"Busy" is now banished from my vocabulary

I solemnly vow to never say the phrase(s), "I have been busy," "It has just been really busy," and/or "It has been crazy busy," or any such variation of the phrase pendant le rest de ma vie. I don't believe in busy. I don't believe such a state of being exists. And, if by the chance that such state does exist, I do not believe it to be an admirable, desirable, or productive way to live.

Instead, I believe in a full life. A life brimming with love - in whatever shape or form loves takes. Obviously this takes some figuring out: What does matter most to you, and what do you really, deep down, what do you really love?

I am not busy, and I am never too busy, for those things that matter most. Check out one of my favorite speeches of all time - What if love were our only motive?

President Monson's First Conference Address

How cool is this?

Listen and hear the voice of a prophet

Teaching, is kind of exhausting sometimes. During my lunch break, I sit back in my chair, and eat some food, of course. But at the same time, I also feed my spirit. I go to lds.org and look up mormon messages usually.

And I just want to take this moment to personally invite all, to watch general conference this weekend. Feel more peace and love in your life, better understand your purpose, get answers to tough questions, it is so worth it.

The Answer to Life's Questions, every single one

We are all people. We are all looking for answers. We all want to know what is important, and we all want to feel loved.

I can promise you that there is a God, Heavenly Father, who loves you more than you can imagine. He wants you to feel His love and to feel full. So he restored Christ's gospel, the same Gospel that was established when Christ was on the earth, so that you could come closer to him and feel really joy and love.

This I know is true.

Check it out baby

Okay listen. My mom has seriously a way cool blog. I-don't-even-know-when ago she started an FHE (family home evening) blog. In the mormon church we customarily have FHE on Monday nights. During this time we learn more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and have fun together as a family. My mom one day was thinking about how her three oldest children (including me!) have moved out of the house to go live their lives (strangely enough that line sounds like it could come from the story of the three little pigs). But, she still wanted to teach them at FHE, so she started a blog. So yes, I benefit from this blog, but so do thousands of other people who are looking for FHE ideas or just need an uplift. It is pretty well organized, and it is pretty much smack-down bomb. So you should check it out, and you should share it with your friends, and you should follow it too cause I am continually double-you-o-double-youed by her blog (aka wowed : ).

Go FHE! Go LDS church! and Go Mom!

http://fhelessons.wordpress.com/

Herez a pic of my mom and family. Chillin at 2071. My family is the best family!

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

This summer I had an amazing opportunity to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I did a six week mini mission in the Houston Texas South Mission. Let me tell you, it was one of the best things I have ever done. Now herez the truth: Heavenly Father seriously loves His children so much. He loves me; He loves you; He loves that girl walking down the street outside my window. I know this, and I have felt this as I have felt His love for me encircle me and guide me. I have also felt it as I have prayed for and strived to serve those around me. It is always such an overwhelming feeling, but on the mission I had the amazing opportunity to really see God's love put into action every single day. The Gospel of Jesus Christ brings such an amazing happiness, a fullness really. And the Gospel is for everyone, every single person on this earth needs the Gospel. To see that blessing come into people's lives, to see them feel and know that Heavenly Father really does know who they are and loves them more than they can imagine, to have the experience of being an instrument in God's hand to help them come to Him, was absolutely amazing. I was nothing more than a body moving around, filling the shoes and wearing the tag. Because as I just tried to give my all, trust in my Father in Heaven, and listen to the promptings of the spirit, I really saw Him change the lives of everyone around me. The truth is, I could go on and on about how seriously amazing missions, but instead I am just going to list a few ways that I am going to change because of the experience that I had.

1. I will repent every single day. I know I am not perfect, and I want to continually be changing my life to become closer to the Savior.

2. I will be a better member missionary. The Lord is really hastening His work right now. There is seriously just too much missionary work to be done for just the full time missionaries alone. And even when it seems like there isn't much work to do, there is still more work to do than we can imagine. I will continue to thrust in my sickle and work in His field. This time as a member missionary.

