I'm Off!

I'm leaving for the airport in 5 minutes.
And all I can say is...
I made it! I made it to a mission!
Here I come Uruguay!

Just Like Heaven

One of my favorite movies is "Just Like Heaven." Sweet, tragic, a little creepy, funny, and absolutely strange.

I think the reason why I love it so much is I can really relate to Elizabeth. She lives her whole life...working. That's what I do. I have come to accept the fact that I really am quite a boring person. But maybe I'll be boring and beautiful like Elizabeth. That would definitely make it better ;O)

That's pretty much where the comparison ends -- I don't plan to end up in a coma, or become a ghost in my own apartment, or fall in love with someone who can't feel me because I'm mostly dead.

But my heart just melts at the end, when David creates the garden for her on her apartment roof. The best thing a guy could ever do for a girl is to make her dreams come true. That's just what David does. He takes what he has in him to make her dream come true. What could me more beautiful than that?

That would be heaven.

Watch. It's absolutely sappy and ridiculous but I LOVE it.


And...good old Napoleon at the end. Righteous :O)

Final Thoughts

Maybe this is a little preemptive, but I have some last words for my classes before I take my finals:

Humanities & Literary Theory: This class could have been subtitled "How to Become a Marxist at BYU" or "Freud: Everything You Didn't Want to Know about Yourself" or "Forget Agency, You are a Product of Your Surroundings."

Philosophy: Hegel, you and I are NOT friends. Nope, not one little bit. You can't use words and have your own secret little definition for them. Not fair.

Accounting: Norm, dear Norm, instructor of the software lessons, I spent more time with you than the guy I was dating this semester! I feel like although our relationship is ending it should end on a positive note. I'd like an A on the final please, for all the time I've invested in us.

Financial Management: I've never walked out of a class feeling like I knew nothing that was taught...until now. I'm not quite sure what happened.

Mission Prep: Brother Bott, you rocked my socks. I won't forget what you said after every class, "Don't sin anymore!"

New Testament: I think my blog just about died during this semester because of all the religious blogs I had to write.

FINALS
here
I
come.

NT 11: All Roads Lead to Rome

They say all roads lead to Rome. In the early Christian Church, they kind of did.

Peter and Paul both found their way to Rome to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was the center of the First Century world.

Why would they go to Rome? Because the Gospel they preached there would spread. If all roads lead to Rome, then there are roads leading from Rome to many other places in the world. This was a continuation of the Christian church's efforts to spread the gospel to all nations, lands, and people.

Preaching in Rome was the passing of the torch, the spreading of the Gospel fire.

Rome was also the place where it is speculated Mark wrote down the memories and testimony of Peter in the Gospel of Mark. He wrote down the things the Lord said and did while on earth. This testimony, joined with the other three Gospels, provides another witness for the divinity of Christ.

Rome was the place where at that point Peter and Paul and Mark could do an incredible amount of good.

While Rome was the place where they would preach some of their greatest sermons, it also the place where they would be put to death for their testimonies of Christ.

Paul was put to death, scholars assumed beheaded, and tradition says that Peter was crucified upside-down. Before this, they suffered tribulation, mocking, and punishment for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

When we are in the position of doing the most good, that is when we have the most Satanic opposition. Even though Rome would be the place of their death, because of their testimony, the Apostles headed to Rome.

In our lives, all [right] roads lead to our own Rome--the place where we will do the most good, learn the most, but probably also experience the greatest opposition. It is at those times when we need to follow the example of Paul, and Peter, and Mark and have faith, even in the midst of fear.

My Life as a Whirlwind

Remember when I used to have time to blog? Yeah, I can't really either.

Conference just flew by. I was blessed to be able to go to two sessions and sit right up front. By right up front, I mean that I was sitting behind the wives of the seventies. Awesome, right?!

I think I forgot to mention that I received a mission call to this country:



So crazy right?! I was expecting FRENCH speaking. Or someplace in Africa. Or even Asia. So South America took me COMPLETELY off guard.

But it's so right.
Not because it makes sense to me (because it doesn't), but because I went to the temple and all my doubts and fears left. and I had peace.

Because
This is the right thing.
As much as
the adversary tells me it's not.

