Saturday, April 17, 2010

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)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

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.

Monday, April 5, 2010

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.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

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.

Serendipity

The Oxford English dictionary describes serendipity as "the faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident. Also, the fact or an instance of such a discovery."