3. I will trust in Him and His plan forever; and I will have the faith to see miracles in my life every single day. All things are possible with God. And that is not even an exaggeration. He knows the end from the beginning, and I trust in his plan and his way.

4. I will give Him all my time. Just like on a mission, all my time, talents, efforts, and everything belong to the Lord, I will continue to give Him everything because all my time, talents, and efforts are still His. I will give my entire life to Him and serve Him with all my strength.

The truth is, the Gospel is true. It really is true. If you are reading this and are not a member, I encourage you to go to get a Book of Mormon, read it and pray about it. Find the missionaries and learn more about Christ's Gospel. You will get an answer, and it really will change your life.

La Sculpture en Bois

Dans le château de Chenonceau il y avait une porte avec deux symboles découpés. Un était pour l’ancienne loi et l’autre était pour la nouvelle loi. L’homme dans la première sculpture en bois, pour l’ancienne loi, avait les yeux bandés. L’autre, pour la nouvelle loi, tenait une lumière. La porte a représenté la bible, mais c’est intéressant aussi pour l’amélioration entre le moyen âge et la renaissance. Dans l’Évangile de Jésus Christ, nous croyons à l’apostasie et la restauration de l’Évangile. C’est quand la vérité est revenue dans la terre.  Les apostasies et les restaurations sont un motif dans l’histoire. Bien que l’Évangile ait commencé aux Etats-Unis, l’histoire est ici, en France, aussi. Quelquefois, je pensais que la France comme une place séparée parce que l’Évangile est très petit. Mais, nous avons beaucoup de histoire partagée.

France Week One

Okay so I have been in France for a week now. Sorry about the blogging in French, it is for class. Here goes the English part. So far, I have loved my time here, but I am also realizing how much I love the United States.  I loved smiling at strangers and talking loud, buying cheap food and watching people be themselves in public. These types of things don't really happen in France. I do love the food here though, and the metro is so convenient.

This is me after two days on a plane. #firstfewhouseinparis

My host family consists of one person: our host mom. She is Brazilian, divorced (she was married in Vegas actually), and has two daughters that are studying abroad). She is very nice and speaks slow French, which I am so grateful for. I understand basically everything she says, or I did until I had been here for a week and started to not know how to speak in any language. After speaking and listening to French for a week, my brain is so tired! I think my French is getting worse, or at least it will get worse before it gets better. I need to build up some metal endurance.

Spending time with the members of the church is my favorite. Yesterday we spent the day with the JA (YSA). We had a devotional, ate lunch, and then went around Paris taking a picture in every district (there are 20). It was really cool to talk with them and get to know them. They have such strong testimonies and there are so few of them! Their strength definitely strengthened me. My directors told us to look for the differences in the church between home and here, but really the church is exactly the same. I love it because it feels very much like home. I talked to one girl who is eighteen, and she was very excited to turn nineteen and put in her mission papers. Everyone is going on missions here too; this mission craze isn't just happening in Utah.

Cultural differences that I love: I love how they greet people. They touch each cheek and make a kissing noise. Maybe I like it because it made us feel very welcome, or maybe because it is a good difference between hugging and and shaking hands. BYU culture has made hugging hands into something strange: It gets associated with return missionaries acting weird before they break into normal society again.

I also love how they eat dinner. This is probably my favorite French tradition. Dinners are very long and slow and lots of time is spent just sitting around and talking. First they bring out the salad. The first few times they did this, I thought that was what we were having for dinner and I was worried that I was going to starve. Then, after the salad, they bring out the main course, then dessert, then coffee or tea. We drink herbal tea of course. I love ending dinner just sitting around the table talking and drinking tea. I think I am going to try to implement this tradition in my future family for Sunday dinners. There is no way this would work on every day of the week in the United States. People are too rushed and too busy.

