20 It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Right off the bat, you should know that I am basically a year-round Christmas celebrator. I don't listen to a lot of Christmas music or anything (of course, I wouldn't be opposed), but it's my favorite holiday and just thinking about it makes me happy. Okay before you judge me too harshly, a lot of things easily make me happy, so it shouldn't be that weird. Anyway. I have been listening to a ton of Christmas music and thinking about what I am going to get for people, and looking forward o being with my family, and just enjoying the Holiday season. It is the best time of the year, not just because of Christmas., but because it's finally time when everybody has to accept it's Christmas. That's why it's so great. Cause I'm not given a hard time for being overly enthusiastic about Christmas. 

He is Born. Our Savior and Redeemer.

I love Christmas because of the family time, the break from school or work, the joy that it brings people and everything else that entails. I love seeing Christmas miracles (already had the first one today with the missionaries). I love the music, the hot chocolate, the movies, the decorations, and the lights. I love all the giving and sharing and kindness and holiday cheer. There really isn't anything not to love. Also, the Savior. Can't really leave Him out. He is my favorite. Like, more of my favorite than Christmas. And that's another reason I love Christmas... haha. Because everyone is so focused on the Savior and His birth. I love the nativities and hearing the story of Christ's birth and all the beautiful songs about Him. I can't wait for Him to come to Earth again. It will be such a glorious day.

19 Temple Square

Tonight, our ward went to Temple Square to enjoy the lights. It. Was. Amazing. It was my first time going and all the lights were more beautiful than I could ever have imagined. We watched Elf on the way there, which I loved. Then, after just a short period of being there, I saw some sister missionaries. I forget how much I miss them since we don't have them in our student wards but it was so fun to say hi. We started talking and found out one of them knew my roommate's friend from home and the other was from Spain. And then another sister missionary came over and we found out she was the daughter of the couple that are mission president's of the mission one of my other friends is going on next semester in Berlin, Germany. It is such a small world. Plus, in the short time we were with them, one of them said something that answered a small prayer of mine. Missionaries are the best. 



Then, they were about to carol so they invited us to sing with them in the square and we sang two songs with them and I was immediately filled with the spirit of Christmas and with joy. I love Christmas. And Christmas carols. After an hour and a half, our ward gathered back together and sang a couple carols. We had hot chocolate and cookies and then had a prayer. Today has been one of the happiest days I've had since coming to BYU. And one of the most fun. I love the temple!!!! 

18 What I've Learned in The Eternal Family

I decided to share a lot of the things that I have learned in my religion class, The Eternal Family, because we have a lot of really awesome discussions in that class. These are some random ideas that I found interesting or worth knowing:

• How many things is there opposition in? ALL THINGS.
• The Church exists to exalt the family
• "A horse sires a horse, a man begets a man, a god brings forth a god." (Just a cool reminder that because God is our Father, we will all be Gods one day!)
• Knowing you are a child of God and you have eternal potential is a potent anti-depressant." ~Dallin H. Oaks
• When you get married, do NOT let your foundation shift from Jesus Christ to your family. Don't worship your family. Love and serve them, but worship God
• Having an understanding of and applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the key to a successful marriage
• Every virtue taken to an extreme becomes a vice: confidence can become cockiness, humility can turn into low self-esteem
• Eve was Adam's helpmeet. Helpmeet: Help (from the Hebrew word Ezer)-help, rescue, or save. Meet (Kenegdo)-opposite or corresponding to
• You can't live up to cultural expectations, strive to live up to God's
• Just take it ONE DAY at a time
• For most marriage problems, the remedy is not divorce, but repentance. The problem is not incompatibility, it is selfishness
• It is a sin to dwell on self-criticizing thoughts
• "Even a rickety marriage will serve good purpose as long as two people struggle to keep it from falling down around them" ~Boyd K. Packer
• God needs to approve of a divorce. Most of the time, He doesn't, and that's what leads to the greater unhappiness.
• For people who feel they have "fallen out of love" with their spouse: Can you fall out of kindness? Can you fall out of any of the attributes the Lord gives us in His definition of love? Behavior isn't something you fall in and out of. Choose your love and love your choice.
• Sometimes our criticism is worse than the behavior we are trying to correct. 
• Feeling the Spirit while doing a spiritual activity with another person should not be confused with or taken as emotional attraction to that person
• You will have a happier marriage when you work on improving yourself, not your spouse.
• "Don't just pray to marry the one you love, pray to love the one you marry" ~ Spencer W. Kimball
• A good friend will never have you choose between their way and the Lord's way
• Converse with your spouse; never let the little things become the big things
• Selfishness suffocates spiritual senses. Pray with your spouse that you grow together and not apart
• When life gets busy and hectic, you can't make things work in your marriage if you're selfish
• If you wouldn't marry them, don't date them
• "If you fall in love with someone you should not marry, you cannot expect the Spirit to lead you out of it when you are already emotionally attached." ~Bruce C. Hafen

