Kiwi & Dog Poop epitomizes how I view the world: that incredibly strange and often nonsensical combinations of people, things, events, and circumstances inevitably inhabit the same space in our lives. Then we are charged with the occasionally challenging, sometimes sad and upsetting but usually hilarious task of making sense of it all.
A while back, I was waiting for the bus one night, 20 feet from a man with a megaphone yelling, "God BLESS you, God BLESS you, GOD BLESS YOU...," you get the idea. He threw in a few "receive the Holy Ghosts" and other assorted phrases too. At one point, a man yelled out the window of a passing car, "Get a job!" God bless you man turned and walked towards him, pointed his megaphone at the man's head through the open window and said, "Get a job?! This IS my job. To tell people: GOD BLESS YOU!"
How I wish I could have megaphone man around all the time, or at least be reminded more often of God's existence, His love for EACH of us, and how much He really does bless us! So what the heck, 'tis still the thankfulness season; here are a few more things I am grateful for. A little recognition of how much God blesses me:
The chipper metro train drivers that so happily advise me to watch my step as the doors are closing and make me aware that at Metro Center, the doors will open on the right.
The pizza my office bought yesterday for a staff meeting=free lunch!
The extended family that lives 2.3 miles from me, allowing me a safe, warm place to go when I feel alone in big, scary DC
The neighbors which live two doors down from me who decided 15 minutes before I walked by one night that they were giving away their entire living room set of furniture=free couches!!
Kids
The kitten my Grandma got recently (I swear she's drugged up on some type of illegal substance but she's fun to watch!)
SNOW!
Christmas lights
My really stupid fish
Friends who know just what to say and just when to call
This video reminded me that there are so many, many things to be thankful for. Big and small! I feel I do fairly well remembering to thank God for what I have and I'm generally a pretty hopeful, optimistic person. But I'll admit: it can be awfully tough to continuously remain upbeat, positive, hopeful and even GRATEFUL when you feel you are lacking things you would like very much and even things you really kinda need. This time of year is especially difficult, when everyone is specifically vocal about their respective blessings which usually include fabulous significant others and/or wonderful jobs (uh, nope and...nope!).
However, as a wise Dad (yep, mine!) once said, we must first learn to be more grateful for what we do have, at which point, our Heavenly Father will recognize our appreciation and will be more willing to open the windows of Heaven to bless us even more. I have learned from experience that I am happier focusing on the many wonderful things I DO have versus the things I don't.
Above all, I have been learning recently to be more thankful for MY life, that I am the person I am, and for the experiences I have which seem to be tailor-made to help ME improve. And THAT is something everyone can be thankful for!
Twice in one day! And it's only 11am! I'm getting awfully tired of older men who tell me I look nice in socially inappropriate ways!! So, if you are male, young, and single: tell a girl she looks nice once in a while, huh? On our end, we will continue to do our best to acknowledge your snazzy ties and sharp suits. And tell your colleagues, the old men, to tell their wives they look beautiful.
Almost 6 months into his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Santiago, Chile, I have finally seen pictures of my CUTE wittle brother in a suit with a name tag! Not because he sent them, because our family stalked his mission blog. :) Behold:
My brother is in the front, second from the left!
Dead center, front row
view of Santiago and the Andes
For details on why he is in Chile and what he is doing there, see here. However, as I spent 18 months in Romania teaching the same things, I can tell you the basics. He was called by a prophet of God (President Thomas S. Monson) to tell people that the church established by Jesus Christ when he lived on the earth began to fade away after His death. Members faced severe persecution and all but one of the apostles were martyred. This is a period called the Great Apostasy, when there was a “falling away” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3) from the gospel Christ organized. The authority to bestow priesthood keys and to receive revelation for the Church was lost along with many precious teachings. This website, run by the LDS Church, explains things better than I can.
My brother is telling people about Joseph Smith, a teenage boy in 1820, in upstate New York, during a time of religious excitement. Joseph was confused about which church he should join and asked God through prayer. The answer he received was that none of them were true. He (through the power of God) was instrumental in restoring the true church of Jesus Christ to the earth again.
