Here is what I know.

Just gonna jump right into it.

I'm sorry, you guys, but Mormonism has never been a democracy. The whole point of our religion is that we have a loving Heavenly Father who, through his prophet and apostles, communicates His will and direction to His children. Everyone has the choice as to whether he/she wants to believe this or not, and that is a beautiful thing. When you claim to be a member of any given religion, you are stating that you align with the beliefs and standards that that religion practices. In the LDS church, we believe that the prophet is the only person on earth who can receive revelation for the whole of his church.

"When the prophet speaks, the debate is over." - Elaine Cannon

Now, this doesn't mean that you can't ask questions. Please, by all means, PLEASE ask questions. It keeps you moving forward in life. Just... be ready to receive a reply. Sometimes the answer won't be a fun one, and that is because our Heavenly Father knows a heck of a lot more than we do. I believe that with my whole heart.

No one is forcing you to be a part of our church. If you don't agree, then don't be there. And if you say you're a Latter Day Saint but then openly oppose the church's teachings and encourage others to do so as well, then you have lost the right to call yourself a Latter Day Saint.

All this does not in any way mean that we should shun or disrespect those who don't believe the things that we do. We absolutely have no right to criticize a child of God. No one except God and Jesus knows their hearts fully. We have been commanded to love everyone. Everyone. Love. We all make mistakes. Great. We also all have wonderful talents and unique quirks and were created by an exalted being that has never created a person He didn't love.

This is what I know, and these are truths that I love. And when it all comes down to it, I know that the greatest thing you can do to get answers is to pray. About anything. Pray and ask if there really exists a guy that you can pray to. And then listen for the answer. It could come from anywhere.

I love that we have a prophet today. Sure, Moses and Elijah and whatnot were great, and they received lots of cool revelations that we can always learn from. But times change, and with that, new problems arise that couldn't even be fathomed back in their day. We need somebody here, someone who knows what it's like. Our boy Tommy Monson is that person, right now, today (or tonight, I guess). He's a true blue through and through bonafide prophet o' God. So I'm pretty sure we should listen to him. IDK, that's just me.

Again, these are things that I personally believe. You need to figure out for yourself what you believe. No one can do that for you.

So just be true to the things that you say you are true to. If you're a Christian, act like a Christian. It's. That. Simple.

Rina

Pompeii

"We were caught up and lost in all of our vices. Many days fell away with nothing to show. And the walls kept tumbling down in the city that we loved." - Bastille, Pompeii

Okay. Get your deep thinking caps on. I saw the movie Pompeii the other day and while it veritably sucked, it had a little theme in it that got me good.

Pompeii was a real thing. A whole city was just living their lives when the volcano Vesuvius erupted and ended their world. They literally didn't know what hit them. The thing that struck me while watching the movie was that the volcano didn't choose who it was gonna burn to a crisp; whatever you were doing with your life at that time was it. No second chances.

Each one of us has a Vesuvius. We were born, and at some point, something is going to kill us. When and where, we cannot know. The human tendency is to ignore this blatant fact of our mortality and live our lives as if we are invincible. There's always tomorrow, we say. I'll make amends later, we reason. I've got time. The fact is, people, we don't have the luxury of assuming we have time. Every day is a tickety time bomb that for some of us is set to blow this very night.

This inevitability of death is why some of us go a little crazy. Everywhere, you see examples of people saying, "Well we're all gonna die anyway, so who cares if we do terrible things? I mean, YOLO, right?" Ugh. You guys. I don't care if you believe in life after death or not, there is no reason to not try to be the best person you can be every single day.

If you do think that there's nothing after we die, then that must make this life pretty dang precious, don't you think? Why would you try to shorten it by destroying your body with drugs and alcohol and reckless behavior? As well, what will you gain by being mean to other people? The only thing left of you after you die is your legacy. Make it a good one, for crying out loud. Do you want to be remembered as "That jerk who cut me off in traffic and gave me the finger"? For the stupid minority that say yes, knock yourself out. Like, literally. Do us a favor. For those who say no, what are you gonna do about it? You could die tomorrow. Make sure your life wasn't lived in vain.

For those who believe in life after death, I'm guessing you also believe in some sort of Creator, right? God(s)? In that case, I feel like I don't really have to explain why you'd want to be a good person. If you're not, you're gonna get in front of the Maker at judgement day and have a lot of regrets that are gonna stay with you for eternity. That's just the gospel truth.

So where will you be when Vesuvius erupts? Will you be ready? Or will you be the person that says, "If only I had more time"? Since we don't know which day the world will decide to kick us out, we need to assume that every day is our last. Don't hold that grudge for another second. Maybe don't drive that car after you've been drinking. Call your mom and tell her you love her if that's something she might not know. Because sooner or later, that movie Pompeii (as wretched as it was) is going to become your reality.

