Heartbroken

That friend's been on my mind a lot and in my prayers consistently for the last few days, and today I made a discovery that breaks my heart. I know that's an overused cliche, but I'm not exaggerating when I say that this is one of the most devastating things that I've ever experienced, I literally didn't know how to respond and I still don't. I'll still pray for her and think of her and I wish her the best, but today I was on her "info" tab in FaceBook and saw that it's not just a matter of not believing in the church, she's actively involved in a lot of anti-Mormon groups.

It's funny though, because because now I have a stronger desire to share with everyone what I believe in, what I stand for. It's interesting that in every bad situation some good can emerge.

Don't get me wrong though everyone, please keep praying for her because I know that Heavenly Father will help her if we have faith that He'll help the right thing to happen. Heavenly Father won't ever give up on her and I don't want any of us to either.

A Close Friend

I have a close friend, someone who told me that she no longer believes in the church. I was talking to her a few minutes ago, and I wanted nothing more than to tell her of the joy she'll find in praying to her Heavenly Father and gaining a closer relationship with Him.

I bore my testimony to her that if she prays to Him about every aspect of her life, no matter how silly or frivolous it may seem, then she'll grow closer with Him, and in doing so, she'll be happier than she has ever been.

I think I'm beginning to understand how a missionary feels towards the people he meets out in the field, how he feels towards the people he comes to love, because when I was talking to her, I was telling her this for no other reason than I know it'll make her happy. In that moment, and even right now the only reason it matters to me whether or not she'll pray is because all I want is for her to be happy. I hope this is what it feels like to be a missionary, because I've never wanted anything this badly before. The thought that she'll recognize the love and special relationship that she has with our Father in Heaven makes me happier than anything.

Anyone who reads my blog, I want to ask you to say a prayer for this girl. You don't know her, and you probably never will, but it would mean so much to me. I want so badly for her to start inviting the spirit into her life, so that Heavenly Father will to be able to start working within her, and hopefully she'll begin to recognize the Spirit in her life and how much we all need it.

This is a missionary effort, and I want everyone to take part in it.

Thanks everyone

Mahfuja

In the interest of privacy, I won't post her picture. She told me that the reason out of 500+ photos on FaceBook, only about 3 are of her, and not even tagged is because she doesn't like her image floating around on the internet.

But I've read a lot of books about Muslim women, every single one being an account describing Islam as an abusive, hating religion in which the men are all Satanic, sadistic evil people and the women are all brainwashed drones. I didn't want to think of the religion this way, so I searched all over the place for people I could ask, hopefully men, about what the real beliefs were of the religion. But face it, I live in Utah.

So I joined all sorts of Muslim FaceBook groups asking someone to explain to me, how are women really regarded in the Muslim faith? I was completely ignored which made me even more frustrated because I saw this as secrecy, people completely dodging a question or dismissing it because the honest answer was something they didn't want to confront.




Well, after about a month and a half, I finally got a message from someone on FaceBook, her name is Mahfuja Ahmed, and she cleared up a lot of misconceptions I had and helped me to understand and respect the religion as one that's peaceful and really based off love and service, in fact, there are a lot of parallels similar to Mormonism:

Modesty : Outside of a person's home, women should have their shoulders covered, and be covered from their collarbone down to their knees, and men should be covered the same, unless working outside, in which case it's okay to be shirtless. Swimming is an exception.

Word of Wisdom : There was some exotic word for it, but essentially they're held to the same standards as we are; no tobacco, alcohol, and avoid things that are unhealthy or prone to cause addiction

Worship : Obey the Sabbath, be an example to others and study the scriptures to gain a better understanding of God and His will for you

Relationships : The roles of husband and wife are sacred, the two are equal in importance but different in purpose; men are to support the family and offer spiritual guidance and strength to the family, a women should help raise the children in the best way she can. It's a partnership of union and respect, and women need to be held in high esteem at all times, and likewise with men

It goes on for a while, the similarities between our two religions.

What made me glad, and excited, is when Mahfuja began asking me about The Book of Mormon and Mormon beliefs. I was able to explain her our beliefs about God and our relationship with Him, the Book of Mormon, prophets, the restoration of the church and the plan of Salvation.

This makes me really excited to serve a mission =)

100th post!

It wasn't until I signed into blogger that I realized I was at 99 posts, and this is perfect, because there's nothing I'd rather have saved for my 100th than my awesome trip to go see Ben and Jana!

Speaking of which, Ben and Jana, I'm sorry it's taken me this long to upload these pictures. Here's what happened, once I got back I started up the semester at UVU, was way frazzled and busy, and finally I got a free day, but I lost my camera for a few weeks. I finally found the camera but since then it's been crazy studying and tests for a few days in a row, but I finally got the CD AND my camera back, and luckily the computers on campus have SD card readers, because the USB I brought doesn't fit the jack in my camera. I've been dying to tell you guys about this trip, and finally I get to!

