right now. So what i wanted to work on this week was that if I was feeling down or my mind was just stuck thinking about this certain thing, that I would kind of mentally slap myself and do something that Christ would have me do instead (which I think can be an accurate interpretation of "taking His yoke upon me.")
So throughout the week I've been trying to distract myself by either reading the scriptures, writing about fun events in this blog (ahem World of Color post), spending time with my sister, and going to all of the Stake/Regional Conference and the CES Fireside that all happened, very conveniently, this weekend.
Ok, and can I just say, I love going to conferences and stuff "prepared" (basically, wanting to hear an answer to a specific problem or question in a/the talk/s) because without fail, I always get some kind of comfort or some kind of answer I've been looking for.
Anyways, that's pretty much all I have time for, so I'm gonna go to MY class now haha.
So in my New Testament class we are supposed to do a three week project that's due in about 2 weeks. Don't worry, I started a week ago, so I'll be good :) But we're supposed to pick a scripture from one of the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) to really apply to our life and then do a one page write-up about our experience. I figure I have time now, and I'm bored, so I'm just gonna type my write-up here I think. Anyways, for the past week I chose Matthew 11:29 which says,
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
Okay, to be honest, I'm not sure I applied it how it probably was intended to mean, but I think that it's somewhat normal for the same scripture to mean different things at different times.
Basically, the scripture jumped out at me when I saw the "ye shall find rest unto your souls" part. Goodness knows I am kind of emotionally unstable right now. So what i wanted to work on this week was that if I was feeling down or my mind was just stuck thinking about this certain thing, that I would kind of mentally slap myself and do something that Christ would have me do instead (which I think can be an accurate interpretation of "taking His yoke upon me.")
So throughout the week I've been trying to distract myself by either reading the scriptures, writing about fun events in this blog (ahem World of Color post), spending time with my sister, and going to all of the Stake/Regional Conference and the CES Fireside that all happened, very conveniently, this weekend.
Ok, and can I just say, I love going to conferences and stuff "prepared" (basically, wanting to hear an answer to a specific problem or question in a/the talk/s) because without fail, I always get some kind of comfort or some kind of answer I've been looking for.
Anyways, that's pretty much all I have time for, so I'm gonna go to MY class now haha.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Back to School
Woowwww it's weird to be back in Provo. Back for another year of homework and deadlines and working at the Cougareat and meeting people and whatever else comes with college...
So it's Saturday, and I just ended my second week of third year of college. The past 3 weeks have been pretty good as far as school itself goes- I like my classes and I am acting like the responsible student I've never been, so so far I've been really proud of myself haha. I'm taking 13 credits this semester, which seems to be just the right workload for me, and they split up into 5 classes:
I'm taking New Testament, Physical Science (yes, it's taken me this long to sign up for the class, but surprisingly not everyone is a freshman in there, thank goodness!), Basic Organ Skills (yes, I'm sure that's gonna follow me into most every church calling for the rest of my life, but I like it), World Music Cultures, and Intro to Interior Design. Unfortunately, none of those classes count towards my major (which I decided to switch only a couple weeks ago) but it's a good workload and I think I'll only have like, one GE class to take after this semester. About time, I know, but like I said, I've only now become a more responsible student haha.
So the social scene at BYU suits me fine too, I guess. I have to say, the first day of school was almost culture shock. All the guys were shirts with sleeves (haha I never thought that would be unusual until I went to Florida) and had short hair cuts and clean faces (thank goodness! I'm definitely not a fan of facial hair). The girls were all MODEST and I didn't feel like I stood out as much as I did in Florida. And I was harshly reminded of the fact that BYU is listed in the top 10 colleges in the country with the most attractive women. So I was walking through campus and I was walking past people when I saw this girl and thought, ''wow. That girl is reaally pretty!'' I kept walking and not 20 seconds later, I past a girl on my other side and thought, ''wow! That girl is really pretty too!''
Then it happened again. And again. And again. All within a matter of minutes. By the time I saw the 20th super gorgeous girl, I had to refrain from glaring and going around punching them all in the face. There are soo many pretty girls at BYU! Ugh, it made me mad. So I had to remind myself that that's just the way things are. I got used to it the past two years; I can get used to it again, I guess.
