Kyiv Ukraine Temple - Youth Cultural Celebration

They showed this video in church today and I loved it! I think everyone in the room was crying. enjoy!

3 items that represent me and my culture

As an assignment for class, I am to pick 3 artifacts from my home that represent my culture and ethnicity. So here goes...

#1: First, I chose my toothbrush. I, like most people reading this, use my toothbrush on a daily basis. When I first moved back to Provo after this Summer, I forgot to bring my toothbrush from home and was too busy to buy a new one for a whole 24 hours. SO, I went without brushing my teeth for 24 hours and literally went insane.
As small as it is, my toothbrush is a huge part of who I am and a huge part of my culture. I don't know if there is another country in the world that spends as much money as we do on our teeth. I know my teeth are for sure the most valuable thing I own. Between the braces, headgear, root canals, fillings, mouth guards, wisdom teeth removal, and chipped teeth, my teeth are probably worth a good 10K. I always grew up visiting the dentist every year and serving my time with braces just like everyone else at my school. Dental health is a huge part of my culture.







#2: Second, I chose a clock. Every once in a while, I like to stop and look around me at all the people rushing and stressing and soon realize why I always feel stressed out myself. I live in a society where we work hard and we stress. It's part of our culture. There are plenty of cultures that, believe it or not, don't worry about working hard. But, working hard is a huge part of who I am. I've always been taught that you have to work hard and you have to be busy. When I'm productive, I feel really good about myself. And when I'm not productive, I feel awful. And so much of our society revolves around the clock. I don't know what we would do without the concept of time. Technology of our day gives us so much extra time that didn't exist in history. And yet we still fill all our time being busy. So much throughout the past has already been invented, discovered, and studied. It is now our turn to learn all that, plus create new things and ideas on top of what's already been created. Humans have an innate desire to create, but we have a lot to learn before we can add our own creations. And so, there's never enough time.








#3: I chose a Four-Square ball. Even though my culture and country are very hard working, many consider our country "the World's playground." In my culture, hobbies and the things we do for fun are a significant part of who we are. I don't think any other country owns as many boats and toys as we do. What we do for fun is how we identify ourselves. There are cultures where people work and go to school all day and do nothing else. But, I do feel my country devotes a relatively significant time to play. As a result, I have strong opinions about the positive effects and the need for play in my life.

And there you have my culture in 3 artifacts!

Pioneer Day!

Today, July 24th, is Pioneer Day! For those of you who don't know, Pioneer day commemorates the day in 1847 when Brigham Young declared "This is the Place" when the pioneers reached Salt Lake. What a glorious day for those faithful pioneers! And being a student at Brigham Young University, I thought I'd share a little that I learned about Brigham Young's character.

"As a church leader, Brigham Young stood in marked contrast to his predecessor, the charismatic, idealistic, and theologically innovative Joseph Smith. Instead, Young inspired his followers by his down-to-earth demeanor and through his skills as a pragmatic organizer and executive. His emphasis in both his actions and sermons was on the practical means essential for building up the Kingdom of God in a frontier environment."

As stated above, Brigham Young and Joseph Smith couldn't be more opposite. It's likely that Joseph Smith wouldn't have been the right guy to lead the pioneers across the plains. Brigham Young was. Joseph, however, was the perfect guy for the tasks he was given. It just goes to show that the world needs all different types of people. I know I don't stand alone when I say that sometimes I try so hard to be like somebody else whom I think is the ideal person. But, rather, I need to focus more on my own special talents and ways I can best contribute and focus less on trying to be somebody I'm not. God wants us to learn to get along with all types of people and he wants our different personalities to unite. But, when we start to compare ourselves to others and tear each other down instead of uplifting one another, we then begin to see the downfall of our societies.

So, I challenge everyone reading this:
This week, make a mark on your left hand every time you do or say something that would bring another person down. Then, on your right hand, make a mark every time you say or do something to uplift another person. Hopefully that will bring you to awareness of the things you say. then next week, try to get more on your right hand!! Good Luck!

Have you been Jimmered yet?

Word to the wise: When using your boyfriend as a gymnastics vault, he might just decide to trick you and back away at the last second which will send you free falling and face planting into the hardwood floor. I did this the other day and I'm a bit bruised up now. Not to mention I went to a couple dance parties this weekend where Willow Smith's "whip my hair back and forth" was played at both parties. So, now my neck is insanely sore from... whipping my hair back and forth! I also played volleyball with some friends this weekend and I forgot how much I really love the sport! I'm going home in a couple weeks and plan to shred up the beach courts at moonlight with my hot shot volleyball little sister. I use to teach her how to serve and now, beware of playing against this girl... she will turn your arms tomato red from her bullet serves! I also lost my voice at the basketball game this weekend. And my new macbook air is so thin it sliced my hand open! ouch! And Mall Madness (a board game from the 80s) has got me feelin down with buyer's remorse. :( But despite all my injuries, boy did i have a fun weekend!

I also need to share a link to a hilarious story. If you haven't met Jimmer Fredette, I think it's about time you are introduced. Jimmer Fredette is a BYU Basketball Hero and leading scorer in the nation right now. This kid is out of control! he's such an incredible player and a really good, humble guy on top of it all. So anyways, everybody at BYU is ecstatic about him and some girl had the nerve to write a letter published in the BYU paper hating on the surge of "Jimmer Worshippers" who are apparently not listening to the scriptures. So, in retaliation, Jimmer fans found her facebook and 2 hours and 600 Jimmer-posts later, the girl changed her privacy settings on facebook and deleted the thread. The posts, however, were captured in a screen clipping which you can read on the link I will provide. This story was published on ESPN. pretty crazy! The posts are so funny... probably one of the funniest things I've read in a while. On this link, you'll find her original letter and then all the facebook responses. If you can't see the facebook thread, try using firefox or chrome.
http://dreamcatchermedia.com/jimmered

Comment and let me know what your favorites are!

What are YOU passionate about?

My teacher today showed us this video today and it inspired me to find passion the way he has!

True Beauty

I really love this you tube video. It's from the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty and it's really sweet. Take a look!