the strongest verb

I don't know if any of you have read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, but it's fabulous. I think it's the only book I've ever had to read in school that I thoroughly loved. I learned a lot about God and life by reading that book. I highly recommend it.
I found the following story on a website today... This story was told by Paulo Coelho, so it naturally caught my eye... enjoy.

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As soon as he arrived in Marrakesh, Morocco, a missionary decided he would stroll through the desert at the city’s boundary every morning. On his first stroll he noticed a man lying on the sand, caressing the ground with his hands and leaning his ears towards the earth.

“He is mad,” the missionary said to himself. But he saw the man every morning during his walks and after a month, intrigued by that strange behaviour, he decided to approach the stranger.

He knelt beside him and asked, in broken Arabic, “What are you doing?”

“I keep the desert company and offer solace for its loneliness and its tears.”

“I didn’t know the desert was capable of crying.”

“It cries every day, because it dreams of being useful to mankind and turning into a huge garden where people could cultivate flowers and tend sheep.”

“Well then, tell the desert it accomplishes its mission very well,” said the missionary. “Every time I walk here, I am able to understand the true dimension of the human being, as its open space allows me to see how small we are before God. When I look at its sands, I imagine the millions of people in the world who were born equal and am reminded that life isn’t always fair towards everyone. Its mountains help me meditate and as I see the sun rising on the horizon, my soul fills with joy and I feel closer to God.”

The missionary left the man and went back to his daily chores. To his surprise, he found him the next morning at the same place, in the same position.

“Did you tell the desert everything I told you?” he asked.

The man nodded.

“And even so it keeps crying?”

“I can hear each of its sobs,” answered the man, his head tilted towards the ground. “Now it is crying
because it spent thousands of years thinking it was completely useless and wasted all this time blaspheming God and its own destiny.”

“Well, then tell the desert that despite having a short lifespan, we human beings spend much of our days thinking we are useless. We rarely find the reason for our destiny and think God has been unfair to us. When a moment finally arrives in which we are shown the reason why we were born, we think it is too late to change and keep on suffering. And as the desert, we blame ourselves for the time we have wasted.”

“I am not sure the desert will bother to hear it,” said the man. “It is used to suffering and it can’t see things differently.”

“So then let us do what I always do when I feel people have lost faith. Let us pray.”

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It's only natural that a man someday wonder "what exactly am I here for??" I learned in health this week that most start their search for identity when they're a teenager. I thought this was kinda interesting, and I really sincerely hope that some of the teenagers I've met haven't found themselves yet, if you know what I mean. haha. (No one in particular!)

My point is, man's search for identity may begin as a teenager, but it takes many people a long, long time to really figure out who they are and what their purpose is. And whether or not it takes you a long time to find yourself doesn't really make a difference. Many people, like the desert, will regret their past and will wish they had come to their senses sooner. But that's the point of life.

Move on and rejoice in the knowledge of a better life ahead of you.

In English this year, we've written a couple papers where we were required to take out as many to be verbs as possible while making revisions. Yeah. Try taking every occurrence of be, being, been, am, are, is, were, etc... out of your paper. H.a.r.d.

My teacher explained that the be verb is the weakest verb in the human language. "It shows no action," she explained.

I suppose in a paper this is often true. It's probably better to use other verbs sometimes.

But the weakest verb? I think not.

Who you are, what you choose to be, what your purpose is, these all seem like very strong statements to me.

Be a faithful disciple. Be a doer of good. Be a peacemaker.

People always make mistakes and slip up. You will say things you will regret. You already have experienced this, and you will no doubt experience it again.

But when you think about someone you knew years back, it isn't the little things they said that you remember. You remember them for the kind of person they were. What they did with their life, and how they treated others.

So be a force for good in the world. Decide who you are and never look back. Keep moving forward and continue learning new things about yourself.

“Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?”

-Robert Browning

judge not.

First of all, saddest comic ever.
Second of all, I haven't blogged in 11 days. I have been a waste of human cells the last little bit because of school. I'm ready for summer. Actually, no. Because then I'd be closer to another year of school. I'm seriously only half kidding.
Oh, and third of all, when I think of blogging, all I can think of is what an uncreative, repetitive person I am. I've been feeling like my posts have been topic-less lately. Instead they are just a mosh of repetitive thoughts. Is this just me?

