Fast Sunday

Today I had the opportunity to go to a Deaf slash Spanish ward. And since it’s the first Sunday of the month, that means Fast and Testimony meeting. Amazing. Not that I always completely understood what was going on (my Spanish is very limited. And my ASL is far from perfect). But talk about moving.

First off, what a great way to reaffirm that the Gospel is universal, true, and beautiful. No matter the language barriers, the Spirit was felt by everyone. Even when you can’t understand what someone is saying (or signing), you can recognize the conviction in their face. You can see the passion burning in their eyes.

What an amazing cause this is, this Gospel that unites people of all races, languages, and cultures into one group of believers… believers that are motivated to live better lives and to share this happiness with each other.

Like pretty girls need cowboys, I need you here tonight

Ok, ok, I know every person has gone through this. Especially in Mormon culture, I think. So here’s my little spiel.

As far as dating and marriage, where is the line between having expectations that are too high and settling?

We've been told since childhood that we are precious children of God that deserve the absolute best. And I believe that. (But I think the world’s definition of “best” has severely complicated and damaged that idea.) We shouldn’t have to settle for less than we deserve. Conversely, if our expectations are unrealistic, they will never be met and we are setting ourselves up for unhappiness.

So what to do? If we shack up with the first person that we have a little compatibility with, we may never know what greater happiness is out there. But if we hold out for perfection, we will most likely never find it.

In the past, whenever I would get serious with a guy, I would start to evaluate him. Of course, being human beings, I would always find imperfections and flaws. So then I would become stuck between 1) can I do better? Or 2) is this the best there is?

No one wants to miss out on someone amazing because they are holding out for something “better” that doesn’t actually exist. But no one wants to regret their decision and realize that there really was something “better” out there.

I guess the answer just has to be – when that decision comes, you make sure you feel really good about it and then stick to it, never looking back.

But still, it’s a fine line to walk.

Live Accordingly

“Live like you believe.” “Fake it till you make it.” “Smile and grit your teeth.”

We’ve all heard them, and they all essentially mean the same thing. Even when you don’t necessarily have confidence in your decision or a strong desire to act a certain way, you force yourself, for the time being, to go along anyway.

Is this a good or bad thing?

If you don’t fully agree with what you’re doing, does it undermine the action? Or is it a good tool to get you where you need to be?

I tend to lean towards the act of living without full conviction sometimes. Even if I don’t care about my grades, it’s still a good idea to do well in school. Even if I’m not sure I’m going to buy a certain new car or whatever, it’s smarter to save my money towards it.

Maybe I like it because it’s safer. If I decide not to buy that car, I may have gone without a few things during the saving process, but now I have a little extra money and no harm done. But if I decide to buy the car last minute and I hadn’t been saving towards it, then I may not have enough money… and stress and debt may accompany my purchase. If I’m prepared and change my mind, there are far less negative consequences than if I hadn’t been prepared at all.

smart words from a smart man

"Persecution is the tool of Satan to harass, hinder, and destroy, if possible, the cause of righteousness. The spiritually weak, the lukewarm disciples, those who have not given themselves wholly to the Cause of Christ are purged form the Church by persecution....

"Conversely, tolerance is of God and abounds in the hearts of those who love the truth and believe in the true doctrine of agency. 'We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.' (Eleventh Article of Faith.)

"Persecution says: 'I have no sure testimony of my own religion, and so I must destroy this other faith, lest it turn out to be true and thus overcome my own sect.'

"Tolerance replies: 'I have the truth and know that truth will prevail. Why should I contend against others and their views? Such true principles as they possess shall prevail and all else will vanish away in due course, for truth only is eternal.'"

-Elder Bruce R. McConkie

Comment on Obedience

I posted this as a comment on someone else's blog about obedience.



When I went home for Christmas, we had a pretty heated debate about obedience in sunday school (with all of the old army men, country folk, and ex-Baptist preachers). Some people were of the opinion that it is better to obey half-heartedly than not to obey at all. Others thought that begrudging obedience counts for nothing. Overall, there was a lot of interesting discussion that I got a lot out of.

Our actions are a) reflections of our thoughts/fruits of our beliefs and/or b) practice for what we want our thoughts/beliefs to be.

Say there is a service project. Ideally, we should want to go out of the goodness of our hearts in order to serve our fellow men. More likely, we go because we WANT to be the kind of person who serves from the heart, even if we’re not necessarily there yet. Or, we go to see our friends, be social, show off how righteous we are, etc. Or, we go because we are forced/feel some sense of duty, and hate it the entire time. Or, we don’t go at all.

I think, in this situation, going to the service project only does you any good if you are in the first two categories. Going either reflected that you have a good heart or is your way of trying to better your heart. Otherwise, you don’t get anything positive out of it.

If we are to be judged on our hearts, and not our actions, then our actions are pretty pointless if we don’t believe in what we’re doing. If we don’t love our fellow man, all the service in the world isn’t going to make up for that. If we use our actions as practice for becoming better people, then of course it is better to be obedient even if we aren’t necessarily in the mental state that we think we should be in. But if we aren’t attempting to make progess… then our actions are fairly pointless.

That’s what I got out of the discussion, anyways. And a lot of it rang really true to me.

Everything is gonna be alright, be strong, believe

Life is beautiful. But life is hard.

Everyone goes through hard times. Everyone has moments when they feel hopeless and miserable. Everyone experiences pain.

The amazing part is that we never have to suffer alone.

In Alma 7:11-12 and Isaiah 53:4 we are told that Christ suffered, not only for our sins, but for our sicknesses, afflictions, griefs, sorrows… every pain we experience. No trial is too small for the attention and comfort He offers. No tribulation is too trivial and no situation is too simple.

Sometimes, it is difficult to see the future through any lens but that of our pain. We have been encouraged by General Authorities to have hope. We have so much to look forward to and there is so much comfort in knowing that success and happiness will come from aligning our will with the Lord’s.

So smile. You are loved. No matter how hard your situation is, there is always hope. Remember that Christ DOES know what you’re going through. It hurt Him too. So let Him help you.

Let Him heal you.

We've got to give a little love...

Tolerance. It makes all the difference.

It doesn’t matter what area – religious, social, political, favorite flavor of gummy bear, whatever – but just because I think it, doesn’t necessarily make it right. Even if I AM right, respecting the opinions of others is crucial (except in football. or if the person is closed-minded).

“Who am I to judge another When I walk imperfectly?” (Lord, I Would Follow Thee,” Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, no. 220) Who am I to say, “This person is worthy of my presence, but this person is someone I should avoid,” and feel justified in that decision? Christ associated with publicans and sinners, am I greater than He?

Of course not.

Few things frustrate me more than a person who refuses to see beyond their own mindset. Someone who passes judgment concerning the imperfections of others and deems them unworthy of association. “I’ve been told to avoid befriending unrighteous people because they’ll lead me into temptation.” What a pitiful excuse. If you’re going to avoid sin, good luck making friends. We all sin. That’s a fact. Who gets to decide which sins make a person “unworthy”? Not you. Not me. Also, if being around an imperfect person is going to make your testimony or strength waver, you obviously weren’t too strong in the first place. If you know who you are and what you stand for, the actions of others aren’t going to affect that. You don’t have to become like them. You don’t even have to like them. But you do have to show some Christ-like humility and realize that you are no better than they are.

I know I’m guilty of being judgmental at times. So I’m going to let my frustration with intolerance motivate me to be more accepting.

If Christ deems someone worthy of His time and love, that person is definitely worthy of ours.

And He loves everyone.