Recently, there has been a lot of media, political, and other attention focused on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Mormon Church). I am generally happy about the attention regardless of whether it is positive or negative because it means more people with become at least a little familiar with the church I belong to! Once in a while, however, I feel it is necessary to clarify; even if the offender could be classified as psychologically insane and even if no one is listening to me :)
Anderson Cooper interviews Dr. Robert Jeffress (a baptist pastor who believes there should be an evangelical president in the White House and called Mormonism a cult):
Now...even if "cult" can be theologically defined as a religion/religious group with a founder other than Jesus Christ, Mormonism (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) doesn't qualify. Why? Because Joseph Smith did not found said church. Jesus Christ did. Joseph Smith restored it. If you have questions about that, see my linked websites, comment here, or get in touch with me and I will put you in touch with people like my brother who are in your area. People called of God to explain it.
My recent goals to get in better shape and run on a regular basis recently collided with a trip to Borders (which was going out of business). Me+cheap books=bad! I picked up a New York Times bestseller called Once A Runner by John L. Parker, Jr.
So far, I have liked it. This quote stood out to me as I was reading about "great runners:"
Over the course of several years at Southeastern, as Denton's reputation grew, a number of undergraduate runners decided they would train with him, thinking to pick up on the Secret. A new man would show up the first day expecting all manner of horrific exertion, and would be stunned and giddy to find he could so easily make it through one of Denton's calendar days. Showing up the second morning at 6:30 he would be of good cheer, perhaps trying to imagine how he would handle the pressure of his inevitable fame. That day would also go well enough, but he would begin to notice something peculiar. There was no letup. The tempo was always moderate but steady. If a new guy decided to pick up the pace, that's where it stayed, whether he finished with the group or not. You showed off at your peril.
On the third day (assuming the new man made it that far) his outlook would begin to darken. For one thing, he was getting very, very tired. No particular day wore him out, but the accumulation of steady mileage began to take its toll. He never quite recovered fully between workouts and soon found himself walking around in a more or less constant state of fatigue-depression, a phase Denton called "breaking down." The new runner would find it more tedious than he could bear. The awful truth would begin to dawn on him: there was no Secret! His days would have to be spent in exactly this manner, give or take a mile or two, for longer than he cared to think about, if he really wanted to see the olive wreath up close. It would simply be the most difficult, heartrending process he would endure in the course of his life.
At that point most of them would drift away. They would search within themselves somewhere along a dusty ten-mile trail or during the bad part of a really gut-churning 440 on the track, and find some key element missing. Sheepishly they would begin to miss workouts, then stop showing up altogether. They would convince themselves: there must be another way, there has to be. The attrition rate was nearly a hundred percent.
This definitely applies to physical training. Indeed, my own running has begun to, ahem, slip, as it is usually either conveniently raining or I find something much more "important" to do. However, what immediately came to mind was a quote from the former prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gordon B. Hinckley (who was, in fact, quoting Jenkin Lloyd Jones, a Unitarian minister). He said,
“Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise.Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”
Yep, running can be monotonous, draining, and extremely difficult...and so can our lives. But God gave us this opportunity at life to experience, to grow and to learn. I believe as we patiently endure whatever it is we are going through, we learn and grow. I also believe a loving Heavenly Father would not ask us to endure without providing wonderful blessings both now and in the eternities. So as we are running around the dusty track once again or bouncing up and down on the bumpy, noisy train, let us notice the blessings that too often are drowned out by the difficulties we are facing.
An image that has become increasingly frustrating to me over the last couple of weeks. So I thought, if it works for buses, why not for people? Ever had it up to "here" with your day? It's been a long one and your done? Next time that happens, just write "Not In Service" on a sticky note, slap it on your forehead, and you are free to go about your daily routine, no longer paying attention to anyone else OR their needs! For good measure, make sure you circle around the people that need you the most several times, avoid helping them at all costs (after all, you're Not In Service), and send your friends who are also Not In Service to meander around those who need assistance as well. Good idea? I thought so!
