Blog evaluation conclusion thingy

So I kinda liked keeping a blog. It kept me fulfilling the commandment of keeping a journal haha. It was hard though to get on here all the time and write. Sometimes I don't think the world needs to know what I am thinking, but it does. The audience for this blog was me I guess. It was for me to see how I have changed or not changed. Looking back and reading through, this blog has made me see how important life is and how important time is.

I kinda liked this class haha. It was enlightening and interesting. I really liked doing the restaurant evaluation. Made me feel important haha. I really do like dinosaurs! I have always wanted to steal the Sinclair dinosaur and put it in my room haha.

Overall I really liked this blog and this class. Maybe I will keep going with this blog, eh we will see what happens.

Personal Narrative

Speakers Say What!

“Lisa, go over there and ask that man how much this saw costs,” my dad urged me as I stood in a corner of the brightly lit store, trying to blend in with the cream colored wall. As soon as I heard the words “ask that man,” my stomach tightened and my breath caught in my throat. What? Talk to a stranger? About something I know nothing about? What if he laughs at me and says I’m dumb? I can’t talk to people! These thoughts raced through my mind as I had a small panic attack. My eyes rolled wildly as I looked around for a sibling or my mother, seeing if they would do it for me. “Lisa!” Dad’s voice was getting louder. Finding no one to take my place, I hung my head ensuring that my long blond hair would cover my face from any stranger looking my way. My feet felt like a thousand pounds as I slowly trudged over to the checkout counter. “Um, excuse me sir,” my voice was tiny like a mouse’s. As soon as the man looked over at me, my face went bright red and I felt very small. “My dad is wondering how much that saw over there costs.” My words sounded scared and stupid. After the man told me the cost, I almost tripped over my feet to go tell dad how much the saw cost.

On our way home, dad turned to me and asked, “Are there any clubs at school that can get you to be more social and able to talk to people without freaking out?” I was stunned and a little hurt. So what if I don’t like talking to people, they are mean and judging! “Well there is a Speech and Debate club I guess that I can do.” “Good,” dad nodded his head and I went back to my little world in a book full of heroes and dragons and empty of real life people.

The next day after school I miserably walked myself to the door of a Mrs. Johnson. As I walked in the door, a sea of faces turned and stared me down as I let myself in. A round, eccentric looking women with spiky hair stopped in mid-sentence and addressed me, “Yes?” I stuttered and replied, “Uhh, I I I am here for Speech?” She nodded and told me to sit anywhere. For the next hour my mind was blown from all the information about talking in front of people, performing, debating, and competition. At the end of the very scary and of the very mind numbing experience, I got out of my seat like a zombie and before I could dash to the door, Mrs. Johnson called me to her desk. “Lisa, are you sure you want to do something like this? It will be hard and scary, especially if someone like you does not like speaking in front of people.” I took a step backward, this woman is crazy! She knew I don’t like talking in front of people! My face paled but somehow I swallowed and nodded my head. Mrs. Johnson smiled at me and I left her room as fast as I could walk. The next day after school, I dragged my feet to the room where I was going to be miserable for the rest of the school year. I opened the door and walked in to face my fate.

3 Months later

“Lisa? This is Bishop, I was wondering if you could do a talk this Sunday on the topic of fathers.” My hand trembled slightly but my voice was confident. “Yes Bishop, I would love to do a talk this Sunday.” My voice came out un-quivering and solid. Bishop thanked me and said goodbye. The phone went silent and that was my cue to hang up the phone. Smiling to myself, I got out a piece of paper and a black pen, stared at the wall for a few seconds then started writing about fathers and how mine pushed me.

“Now we will have a talk by LisaMarie Baugh on the topic of Fathers.” Bishop turned and smiled at me, then sat down in the plush red chair. Taking a deep breath I stood up slowly and fixed my brown dress. I walked to the pulpit and adjusted the microphone so that it was level with my mouth. An ear splitting sound rang throughout the chapel, but instead of cringing like a wall flower, I boldly smiled and rested my paper on the stand. My face stayed its normal color and did not rise to a blush as hundreds of eyes stared at me. My hands stayed calmly on the stand and my feet didn’t fidget. Lisa, use your voice! Don’t let the judges and people intimidate you! They are not there, do this for yourself. Make yourself a better speaker. Practice! Practice! Practice! Mrs. Johnson’s voice played over and over in my mind. I smiled and opened my mouth.

More fluff!