I definitely have felt opposition since I got my call a few weeks ago (has it been a month? I can't keep track of time anymore)

I can't help feeling gratitude though as I listened to Conference these last two days.
Gratitude for my wonderful family, for parents who taught me truth.
For opportunities, work, an education, the opportunity to serve, so many things.

But most of all, for the Savior.

NT 10: Some Paper and a Press

One of my most favorite experiences in my life occurred in a paper shop in Florence, Italy. Walking on the streets of Florence, some friends and I had been drawn in to this paper shop, probably because of the warmth it emitted in its yellow walls and decorative window displays.

Upon entering, we were greeted by two of the happiest Italian men in the world. They welcomed us in, joking and laughing with us like we were old friends. They had a passion for paper, and they showed us how they made their beautiful paper.

One turned up the Italian opera music playing in the tiny shop and told us how the music touched him with tears in his eyes. When I asked the other man what his favorite color was, he looked at his golden shirt, his tan pants, and the yellow shelves of his store and told us that yellow was his favorite color—because it reminded him of the sun, and the sun reminded him of his childhood days, and his childhood days reminded him of his boat.

The feeling these men created in the store was overwhelmingly joyful, and I left almost in tears because I was so happy.

I felt some of this passion for paper again as I visited the Crandall Printing Museum in Provo.

Everyone should go visit this museum. This small colonial-inspired house is full of treasures for your mind and your heart. Here I met three more men who had a passion for paper, or rather, a passion for the press.

They showed their handmade Gutenberg press and explained the amazing innovations of Johannes Gutenberg and the development of the press. They allowed visitors to feel the Latin letters placed on the press in the same way they were six hundred years ago, words that changed every day lives. In 50 years after its creation, the Gutenberg press produced 20 million books of the Bible.

After learning about the Gutenberg press, we were brought to a press created after the one in New England that Ben Franklin printed revolutionary documents on. These documents rallied the American cause and because of the printed word, we were able to have our freedom.

Then we were brought to a printing press built after the Grandin press in New York. This type of press produced the Book of Mormon, and what a miracle that book was. Considering the small amount of printing presses in the country, it is strange that there would be one in the tiny township of Palmyra, New York. What had made it possible to bring this heavy machinery to this place? If it had been brought on horse and wagon it would have been impossibly expensive. But because Palmyra was situated near to the newly built Eerie Canal, the machinery could be hauled across the river to Palmyra.

And the number of books. E.B. Grandin must have been incredulous when Joseph Smith asked him to print 5,000 books. The first printing of the Bible was contracted by the Catholic Church for a mere 180 copies, incidentally. 5,000 books was a very large number for a small place.

What a miracle it was that these books were finished in such a short amount of time. To bind that many books would have taken over 2 years, and this estimate is by a modern-day printer. Yet, the Book of Mormon was bound in 7 months. This would have required the boys in the print shop to print 2 sheets per minute, setting type for 11 hours a day. It would have required the printers to pull the press handle 5,000 times for each of the 37 stacks of paper it required for each book—that is 185,000 pulls to create that amount of books.

The Book of Mormon is a miracle.

The press is what made it possible for the word of God to go forth.
It was the medium that allowed the Gutenberg Bible, the word of God, to go forth to everyday people. It was the medium that allowed words of freedom and liberty to spread through America. It was the medium that allowed the word of God to go forth again and in its fullness and power through the Book of Mormon.

This is the real power of the press.

In Florence I felt that excitement and pleasure these men found in paper and paper making. The Crandall Museum also contained that excitement, but also contained the power, not of the paper, but of the words pressed upon that paper that changed people’s lives.

It is no wonder these men have such a love and a passion for the press. On paper are written words that have changed their lives, personally.

They are words that have changed my life.
And yours.

Crandall Printing Museum
275 East Center Street
Provo, Utah

NT 9: Paul in Jerusalem

"And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut."

In Paul's final trip to Jerusalem, he went to the temple, bringing a Gentile inside and teaching that the Gospel replaced the Law of Moses.

Chaos ensued. Paul was arrested and received some pardon because he was a Roman citizen.

The things that Paul had been working for--unity in the Church and acceptance of Gentiles into the Church did not come to fruition. That would have been so frustrating, to have your efforts being met with less than favorable results.