Last Sunday (well, September 18th), I hit the jackpot! I heard two really great talks:
The first was in church. Lay members of the congregation speak in LDS church services, which I LOVE. Not only does everyone get a chance to practice public speaking, we also get to hear different personalities and viewpoints expand on simple truths and doctrines of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It's GREAT! Bro. Gordon Smith (former U.S. Senator from Oregon) spoke about self-identifying and defining yourself; something that is especially pertinent to me at this point in time: unemployed, not in school... :) Below are the highlights:
I would urge you to be defined by your gifts, not by your current job. Your calling is to find your spiritual gifts. Find your gift and give it away. You make a living by what you get, you make a life by what you give. -Winston Churchill Told the story of Joseph (sold into Egypt). Elaborated on how difficult things were for him at work: a slave, rather unpleasant situation with boss's wife, thrown in prison (multiple times), but he went to work to serve. Also shared an experience about hiring two girls from BYU into his senate office, figuring he'd give them a chance. He said they came to work not because the work they were doing was extremely important; they came to make the lives of those they worked with better.
You know a talk is great when you start making a list at the bottom of your notes, outlining your own spiritual gifts. :)
The second talk was a part of the "Why I Believe" fireside series, Sunday evening talks sponsored in part by the Washington D.C. Temple Visitor's Center (open to the public daily, 10am to 9pm). Business executives and community leaders are invited to share the source of their faith in Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. Brad Bryan, an old bishop (pastor, congregational leader) of mine, shared the story of his conversion to the LDS (Mormon) Church. He is a powerful writer and speaker. I filled up a whole week of my tiny 3"x5" planner copying as much of what I thought applied to me as I could:
Three men are put in a room and told the one who can open the door will receive a great prize. Two of the men immediately begin doing complex calculations to determine the makeup and specifications of the mechanisms and hardware of the door. The third man walks over to the door, turns the knob, opens the door and walks out. We don't try and yet many things are in our very power.
The secret of life: be ready for opportunity. It is not that we endeavor to get ahead of others, but to surpass ourselves. "Facing up to reality" or "understanding our limitations" but it's giving up all the same. Brad Bryan says the first reason he believes is because of the confidence the Church helped restore in him.
Of course, it is the responsibility of those who hear the talk to actually apply what they furiously write down into their lives...
Driving down the road in my trusty 2001 tan Toyota Camry (not exactly my dream car but she is my dependable and loyal transporter, how I love her!)
Meet Virginia
when suddenly I became aware of the fact that I was driving a YELLOW car!! Ahh! Not only do I feel that yellow cars are the height of ego-mania for attention seekers on the road, but they are not my personality and I will therefore never buy one.
The details of how I happened to go instantaneously from driving Virginia to driving a monster, terrible, shouldn't even be purchasable, yellow car were not disclosed-it was a dream after all.
AHH!
All I know is I was thrilled to wake up, look out my window and see dear, reliable Virginia sitting just as I left her in front of the house. Someday I will replace her, but never, EVER with a yellow car!!
So this resonated with me BIG-time! Mostly because the fact that USU students pulled a classmate out from under a burning car just makes my little Aggie heart scream with pride! However, it is also because I was reminded that what they did earlier this week is expected from all of us. Maybe we won't be presented with the situation of risking our lives to save someone else's but we probably will run into people lost trying to navigate streets or public transportation that could use a little help, a mother who just needs a break from her kids for a while, or roommates or family members who would really appreciate it if the house was extra clean when they got home...you get the idea. And almost certainly we will meet someone who could use a smile or a few kind and sincere words and YOU will be called on to be someone's friend when it seems they have no one else. So instead of awkwardly looking around for someone else to lend a hand or take control of the situation, go out there and just be the hero!