 *sigh*

Kay. I'm good. I'm golden, in fact.

But the man in the above pictures is definitely not golden. (That was a pretty good connecting sentence, if I do say so myself.)

I'm definitely guilty of judging grumpy people. Grumpy people are talked about behind their backs. They're the horn honkers. The people who scowl at whoever bothers them in any way at the grocery store. And you know what? They drive me nuts sometimes! That's why it's so important to be happy and thoughtful. Because people will like you! Or at least they won't be bugged by you. :)

I really liked the above picture because it shows really well how people hide their feelings.

And it's a reminder to me that people live hard lives. And they try. And they fail. And they sometimes unintentionally take it out on the people around them.

 And then people talk crap about them.

That kinda makes me sick, actually.


I believe I've shared this video before, but it goes perfectly here.




"From the moment I laid eyes on him, I judged Charles."

 People are often times so different than we imagine.

You know what, this is starting to sound like my last post. Dang it. eeerrrgggh. Seems I am the queen of repetition.


I do have one more fun video, though.



Isn't that cool?


"There are more ways to be good than bad."

People are so cool.

And they live hard lives. So try not to judge.

And I'll try to blog more often. If I can think of something different to blog on. haha.

Have a great Friday!

sonder

I think sonder is a sort of urban dictionary type of word... not a Merriam Webster's kind of word, you know what I mean?

But still I love it. I love the idea of it.

Because, in a way, even the people who only think of others still live in their own world. What I mean by that is that you can't truly know the thoughts of another. No matter how much time you spend with them, you will still never know how complex their life is. What it's like to be them.


We, as humankind, live so strangely surrounded by others and yet alone at the same time.


I don't doubt that our God can keep up with the lives of everyone, but I have no idea how He does it.

And people can try to be one thing. Everyone tries to keep some things about themselves hidden when talking to everyday people. Still, I think the coolest moments are when you see little glimpses of who someone really is on the inside. Sometimes it comes by spending a lot of time with someone, sometimes you just happen to witness little inner doubts/thoughts flash in their eyes.

And when you try putting yourself in another's position, you see that everyone tries. Everyone has insecurities. Things they're good at and things they're bad at.

I really hope that acceptance can be something that I am good at.

And think a little before you get mad at or start disliking someone from something they did.

Because I think people are sometimes more justified in their actions than you'd realize.

Sometimes I do/say things that would totally not make sense to a random passerby, but whoever I'm with understands perfectly.
For example, last week I had to wander around Walmart and take pictures of different packages for a commercial art class I'm in. And I probably looked a little weird taking pictures of gross looking Valentine's candy, but I had reason to do it, you know?

Am I making sense at all?

I think... people are just people. They deserve love and most definitely respect, but they shouldn't scare you.

I just love reading the description of sonder. It's crazy to think about. That there are people in the world that don't even know I exist, yet I'm living a deep, complex, stressful, happy, crazy life with dozens of layers to it.

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
-Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)


People are so cool.
Creation is so cool.

be loving and patient.

I love watching happy people.

I love seeing their faces light up and the almost tangible joy they experience.


But - what if one person got that job/scholarship/recognition/whatever that you really really wanted.

Would you still feel happy for them?


I'm totally a people watcher, and I love the living, breathing, amazing mosaic that is humanity.

But there is something terribly wrong with mankind.

Let's face it. We are a jealous people. We don't always feel excited for others. We're not patient. We're not loving. We're not courteous.

And though I cannot speak for everyone, we are at least not compassionate, loving, patient, and courteous enough. 


We've got to start loving. 

We've got to start blessing lives, feeding sheep, doing good, and being loyal to God. (here)




A cute girl in my ward shared a really good story in Sacrament Meeting today. She read it on some blog, and I'm unfortunately unsure how to find it... but it went something like this:

There was a man who suffered some sort of head injury or had brain problems... some health trial like that... and he just wasn't himself anymore.
He was unable to take care of his land, and his wife did what she could, but eventually they decided that something needed to be done. They had to sell their things. (I think they had a farm...?)
They put everything out in the yard with a big sign indicating that it was all for sale.
Soon after, they got a phone call. Not from a buyer, but from a neighbor. It was a complaint. He told them that all of their stuff sitting there made the community look bad, and he demanded that it be removed.
The man trying to sell his things said something along the lines of,
There was once a day in this country where if a man saw his neighbor's every possession for sale, he'd call to see if something was wrong. 
He then proceeded to tell the man of his health trials and how they needed to make some changes in order to keep living.
The man apologized profusely and said that he would ask his friends if they wanted to buy anything.