I seriously love BYU though. I went to Fall Fest (the biggest school party of the semester) last night, and it just reminded me of the real truth that I love love loove byu dances. I went to bed last night with my mind all clouded with stuff I didn't really want to think about, and I looked down at my hand and saw a ''Y'' stamped on my hand (when you get in the dance they stamp your hand so they know they've checked your id). I smiled and realized how nice it was to have a ''Y'' on my hand instead of a big, black ''X'' on both hands (which is what I'd get at a club, since I'm still only 19).
Well, I think that pretty much is all I was gonna say for this post haha. Life's been better, but I can't in good conscience complain about anything. So until next time, have a Magical day!
So it's Saturday, and I just ended my second week of third year of college. The past 3 weeks have been pretty good as far as school itself goes- I like my classes and I am acting like the responsible student I've never been, so so far I've been really proud of myself haha. I'm taking 13 credits this semester, which seems to be just the right workload for me, and they split up into 5 classes:
I'm taking New Testament, Physical Science (yes, it's taken me this long to sign up for the class, but surprisingly not everyone is a freshman in there, thank goodness!), Basic Organ Skills (yes, I'm sure that's gonna follow me into most every church calling for the rest of my life, but I like it), World Music Cultures, and Intro to Interior Design. Unfortunately, none of those classes count towards my major (which I decided to switch only a couple weeks ago) but it's a good workload and I think I'll only have like, one GE class to take after this semester. About time, I know, but like I said, I've only now become a more responsible student haha.
So the social scene at BYU suits me fine too, I guess. I have to say, the first day of school was almost culture shock. All the guys were shirts with sleeves (haha I never thought that would be unusual until I went to Florida) and had short hair cuts and clean faces (thank goodness! I'm definitely not a fan of facial hair). The girls were all MODEST and I didn't feel like I stood out as much as I did in Florida. And I was harshly reminded of the fact that BYU is listed in the top 10 colleges in the country with the most attractive women. So I was walking through campus and I was walking past people when I saw this girl and thought, ''wow. That girl is reaally pretty!'' I kept walking and not 20 seconds later, I past a girl on my other side and thought, ''wow! That girl is really pretty too!''
Then it happened again. And again. And again. All within a matter of minutes. By the time I saw the 20th super gorgeous girl, I had to refrain from glaring and going around punching them all in the face. There are soo many pretty girls at BYU! Ugh, it made me mad. So I had to remind myself that that's just the way things are. I got used to it the past two years; I can get used to it again, I guess.
I seriously love BYU though. I went to Fall Fest (the biggest school party of the semester) last night, and it just reminded me of the real truth that I love love loove byu dances. I went to bed last night with my mind all clouded with stuff I didn't really want to think about, and I looked down at my hand and saw a ''Y'' stamped on my hand (when you get in the dance they stamp your hand so they know they've checked your id). I smiled and realized how nice it was to have a ''Y'' on my hand instead of a big, black ''X'' on both hands (which is what I'd get at a club, since I'm still only 19).
Well, I think that pretty much is all I was gonna say for this post haha. Life's been better, but I can't in good conscience complain about anything. So until next time, have a Magical day!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Orlando to Anaheim
All right, there's no way I could write a blog and NOT write about one of the most exciting things that happened this summer. So far the exciting things have been:
#1: Working at Disney
#2: Doing 4 murals in the Utilidor of Magic Kingdom
I'm writing now to explain numbers 3 and 4. So on Friday, August 13, 2010, I flew across the country back to good ol' LAX. (ps I love saying that I legitimately hop off the plane at LAX to go HOME!)
My dad picked me up and we talked as we drove down the infamously busy freeways of southern cali. We got around to talking about my Disney ID and my nametag and everything and asked if I could still go to Disneyland while using my Main Gate Pass (the pass that lets me, the cast member, and my personal guests go into a Disney park for free). He brought up a good point...I hadn't thought about that, since my Dinsey ID technically expired that day. But if it expired that day... I might still get to go...
So in order to satisfy curiousity, we stopped by the one, the only Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. My dad dropped me off at the familiar drop off point, and I walked onto Disney property. It was WEIRD! But in SUCH a good way. I felt like I was really home then. I had gotten used to Walt Disney World's big, automotive-transportation-only resort and it felt SO nice to be able to WALK to the parks from the street. I instantly transported from the outside world to "a land of fantasy" without having to take a bus or a monorail. Wow, it felt good.