Forgive me for being behind again, maybe I am unnecessarily adding a somber tone too late in the game, but I felt like I should add my 9/11 tribute and remembrances.
I was sitting in my first period class in my second week of 10th grade. I was having a hard time adjusting to high school, I was worried about doing well in that particular class and I really didn't like that teacher very much :) My priorities seemed to change very quickly as I watched thousands of people lose their lives and their loved ones over the course of 7 periods. I don't remember much of what they had planned for us to learn in school that day and was trying to verify my Grandma, who was supposed to be flying out of Dulles, hadn't... (She hadn't. She didn't get to go where she had been attempting to for about another 3 days!) It was just about Biology (7th period) when they started putting faces of Al-Qaeda operatives up on the screen, linking them to the attacks.
Through all of the tragedy and horror of what happened 10 years ago, I have found the most comforting, fascinating and wonderful thing to be the positive things that came either immediately or slowly but surely over the course of the last ten years. I love to see the kiwi come out of people as a result of being faced with absolute dog poop. As President Thomas S. Monson recently said, "Destruction allows us to rebuild our lives in the way He teaches us, and to become something different than we were. We can make Him the center of our thoughts and His Son, Jesus Christ, the pattern for our behavior."
Below are two of the best examples I have EVER seen illustrating this principle:
BOATLIFT
Yankee Stadium gravel inspires memorial for 9/11 victim
CanNOT believe I've never seen this before! Probably just me behind on the times...again...but it rocks. Totally worth the 15 minutes of your life you'll spend watching it. Heck, it's worth at least an hour of your life :) Definitely falls in the kiwi category!
and remember, regardless of how good or bad your day was, there are always things that make you smile :)
Although you may call me "behind the times" posting this one week after the hurricane hit us, turns out as of yesterday, there were still over 580,000 people along the East Coast without power thanks to our friend Irene. So I'm really completely up-to-date on my current events.
Phew! Two natural disasters in one week. That should fill our quota for a while right?! I learned that I am NOT prepared for these types of unexpected events and that I should GET prepared!
Exhibit A: sitting at my desk on the 7th floor of a DC office building when things start to shake. I learned my reaction time in a potentially dangerous situation SUCKS! Approximately 15-18 seconds after initial shaking and rumbling of our 5.8 beauty began, I finally got up from my desk. It took at least another 8-10 seconds to get in the doorway. I definitely would have survived an earthquake higher on the Richter scale...not! The good news is, I now have another great story to share about my DC experiences! Any other survivors of the tremor can purchase their commemorative T-shirt here.
Exhibit B: staring open-mouthed at the completely empty shelves on the beverage aisle in the water section at Giant. It took me two stores and some shelf-climbing to reach a couple of the last liter bottles of water Friday afternoon to prep for Irene. I also plugged in all my electronics to brace for a power outage, parked my car on the most treeless street I could find, and actually turned on my Ham radio and broadcasted! Found a repeater, found a friend and assured myself that even if ALL other forms of communication failed, I would be among the biggest dorks in Maryland with radio communication capabilities: "this is KD7HEC, monitoring..."
Forty-eight hours later, we were enjoying a fair weather and sunny sky, churchless Sunday, having lost power for a grand total of about 45 seconds sometime after 1 am. I cleaned up our "hurricane damage" Monday when I mowed the lawn (about 8 small downed branches).
While these events actually did cause damage on other parts of the coast, I think someone was just having fun...This is a test, only a test. If this were a real emergency...
One of 336 reasons DC is the best place to live: the 4th of July rocks! It was awesome. Hung out with a definitely kiwi group of people from the best ward there is on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial and watched the Nation's best fireworks with the Washington Monument in the background. Happy Independence Day!!
Next time I need a portable John, I'm definitely calling them. With that name, who wouldn't?
I spent the week of June 21-24 at Girls Camp at Camp Misty Mount in Thurmont, MD with over eighty 12-18 year old LDS young women and it was FABULOUS! I was "over" the 6th year ladies who were in charge of running the camp. They were so well-organized they didn't really need help and I got a free week to help where I could but basically hang out and learn from some incredible young ladies (shh, don't tell).