Alrighty I am almost done with these blogs, it is really hard coming up with things to say! I really like chapstick because I hate hate hate dry lips. It is so annoying to get scaly lips and then they crack and bleed. My boyfriend never uses chapstick and his lips never get dry, I hate him! hahaha.

Do you know what is horrible? When you have a lot to do but you cannot do it! Like group projects! I whine a lot I need to stop.

So I like snow but I hate it when it gets on my skin! hahaha it is cold and wet but I love playing in it. I love a warm house with cookies and hot chocolate and movies. It is cozy and warm.

I hate watching commercials about love because think of all the girls who don't have that love. Poor things, it is hard trying to find love. It is hard to express feelings when things can be messed up. I want true love, someone to love me, I will find it one day. And then I will like those commercials haha.

Anything again?

I'm tired of hurting people without meaning too, either I need to be more nice which I am not sure how, or they need to grow up. I don't know, life is hard when things have been so messed up. I am not sure what to do anymore to make things right. I think I messed up pretty bad, and I have no idea what to do.

Oh well I guess, but all you can do is move forward and be a good example. I am kind of excited to go home for Thanksgiving but not at the same time because I still have so much school work to finish!!! I just hope that all my groups and I can get our projects done and stuff. I wish my one teacher would have had the project due earlier that way I wouldn't have to stress about it now!

Oh well, school is school and teachers are teachers. There are good ones and bad ones, like in life, there will always be good things and bad things.

Anything?

So the end of the semester is coming up, in about 14 days!!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! I still have so much to do. I have papers, and projects, and power points and posters! Not to mention I have to work during finals week, which is not fun! But I really like stuffed animals. They are cute and squishy and fun and squishy and soft!

Logan laughs at me because I like them so much. But I have decided, my husband is going to have to sleep in another bed because my stuffed animals and me, we get the bed to ourselves hahaha. I feel bad, I can never go to FHE because of my job, but my FHE family sent a care package full of M&Ms and fuzzy socks(which I love as much as stuffed animals), and post-its. Post-its are nice because they keep me on track.

I wish I didn't have to wear contacts or glasses. I want my eyes to get operated on then I can wake up in the morning and see! Yay! But sadly not until after I have kids because my eyesight might change while I am having children. Well that is all for now? Eh

Books for Eng 231

In the first book I read, Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the Box by The Arbinger Institute, I kind of had to do a double take. While I was reading this book the concepts in it sounded very mormon-ish to me. I talked to the father of one of my friends and yes, the author who wrote this is a Latter-Day-Saint. But he wrote it in such a way that you wouldn’t have known the author was religious. It was a wakeup call for me to follow the Lord’s commandments and to treat others as I would want to be treated. Anyway, there is a quote from that book that I really enjoy because it captures what self-deception is and what leadership is not.

Self-deception is like this. It blinds us to the true causes of problems, and once we’re blind, all the ‘solutions’ we can think of will actually make matters worse. Whether at work or at home, self-deception obscures the truth about ourselves, corrupts our view of others and our circumstances, and inhibits our ability to make wise and helpful decisions. To the extent that we are self-deceived, both our happiness and our leadership are undermined at every turn (xii).

This book lists seven things that define self-deception. The first one is “An act contrary to what I feel I should do for another is called an act of ‘self-betrayal’” (105). The second one is “When I betray myself, I begin to see the world in a way that justifies my self-betrayal” (105). The third one talked about is “When I see the world in a self-justifying way, my view of reality becomes distorted” (105). The fourth one the authors mentions is “So---when I betray myself, I enter the box” (105). The fifth self-betrayal definition is “Over time, certain boxes become characteristics of me, and I carry them with me” (105). Sixth is “by being in the box, I provoke others to be in the box” (105). Finally the last one is “In the box, we incited mutual mistreatment and obtain mutual justification. We collude in giving each other reason to stay in the box” (105).

Leadership is not about making sure that you get the best out of life, it is about making sure that everyone gets the best out of life. But if we are self-deceived we cannot be the leaders that we are supposed to be. We can’t help each other achieve goals. Self-deception to me is a huge deal, as it is probably with almost the whole human population. When I read this book I was stuck in between a rock and a hard place. Growing up I have always tried to be nice to others and always made sure that they were taken care of. Sometimes I really didn’t mean it though. Well between the rock aka. my trying to be nice, and the hard place aka. my roommates; I was having a hard time being nice and meaning it. I was having a hard time listening to my roommates stories and actually caring. The author talks about getting out of the box which represents our self-deception and actually helping others genuinely. It is about seeing people as people who have needs and dreams. It is about seeing that people are taken care of. Sadly I was seeing people, especially my roommates, as objects and not as people. Reading this book kicked me out of the box, granted I still climb in every once in a while, but I try to stay out of the box.