Luke wrote the book of Acts as a continuation of his account of Jesus' life. The apostles were continuing the work of Jesus, preaching his Gospel and the good news of his life and resurrection. Paul sought to unify the Church in this Gospel, and he had met with challenge after challenge.

And now, in Jerusalem, he was taken out of the temple and made a prisoner.
In class, we discussed the symbolic nature of Luke's use of the temple doors. Picture the huge doors closing Paul out of the temple. Here was an apostle of God, and he was shut out.

The unity he had hoped for--not here in Jerusalem.
The gospel he had preached--not accepted amongst the Jews.

I mean, Paul was a failure, right?!
Walked right into a trap at Jerusalem, wasn't accepted, wasn't really listened to, and became imprisoned. Even Paul.

Paul knew what would happen in Jerusalem as Agabus prophesied of the events that would take place. Do you know what he said when he heard?
He said, "What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."

Paul was willing to experience failure, imprisonment, and death for this Gospel.
He had more faith than fear, and that's why he went to Jerusalem.

He knew that because of Christ he could do all things.

NT 8: We Can Make It

We don't need to worry about wide-spread apostasy in the church anymore as Paul warned the people of his day.

But personal apostasy is a very real concern.

As I've grown up, I've seen people fall away. I've often wondered how it happens. I've wondered how they could leave what they knew to be true. I don't know if there is always an easy answer, but there are two things that come to mind.

The first is complacency.
God says that if we are lukewarm, and not hot or cold, he will spue us out of his mouth. (Revelations 3:17) Those who live the Gospel halfway aren't really living the Gospel at all. To be lukewarm doesn't mean "imperfect." We are all imperfect. It doesn't mean we don't make mistakes or sometimes make the wrong choice. We all make wrong choices and mistakes.

To be hot or cold is to have chosen what side you are fighting on. It sounds to me that God has very little patience for fence sitters. We have to choose what side we are fighting for and FIGHT. If we are not on the Lord's side, whose side are we on? There really isn't any middle ground. If we aren't fighting each day by reading our scriptures, praying for help, and following the prophets (in other words, becoming complacent) we aren't going to make it.

The second is overzealousness.
This is the opposite of complacency, and yet both can result in apostasy. I have noticed that when people get too focused on being perfect and doing everything right, they get major burnout. They don't accept themselves, they place themselves under more pressure and demands than the Lord does. They focus on their own efforts instead of His grace.

Elder Larsen of the Seventy said that "overzealousness is at least as much to be feared as apathy."

Isn't that interesting?
Why would that be?

I think that the problem with both complacency and overzealousness is that your focus turns away from Christ. Isn't that depressing? The very thing that overzealous people avoid so well (complacency) has a very similar cause.

How do we avoid both complacency and overzealousness?
We step in the right direction.
And then we take another step.

If we are prone to complacency, we must remember to keep walking in the path.
If we are prone to overzealousness, we must remember to refrain from trying to sprint the whole time.

When we do give our efforts to following his path, and keep our focus on the Savior, we don't need to worry about apostasy. We will know that it is His grace after all we can do that will help us make it.

One of my favorite quotes by Elder Maxwell eloquently expresses exactly what we need to be doing.

"Oh, how glorious and wonderful is “this Jesus Christ”! If contemplating the doing of all these things – to become more and more like Him – makes us feel discouraged, intimidated, and overwhelmed, we need to remember that He never said it all had to be done in a day. Rather, if we could not travel fast, we could at least be steadfast and press forward, doing things in wisdom and in order and in a pattern of paced progress, first achieving correct direction and then added momentum. It is the labor of a lifetime and more." Even as I Am, pg. 33-34.

It's possible. Let's stay on the path and remember that it is possible because of Him.

NT 7: Intimations of Divinity

I had the opportunity to visit the exhibit "Intimations of Divinity" at BYU's Museum of Art. After the presentation of the exhibit, there was a discussion about the meaning of this painting between a few students:

"And Then I Looked," David Lynn

I don't know what the author intended, but these are some of my perceptions from the painting.
Christ is the rock and he is the light.

Our journey is a journey to Christ.
Like someone climbing up a steep mountain, we make our way through life.
The path is not always easy and the closer we get to the light, the steeper it is.

