Offensive Acts of War

I don't normally write about world issues, but recently I've been listening to World Report on CBC radio 1 and I've heard a lot of interesting (to say the least) stories in the last little while.  One that I heard this morning made me so offended that I feel a seething rage every time that I think about it.

The story is, four US Marines took a video of themselves urinating on the dead bodies of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.  Not only did they do this terrible act, they made jokes about it like "Have a great day Buddy!" and "He likes his shower".  Ugh!  It is a terrible, terrible atrocity.  I can't believe that someone would feel good about doing something like that.  Enemy or not, people are people and you don't defile the dead.  That's the ultimate taboo, in my opinion.  Urinating on someone's corpse out of sport, making a video of it and posting it proudly on the internet is disgraceful. Sometimes, when I hear stories like this, I don't feel like living on this planet any more.  Sometimes, humans make me sick.

Books I Read in 2011

People who know me know that I am an avid reader.  I go through periods of withdrawl where I have to read everything I can get my hands on...and then I'm good for a few months.  I sort of got into the habit when I started university, when there's no time for pleasure reading during school so I can only read over the holidays or summer break.  That being said, I read a number of books for the first time in 2011 and here are just some of the titles:

Holes--Louis Sachar

Artemis Fowl--Eoin Colfer

Pride and Prejudice--Jane Austen

The Golden Compass--Philip Pullman

The Count of Monte Cristo--Alexandre Dumas

The Diary of a Young Girl--Anne Frank

The Five People You Meet in Heaven--Mitch Albom

The Book Thief--Markus Zusak

Jane Eyre--Charlotte Bronte

Wuthering Heights--Emily Bronte

Inheritance--Christopher Paolini

The Five Love Languages--Gary Chapman

And I'm sure there were a few Madeline Wickham books thrown in there somewhere too.  Hey, every girl needs their chick-book fix sometimes.  :P  I also started two other books but didn't finish them before the year was over (Oliver Twist and Still Alice).  I used to be a bit of a book snob and definitely judged books by their cover (and what section of the store they were in...I religiously avoided the self-help section until this project).

I'd have to say my favourite of that list were The Count of Monte Cristo (1500 pages in 8 days!), and Jane Eyre.  Inheritance was also good (800 pages in 2 days) but I didn't like the ending.  I normally don't read this many books a year (The last book I read was in the beginning of November; the majority of these were read between May and September) but back in April I made a list of books I'd like to read.  Mostly it is made up of classic novels that I have never read, but should have.  I've been pleasently suprised thus far and I must say that Jane Eyre is my new favourite book.  I added to it from suggestions of my friends and I hope to continue checking books off. 

Feel free to add any suggestions!!  Also, if you ever feel the need to buy me something, might as well make it a book...or two! :P

Until next time,
-J

Happy New Year!

Happy new year to one and all!  New years is always a time of new beginnings and resolutions.  I found a blog post that was really helpful when making resolutions.  The ones I agree with are as follows:

1. Make your goal specific--"get in shape" is very vague
2. Make it realistic--something you can actually accomplish
3. Make each goal step by step--make a plan of how you're going to do it
4. Failing isn't failing--a slip-up is just a chance to get back on track
5.Keep accountable--when someone else knows about your goal, you're more likely to keep it!

She also suggested not making a goal for the entire year, but I think some long-term goals are good and quite attainable.

So, in keeping with her advice, I will now be accountable to all my readers about my resolutions.  I'd like to share some of the ones I'm making:

Church-Related

1. Spend at least half an hour a day studying my scriptures (not just reading)
2. Say both my morning and evening prayers every day (the morning ones are always forgotten!)
3. Visit the temple at least once a month (Jocelyn is my temple buddy so she'd better keep me on track!)





Other

4. Go on at least one date a month (There's your open invitation :P)
5. Grow out my hair (Some will be more happy than others at this announcement)
6. Save enough money for school (I might have to travel to find a higher-paying job during the summer)


Well folks, those are the ones I am willing to share with you.  The others are more personal and I'll keep them to myself and my journal :P.  I'd love to hear your resolutions as well so feel free to send them my way!  Happy new year and I wish the best for you all in 2012!

Until next time,
-J

Remembering Dec 26, 2004 Tsunami

Monday night, we chanced upon a program called The Passionate Eye.  It was airing an episode entitled Tsunami Caught on Camera, a compilation of videos of survivors of the 2004 Tsunami that began as a result of a 9.3 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesia.  The Tsunami hit 14 countries and had a death toll of approximately 230000 people-a great deal more than the approx 20000 deaths from the Tsunami in Japan this past April. 

The footage and testimonials from the survivors is bone-chilling, terrifying, and devastating.  I cried almost the whole program, just watching the people get swept away by the water and knowing that they most likely died.  It makes me so grateful to live where I do, far away from any coast or large earthquake activity.  Here are just a few pictures of the devastation:

A stirring reminder that we are subject to powers greater than ourselves.


Until next time,
-J

Idols

I don't know whether it's because my students and I were discussing Moses and the Israelites the last little bit, or it's just something that has stuck with me, but the topic of idols has been in my head.  The dictionary defines an idol as:

1.an image or other material object representing a deity to which religious worship is addressed.