MY Ladies!
We did everything from learning first aid and cloud formations to swimming, hiking, crafts, devotionals, singing, skits and EATING: kabobs, dutch oven, the food the incredible ladies in the kitchen made and Mexican Smores!! Thanks for a great week ladies!!
Okay, so I promise this blog won't become a shrine to my brother's missionary service in Chile. But he survived his first week in-country and I'm so proud of him!! Posting his FIRST email from Santiago, well, pieces. The parts that remind me of my mission :) Say some prayers he will be protected and led to speak with those who are ready to hear his simple but TRUE message! Thanks.
Hola Familia!
Well, I´m not as stressed out as I was at first but it´s totally crazy! Because I can´t understand what people are saying! Oh, and interesting fact for you all...I´m not learning Spanish!!! I´m learning something called Castallano (I think that´s how it´s spelled), which is a dialect of Spanish!!!
It is SO different here!!! Apparently Santiago is the second greatest civilized city in South America...they even have a McDonald´s and a KFC!!!
There´s more dogs than smokers - and in a week I can´t count how many smokers I´ve seen. I´ll probably come back to the States addicted to secondhand smoking! (Hopefully not)
They drive really crazy here. The one thing I continuously pray in my heart for besides people who want to hear the gospel, is for all the cars that are here to have their breaks working.
P-day was good today! Happy 4th of July! We played soccer and had churipans! Oh and the mayo here is top of the line! Churipans are slightly thicker mini hot dogs wrapped in bread with any condiment of choice. It´s pretty good!
The main meal here is lunch - in fact, it´s such a big meal that there have been a few days here where I have had only lunch and I have been COMPLETELY fine. It´s weird sometimes having only one meal a day but I´m getting accustomed to it.
Most schools here are on strike! Chairs are backed up to the gates with students patrolling with metal pipes and bats. Something about wanting better education.
(Something else I forgot to mention): Every place...EVERY PLACE...has a gate or fence of some sort here! I can´t think of a place I´ve seen here without one! So that´s pretty weird.
And it´s COLD here in the mornings! No snow, not really any wind...it´s just cold!!! It´s like the air itself is the essence of cold! But that is just the mornings. Once it gets about to 9am it´s not so bad and it doesn´t get cold until the next morning when I wake up...so it´s not Too bad - it´s just freakin cold in the mornings!
Church was really good! There was a baby blessing and the Primary kids made me short little welcome cards! They are all so wonderful!!! When I introduced myself, I was blessed not to forget all my Spanish and was even able to get a laugh out of them! So it´s not too bad. I just can´t understand what they say back to me. So that part is bad. But other than that life is pretty good!
President and Sister Laycock are just about the greatest people I could have for mission presidents!!! It was so cool! We each had a short interview with the President and Wow! Every time I learn more and keeping the commandments I realize again and again, with more surety that this Church is the True Church! There is NO way it´s NOT true! And all the members are just one big family! Sacrament meeting and the other meetings don´t change...except they´re in spanish!!!
We had a Public Presentation two days ago (where we go do something in the plaza) and we shined people´s shoes while we talked of the gospel...it was the coolest thing ever!! It was pretty funny too!! Me and Elder Gordon were trying to talk to this one man and after we left, Elder Gordon told me a few of the things he said...1 - How come you don´t ever have any African American (what he said was nigger) missionaries? 2 - You are all spies sent to check on the situation in Chile 3 - A few other things that aren´t very nice that Elder Gordon refused to share with me.
To all those types of people with crazy ideas...I just want to tell them...PICK ANY OF OUR CHURCH HOUSES - IN THE WORLD, Then go to any other of our church houses (in the world) and tell me if it´s really all that different!!!! Because it´s NOT! The church is the same all over and it´s true. And you will realize - huh they don´t seem like spies to me...if nothing else they´ll know that what we are teaching is what really happens!!!! It´s just frustrating to have to think that there are even people in the world that exist with such strange ideas!!!! You can´t battle craziness!!!! You just have to share your testimony and walk on by!!!! I just want to tell them that I chose to come on a mission and no one like the government sent me because I like being warm in the mornings!!!! Yep, you can´t battle craziness!!!