Commercialism and advertisements are interesting. There are so many American flags hanging around and so many English words everywhere. It reminds me of Anthropology (and other stores) where there are lots of French words embroidered on notebooks or shirts.

Mont-Saint-Michel

When we first got here, we got up the next day and took a bus to Normandy and Brittany. It was really cool to see the different regions in France. Each region is very proud of their food and whatever makes them unique. France is a very unified country politically (and culturally even), but it is a compilation of a bunch of different regions that revel in their uniqueness. We spent some times on the Normandy beaches learning about World War II, and in some little towns to experience their regionalisms. One thing I noticed was that people are extremely friendly in Brittany. They just come up and talk to you and are all so nice. My favorite Normandy beach was Pointe du Hoc, which was where the US soldiers had to climb up the cliffs. There were all these huge craters left from bombs and there were old abandoned bunkers you could walk through. In Brittany, we stayed in a beautiful walled town called Saint-Malo. I can't even imagine how much fun a hot summer day would be in Saint-Malo especially is you have a hotel there because all the tourists leave and the city is so peaceful.

A bombed bunker

In Paris, we have visited le Notre Dame and the Cluny Museum which is a museum of the middle ages. It was cool to see their combs and toys, bowls and art. We also went to Versailles  which is so ridiculously gaudy that it kind of makes me sick that Louis the 14th would build such a place. It was interesting though because he forced all the nobles to move there so he could try to unify France. So basically it was a prison for the nobles right? But it is also such a place of political peace. At the end, I watched a quick video that showed a bunch of different presidents from other countries visiting Versailles, and it showed the signings of the treaty of Versailles as well.

Trying to get back home from Versailles was not the easiest thing in the world. My roommate and I live in Neuilly sur Seine, which is a suburb right outside of Paris. We just take the metro everyday, but our Versaille is out of metro bounds, so we have to take the RER, which is basically a bigger underground train system. So we had to jumble in with everyone else in the world speaking French who wanted to come back from their day at Versailles. We were all at the train station trying to buy tickets from these machines that half the time don't work. No one was happy, and neither were we. We were there for about three hours trying to figure it out, just my roommate and I. Finally, we were able to buy tickets, but them mine wouldn't work! I was so frustrated. Then, I think I got it to work without realizing it, but wasn't able to go through, which used up the ticket. Now my roommate, Lauren, was on one side, and I was stuck on the other. There was no one to help us and we didn't know what to do. In a split second, I just squeezed up right behind someone and slipped through when the doors opened for them. They didn't even notice, and I don't even feel bad because I payed for the ticket at this crazy station. It was quite an adventure.

That was week one. Today we went to church, and I just want all foreign speaking missionaries out there to know that I have a new respect for you. Learning a language is so hard! At church, I always knew what we were talking about, but I would miss phrases or explanations or comments, which was so frustrating because I wanted to know what people were talking about! They actually have all of church translated into English, but I am trying to learn French here!

I am learning a lot of French! Like seriously a lot. But I am also realizing there is so much I don't know. Sometimes, I love the experience I am having, and sometimes I miss my family, friends, all the people I love back home, and being able to actually communicate with people. France is pretty great, but then again, I also really love the USA.

So mimes have grammar? I seriously love seeing mimes!
so interesting!

A comb from the Middle Ages.

Statues without heads from the Middle Ages.

The beach around Pont-Sant-Michel was so muddy.
There was actually sinking sand everywhere too!

Candles at Notre Dame

Our group!

Hidden staircase between two shops.

The water is so blue and clear!

Mormon Messages

I am obsessed with Mormon Messages.

I could watch these all day. Too bad I have finals to finish.

More about the LDS (Mormon) church??