Okay, enough with the sap.
So I walked up to a ticket-taker cast member in front of Disney's California Adventure (the line was shorter there than at Disneyland) and quickly asked him if my Main Gate Pass was still good that day for me and three people. He said it WAS!!! OHHHH MY GOOODNESS!!!!!
I walked back to the car SO excited!!!!
At dinner that night, around 4pm, I told Samantha, Cameron, and Nichole that I was taking them somewhere right after dinner. They asked if we were going to Downtown Disney (all of the family's season passes were expired since April so "of course" Disneyland itself was out of the question!). I told them I wasn't giving any hints. But Cameron kept pursuing for information.
"Brittany, does it have aaannything to do with Disney?"
I put on a disgusted face. "Cameron. I just came back from working at Walt Disney World for four months! Don't you think I'm a little Disney-ed out by now??"
Cameron smirked, "NO!!!"
...haha my family knows me very well :)
So a few hours later, my siblings were not surprised to find themselves in the Disneyland Resort. We. Had. A. Blast.
Even trying to squish 4 people into one Doom Buggy at Haunted Mansion was fun! I absolutely loved being home! To think that I could go to both WDW's Magic Kingdom AND Disneyland in less than 24 hours was pretty much the most incredible thing I could ever do EVER. :D I loved it!
The main event, however, the highlight of the evening and one of the most incredible moments of the summer happened at 11:15 pm, at Disney's California Adventure. Why??? Because "World of Color," Disney's newest light, water, fire, laser, and pyrotechnics spectacular was a nightly event at DCA and after about TWO YEARS of waiting, I could now finally see it!!!!! WOW I was excited!!!!!!!!
And I was not disappointed! I almost cried, I was soooo happy, for realsies! I took a ton of pictures, but I'm only gonna include my favorite one, which was actually taken after the show ended, but the fountains were still on for about 5 minutes. I'm kind of proud of this picture haha, I pretty much love having a real camera instead of having to use my phone's.
LOVED. THIS. SHOW.
Anyways, that's pretty much all I wanted to write for this post.
Did I ever mention that I love Disney?
#1: Working at Disney
#2: Doing 4 murals in the Utilidor of Magic Kingdom
I'm writing now to explain numbers 3 and 4. So on Friday, August 13, 2010, I flew across the country back to good ol' LAX. (ps I love saying that I legitimately hop off the plane at LAX to go HOME!)
My dad picked me up and we talked as we drove down the infamously busy freeways of southern cali. We got around to talking about my Disney ID and my nametag and everything and asked if I could still go to Disneyland while using my Main Gate Pass (the pass that lets me, the cast member, and my personal guests go into a Disney park for free). He brought up a good point...I hadn't thought about that, since my Dinsey ID technically expired that day. But if it expired that day... I might still get to go...
So in order to satisfy curiousity, we stopped by the one, the only Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. My dad dropped me off at the familiar drop off point, and I walked onto Disney property. It was WEIRD! But in SUCH a good way. I felt like I was really home then. I had gotten used to Walt Disney World's big, automotive-transportation-only resort and it felt SO nice to be able to WALK to the parks from the street. I instantly transported from the outside world to "a land of fantasy" without having to take a bus or a monorail. Wow, it felt good.
Okay, enough with the sap.
So I walked up to a ticket-taker cast member in front of Disney's California Adventure (the line was shorter there than at Disneyland) and quickly asked him if my Main Gate Pass was still good that day for me and three people. He said it WAS!!! OHHHH MY GOOODNESS!!!!!
I walked back to the car SO excited!!!!
At dinner that night, around 4pm, I told Samantha, Cameron, and Nichole that I was taking them somewhere right after dinner. They asked if we were going to Downtown Disney (all of the family's season passes were expired since April so "of course" Disneyland itself was out of the question!). I told them I wasn't giving any hints. But Cameron kept pursuing for information.
"Brittany, does it have aaannything to do with Disney?"
I put on a disgusted face. "Cameron. I just came back from working at Walt Disney World for four months! Don't you think I'm a little Disney-ed out by now??"
Cameron smirked, "NO!!!"
...haha my family knows me very well :)
So a few hours later, my siblings were not surprised to find themselves in the Disneyland Resort. We. Had. A. Blast.