But the Gospel is still true! All things done under God´s power can´t be undone without it being His will! Just because someone goes apostate doesn´t make the church which God restored (through a prophet) it doesn´t make the church untrue! And that´s that!
Well...I think that´s that (at least until next week). I´m trying to think of more to write -OH...We had two baptisms this last sunday...an elderly couple Jacob y Luisa. They are great...(almost everyone here calls us some relation) and they call me their nieto or grandson.
Oh, and Chileans say PO like Canadians say EH. It´s pretty funny...I´ll have to try to get that down.
Surprisingly - they play a lot of popular american songs in english here (in fact I´m listening right now to We are the Champions)! Being american, or being able to go to america or other stuff like that makes you pretty cool for some reason around here...something like that.
I´ve also found that it sucks when appointments for teaching fall through! You just want to yell to the world...WHAT WE ARE TEACHING IS GOING TO MAKE YOU THE HAPPIEST YOU HAVE EVER BEEN... PLEASE DON´T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF PASSING THIS UP! But...it happens.
Disclaimer: There is no picture with this post because after 8 1/2 weeks in the MTC, we have received ZERO pictures from our dear missionary. We stopped receiving letters a few weeks in. Apparently we should have been sending stamps instead of cookies. After two long (believe me Elder Kimball, I understand) but valuable months at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, Elder William Kimball flew to Chile (Santiago East) yesterday to begin the remaining 22 months of his 2 year LDS Mission. Young men and women spend anywhere from 3-12 weeks at the MTC learning how to teach the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and usually studying another language. From personal experience, I know the work they are called to do all over the world is the most sacred, inspired, important work and the best thing they could possibly be doing with their time! Not only are they humbly inviting people to learn more about their Savior Jesus Christ, about a book called the Book of Mormon and about a boy who was called to be a prophet named Joseph Smith, but they are (frequently obliviously) learning more about themselves, the Latter-day Saint Church, religion, culture, psychology, sociology, cooking, cleaning, motivation and leadership in a 2-year time period than they have learned in their entire life up to that point!
As evidenced in emails he has been sending us, it is clear Elder Kimball has already learned a lot (starting with week 1 up through last week):
I miss you all loads, but the grand thing is is that there's so much to do I don't have time to be distraught about it. THE MTC IS LIKE YOUR BEST FRIEND(S)! Take EFY and "multiply it by six!.............." I will be sending part of a written letter later, because there is some info I would like you guys to have. If you could please send my regards to everyone and tell them I am reading their letters, I just can't respond to everything...My first meal was steak and potatoes and yes I ate everything on my plate(s) :)
There's something here called the free box! Any elder puts anything in there it's yours for the taking (I have a box of Nerf Guns!)
I'm in a great district...It's almost liked we planned it in the pre-existence!
I'm pretty sure every missionary here feels like the prophet Mormon..."not even a hundredth part can I write." And it's so true. We have the coolest teachers here and we have the best district and zone. We have just about the best everything! I miss you all and love you all and Can't wait for the second coming so I can remember and tell everything to you all.
Well...it's been 5 weeks!! Certainly hasn't felt that long. It honestly still seems like I just got here yesterday...and if things go according to regular schedule for the MTC, then I'll be a Hosting Missionary this Wednesday!!! The "homework" here has been bumped up a notch since we got Hermano Ellot to be our teacher! He is way cool. He's also more "you can do this, (at least with the Lord's help), so do it! It's good practice for the field, I guess.
MTC is really spelled G - R - E - A - T - !
I know the Gospel is True! I know that we will be blessed if we are obedient!!! I know we can be happy also if we are obedient!
Things going on here: I finished reading the Miracle of Forgiveness! It's pretty powerful - I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone!