This book renewed my vision of being a leader, someone who cares about others and helps them to understand their potential. If a leader is in the box, they cannot fully see the big picture to help others.

The second book I read was The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni. This book solidified my definitions of leadership. In it, the book focuses on the dysfunctions which are: Absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. In the book it says that the leader needs to show vulnerability first. Doing that shows members that their leader is trustworthy. For me, I don’t trust a lot of people with almost anything, but when it comes to leading people and working in teams, I trust others and allow them to trust me because it is needed. Lencioni states that, “…leaders demonstrate restraint when their people engage in conflict, and allow resolution to occur naturally… model behavior appropriate conflict behavior” (206). I am not afraid of conflict in teams, I address what is needed but I do it in a way that is nice and not cutting. If there is a goal that needs to be accomplished, I am going to make sure that everyone knows it. Leaders need to be pushing their team to commit and decide, because if they don’t, laziness occurs and nothing will get done, in the beginning. A leader shows his or her group the bigger picture when needed. Because of my childhood, I don’t get attached to something unless it needs passion. With my groups, I don’t fully get attached until all the commitments are set in place. Then I commit everything that I can. Lencioni says a leader, “must be willing to serve as the ultimate arbiter of discipline when the team itself fails” (215). I do admit that every once in a while, I don’t hold others or myself accountable. I justify why I didn’t, then I realized that I am just trying to find a way out. Leaders need their team to know that they expect their fellow men to be accountable. Lastly, “Team leaders must be selfless and objective, and reserve rewards and recognition for those who make real contributions to the achievement of group goals” (220). I can see how people cannot be attentive to results, but for me, it is a no brainer. The results are the results! The end goals!

I am mostly for these authors and their ways of being leaders and good team members. But to me, you cannot always be a good leader no matter what you do. There are always going to be people that hate you and will not listen to you and will not be a good team player. No matter how nice you are or how good of an example you are; you cannot be a good leader if no one is following you. Another thing that I am against is that I think the characteristics of leaders will change in different situations. Not all of these attributes will work in different situations. I am a very situational type believer and some of the situations I have been in; I have needed to be opposite of what these authors have stated.

Work is driving me nuts!

So I never really like my job that I have now. I do like the people and the fun that we have. I do like that it is a lenient job. But I don't like how we are not really able to work the full three hours every night and I feel bad. I am mad because this job has horrible hours, 8-11 at night, granted I did take this job knowing the hours, but eh venting is good.

I am also mad at my boss because we are only allowed three days off a semester and we have to work the Wednesday before Thanksgiving! We don't even have school Wednesday but we still have to work and all my rides leave before Wednesday and I probably won't be able to get it off and grrrr. I love being at BYU, I hate how far away it is sometimes from my family. Sigh, really? Work on the day before Thanksgiving? I am just confused why we have to work that day.

Oh well life is life. I will just disappoint my family again, I hardly get to see them. Some days that is good but others no! Well I made my bed, now I have to lie in it.

Logan: an amazing man

This one is named Logan because he is my boyfriend. I am going to talk about him today because he is an amazing man. His name is Logan William Goddard and he is not your average guy. He doesn't think like other guys, he doesn't act like other guys. He views the world differently, and sadly in a negative way. He grew up in an interesting household and it taught him to not really hope for certain things.

Also I think girls treated him badly and that is why he acts the way he does with girls and that is why he thinks about girls the way he does. It has been challenging for me to be with him for as long as I have. But it has changed me, it has helped me to be a better person. He has taught me to love others and to be selfless and that I need to take care of others. He is so kind and good to his family and friends. He is always making sure that people are being taken care of and he will do anything for certain people.

I regret what I did to him, I think I changed him for worse, but he is getting better. I know that he won't be like he used to be because he was acting that way to make me happy. But I know that he is changing and that he can become so much more. He is such a great man and it will take me a lifetime to make up for what I did. I just hope that we can get married and continue growing and learning about each other.

Eh writing

I love writing, but I love writing for me. The same with dancing, I love dancing but not for others. I don't like being judged and graded on my writing. To me writing shouldn't have rules. I mean they change the rules all the time anyway and if it makes sense why not leave it? Yea I understand that some people need writing to build their ethos and such, but still.