Even trying to squish 4 people into one Doom Buggy at Haunted Mansion was fun! I absolutely loved being home! To think that I could go to both WDW's Magic Kingdom AND Disneyland in less than 24 hours was pretty much the most incredible thing I could ever do EVER. :D I loved it!
The main event, however, the highlight of the evening and one of the most incredible moments of the summer happened at 11:15 pm, at Disney's California Adventure. Why??? Because "World of Color," Disney's newest light, water, fire, laser, and pyrotechnics spectacular was a nightly event at DCA and after about TWO YEARS of waiting, I could now finally see it!!!!! WOW I was excited!!!!!!!!
And I was not disappointed! I almost cried, I was soooo happy, for realsies! I took a ton of pictures, but I'm only gonna include my favorite one, which was actually taken after the show ended, but the fountains were still on for about 5 minutes. I'm kind of proud of this picture haha, I pretty much love having a real camera instead of having to use my phone's.
LOVED. THIS. SHOW.
Anyways, that's pretty much all I wanted to write for this post.
Did I ever mention that I love Disney?
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Now It's Time to Say Goodbye....
Ok, actually I left Florida a long time ago. Well...not a loooong time ago, but I'm definitely not in Florida now haha.
It's WEIRD to be gone. The last night in Florida was SO incredibly sad. It was a good time to leave though, since the seasonal promotion "Free Dine" started only a couple days after my end of program date, August 13th. An explanation of why I didn't want to really experience Free Dine can fill up a whole new post, so I won't get into it.
Looking back at my program now, if i were to say what the best part of my summer was, I definitely would have to say painting the murals in the stairwell leading from Crystal Palace down to the Utilidor would be it. I can now legitimately say that I have been immortalized at Disney. AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!! It still is SO cool to think that I did that!!! Not that the murals were my best work, but I only had 2 days, really, to get it done, and good or not, I left my mark at a Disney Park, which is pretty much the biggest secular dream I've ever had!!! I almost cried when I was done, I was so happy :)
It was so sad to say goodbye to everybody. Everybody I worked with was so awesome, and I will miss them a lot. It's especially hard to say goodbye when it definitely could be the last time you ever see them. Ever. Wow, it's weird to think about...
Walt Disney World will always have a special place in my heart now haha. At first I was scared that I was just gonna compare WDW and Disneyland the whole time and wish the whole time that I was in Anaheim doing the college program, but I am glad to say that I "played a part" at WDW in Florida, and I know Walt Disney World a WHOLE lot better now than I did in April, and that I can direct guests to the nearest bathroom or smoking section in Magic Kingdom :) It's not Disneyland, but it's the place "Where Dreams Come True," and I'm gonna miss it.
And you know what? I'm not even gonna bother trying to get rid of my now habitual "Disney Point," because I know I'll be back again, making magic, real soon :)
It's WEIRD to be gone. The last night in Florida was SO incredibly sad. It was a good time to leave though, since the seasonal promotion "Free Dine" started only a couple days after my end of program date, August 13th. An explanation of why I didn't want to really experience Free Dine can fill up a whole new post, so I won't get into it.
Looking back at my program now, if i were to say what the best part of my summer was, I definitely would have to say painting the murals in the stairwell leading from Crystal Palace down to the Utilidor would be it. I can now legitimately say that I have been immortalized at Disney. AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!! It still is SO cool to think that I did that!!! Not that the murals were my best work, but I only had 2 days, really, to get it done, and good or not, I left my mark at a Disney Park, which is pretty much the biggest secular dream I've ever had!!! I almost cried when I was done, I was so happy :)
It was so sad to say goodbye to everybody. Everybody I worked with was so awesome, and I will miss them a lot. It's especially hard to say goodbye when it definitely could be the last time you ever see them. Ever. Wow, it's weird to think about...
Walt Disney World will always have a special place in my heart now haha. At first I was scared that I was just gonna compare WDW and Disneyland the whole time and wish the whole time that I was in Anaheim doing the college program, but I am glad to say that I "played a part" at WDW in Florida, and I know Walt Disney World a WHOLE lot better now than I did in April, and that I can direct guests to the nearest bathroom or smoking section in Magic Kingdom :) It's not Disneyland, but it's the place "Where Dreams Come True," and I'm gonna miss it.
And you know what? I'm not even gonna bother trying to get rid of my now habitual "Disney Point," because I know I'll be back again, making magic, real soon :)
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