Teaching is going great (except for it could still be better). But it's been getting better!
We should be leaving for Chile in about 2 weeks! I can't wait to get out, meet my trainer and mission president and get to work!
Well...Oh yeah! We got a really great lesson the other day from Hermano Jensen...HOLY SMOKES! He is a great teacher! And he gave us some study work and we'll also be having another great lesson Saturday evening from him.
I'm not sure there is too much to tell...most of it is small stuff...eating, sleeping, and studying...All what's left that's cool that I can say is that MIRACLES DO HAPPEN! I remember a saying, "If the church were not true, the 19 year old boys that go out on missions would have sunk the church, years ago"...and so very true! The Gospel is real and it blesses the faithful young men and women who go out and serve missions. The church will grow! But, as President Hinckley said, "Activity is the genius of God's church." I believe there will most certainly come a time when it IS every member a missionary because either you'll be for God, and will be able to stand the trials that will come your way, or we'll not be as hardworking as we should be in the church, in inviting and teaching, and because of our lax nature, we'll lose our testimonies and our good standing with God, and we will be left to ourselves to deal with our problems. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, "As we come closer to Christ, the path of discipleship becomes narrower and narrower..." keeping the commandments probably will take more faith and sacrifice in being obedient. I know the President, his Counselors and the Quorum of the Twelve are Special Witnesses and receive guidance to direct the church. THE HEAD OF THIS CHURCH IS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST - the prophets just speak His words. So listen.
Give my love to ALL the family, everywhere - learn from your own and others mistakes so you don't have to make them as well
June 8th, 2011 will not go down as my best 24 hours. I was told at work that I would no longer have a job as soon as a replacement was found who was willing to stay longer than I wanted to, I found a relationship with a good friend going sour seemingly beyond my control, and then, driving 12 mph on the beltway as it had transformed into its preferred 5pm parking lot status, taking one hand off the wheel, apparently subconsciously under the impression I could handle 12 mph on a jam-packed highway even if 100% of my attention was not on the road, I was pulled over.
After refuting the police officer's claim that I had a mug in one hand and something else in the other by illustrating there wasn't a single beverage container in my entire vehicle ("Who is driving this car?! There is no one in control of this vehicle!"), I was given a $140 moving violation for negligent driving in a careless and imprudent manner endangering property, life and person. Subsequently walking into my Econ. class half an hour late, brooding over then and later that night about the unjustness of our "justice" system and the self-serving and selfish attitude of my favorite policeman, I thought it had been overall one of the worst days EVER!
The next morning, I found out Brynn Barton, another Murray High Spartan had been killed in a bike accident, a hit and run. All the sudden I realized how childish I had been the day before. Boy was I lucky I had another day in front of me, I had my family, my friends and some more time to learn, grow and experience LIFE! I join with many others who are praying for her family's comfort and that the person who hit her will face the consequences of their actions. Here's to putting the daily dog poop in our lives behind us and remembering how many blessings we have!
On October 31, 2009 I walked out my door on the 4th floor of an apartment building in Cluj-Napoca, Romania to find dog poop and one kiwi fruit occupying the same 1 square foot space on the landing. Aside from having a strong desire to regurgitate breakfast, I was intrigued. How do two seemingly different objects come to be in such close proximity to each other?? The wonderfully fabulous Sora V., who resides in my top ten favorite people in the entire world list, kindly posed for a picture:
after which, I laughed to myself while the aforementioned Sveta Vasylyeva likely mused on how strange her companion was. Perhaps it was the state of eternal exhaustion I seemed to be functioning in or the two hours I had just spent attempting to create analogies and metaphors tied to scripture stories and religious principles in personal and companion study, but that combination seemed like the perfect example of how nonsensical and purportedly messed up life can seem. I therefore vowed in the elevator ride down that kiwi and dog poop would somehow become my life maxim, motto or mascot, if you will, for putting life events into perspective and proper order. And so it begins...