I fear the ability to give someone the benefit of the doubt is fading.

Another thing the world is dangerously short on, is understanding and patience.

I'll tell you what - I learned to drive last year. I know that people get really impatient when driving, but I'll tell you, it really frustrated me sometimes when I was trying my best and still had people ticked off at me.
Especially when I was learning to drive the stick shift... I killed it a lot. A lot. And not always in the most desirable places.
Okay, obviously I'm the one at fault here, but I now always try to be extra patient with people when I'm driving because I know how it feels to be panicking in the middle of an intersection because I can't get the car to move and having people waving all these rude gestures at me... and I hated it.


So here's my philosophy.

Chill out. Be patient. Be loving. Be sympathetic.

And you will be such a blessing in the lives of others.

Between YOU and your GOD...

    So I counted just now... and I have 78 posters/pictures on my wall... I honestly can't cram anything else onto my wall. :) (At least it hides the paint color... I've been wanting to repaint my room for a while now... :))
     Anyways... if you care to play I-Spy, you can find the following poem hanging in my room amidst all of the other stuff. It is perhaps one of the first things that I hung up because it is one of my very favorites:

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People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;

Forgive them anyway. 

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway. 

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway. 

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;

Be honest and frank anyway. 

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;

Build anyway. 

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;

Be happy anyway. 

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway. 

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;

Give the world the best you've got anyway. 

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;

It was never between you and them anyway.

[Credited to Mother Teresa, although nobody is positive... there are many speculations as to who first came up with it.]  

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I think that the following quote kinda goes along those same lines:

"My young friends, be strong. You know what is right, and what is wrong, and no disguise - however appealing - can change that truth. If your so called friends urge you to do anything you know to be wrong, you be the one to make a stand for right, even if you stand alone."
- President Thomas S. Monson

I love the last two lines of that poem... because in the end, it really will be between you and God. Nobody else. And 'final analysis' will come sooner than you might think.

     Imagine a never-ending strand of little tiny seed beads. Our earth life is one of those tiny beads. Do not throw away the rest of the beads - the rest of time itself - because you decided to give in and take foolish advice from people. If you had a wider window - a greater perspective - you would always try to make the best choices you could, because you would better know what you would be sacrificing otherwise.

     The thing is... we do know. It's just tricky to visualize sometimes. BUT... I know that if we try to live life the best we can... and make the choices that would please our Heavenly Father... we will find peace and happiness during and after this life.

My Conference Highlights [Part Two] - Judging and Sharing the Gospel

     Why am I blogging at this hour? It is TOO LATE for me to be blogging right now... whatever... I am going to die at soccer practice tomorrow... I suppose I will worry about that then. :)
     (Bad idea)

     So. I suppose that I will finish up my General Conference favorites...

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A:

     I would first like to talk about something that Elder Quentin L. Cook said in his talk last Saturday afternoon. (full talk here.)

     I loved these two lines...
     "Our great desire is to raise our children in truth and righteousness. One principle that will help us accomplish this is to avoid being overly judgmental about conduct that is foolish or unwise but not sinful."

     That last part that I have bolded really stood out to me.
     Here's why:
I am in ninth grade. I go to a school with seventh, eighth, and ninth graders.
Can I just tell you how incredibly immature some junior high kids can be? It is seriously ridiculous.
    I'm honestly not thinking of certain kids, and there are plenty of kids who are very well-grounded and are realistic about things... but still.

     I hear things all of the time that cause me to wonder, "WHO THE CRAP CARES???"

Haha... well...

     Then I listened to General Conference. I realized that if kids - or adults - care about things that seem really dumb and pointless to me... it really doesn't matter.

     None of it is my business anyway, I mean, I shouldn't be judging them either way, but that talk by Elder Cook made me realize that if something matters to someone else, that's fine, and I shouldn't question it or let it bug me.