Writing to me should be fun and enjoyed. I am having a hard time starting this research paper, because well I am not sure. I guess I don't know how ish. But with other research papers like in my Psychology class no problem writing it. But this one, I don't know, ugh hahaha writing is hard! Maybe one day I will get it hahaha.

11/1 Devotional

President Monson came today for devotional and I always enjoy listening to that man. He is funny and that is great because it draws people in and makes them comfortable with him. I really enjoy his humor because it is clean and witty and smart. He is a breath of fresh air hahaha. I enjoyed how he talked about that we need to be righteous examples to the world. It is true we really do need to be righteous examples in all that we do. It is hard though being in Provo where everyone is LDS. But even at the store you can be an example. You can do it by being modest and happy and not rude.

I also enjoyed his story about Bro. Christensen at Oxford and how he prayed and prayed for a long time before he got an answer. I feel like that sometimes that I pray and pray and really don't get anything. But God is a just God and He will answer when best for me and He knows what id best for me. I also really loved how he referenced Lion King, the part where Simba is told that he can be more than he has become. To me it seems hard to be more, but at the same time not, because we are always needing to grow and change and I am always growing and changing. I love this gospel and the chance that I have to grow and change.

Life why?

Have you ever wondered why life why? Why did I get you? Why am I here? Why now? Why in this country? Well I have, millions of times, over and over again. Now I am wondering why I was put here in Provo when I just messed something up, bad. Why can I not shut my silly mouth? Why can I not push back my dark side? ugh, hahaha life is funny.

I have always wondered what I did in heaven to get the trials I have. What was I like to deserve such hardship? I am not blaming God, I am just wondering why. I have never blamed God and I never will blame God. He knows what is best for me, even if I cannot see it. He knows how to help me even when I am being silly. Oh my Heavenly Father, I love thee so much.

Lieberman forum

I went to Senator Lieberman’s forum and I really enjoyed it. It opened my eyes. At first I thought he was a Latter Day Saint but as he kept talking, he is Jewish! It was really awesome to listen to him. Here are some of the things that I wrote down that I liked. He said that people with faith share gratitude of what we have been given. An example is life. The bible tells us that we are here because of divine creation.

We are all children of God. It was very interesting listening to him talk about the Sabbath. We have to honor God. I really enjoyed him talking about people respecting him and his differences. I was glad that he honors his religion. He talked about shared values. Equality, service, respect, tolerance. It makes me happy that there are people out there who believe in God and have shared values.

I really loved how he said that you have to have confidence in yourself. It is a foundation. Sadly I had to leave early but I left right after he said that faith leads to hope. That is so true. Faith really does lead to hope.

Stake conference=amazing

So I had stake conference this last Sunday and Elder Ballard came. It was amazing!!! I loved listening to all the speakers and especially him. It was great listening to him because he seemed so down to earth compared to General Conference.

He seemed to genuinely want to connect with us and to make sure that we knew that he loved us and wanted to be with us. I loved the theme that I picked up from it. God will help us if we do what He asks of us. It seems so simple but it can be so hard. I do know that God has helped me in my life so many times, He has truly blessed me.

Afterward I got to shake Elder Ballard's hand!!! It was amazing!!! I have never seen a general authority up that close before! AWWWWWWWWWWWWWesome!

Research topic

Okay so I am a Psychology major and in one of my classes right now we are also doing a research paper. But it is different than the one for my writing 150 class, or so I think it is hahaha. Well my topic is "Does media violence(movies and television) make children more violent?" That is the topic so far. When I do my annotated bibliography and and actually dig deeper on what is required of my research paper, it might change slightly I guess haha. But for right now "Does media violence make children more violent?" is my topic.

I don't want to focus on video games because I am sure a lot of other people are doing that; but I want to focus on television and movies. My family and I watched a lot of action movies growing up and I am curious to see if violence in movies like that really do affect children. The age group I am focusing on is 0 to 12 year olds, for now. Like I said, my topic might change when I get more involved with my paper and such.

This topic does interest me and after I write this and see if violence does affect kids, maybe I can move onto sexuality in movies and television affecting children. So we will see what happens when this paper of mine for my writing class progresses.

Dino

I wanna see dinosaurs, the end.

Classes kinda are lame?

So I decided that teachers are all in a conspiracy and they plan everything together, so that the poor students have to suffer. The last two weeks I really have not had homework, but in the next three weeks, I am going to have way to much of it. Exams, papers, essays, you get the picture. I would rather go at a steady pace all semester then have breaks and rush hours.