Nailzz

Way back on December twenty-fifth, I received these sticker nails as a gift. You're all jay-jay-jealous I'm sure; my sister was too. So then around thirty minutes past midnight last night, my angle roommate, Say, let me lie in my bed while she stuck these to each of my fingers and filed away the extra sticker with a pretty flimsy nail file. She loves me. We both got tired and she only finished one hand. Then she fell asleep in my room-roommate's bed because Faithy is out of town. So this morning, I skittled up to church one hand flowered, the other not. nbd - I slide. Why am I even blogging about his? Because I have roses on my nails, that's why; and just like my fat fingers in this awk pic, I am rockin' the sticker nails. And yes, I am twenty-two. Still young enough to get away with it.

Secondly, here is a shy-shout-out to my ward. If you are a YSA student around these parts, you are going to want to move into my ward. Beluga the best ward evs.

Thoughts From Dolls

The fact that it snowed yesterday has nothing to do with this blog post. And neither do the Nilla Wafers I ate last night that remind me of my grandma and being a kid at her house. But last night as I was eating these nilla things, I watched some Pixar short films while snuggling up in bed (with Salami). Most were cute, but this one was creeeppy.

Growing up I had two shelves atop half of my bedroom, lining the wall. I loved, like really loved, dolls, so I filled the shelves with all different sorts of them. I loved dolls from other ethnicity and dolls with lots of accessories. Just to prove my point, I am going to admit that I had an American Girl doll house that my dad made out of wood. Often, when I would have my little friends over for sleep overs, especially my couz Paige, they would say how creepy it was that I had these dolls staring down on me all night. That one with the cloak? No matter where I go, she is still looking at me - they would say. Okay, they were not creepy; what is so scary about a sweet little doll? Except when one randomly fell off the shelf - now that did make me jump - but I liked to pose some of them standing up which sometimes made them a bit wobbly.

 I think maybe I wasn't sketched out by them because they were my own dolls. I knew each of them: their personalities, likes and dislikes, temperaments; because I had created them; they existed truly in my head. What an interesting idea. For two reasons:

1. Whenever we create something it does exist first in our head. This Pixar short first had to be created in someone's head. And why did they create it? What does it mean to them? When I watch it, I also use my eyes and noggin to create meaning. What does it mean to me? What does it mean to you? Blowz my mind. (EMD*)

2. On a more spiritual side of things. God knows us each perfectly, and he created us. Maybe that is why he can see us not as we are now, but as we can become. He sees our divine potential and worth. Perry cool stuff. To find out more about the LDS (or Mormon) church, go here.

*EMD refers to English Major's Disease and often happens when English teachers think everyone is going to love literature as much as they do, among other symptoms. Coined by Dr. Chris Crowe.

The Braid

So I am a pen snob, pen connoisseur, pen snob. When I have a Pilot G-2 sweeping beneath my fingers, uhm-hm, I am figure skating on paper. They are très expensive, but they are worth it. I am worth it. My handwriting is worth it. The 05 sized tip rocks this world with its precise little curvy y's.

Speaking of Y's, why do I keep eating this store bought, homemade oreos? Sarah brought home a huge bag left over from her work. Faith and I took one bite and she threw her's away. But, guess what, the more gross cookies you eat, the better they start to taste. You can count on that statement right there. Or maybe they have drugs in them or poison. Do you ever feel like you are being poisoned? Me neither.

Back to pens, a trusty G-2 just ended it's career in my many notebooks. Respectable career, I would say; unlike those pens that only work half the time you touch them to paper. Today in one of my meetings, a guy I know made a pretty chill analogy about that. We don't want to be like those lazy pens that only work when they feel like it. We are depending on them to write when we need them. Like so, God is depending on us to be ready and willing when He wants to use us to be instruments in his hand. If we are not ready or able, He can easily just use another pen, another person, but we will miss out. Let me just tell ya, I want to be a G-2. That pen you can always rely on to get the job done and do it well.