It would be near to impossible to scale up the center of the steep cliff. To get to the top, we have to venture out in the darkness, climbing on the rocks away from the light.

There will be times of not knowing in our lives. Those are times where we can choose to have faith.

The journey starts in a pebbly area, easily traversed, no incline. Then it gets steeper.

We could always choose not to climb the mountain. The path would be so easy if we were not trying to get to the top. Little pebbles line the way, no incline, no sharp rocks.

But we wouldn't really get anywhere staying there.

And there is always a way up the mountain. Henry B. Eyring said, "You need never be discouraged or afraid. The way through difficulties has always been prepared for you, and you will find it if you exercise faith."

It takes a lot of faith
to not know
to not see everything
to struggle through the rocks
and the steepness

But it seems that the best plan
is to venture out in the darkness
and keep your eyes on the light.

NT 6: Gethsemane and Us

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Gethsemane.
The place where the most righteous, holy, pure person ever to live on the earth was subject to pain beyond measure, to sin that he had never partaken in, to the sorrows and heaviness and the weight of the world.

No matter how good we are, each of us has to partake of suffering in this life as well. It will never be to the extent of the Savior, but each of us will partake in our own Gethsemane. It is part of being a disciple of Christ. Whatever it may be, God will have a tried people. If we never had bitter we would never know the sweet.

When we go through suffering, not from sin, but from the circumstances of life, we have the opportunity to come to Him, the one that suffered all so that our suffering would be less.

No matter how great our suffering, He understands.
Deep personal trials and suffering can allow us to feel the Savior's love more deeply and more powerfully when we realize He has traveled here before.
This is a beaten road, a path that we never have to walk alone.

Yet sometimes we will feel very alone.
That is part of Gethsemane.

When we suffer, we partake of Gethsemane. Our personal Gethsemanes, while far from the suffering of the Savior, bring us to Him. If we never suffered--even the smallest part of what He suffered--how could we ever feel worthy to be in His presence?

Suffering can be a purifying process for us. It allows us to move upward.
This painting taught me that.

The title of the painting is The Sacred Incline.
It pictures a pioneer family, headed to Zion--but how far Zion must have felt at that moment.
They are pictured on Rocky Ridge with the snow and the ice and the wind.
Yet, they are on a sacred incline. Think about what that means.
Their suffering is sacred.
Their experience, their nearness to death, their pain, is holy.

I found this painting at a time in my life when I was experiencing a great deal of emotional pain--and I was asking why.
Why was I going through this?

The answer came in part through this painting.
It was my sacred incline.
My Gethsemane.

Once I realized this, I almost wish I could tell you things got better from then.
They didn't.

After this, life became consistently more painful and lonely.
For a long time.

But I made it through. I made it through that Gethsemane.

My sorrow and suffering may be so small compared to the Savior's, and compared to what many other people suffer.
But it was more than I could suffer on my own.
But I knew, I knew, that I was not beyond the Savior's care.

Because He had been in Gethsemane.
Part of His Gethsemane was my Gethsemane.
And nothing, nothing, could separate me from His love.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

...Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Why Life is So Good

Update.
So...living at home and commuting to PROVO and SALT LAKE every week. Every other day I head a different direction.
That's just plain ridiculous.
But it's working.

I'm grateful for public transportation.
It makes it possible for me to get to Provo and Salt Lake when I don't have a car.
Don't get me wrong, I hate public transportation. But I'm grateful for it.

I'm grateful that I get the chance to ride with the crazies, the stinkies, the smokers, and the trash talkers. Why?
Because it keeps me real. It reminds me that there is a world outside my own.

School is so time consuming. I underestimated this semester with all its philosophy, ancient history, literary theory, and business concepts. But you know what? It's all going to work out. I might get my worst GPA ever, but it is going to work out.
I'm grateful I have the chance to go to school. There's a lot of people who can't.

I'm grateful for a job. There's a lot of people who don't have one right now. I'm grateful it is flexible. I'm grateful I am a saver and not a spender. I'm grateful that in the next month, I will be finished saving for a mission.

I'm grateful that when I decided to take a laid back approach to church God said, "nope, that's not for you right now" and gave me a calling that required me to get to know lots of people, to serve, and to love.
I'm so blessed by my calling. When we serve God, His rewards are so much more than we deserve. What we give is so small compared to what he gives us in return.