Maybe one day teachers will organize their schedules and it will be perfect!!! Hahaha that was my rant, I do know that teachers try hard to make sure that not everything is all at once, but maybe one day haha it will be perfect! It is the same with work, I would rather be busy the whole time than have super busy times and lax times. Oh well I guess life is like that. You have super busy times and then you have down times. Life is a funny thing, it makes me wanna cry and laugh. Eh oh well

Talk analysis

Elder Richard G. Scott talked on the power of scripture in the Saturday morning session of conference. He is a fabulous man who spoke about an amazing thing:scriptures. He backs up his claim that scriptures are powerful by illumination to our minds, they can guide us, and we can receive inspiration from God through them.
Elder Scott said, "Their use provides a foundation of truth that can be awakened by the Holy Ghost." Learning from the scriptures can enlarge our minds and we can pray and ask God if they are true. This leads to guidance.
He says, "Scripture can calm an agitated soul, giving peace, hope, and a restoration of confidence in one's ability to overcome the challenges of life." They guide us by giving hope and confidence to know what we need to do to overcome hardships. This leads to inspiration to know what to do.
Elder Scott said, "...can help in time of need, give inspiration and comfort and be a source of motivation for needed change." They can motivate us to change, give us inspiration to know how to change. God is revealing to us how to get over trials and tribulations through scripture.
Overall, scriptures are an amazing tool that God gave us to become better. We can become better through the scriptures because they give us knowledge, guidance, and inspiration. When we have received those things, we can become true children of God.

Star Valley Temple=I'm so happy!

When I heard and saw President Monson say that Star Valley Wyoming is going to have a temple. I froze, it was unbelievable!!!!! My little town of rednecks is going to have a temple!!!!!!!! Albeit a small one but one still the same! My father called and said that I have to wait for the temple to be built so I can get married in it. Very tempting!!

AHHHH I am so excited! I can''t believe it!!! I love the temple so much, it is a very beautiful place with beautiful people. The gospel is just so amazing and the spirit there is incredible! I did baptisms and confirmations the other day with my roommate and I was bawling the whole time. I cannot wait to get my endowments and get married so that I can go there all the time. Even just walking by it or up to it is amazing to me. The temple truly is the house of the Lord, it is a very sacred and wonderful beautiful place.

Conference=love

Growing up I was not a big fan of conference, I couldn't sit still to watch it, I always wanted to go play. Even as I got older I really didn't care about conference. But now, now it is amazing, it is wonderful, it is a big part of my life. I have a chance to go to the Sunday morning session and I am so excited. I have never seen a prophet or apostle in real life. I am so excited. I hope that I recieve what I am looking for. I am wanting to know what to do in my future life. I want to know what God wants me to do.
It is amazing to me that these men have the Spirit of God so strongly. They are wonderful men who do so much for us. Prophet Monson is amazing. What he does on a daily basis. I can't even imagine doing in a lifetime. And their wives. These humble wives who support and hardly see their husbands. I can't imagine and kinda don't want to hardly ever see my future husband. I am such a needy person when it comes to certain things. But hey, maybe that will be my trial, being a Bishop's wife or something hahaha. All I know is that Conference is awesome and I don't know what I would do without it now. I love this gospel! It is true! It has to be true! Saturday conference was wonderful. It has taught me and solidified concepts. Heavenly Father truly does want us to return to Him, He wants us to do the best that we can. One of the talks was about family genealogy. I would love to do genealogy. To find ancestors and hear adn read their stories, awesome. These men, these prophets and apostles, they do speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, they are His tools. I loved the primary kids singing, God loves His children

Eh

Sometimes I wonder if God is just leading me around with many fat juicy carrots, laughing at my wily antics. It is just so hard sometimes, with school, love, family, friends. Sometimes I wonder why I have some trials, because it seems like I can't get over them or they last forever and my heart just can't take it anymore. I am not totally sure what God has planned for me, but I hope it is good, because I need all the good I can get.

I do love God and my family and my friends, but sometimes I just wanna kick em all in the head, not God of course, but everyone else hahaha. No with God, I just want to sit down and cry help. It is just really hard seeing everyone so happy and carefree while I'm sitting in mud. I mean I love mud, I love playing in mud, but not this type of mud. This mud is black and horrible and ugh. hahahaha whew, life is weird.

