My Church Class :D

Left to Right: Spencer, Josh, Sara, Taylor, Laura, Alisa, Chantel, Victoria, Me.

This is my church class. I love them to pieces. Thank you for the examples and support you are without even knowing it. It truly makes me want to be a better person.

It's that time of year again!

This year, I'm studying U.S. History in school, and every public schooled Mormon knows what that means. Inaccurate textbooks, and suspicious nonbelievers who love to throw around polygamy accusations. Friday was the day we came across that little part of American history, and I was both happy and nervous about it. All I was thinking was "keep smiling, Julia." And that's what I did the whole time. I smiled. And can you believe, my teacher defended LDS members?! She did! She said, "Now, I'm not trying to convert anyone but just listen. Does everyone agree that in the old testament and new testament, God spoke to people?" to which the class murmured a general yes. She continued "Then why is it unreasonable that he just stopped, now? That he never doesn't talk to people anymore, and hasn't for thousands of years?" There was a general quiet in the room, and I just kept smiling, bigger this time. A girl behind me said "Because he's angry with us" to which I wanted to reply "I think that God is above the silent treatment, don't you?" but I didn't, of course. Anyways, after that intro she started talking about it, she referred to me for all the things she didn't know, and she was so respectful about it. Some kid in the class even had a Book of Mormon! I asked him why he had it, and he said someone gave it to him. It was way cool. Its always hard to get through this time of the year, my friends, but there is no reason to be ashamed of our history. Right now, I can't understand why those people would have to have multiple wives, and I wish they never did. But I don't understand everything in life, and so I keep smiling, and believe it all happened with someone in mind, as all things do. So when you come across this blip in your curriculum, don't be ashamed, just smile and say, "Yeah, it happened, but it doesn't happen any more!"

I can't even begin to comprehend.

A while ago, my dad was having a rough time at work. He felt people were taking advantage of his easy forgiveness and calm demeanor, and felt like he was being weak where he needed to be firm. He told me about a man who wrote a particularly brash email, and while my dad sent a calm and rational one in return, though he was angry he got such an email, another guy from his office stood up to the man, and defended my dad, but in not kind words. I didn't know what to say to my dad, so I told him he did the right thing by being the bigger man. I think thats a common thing in the workplace, that the "good Christians" get taken advantage of simply because they are nice. But that night, as I was reading my scriptures that used to be my brothers, there was a small handout that talked about "blessed are the meek" or something along those lines. As I read, I started to smile, because the man that they were describing to be the ideal person, who was humble and meek, was what my dad was being, and what he perceived as being weak. I took the handout my brother had put in those scriptures so long ago, and pasted it onto a piece of paper, and then wrote my dad a note, leaving it outside his door. When I got back to my room, I was so grateful to be able to be the hands of God, if only for a moment. I can't even begin to see the vastness of His plan for us, because there is no way that my brother just happened to put that handout in the pages I, as a slightly irregular reader during the summer, would be reading on the night of my dad's hardship. I will forever be grateful for that, and the confirmation of the power of God that experience was for me.

There are Those People.

Last week, we had this band competition at Sam Houston State University that took all day. As mentioned in previous posts, my section in band doesn't always get along very well, and today was one of these days. One guy said something to another guy, and it snowballed to the point that everyone on that snowy slope got sucked in. We were all mad at each other. It's a good thing we had to be quiet before we got onto the field out of respect for the people already performing, or we would still have been bickering. As we were literally waiting at the opening of the field waiting for the band before us to end, I heard this voice saying "excuse me" over and over. Kind of irritated, I turned my head to glare at the person moving up our compact lines. My glare fell instantly when I saw the person was in a wheelchair, and was a volunteer from SHSU. He zoomed past us, and said "I was supposed to move you guys here, but it looks like you did it yourselves! You guys are awesome!" He had a huge smile on and was laughing. He then proceeded to back up out of us, again apologizing, but with a huge smile on his face, not embarrassed at all. I started crying. I have no idea if this guy was a member of the church, but he had such an aura about him, that he was practically glowing. I wanted to talk to him, to bask in his inner light. He made all of us smile, though we were about to jump down each others throats, and even though he probably didn't have the easiest life, he smiled through it. Now, I have no idea who that guy was, what his name was, what he does in his life, but I will always remember him. He was one of those people, one of those people I wish I could be. God bless you, Nameless Wheelchair Man, you touched someone's life with a laugh.