Are you prepared?

Okay, yeah. I blogged about Frozen. Whatever.

I know I'm a little bit late to the party, but last week was my first time ever watching Frozen. I've seen it 3 times since then (not entirely by choice), and while I do agree that it is a good movie, it definitely got more hype (before and after the release) than it deserved.

But there is this one scene that for some reason has become one of my favorite scenes in all of cinematic history. I don't fully know why, it just gets me. It's the one where Kristoff takes Anna and Olaf to meet his "family," and they sing that delightful song "Fixer Upper" in an effort to get Anna to fall in love with Kristoff. I LOVE that song! So much! It made the movie for me.

We aren't saying you can change him
'Cause people don't really change
We're only saying that love's a force that's powerful and strange
People make bad choices if they're mad or scared or stressed
But throw a little love their way, and you'll bring out their best
True love brings out the best

You guuuuyyyys. This is pure genius. He (in my situation-- yours could be a she) is not going to be a prince. He might talk about picking his nose (omg ew), and he might have "unmanly blond hair" (impossible) or be a grouch sometimes, but you can't force someone to change those kinds of things. You can only love them despite their faults, because it's only then that you're going to truly discover their beautiful side. Everyone has one. And this doesn't just apply to the gushy romance kind of love. It's the same with all of the people who surround you. Any kind of love takes time. If you judge too quickly, you're booting people out of your life that might have had something really awesome to show you.

Love is hard. Oh my gosh, sometimes it seems freaking impossible to love some people. But the more you try, the more you're going to get out of it. It's a fact.

Proven by me.

You is kind. You is smart. You is important.

Listen, if there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that there is always gonna be someone better than you. Unless you're the smartest, strongest, most talented AND most attractive person in the world (and no one is), you will always find a reason to feel bad about yourself if you look for one. So don't even look.

I had a 5 minute personality crisis the other day where I got really depressed because I couldn't think of a single thing that made me different from millions of other people in the world. Yeah I'm tall, but tons of other people are too. Maybe I'm kind, but other people are a whole lot kinder. My body is nothing special. I'm not dazzlingly gorgeous. I'm a pretty good singer, but I'm nowhere near 60-years-ago-Julie-Andrews good. What's the point of wearing nice clothes or doing my hair if I'm still gonna be like everybody else?

But then I thought, wait. Remember in elementary school math where we learned about combinations? Like, "If Geoffrey has 5 shirts and 7 pairs of pants, how many different combinations of outfits can he make?" Guess what, you guys. We are each a metaphorical outfit in Geoffrey's wardrobe, except instead of just shirts and pants, in reality Geoffrey has hundreds of different types and aspects of clothing that each can be combined with hundreds of other things, allowing a nearly infinite amount of unique outfits to be created. I'm a little bit of nice and a little bit of a lot of other stuff, which makes me very much my own person. And I have friends because some people just happen to like that specific combination of ingredients that make me me.

My point is, we are all pretty cool people. Like honestly, that's the only thing I wanted to say. Haha guys. Life is good. If you're in the dumps, you gotta know that it gets better. It'll always get better. Don't run away from the people that care. They're there for a reason.

Just some thoughts.

There have been few times in my life when I really, truly despised myself. It's an awful feeling, hating yourself. You are acutely aware of every single fault that you possess and you wonder how people can stand to be around you. You have a nagging fear that if they found out who you truly are, they'd leave you in the dust without even blinking.

I've made some pretty stupid mistakes in my lifetime. I've lied to people, I've disappointed people, and I've disappointed myself. And each time, I have found myself in that agonizing state of regret and self-loathing.

But those feelings never last long. How could they, when there's this miraculous thing called the atonement? Jesus Christ suffered every single pain, sadness, and regret that anyone has ever and will ever feel. Through that, I can go out and repent of the stuff I just plain wish I'd never done, and God will forgive me if I'm sincere about it. How neat is that? (The correct answer is: very neat.)

I know some of you don't agree with that, and that's fine. But this is something that I have recently come to know with more certainty than a majority of the other things going on in my life right now. I can't tell you how much of an impact the gospel of Jesus Christ has had on my sanity. It's been at the lowest points in my life that my belief in him was the only thing that kept me going. And now that I feel like I might be getting on the right path, it's his Spirit that lets me know that he's gonna be there to guide me every step of the way.

That's hands down the most awesome thing ever.

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phillipians 4:13).

If you care about your children, read this.

Okay, kids, it's time I told you all something:

I have no idea what I'm doing with my life.