Oh school

Okay kids!!!!! So I am still getting used to this blog thing, but I am warming up to it. I did think that blogging was dumb but now, eh. I like it because I do horrible at journal keeping, so maybe this will help with that. OKAY! So School has obviously started but I am still way behind!!!! In class and homework and in mind!!! It just doesn't feel like school yet, tis very stressful. But this does happen every semester hahaha. I think I need to change my routine for beginning of school. It is usually the same thing. For about the first month I am behind and lost, but still doing well, then after that, boom! Up on top. So I have been debating for a while now, do I want to graduate as fast as I can? Or do I want to add a minor or two? Or three? Oh I can't decide, it is a little frustrating but I still have all semester to decide ish. So until then, I will be school to homework to work to some thinking in between. Oh well, Life is life

Response to Elder Eyring's talk, Child of God

Okay so I have never done anything like this before so be kind my fellow readers. For class we were supposed to read Elder Eyring's talk called Child of God. It was a very interesting, eye opener, still sinking in, type talk. In it he says "You are the future of the Church. God knows that. And so he now asks more of you than he has asked of those who were here before you, because the kingdom will need more." I have heard similar quotes like that before but it seems that I have always taken them for granted. But reading it in this talk made me think, I am the future, we Latter-day Saints are the future. I really liked how he said that we are "under mandate to pursue... educational excellence." I know a few people who think school is a waste of time and don't need it, well here it is kids, GO TO SCHOOL!!!

I love this church, I love having the Spirit and being happy. "There is something we can choose to do in our daily life that will provide a constant protection against pride. it is simply to remember who God is and what it means to be his child...Because of what has been revealed to us about the plan of salvation, remembering him can produce the humility that will be our protection." I really love that quote! God is our great Heavenly Father, he wants to help us and make sure that we are doing well. I know that he watches over me.

We can become great learners. That is a very powerful phrase. Great learners want correction. They want to constantly better themselves. "The desire to receive wise correction is a hallmark of a learner and of a community leader." I find that amazing, but hard at the same time. At first it seems like to me that always having someone yell at you or telling you what to do is annoying, but it isn't. It really is good having people correct you so that you can become better. This quote made me look twice. "That desire for correction, a mark of great learners, comes naturally to a Latter-day Saint who knows and values what it means to be a child of God. For him or her it begins with seeking frequent correction directly from out Heavenly Father." It comes naturally?! Huh, no I do understand that. With me, I downhill mountain bike, so I am always seeking new ways to ride better. With working out and dancing, I want to make sure I am doing it right and performing right. So I guess I do understand that quote, yea it is kinda hard to do that in the gospel and to read your scriptures with school and stuff going on, but hey, that is what this life is for, perfecting.

Great learners also keep commitments. I totally understand this. When I make a promise, I follow through. If I can't keep a promise, I won't promise it. "When we try with all our hearts to meet his standards, he gives us the companionship of the Holy Ghost. That in turn both increases our power to keep commitments and to discern what is good and true. And that is the power to learn, both in our temporal studies and in the learning we need for eternity." Wow, that is all I can say, wow. Sometimes the gospel seems really simple. Just follow God's commandments, and it is easy, but sometimes it is hard to keep up, but it is doable.

A third quality of great learners that Elder Eyring spoke of is that learners work hard. Hahahahaha, whew, I admit that I have taken short cuts or dropped classes for being to hard. And I kinda feel guilty, but I really wasn't able to have those classes and such, if I did, I would have no sleep and have to quit my job. But it is true, when you want to learn, you work for it. You go out and take classes or read books or participate in activities. You don't sit there, unless animal planet is on.

Another quality is that learners help people. I was a tad bit confused with this one but after thinking about it, it made sense. "With this as our reality, it is not hard to feel that the needs of those around us are as important as our own or that the most humble person has divine potential. Such thinking will lead not only to kindness and to generous appraisal of potential but to high expectations for each other. Sometimes the greatest kindness we could receive would be to have someone expect more from us than we do, because they see more clearly our divine heritage." It is true, when you learn something you really do want to share it with people you know or even don't know.

Last one in this talk. A great learner expects resistance. Yea this is kinda neat. Because when I register for classes, I know that there will be tons of reading or tons of writing. I kinda know what is required of me from certain classes. Also "the greater the test, the greater the compliment from a loving Heavenly Father." I stinking love that!!!!!!! I know that he loves us when we overcome little things, but it does mean a lot when you have overcame huge things. I did cross country and when I finished a race, whew baby, I was as happy as a clam! It was amazing and exhilarating that I finished!!!

I try to be a good person, I really do. I try to get A's, I try to do well at work, I try to keep the commandments, yea sometimes I slack but I still try and I think that counts.

All quotes in this blog are from Elder Eyring's talk "Child of God"