Ya know, people all mature at their own rate. Some people may never grow out of the drama that seems so pointless to me right now...
     But... some people will.

     Life is a journey. We should spend our entire earth lives learning and growing. We just all do it differently, and that is perfectly fine.

     If people like to chat about dumb stuff, I'll be okay with that. I will stop judging. They usually aren't even doing anything wrong.

     I suppose that I was the one doing something wrong after all.

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B:

     My last thought that I starred in my General Conference notebook was from David F. Evans' talk found here. 

He said:

"The work of naturally and normally sharing the gospel with those we care about and love will be the work and joy of our lives."

Naturally and normally. 

     I totally can relate to this one. 

     I remember in elementary school, around second or third grade, me and some other girls actually bribed a girl with jolly ranchers if she would listen to us tell her about the Church during recess.   

     I mean, that's pretty funny. I kinda laugh about it now. 

     BUT, for some people, even as they get older, this seems to be their method of sharing the gospel. Granted, maybe not with jolly ranchers, but some people are so desperate to share the gospel with their friends, that they end up making it an awkward, forced situation.

     Fast forward. I have several friends now that are not  members of the Church, and I'm fine with that. I really wish that everyone would be eager and ready to hear the gospel right when they meet you, but that's understandably not often the case. 

     There have actually been many days at lunch when our conversations have naturally shifted to religion. That is when you share with them your feelings on the gospel, as long as they are willing to listen. 

     I promise you... so much more will be accomplished if you are not forcing the messages on someone. 

     I think that we all think of converting someone as a cool idea, and we hope that we have the chance to do that someday. If that happens, it will be because they opened their heart and were willing to listen. 

     Do not approach it the wrong way or always pester someone if they don't want to talk about religion. Just be patient, and hopefully they'll come around. 

If You Can, Visit Often.

 Ezekiel 37:26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.




   
     Yes, they were away for 4 years...

     So... here's a thought... I know that most of you reading this blog are probably thirty minutes away - or less... from the nearest temple...
     Yet... it seems that so few of us visit the temple as often as we should. There are people all around the world that save for years just so that they can visit the temple once. We are building more and more temples around the world, so that is helping a lot of people, but there are still many members who drive for hours - or fly - to get to the nearest temple. 


Here's a similar story...

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Brother and Sister Vaha‘i Tonga of the Tongan Islands sacrificed in order to go to the temple. “It was not easy for a Tongan Saint to save enough money for such a journey. It took months of preparation and saving, but finally the money was gathered and plans were made.”

However, the mission president came to Brother Tonga and asked him to contribute toward a chapel to be built in his branch all the money he had saved to go to the temple. If he did not do this, it would be two more years before a chapel could be built there. Brother Tonga discussed the situation with his wife.

“It was difficult to give up their dream of seeing the new temple,” but the next day they gave the money to the mission president. “That night [Brother Tonga] … said [to his wife]: ‘Honey, the Lord has promised us through our leaders that if we keep his commandments he will prepare some way that we will be able to go to the dedication [of the New Zealand Temple]. We have cows, pigs, and some horses, besides furniture and mats. Let’s sell it all so that we may be able to receive the blessings of the dedication.’ ”

Brother Tonga and his wife tried to sell their livestock on Thursday and Friday, but no one would buy. Time was getting short. The following Monday the ship bound for New Zealand was to leave. Brother Tonga related:

“ ‘On Saturday morning three families came who needed some cows, pigs, and other things, and we received between $500 and $600 in about half an hour.’ ” They now had the money and would be able to go.

Brother Tonga and his wife were the first couple to be sealed in the New Zealand Temple. But the story does not end there. Brother Tonga said:

“ ‘When my wife and I were sealed to each other, something touched my heart. Our children were not with us, and tears came to my eyes. When we arrived home I promised our four children that if they would help, we could go to the temple together. I thought to myself, “How can you say, be a good boy or be a good girl, if I am not sealed to them in the temple?” I had the feeling that they were not mine.

“ ‘For two years we sacrificed almost everything. I divided my pay from school for each one of us, and we saved that. But we paid our tithing and fast offerings. We were left with 70¢ … a month for two years. We lived on what we could grow and gather. … My children could not buy candy or shoes or go to movies because they were saving to go to the temple. …  

“ ‘To save on transportation costs I also rode my bicycle to district meetings … seven miles away. … Most of our district meetings began at 6:00 a.m. so I had to leave home very early in the morning.