I mean, I know that I want to be happy and make other people happy, I know I want to get married and raise a family, I know I never want to lose the friends I have, and I know I want to eventually get a Wikipedia page made about me.

But here's the thing: there are SO MANY ways to accomplish that stuff, yet sometimes it seems like I have zero options, nowhere to go, and I'm gonna be eternally stuck in this state of confusion and undecidedness. Wait. Indecision.
I am a firm believer in the idea that you should never pursue a career that you do not love. So. What is there? Of course I have to make money, so I can't drop everything and live in the mountains of Norway like I want so very badly to do. And of course I'm going to have to go through some college somewhere at which they make you write a billion semi-useless papers and read a billion pages of things, most of which you will have forgotten the day after the final (and sometimes before).
Don't get me wrong, I like BYU. But sometimes I just sit back and wonder what the heck I am doing here. And then I tell myself to just keep on truckin' along, and eventually I'll figure it out. Well, I think it's safe to say that after a year and a half here, I'm still just truckin', and it's making me nervous. Any advice?

On a slightly different note, I have a few things to say about America's education system.
Somebody somewhere said that of all the years of grade and secondary schooling you receive, inevitably the amount you retain could take approximately five minutes to recite. AHHHHH. What in tarnation are we doing in those schools?? Those poor children spend 12+ years in an institution that is eventually only good for a measly five minutes of their memories?? Something needs to change.

I've been seeing a lot of cool articles about Finland's schools. Finland has the most successful education system in the world, people. Why? Because the freaking government actually CARES about their schools. The teachers are paid as much as doctors, kids of every grade get hour long breaks, standardized testing is virtually nonexistent, and college is free. FREE. And guess what. America does the exact the opposite of all those things. Hmmmm....
In all reality, I just want to go to DC and walk up to all those politicians, knock them on their messed up heads, and tell them to get with the program. Actually, don't get with the program. Flipping CHANGE the program. I'd beg them on bended knee.
We need to enjoy school. We need to be in the best possible situation to learn. That's the only way we're gonna be able to get some better results.

So I guess that's what I'm passionate about, guys. Sorry if you got bored. The beautiful thing is this is my zone and I don't have to care about that kind of thing.

Oh and Happy New Year and stuff. Maybe this is the year I figure out my major. :) Y'all are great.

Rina

This one's for you.

I only write when I'm at some sort of emotional extreme, like confusion, sadness, peace, excitement, or desperation. Right now I'm actually pretty okay though. Life sucks sometimes. GREAT. It does for everyone. Time to start working on getting over it. Here's what I found that helps:

• BLAST THE MUSIC. Nothing gets me pumped like cranking up some Mumford and Sons, Yellowcard, and maybe a little Macklemore. This works especially well if you're home alone. Dance.
• Eat healthy things. Apparently it's been proven healthy things make you happy and unhealthy things make you depressed. This is the hardest one for me. I <3 calories.
• Go for a run/walk. I avoid physical exertion just as much as the next stereotypical American, but sometimes I force myself to get out there and get tired, and it is soooo good. The more you do it, the more you love it. 
• Don't be alone for too long. Spending the entire day by myself kills everything happy inside of me. And sometimes the longer I'm alone, the less I want to be with other people. Never give in! Find a friend. Go over to someone's place. Do it. Do it naooo.
• Mirror time. This one's weird. But sometimes when I'm sad I just go in the bathroom and look in the mirror and talk or smile or dance. And it totally helps. No lie.
• Service. Pretty simple. Forget yourself and make somebody else happy!
• Dress up. Look great, feel great. It's real. Working a million hours a week in food service, I take every opportunity I can to look fly outside of work. Work it.
• Fill your time. Nothing kills my energy like sitting around eating  and watching tv. I can go for several hours like that, basically in a physical and emotional coma, and I won't want to do anything else. Then I can't fall asleep at night and it just messes me up for days. Stay pleasantly involved in multiple things that you enjoy. But take breaks, too. Start a blog, if you have to. Helped me.

And last, but definitely not least,

• Don't forget about the Man upstairs. He's there, He's real, and He loves you. Sometimes that knowledge is the only thing that keeps me sane. Goshdangit, you are never alone. God created you, and he knows you. More than anyone else in the world, He wants you to be happy, and He's going to help you as much as He can. As much as you let Him. 

This post has taken me a while to finish for a number of reasons, but I hope you like it. I know I don't blog very much, but when I do, it makes me feel pretty good. 

Hey, in case I don't see you for a while, have a great Christmas. This is my favorite time of year, and if it's not yours, you might be doing it wrong :) 

"I've got nothing to do today but smile." - Paul Simon