17 Why I Love BYU

 Every time I think about the fact that I am going to school at BYU right now, I think about how lucky I am to be here. The campus is beautiful, the environment is great, and the people are all great people. I thought it would be weird to have prayers before my classes, but it never is. I love it. The environment here is so positive and safe, which means I have one less thing to stress about. There are few other colleges where I could go to a party on a Friday night and there is NO alcohol. And where everyone is just having a good time and being morally clean and you can be sure no one is drugging your drink. I feel even safer here than in high school. And I know things still happen and it isn't 100% safe all the time, but man it's about as safe as you can get. All my professors weave the gospel into lessons, which is so cool. I've written papers on very spiritual topics, which I couldn't really do anywhere else. My roommate and I can talk about spiritual things all the time too. I'm not like the weird girl that kneels by her bed to pray, can't go to any of the parties, and goes to church EVERY Sunday and then doesn't do anything else or have any "fun". I'm a normal girl doing all those things. Anyway, that's really cool to me. Plus, everyone is so kind. There is always someone holding the door for me, the times I have left valuables somewhere they were never stolen, I rarely hear a swear word. I even forgot what Marijuana smells like because I haven't smelled it since leaving Washington. Wow. That's amazing. Plus, tuition is super low. I don't think there is any other college that could make me near as happy or as grateful to be a student at than BYU.
I already have so many great memories of BYU :)