I honestly don't know where's a good place to start, and I got the pictures so jumbled that they're not in any sort or particular order, but---

I generally try not to do too many successive shots, but I love how this leads up

I just love how disappointed or freaked out I look.
Chicken feet is obviously something I can
easily go without for the rest of my life

This just surprised me, because Jana can take a
picture of ANYTHING and make it artistic.
NOTHING could've made the food look appetizing, but
she could at least make it pretty

Ben and I totally blend in. But when you have little leprechaun
children on the streets it's hard not to

Now THIS I thought was cool because that sign
is identical to a shop in Provo, it's even hanging out
at a weird angle like that.
I'm sure no one cares, but
"Xiao Gao Dian". "Little Tall's Shop".

People say I have an attraction to Asians, but Jana
looks absolutely smitten

Is that expression on my face NOT that of a
DANGER MAN
?

Again, Jana has the coolest ideas for pictures
and this was with just a regular digital camera like I have
but I can't ever imagine getting an awesome shot like this!

adAhh, I thought I could do it, but I guess not. I was kind of racing the clock but there are so many pictures to go through and I'm in a rush. Institute's at 7:00 and it's 5:00 right now and I need to do two homework assignments both require watching an hour long tutorial. I'll finish up later!

Interesting day at work

Yesterday I had a pretty interesting day at work. In order for me to go to the temple dedication on Sunday, I had to swap shifts with someone, and finally I found a person who was willing. So I traded what's usually a really calm Sunday shift where we usually watch a movie and the guys all go to bed for a shift with the same guys (who are habitual liars and explode at you when you're not stupid enough to believe their lies) who frankly are kind of difficult to handle while they're awake.

I was kinda stressed because

1. Wednesdays are my only day off during the week

2. On my day off, I didn't want to be working with them

3. Whenever they freak out, I never know how to take control of the situation

So Mom and Matt were sweet enough to put up with my griping and offer me some advice, which completely took my stress away and replaced it with confidence that I could pretty easily handle these guys. It worked, but with a price.

One of the kids has some bad habits so whenever I catch him doing something he shouldn't be, I'm always sure to let him know I'm watching.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"..."

"Look, just stop, I know exactly what you're up to"

"You DON'T know! Frickin' liar..."

"All right, then explain it to me, because I'm apparently seeing something totally different"

"YOU'RE A FRICKIN' LIAR!! I'M NOT DOING ANYTHING!! S.O.B, (about 20 other expletives)"

Then he stomped off to his room where I stood in his doorway and watched him further.

"Hey man, you're going to have to stop doing that before I'll leave"

"I'm not doing it anymore"

"Yeah, I can pretty much see that you are"

"GO AWAY AND LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Absolutely, once you stop"

so he did until I left the room, then I came back and he was doing it again

"Why are you doing that man? If you want me to leave, then just go to bed like you promised"

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM I YOU!! STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO YOU CAN'T CONTROL ME!!"

"That's true, but I'm also supposed to make sure you don't do anything you're not supposed to be doing"

"GET OUT RIGHT NOW! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANOTHER WORD OUT OF YOUR FILTHY ******** MOUTH! GET OUT! I DON'T WANNA SEE YOU, HEAR YOU JUST GET OUT!"

"You know the deal"

"GET OOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTT!"

So I pull out my phone and just start texting standing in his doorway until he's done freaking out. There's about a forty-second pause, and then he starts doing the toenail thing.

"Stop it, man"

But this time, rather than scream or yell, he picks up a steel-toed boot and starts coming at me. I thought he was going to throw it, so I backed out of the doorway out of sight, then I see that he's coming at me and he just plans to hit me with it. That was a REALLY stupid plan, because as soon as I noticed he didn't plan to use distance as an advantage I just rushed him, got down low like I was about to tackle, but didn't follow through. I got my arms around and him and threw him off balance a little (because if you're too rough you can get fired/sued/arrested etc. so I wanted to play it safe) and I just held him there.

Unluckily for me, he bit down on my left forearm and just held it for like three minutes, the entire time I'm trying to get my arm free without losing a big chunk of meat and trying to console the younger kid who's bawling like a baby but refuses to go back in his room like I say.

I know it doesn't look too bad, but that's a human bite mark and it's still all puffy

Finally, with my right arm still pressing his arms to his side, I hook my finger on the inside of his cheek and just rip as hard as I can, which gets his mouth off me so I can get a better grip on him. The entire ordeal holds off for another seven minutes probably until he finally calms down enough that I can believe him when he says he's going back in his room.

How many of YOU can say you've been bitten by a group-home resident at work?