Also, speaking of the Gospel, I found this great scripture that reminds me of being an ambassador of Christ, always standing as a witness for Him, not just in what we say, but also in what we do and how we live. From the Book of Mormon: Alma 17:11

I know I never related this gross cookies. Eating them does remind me of a story my grandma once told me. She once, as a little girl, refused to try chocolate. Yes, let's take a moment to get past how cray-cray this is. She was afraid she wouldn't like it because well, it was just a strange brown blob. Of course, she now realizes her foolishness. Likewise, I have really been enjoying these cookies that I once didn't love, but now I see their greatness.

What Thinks Christ of Me

I love this talk, What Thinks Christ of Me, so you should all check it out no matter what your religion. It answers a simple question: Mormons are Christians.
 But I also think it is a question all Christians need to ask themselves, or even all people.
           Does my life reflect what I believe?
Here is a video version of the same talk: Click here! Personally, I always enjoy hearing an apostles voice more than just reading it.

The Church is true! It brings so much happiness, but don't take my word for it...find our yourself!

Mountains to Climb

I came across this blog post about Utah and the snow piles. And it made me think about this church talk about overcoming challenges. And then it made me remember my high school cross country teammate Lauren Lucas.

Once, near the end of summer in Vegas, yes scorching hot Vegas, we were doing hill repeats, just for fun, because we are overachievers, and because we told ourselves we were going to take state that year. And after a few repeats, when we were at the top, one of us looked over at the foothills of Black Mountain. Maybe because anything would have been better than running up that hill again or maybe just because a mountain seemed easier...

"Look at that mountain; let's run it," someone said. So we did. Let me tell you right now: Running up mountains is one of the most rewarding physical experiences. It literally feels like you are pulling yourself, and each other, up to greater heights. So we sat there, looking over the Las Vegas valley, looking at all the next mountains we were going to run up. We told ourselves we could run up anything, and I still believe that sometimes.

What I have been reading

In my reading, I came across 44 Aphorisms by Richardson. Here is number seven.

Ah, what can fill the heart? But then, what can't?

So true, this phrase is. One might argue that nothing can fill to fullness but love, which is true. A pure love for another human does fill the heart up so tightly. And for some people, this love may be hard to find, and so they ask, "what can fill the heart?" because they feel the lack. But also, our hearts are our own. I can do whatever I want with my heart. I can love whatever I want, worship whatever I want, serve whoever I want. And I think it is who I decide to love and worship that enters my heart and fills it. I want to give my whole heart to God, and in my experience, when I do that, He gives me back so much of His love so then I can better serve and love those around me. But I also must be careful not to let things of a lessor value enter into my heart. Because it is what we spend our time doing and our minds thinking about that enters into our heart and becomes a part of who we are. I just really enjoyed this aphorism; there is so much found in these eleven words.

For more about the LDS church go to www.mormon.org or www.lds.org.

2 Nephi 4:18-35

One of my favorite scriptures:

Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 4: 18-35

This post is two-fold.

1. Have you ever played the whipped cream game? Perfect for silly freshman who should be studying or sleepovers or late night holidays. You spray a bit of whipped cream on your wrist then move one arm up toward the sky and use your other hand to stop the motion by hitting it. Whipped cream goes flying. While it is in the air, you try to catch it with your mouth. so fun.

2. This is one of my best friends, Carolyn Brown. She is currently serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS church or Mormon church) in Dallas, Texas. Just want to say, she is an amazing missionary! I have been seriously impressed with her success and dedication to the work. I know it is because she is an instrument in God's hand helping bring truth and happiness to the people of Texas. So why do mormons go on missions? and why do I keep posting about the church? Basically, because it is true! The Gospel is true. Not only that, but it brings so much happiness and growth to my life. It is the answer to every life problem. What a wonderful secret that shouldn't be a secret. Everyone should know about it.

Whenever I check the stats for this blog, it tells me what posts are most popular and who sees them. The most popular post are always the posts about the church, especially this post here. It is consistently seen by people from all over the world. Do you know what this means? People really want to hear about the Gospel. I am so grateful for people like Carolyn and all other sorts of missionaries who are sharing the truth and helping people feel God's love.