2.Bible .a. an image of a deity other than God.

b. the deity itself.

3.any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion: Madame Curie had been her childhood idol.

4.a mere image or semblance of something, visible but without substance, as a phantom.

5.a figment of the mind; fantasy. 

Upon the word idol being stuck in my head, I thought of all the ways we use it.  Teen idol, pop idol, American idol, Oktoberfest idol, immunity idol (Survivor), the list goes on!

The encouragement of these things or people being idols comes from, essentially, the mass media.  Magazines like People, OK!, Star, HELLO!, In Touch, Star, US Weekly, and Vanity Fair, all share intimate details of celebrities lives, and people actually buy these magazines and read them.  


People (myself unfortunately included) religiously watch tv shows that have no real substance and, more often than not, portray things like pre-marital sex, drug and alcohol abuse, and violence as normal and accepted.  When our 'idols' do something in a magazine or on tv, we may be persuaded that what they do is ok for us too.

So think about what idols you follow and whether they are worthy of your attention or if you should leave them behind and do as Moses pleads in Deuteronomy 4:15-16 "Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves...Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female".

Until next time,

-J

 

Letting Go

"We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us" 

--Joseph Campell

"'We hold fast by letting go.'  Letting go of our attempts to control things, our attempts to maintain control over every aspect of our life.  We've all heard the saying about if we love something, we should let it go, and then we'll know whether it 'belongs' to us when we see whether it comes back to us.  So much of our discontent and our dissatisfaction comes from our unwillingness to let go of trying to control things and trying to cause just the results that we think should occur." --Tom Walsh

Sometimes you have a plan.  Sometimes that plan means the world to you.  Sometimes you think that you cannot possibly live unless that plan comes to fruition.  Sometimes that plan is wrong.  Sometimes you need to let go of that plan in order to see another plan that is in front of you.  Sometimes we forget that there are greater things at work in our lives other than ourselves.

There are people who have come and gone in my life who I have wanted to hang on to.  People who I thought would be by my side forever.  When I was younger, I lived in denial.  I could not believe that they were actually gone and that they were not coming back.  So I continued to communicate with them as if they were here.  As I have gotten older, I have made similar mistakes, hanging onto friendships and relationships that were destined to fall apart.  

And now, now I try my hardest to let go.  I try my hardest to find peace in knowing that they are happy, even if that happiness does not come from me.  I try my hardest to believe that something or someone will come along that will not want to let me go.  

I need to stop trying to control my destiny and need to accept that my life is not my own.  "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it." Luke 17:33.  I am losing myself in the work that I am called to do, and thus I am finding myself more deeply than I ever have before.  So let go.  Be patient.  Have faith.  There is a plan for you and this plan is the right plan.  Lose yourself in the work and you will find peace.

Until next time,

-J

Florida Trip

The lack of posting recently has come from my 10-day vacation in Florida (you're jealous!).  Our trip consisted of Christmas shopping, regular shopping, unnessesary shopping (lots of shopping!), going to St. Petersberg Beach, Disney Village, visiting the Orlando temple, sunbathing, and going out to various places to eat.  It was a good, relaxing time.  It was nice to know that I had no responsibilities while I was away so I got to relax.  Here are some pictures from our trip:

Orlando Temple

Orlando Temple

Hooked on Jesus

The one above it says "Dear Jesus, I love you, Love God"  The one I managed to get is "U + God = :)" Only in America LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First live cockroach I have ever seen.  So gross!!  They're everywhere down south!

So, essentially sky writing about God and the "Hooked on Jesus" things pretty much made my day.  They're hilarious!  Also, I got to see my first live cockroach (so disgusting).  They're everywhere down south and I just happened to see this one while I was outside one night.  Nasty little things. 

As for the highlight of my trip, I would have to say it was the Temple.  I now have a second US temple added to my list (Palmyra being the first) and that brings my temple tally (I like to keep track) up to 6 temples that I've done baptisms in.  Boo yeah! 

My mom and aunt went to do an endowment session while I headed to do baptisms.  Originally, I was supposed to be joining a group of 25 youth from the area in a baptismal session.  There were two other girls there (ironically from Cardston, AB) who were on vacation and would be joining in as well.  Well, the group never showed up so the temple workers decided that they would scrounge up some priesthood holders and do a session with just the three of us.  And they did!  We got to go down to the baptistry and the temple president and matron came down and spoke with us for about 10 minutes and then we did our session.  It only lasted about half an hour, but it was a very special experience for me.  I was really grateful for it. 

I've been extremely blessed with many opportunities to go to the temple recently.  I went once in September, once in October, and on top of my experience in Orlando, I'm going to the Toronto temple this weekend for the temple conference.  Four times in 3 months?  Not bad at all.  I'm grateful that we have temples so close! 

Also, this week I started a new job at Concierge Home Services, cleaning residential houses.  It has more consistent hours and I get to work on my own or with just one other person so it's pretty good.  Not that I don't like customer service, it's just nice having a break from that.  I'm still working for Subway a bit while they are training new people so I'm still pretty busy, but things are going well. 

Until next time,
-J