16 Poland's Time for Tolerance: An Op-Ed

        Nobody wants terrorists-including the Poles-but not every foreigner is a terrorist. Yet Poles seem to always treat them that way. Sixty-nine percent of Poles believe that only white people should live in Poland? The reasoning goes back generations and is not entirely unfathomable when you look at it from a more historical perspective. But this deeply rooted racism still needs to go. Poland will be a lot better off if it can forego the racism of the past and accept foreigners into the nation as equals.
Many of modern day Poland’s racism origins come from the time during and after the Holocaust. Anti-Semitism was not only popular, but admirable. When the few surviving Jews returned home from the Holocaust, they had an impossible time trying to re-integrate. Their homes, property, everything, was destroyed or gone. Poles were not happy to see them come home. The violence and Pogroms against Jews directly following the Holocaust did not make a lot of sense to a lot of people, and yet the severity and reality of it is too intense to ignore. Jews were still murdered, sometimes by former acquaintances. A lot of it comes down to the fact that they were a different race with different values and beliefs that were not welcome in a very nationalistic, white, Catholic nation. And so many Poles stood by and watched happily as Jews were mocked, beaten, and even killed. Most even approved wholeheartedly and believed that purging their nation of Jews was a perfect excuse for their persecution.
Even without the Holocaust though, Poles would be racist and especially anti-Semitic because of all the problems society tends to associate with them. For two centuries, Polish Nationalism has partially been defined by its belief in the threat of Jews to their nation. You can imagine, then, that overcoming racism in Poland is easier said than done. But the point is that it needs to be done. Try to understand a lot of the psychological tendencies for Polish racism. What held back anti-Semitism for the last 50 years has been guilt for the Holocaust. However, as the memory of it fades away, Poles are feeling more and more that the Jews are threatening and infringing on the stability of their society.
       The Poles themselves feel very victimized by other nations, for example, Russia during the communist regime. Because of this, Poles cannot empathize with the Jews as victims because they are focused on their own victimization. They start to see Jews as a threat to their economy as well as their religious standards. They more easily believe in the Jewish conspiracy that Jews are trying to take over the world and will take over their government if they are not careful. Knowing these motivations proves why Poles do not want Jews or other refugees in their country. They associate all the problems in their economy with foreigners and in their minds foreigners become the enemy.
Education is the key to overcoming racism and anti-Semitism. Poles believe rumors and conspiracies about Jews that make them seem like monsters. What needs to happen is a true/real understanding of who they are. The dehumanization of them makes them an easy target. They need to be seen not just as “Jews”, but as equal human beings. That perspective can only be achieved if one is taught about them in a humane light and forced to put themselves in their shoes. That way they can connect with them on a very human level.
Looking at the roots of racism, mostly in anti-Semitism, helps us understand the same racism now shown towards Syrian refugees. The European Union is trying to force Poland to accept more immigrants. But Poland is resisting. Between 2016 and 2020, Poland will only accept 100 Syrian Refugees. They have turned away thousands at their borders. The Polish government is resisting the EU’s refugee quotas, not because of political reasons, but because the people are so against it. The pressure for politicians to stay in office is forcing them to give in to the pressure of the people. The trouble here is that Poland has received tens of millions of Euros as well as ample aid for development and food and clothes from the EU. It is time for them to return the favor.
Creating a more tolerant society is beneficial on a global scale; if Poland accepts more refugees and actually tries to integrate them, the nations of the EU will be better off and most importantly, more refugees will have a place to go. While the racism in Poland may be logical, it is not justified. It is clear that their nation and economy, not to mention, morals, will be better when they accept those who are not conventional Polish into their nation.

15 An Attitude of Gratitude

I am not going to lie, I didn't have much of a thankful heart this Thanksgiving. Even though thankfulness is the purpose of Thanksgiving, it hardly crossed my mind. I was grateful for the good food and for my family, but I didn't really express it or think about it too much. But I am still grateful for so many things and I do try to have gratitude every day of my life, so hopefully I'm not too selfish or bitter of a person. My family was so focused on my sister's wedding that we hardly had a chance to celebrate. Instead of everyone being in the kitchen making different dishes, we ordered the whole thanksgiving meal in a box from QFC. Not what I call traditional, but it was necessary. We had Cajun fried turkey, which was delicious, as well as the regular sides, and a few store bought pies. (Which hardly got eaten since the next day on we had leftover wedding cake to eat.) That night was the funnest part though. All my nieces and nephews went to sleep and Tyler left for his bachelor party (which consisted of a "becoming a man" ritual where you have to chop down a tree in your underwear. He's from Montana). Then we threw Julia a bachelorette party! It wasn't anything special, but it was really fun with all us sisters. We spent most of the time putting together the flowers and the bouquets for the wedding but we also had fake shot glasses with the classic Martinelli's a crown for her to wear, and music to blast and dance to. So yeah we had a great time this Thanksgiving.

14 The Priesthood is Wonderful

I have a solid testimony of the Priesthood. A couple weeks ago, my roommate and I were having a really tough time with school and everything going on and she thought it would be a good idea to get a blessing. She contacted our home teachers and they happily came over as soon as they could. Home teachers are wonderful. God really knew what he was doing when He set up His church. They make the priesthood readily available to even someone like me, living in a dorm full of girls. And I love it. Over Thanksgiving, I ran into another rough patch in my life. I became overwhelmed mentally, emotionally, and physically. My dad was able to give me another blessing and I immediately felt better. I was enveloped in God's love and filled with peace where there was despair. Blessings truly are miracles. Both blessings brought the Spirit very strongly into the room. Each gave me power and strength to overcome my challenges. The power of God is real and it is limitless and I am so lucky to have worthy men in my life that can give me blessings when I need God most.