I'm definitely struggling with some things right now.
But there are so many blessings.

So the golden question...Is Angela going on a mission?
Hmmm, well, there's not really a set answer for that right now.

Life is good though.

NT 5: The One Thing That Never Fails

A lot of things in our lives are going to fail.
Money fails. Banks fail.
Relationships fail.
Our efforts fail.
We may fail to get a job, or we may fail to keep one.
Often our foresight fails.
Sometimes our hearts fail.

But even if we feel like we are failing or if we are having trouble enduring the storms of life, we don't ever need to give up.

Because charity never fails.

All things must fail.
But charity endures forever.
It never fails.

Charity doesn't stop things from failing, but it does mean that even when things fail in our lives, which they surely will, the pure love of Christ will never fail us. It is something we can depend upon when our world is shaking.

Maybe though, we don't feel like a failure. Maybe we realize that we are doing pretty good. But we all feel at times that we need something to keep us going, to give us hope, and endure the seemingly impossible and weighty journey ahead--in the next day, or the next week, or maybe the next year.

Christ's pure love can carry us through and it will help others carry through.
We need charity in ever aspect of our lives--in our relationships, in our families, with our friends, at work, and in our church callings. We will feel the love of the Lord as we seek for that in our own lives and use it to bless others.

This love will help us suffer long--and help others to suffer long.
It will help us to feel the loving kindness of the Lord and share that kindness with others.
It will help us to envy not, to not vaunt ourselves, to not be puffed up.
It will help us behave.
It will help us to seek out others needs, rather than our own.
When others provoke us, it will help us not be provoked.
And it will keep us from thinking evil from another.

Faith, hope, and charity. Why is the greatest of all charity? Because it gives faith and hope meaning. Even having the faith that moves mountains is nothing without charity. Without the pure love of Christ, we are nothing.

I love the talk Broken Things to Mend, in which Jeffrey R. Holland said, "Soon, with that kind of love, we realize our days hold scores of thoroughfares leading to the Master and that every time we reach out, however feebly, for Him, we discover that He has been anxiously trying to reach us. So we step, we strive, we seek, and we never yield."

I love this. With charity, we realize that even with our smallest efforts, the Lord will pour His love over us so that we may continue on. Instead of looking at life as impossible, we can look at it with hope.

So even if banks fail, relationships fail, our sight or our hearts fail--
His pure love never does.

NT 4: Ready for Him

Christians have looked forward to the coming of Christ since the time he left.
We want to see Him again.

We are told that He will come as a thief in the night.
Yet those who are prepared would never have to fear.

There were many things stopping the early church from preparing. Fear, idleness, whatever it was that was stopping them had a disastrous effect. Paul teaches that the day would not come "save there should be a falling away first." That falling away happened as apostasy destroyed the church.

We had better heed Paul’s warning, for while apostasy will not come to the entire church again, it can come to us personally. Regardless of whether Christ will come to the earth in our lifetime, each of us will meet God face to face and account whether or not we gave all our efforts to His work.

How did apostasy come to the early church? Paul told that it would happen as the devil was revealed, as one who "exalted himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."

This is what we have to fight--a being that calls himself God, puts himself above God, has the audacity to sit in the very temple of God, and makes every claim that he is God.

It may seem removed from us, but not when we realize that what we spend our time with, our efforts thinking about, and our hearts set on is our god. If it is not the true and living God, what are we worshiping? When we remember that our bodies are temples of God, the warning that the devil will sit in the temple of God is chilling. If His spirit is not within us, what is?

What will make the difference for us?
Light.

Paul teaches that those who are children of the light need never fear his coming. One of the most distinguishing characteristics of children of the light is that they have faith.
They don't face his coming with fear. They look forward to his coming, no matter the time, and their "waiting" is an active waiting.

Christians wait, yet they do not wait idly.
They pray, they work, they become more and more like God, and they never give up.
If they are children of light, they are children of Christ, who is the light of the world. They love truth, they live truth, and they rejoice in righteousness.
After all their efforts, they wait for His coming. And they will be ready!