Also, missionaries can leave at 18 now! (19 for girls.) What a wonderful blessing to everyone really.

The Truth of the Truth

Just feeling very grateful for Christ's atonement.

I am continually amazed by how perfect and healing God's love is for each individual person. I am so grateful to both my Father in Heaven and my Savior for the atonement. Not only does it make it possible for me to live with God again, but its grace also strengthens me every day. I can feel His love and comfort surrounding me. I trust in Him completely, and what I want most is to love Him and His children and to serve Him by building up His kingdom. I know He lives. He is always there for me. I am so grateful that He has shared His love with me. Check it out: mormon.org.

The Gospel; It's the Truth

Honestly and sincerely, I just want to tell the world that this Gospel is true. The Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true. But don't take my word for it. Check it out yourself here. It really honestly is true and brings me so much happiness that I just want to share it!

What I currently understand about differences; I am sure I have a lot to learn.

I found this picture online claiming that it was the border between the Baltic and North seas, but with a little more research, I think it was taken in Alaska. Some of the water is fresh water that has been created from glacier melt. Because of the differing densities, the bodies of water are mixing much slower, so much that is appears as if they are not mixing at all. I don't know how valid this argument is, but this picture really got me thinking.

America is all about borders - that law in this state and this law in that state, moving west and pushing forward the frontier, this race/color verses that race/color. Why can't these boarders mix?

This is apparently the border between Belgium and The Netherlands, right along side a cafe. Can you imagine eating your lunch in The Netherlands and then stepping over to Belgium to take a stroll? What if it were like this between California and Mexico? Maybe you are thinking: that is not the same thing - Americans and Mexicans are just different. How different? (2 Cor 4:18) Seriously, let's think about what really matters. (Weightier Matters, Dallin H Oaks)

I am an English major emphasizing in teaching and therefore, American literature. The more I read, the more I feel sick when people talk nonchalantly about slavery or color. The more I read, the more frustrated I get with causal descriptions of what race is. Do you know what race is? Seriously, think about it. In my multicultural education class we learned that Race is a social construction that categorizes people based on physical appearance. Ethnicity explains where each individual comes from. So what race am I?

When I was little, I always thought I was White. Actually, I thought everyone whose skin wasn't really dark was White. Then my Asian and Mexican and Middle Eastern friends told me they weren't White. I came to find out that at one time in American history, people who came from Ireland were not considered white, or people who came from Bohemia or Italy - anyone who came in as an outsider, an "other." The definition of white has changed over time, and it really isn't just about the lightness of ones skin. What a racist term. I don't want to be white.

But then, am I Caucasian? Someone told me Caucasians came from the Caucus Mountains. I didn't come from there. A quick skim over the Wikipedia page confirmed my opinion that Caucasian is about as racist a term as White. So what race am I?

Who cares what race I am; that is not what it is all about anyway.

This is a picture of the class divide somewhere in Brazil. How could you seriously sit in one of those balcony swimming pools, look down on all that poverty and seriously enjoy yourself? Things like this, interactions between people who are different from one another, don't have to be like oil and water.

Now I am not saying we are all the same. We are not. We are all very different from one another. But I have come to the conclusion that engaging with "the other" is the only way to truly express one's self. A community of people function like a body (1 Cor 12:12-26). If you begin to draw a stick figure and only draw the circle, the drawing does not reach its full meaning until the body is attached. Each of us with our differences makes up a part of a beautiful whole (for more, look into relationality).

So regardless of what race society says you are or what race your neighbor is, I want to always remember that society made up these classifications, and God made up people who look different, talk different, act different - all in different beautiful ways - but all with the same amount of worth as children of God with divine potential. There doesn't have to be borders between us unless we create them.

For more: No More Strangers  by Alexander B. Morrison and Concern for the One  by Joseph B. Wirthlin