“ ‘When the deadline came for getting our money in, … the two oldest boys said they had about $235. After saving for two years the little one [who was five years old] had saved $65. I had saved almost $1,300 for my family.

“ ‘Through sacrifice we were able to take our family to New Zealand to be sealed in the temple. We had to do some extra things to accomplish our goals, but it was a great blessing to us.’ ”

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     Okay... I know that this post may not apply to everyone reading this, but if it applies to you, if you have a temple nearby, make it a goal to go more often.
     If you already go pretty often, that's great. Kudos to you, seriously... because it can be hard to find time to do it a lot...
     Just a little challenge to you... try to make time. It's so important, and hopefully you've seen that people all over the world sacrifice a lot just to go once...

Here's a quote that I liked... It's not exactly about visiting the temple, but I think that it shows the sacrifice that have always gone into these beautiful temples...

"No effort was spared [in the building of the original Nauvoo Temple]. No sacrifice was too great. Through . . . five years men chiseled stone and laid footings and foundation, walls and ornamentation. Hundreds went to the north, there to live for a time to cut lumber, vast quantities of it, and then bind it together to form rafts which were floated down the river to Nauvoo. Beautiful moldings were cut from that lumber. Pennies were gathered to buy nails. Unimaginable sacrifice was made to procure glass. They were building a temple to God, and it had to be the very best of which they were capable.

"In the midst of all of this activity, the Prophet and his brother Hyrum were killed in Carthage on the 27th of June 1844. . . .

"But Brigham Young, President of the Quorum of the Twelve, picked up the reins. Joseph had placed his authority upon the shoulders of the Apostles. Brigham determined to finish the temple, and the work went on. By day and by night they pursued their objective, notwithstanding all of the threats hurled against them by lawless mobs. In 1845 they knew they could not stay in the city they had built from the swamplands of the river. They knew they must leave. It became a time of feverish activity: first, to complete the temple, and secondly, to build wagons and gather supplies to move into the wilderness of the West."

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Wait Upon the Lord

To read the whole talk, click here.

     There's another experiment that I would try...
     What if you told a four-year old child that you would come back to give them a second marshmallow in exactly ten minutes? You then gave them a stopwatch and explained that when it reached 00:00, you would return with their marshmallow.
     After the first experiment, come back and tell the same child that you will return with another marshmallow, but don't tell them when. Just let them know that if they wait patiently, it will come.

     I'd be willing to bet that less kids would be able to wait the second time... they will feel as though they have been waiting forever, and give in...

     When you know exactly when you will be done waiting, it makes the waiting so much easier. You can count down the minutes... the weeks... maybe even the years... but the whole time keeping in mind the exact date and time that your waiting will end...

     Unfortunately, life is not always like this. We have been promised certain blessings in our lives, but we do not know when these promises will be fulfilled... just never forget that at some point, they will be fulfilled...


Alma 37:17 - For he will fulfil all his promises which he shall make unto you, for he has fulfilled his promises which he has made unto our fathers.

     Heavenly Father always keeps His promises, big or small... and even though it is hard to wait for what is sometimes a seemingly endless amount of time, it is worth it.

   Do not spend your time on this earth feeling like your promises are not being kept, because what you have to understand is that they are eternal promises.   In the grand scheme of things, you spend very little time on this earth... If you keep an eternal perspective, you will see that sometimes being asked to wait a little while for your blessings... it really isn't too much to ask.


D&C 98:
1 - Verily I say unto you my friends, fear not, let your hearts be comforted; yea, rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks;

 2 - Waiting patiently on the Lord, for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and are recorded with this seal and testament—the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted.

 3 - Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord.


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"Patience—the ability to put our desires on hold for a time—is a precious and rare virtue. We want what we want, and we want it now. Therefore, the very idea of patience may seem unpleasant and, at times, bitter.

"Nevertheless, without patience, we cannot please God; we cannot become perfect. Indeed, patience is a purifying process that refines understanding, deepens happiness, focuses action, and offers hope for peace."

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

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