There is no need for fear or trembling because they have the very God of peace to be with them, "to sanctify [them] wholly." Their whole spirit and soul and body will be ready to meet Him again--and how joyous it will be.

NT 3: The Written Word

President Spencer W. Kimball once said that perhaps the most important word in the English language is remember.
We write and make records so that we will remember.

As I visited BYU's Special Collections in the bottom floor of the library, I was in awe at the records that have been kept and preserved over time. The effort that has been put into books in the past is incredible. Looking at the perfect calligraphy of a Bible from the 1400s, I thought back to the hours and hours that monks spent forming each and every letter of the Holy Scriptures. They would sew pages together made out of animal skins. Only 2-3 sheets of paper could come from one animal skin, usually from a small or unborn calf. The parchment created from those skins was the most valuable piece of the book. Each line of writing is carefully executed, and the illuminated manuscript contains beautiful gold engravings and pictures. This bible took eleven years to complete.
Eleven years.
I don't know about you, but I don't think I would want to dedicate eleven years of my life in inscribing print on a bunch of animal skins in a darkened room while wearing an itchy robe. Not my cup of tea.

But they did, they worked day after day to create this book. They created something beautiful, something meaningful, something to remember the word of God by.

The work, the time, the effort--for the purpose of remembering.
It made me realize I should be listening to the word of the Lord to me personally, and taking the time to write my impressions down. If it seems difficult or I am too tired, it might be helpful to think of the monks who spent years preserving the word of the Lord. I can take five minutes. Elder Scott said taking the time to write down our impressions invites more revelation. Who doesn't need more of God's word in their life.

It is easy to see that the real value of the Bible isn't in the expensive hides, the beautiful illumination, the gold letters. The true value for us is in the ability the words have to bring us closer to God.

We find strength through the scriptures and through personal revelation because they testify of the Savior. The scriptures, the word of God, will carry us through all the storms of life because it will bring us to Him. And truly, what could be more valuable to us than that?

NT 2: Paul and Circumcision

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

What would cause such a biting criticism against the Galatians from Paul as we read above?
The issue was circumcision.

Circumcision was a big deal to the Jews in Paul’s time. It set them apart, they felt, as the righteous people of God. When Gentiles had desire to join the Church, the Jews insisted that they must be circumcised so that they might be “gloried in the flesh.”

Paul vehemently opposed the idea that circumcision was the way to being accepted as followers of Christ. He didn’t oppose or support circumcision, but the idea that the act of circumcision would save them was wrong.

Paul taught that it is by faith that we find ourselves worthy to enter the Kingdom of God. To live the Law without faith is to deny the very reality of the Atonement—that it is Christ, not our works, that will save us.

Without realizing that every bit of the law is meant to point to Christ, we deny Christ himself.
Our acts become empty and meaningless.

And yet—we know we are to keep the commandments. How do we reconcile this idea with the fact that the Law ultimately will not save us?

Paul explains, “Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law…But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.”

Then he explains what the role of the law is. “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”

The entire point of any commandment, any law, is not to justify us—it is to bring us to Christ.
The idea that circumcision was no longer required was so difficult for so many people to understand because they still depended on the Law for their salvation instead of Christ who died for them.

This is the reason for Paul’s passionate rejection of the idea that all must be circumcised; It was leading them to deny Christ, instead of bringing them to Him.

New Testament

I am taking a New Testament course at BYU where we are required to do a blog post each week on a given subject. I am really excited to blog about what I'm learning from the scriptures and in class.

So, underneath this post is the first one--the topic was significant points in Act 2.
Please share any thoughts you have on the subject as well! I would love to hear your insights.

NT 1: Day of Pentecost

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Those who were there on the day of Pentecost would remember it for the rest of their lives.

Everyone could understand--in their own tongue--the words that were preached that day.
And they marveled.

Some doubted. Others mocked.
But no one would forget the day that the Spirit was poured upon them--upon all flesh, as it had been prophesied.

Here was a group of people, some of which who had known the Savior on the earth, receiving the Spirit for the first time. Peter taught what having this Spirit meant--

It meant that young men would see visions
Old men would dream holy dreams
Servants and handmaidens would prophesy
Wonders in heaven and earth would be shown.

And the Lord would come again, just as he had before.

Peter recognized that this Spirit did not stand on its own--it was a divine witness of Christ.

Peter had been with Jesus, followed him, and seen his miracles and wonders. He had seen his Lord risen up on the cross and crucified. He had seen what he thought was the end. He thought he had been separated from him.

But now everything had changed.
Peter had seen the risen Lord!

His testimony now was that the Lord was always before his face, always on his right hand. And Peter rejoiced.

The joy that Peter felt when he saw his Savior, as a returned resurrected being would have been all encompassing. Yet, this joy did not end when the Savior left. Because now, Peter knew that his Savior would always be with him.

This was the testimony of the day of Pentecost--the promise that Jesus Christ, the risen Savior of the World, could be with you.
Always.

This testimony wasn't limited to those who had seen the Savior in his life.
It was here.
It was in the Spirit that was born out that day.

It was in the rushing of the wind
It was in the words of Peter
And now it was in the hearts and minds of the people.

That feeling--
The power of the Holy Spirit
The testimony of the Risen Lord
Led three thousand to be baptized that day
And thousands to be baptized the next.

It not only led them to baptism, it led them to take of the Sacrament, to follow the apostles, to pray, to sell their possessions for those in need.
It led them to worship in the temple.
It led them to praise God.

The Christ that was dead
Now lived.

The Spirit of the day of Pentecost was His Spirit.
And it was changing their lives.

I'm Ac-counting on a Good Grade! (one can hope)

So, last summer I decided something...
I was going to be a BUSINESS minor.

It was perfect! After being asked thousands and thousands of times, "Oh, your major is humanities? What are you going to DO with that?" I thought it would be a good idea.

I mean, I love humanities. We're the perfect match. We really are.

But to enhance and expand my education, I thought a business management minor would be just peachy. So, this semester I am taking two classes: Business Management (which this post is not about) and ACCOUNTING (this post is about exactly that).

Oh the joy.

It's really not so bad. It's just taking over my life.

I have class once a week (not bad), and then I have a bazillion quizzes to accomplish (really, really bad).

Class involves hearing jokes about BYU and watching Max Hall youtube videos for 15 minutes (my professor is a hard core U of U fan) and then having numbers written up on the board for the next two hours, interspersed with more BYU jokes. Wait, where did that number come from? (On a side note, the best part about class is that the wall is the bright, beautiful green color--somewhere between lime and celery--and my professor always wears a red shirt. The green and the red together makes my senses so happy. They are complimentary on the color wheel, so they really bring each other out...I just love it.)

The quizzes. There are two quizzes for each of fifteen lessons, plus pre-lecture quizzes, and the post-lecture quizzes, along with a syllabus quiz, and another-quiz-just-to-make-sure-you're still breathing quiz. I might have made up the last one.

Okay, so quizzes. I can handle that, right? To prepare to take the lesson quizzes, I get to watch NORM.

Meet NORM:

He's a great guy, he really is. I like him. But the accounting lessons are kind of loooonnnnnnnnngggg. Imagine listening to 90 minute accounting lessons 2-3 times a week in addition to class lectures.





This is what happened on my first encounter with the lessons:
Start lesson.
Oh, this is cool. I get to see him talk and see a powerpoint at the same time.
Five minutes later.
Wait, how long are these lessons?
Scroll through.
Wow, these lessons are long.
Twenty minutes into the lesson.
Wow, this is so cool! I can speed up Norm to talk reallyfastandsoundlikeachipmunk or I can slllooowwww hiiiimmmm dooooowwwwwnnn.
Forty minutes into the lesson.
Hey, Amanda, want to come watch this with me? Amanda, "um..." Me, "I'll give you candy!"
An hour into it...
I think I'm hungry. and thirsty. and sleepy. In fact, I'm anything that will distract me from this thing.
And finally...90 minutes later....done.
Whew.

The funny thing about this course is that we're required to do something fun ONCE the semester that we wouldn't have done otherwise. Um, couldn't have we been required to do something fun twice or three times or daily? I would like that...

Accounting is really interesting though. It's a nice challenge and I feel like I'm doing something so useful--learning about balance sheets and income statements and stocks and such. I feel like I will finally get those things that my dad and other "knowing" people always talk about, but that I never really understand.

But I still prefer my art history ;O)